Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Indians rush for vaccines as COVID-19 death toll passes 200,000

Indians struggled to register online for a mass vaccination drive set to begin at the weekend as the country's toll from the coronavirus surged past 200,000 on Wednesday, worsened by shortages of hospital beds and medical oxygen. The second wave of infections has seen at least 300,000 people test positive each day for the past week, overwhelming health facilities and crematoriums and prompting an increasingly urgent response from allies overseas sending equipment.

Four killed at German hospital, woman arrested: media

Police arrested a 51-year-old woman after four people were found dead and another seriously injured at a hospital near Berlin on Wednesday evening, multiple German media reported. Police arrived at the Oberlin Clinic in the late evening, according to the report. A police spokesman was quoted as saying that the deaths were "the result of violence" and that the 51-year-old was the prime suspect.

Blinken to visit Iceland in May 19-20, attend Arctic Council meeting: State Department

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Iceland on May 19-20 to participate in a meeting of the Arctic Council, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. Blinken has held a phone call with his Icelandic counterpart Gudlaugur Thordarson on Monday and the two ministers discussed Blinken's planned trip to Rejkjavik, Price said.

Striking health workers lift roadblocks in the Vaca Muerta area of Argentina

Protesting health workers who erected roadblocks over the last three weeks at the sprawling Vaca Muerta shale oil deposit in Argentina said on Wednesday that they shifted the protests to other parts of Patagonia. The roadblocks had affected Vaca Muerta oil and natural gas production and left the area without energy. Workers including doctors, nurses, orderlies and other hospital staff are seeking greater compensation for working high-risk jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic as cases spike in Argentina.

Russia, China sow disinformation to undermine trust in Western vaccines, EU report says

Russian and Chinese media are systematically seeking to sow mistrust in Western COVID-19 vaccines in their latest disinformation campaigns aimed at dividing the West, a European report said on Wednesday. From December to April, the two countries' state media outlets pushed fake news online in multiple languages sensationalising vaccine safety concerns, making unfounded links between jabs and deaths in Europe and promoting Russian and Chinese vaccines as superior, the EU study said.

U.S. sending more than $100 million in COVID supplies to India: White House

The United States is sending supplies worth more than $100 million in the coming days to India to help it fight a surge of COVID-19 cases, the White House said on Wednesday.

'Zugzwang': Polish draughts official apologises after removing Russian flag

A Polish draughts official apologised on Wednesday for causing outrage in Moscow by removing the Russian flag from a player's table during a world title match, but said he'd had little choice. Match official Jacek Pawlicki removed the flag as Russia's Tamara Tansykkuzhina played Poland's Natalia Sadowska in the Womens World Championship in Warsaw on Tuesday.

Thousands of Colombians march to protest government tax proposals

Thousands of protesters answered calls from Colombia's biggest unions to fill streets across the country to demonstrate on Wednesday against a controversial government tax reform. Unions insisted the strike would go ahead despite a court order to postpone the protests on concerns about a third coronavirus peak that is stretching the health system to breaking point. The Andean country has reported more than 2.8 million coronavirus cases, of which 106,482 are active. More than 72,000 people have died.

Blinken says Turkey, others, should refrain from new purchases of Russian weapons

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Turkey and all U.S. allies on Wednesday should refrain from making further purchases of Russian weaponry, threatening the possibility of more sanctions. Frayed relations between NATO allies Turkey and the United States were further tested over the weekend after President Joe Biden recognized the 1915 Armenian massacres as genocide, infuriating Ankara.

Turkish Cypriots offer two-state plan at U.N. talks, dismissed by Greek Cypriots

The Turkish Cypriot delegation to U.N.-sponsored talks proposed a two-state solution for Cyprus on Wednesday to end the conflict with Greek Cypriots and put the island's two communities on an equal footing, but it was swiftly rejected by the Greek Cypriot side. The Mediterranean island was split in 1974 between a Greek Cypriot south and a Turkish Cypriot north. Only Turkey recognises the breakaway state in Northern Cyprus.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)