Reuters World News Summary

Saied on Sunday invoked emergency powers to seize control of government, remove the prime minister and freeze Parliament in a move his foes have called a coup. Pentagon chief to nudge ties with Vietnam as human rights concerns linger U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will on Thursday look to nudge forward security ties with Vietnam that have been slowly deepening as both countries watch China's activities in the South China Sea with growing alarm.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Tunisia's Saied moves on economy and COVID-19 after dismissing govt

Tunisia's president said on Wednesday he was addressing the dire economic and COVID-19 situation and probing widespread corruption after invoking emergency powers on Sunday to seize control of government in a move his foes called a coup. Saied justified the moves, which included dismissing the prime minister and suspending parliament, by citing a surging pandemic and misgovernance, saying he had acted to save the country from corruption and plots to sow civil strife.

Israel tells France it is taking NSO spyware allegations seriously

Israel is taking seriously allegations that spyware developed by an Israeli company was used against public figures including French President Emmanuel Macron, Israel's defence minister told his French counterpart during a visit to Paris on Wednesday. Israeli defence chief Benny Gantz met French Defence Minister Florence Parly in part to share initial findings from an Israeli government assessment of exports to France by NSO Group, which sells the Pegasus spyware.

Peru's Castillo, in first speech as president, pledges to heal colonial wounds

Pedro Castillo on Wednesday said Peru's colonial wounds still ran deep and he would seek to heal them, while promising economic stability in his inaugural speech as president. Speaking on the day that also marked the country's 200th anniversary since declaring independence from Spain, Castillo said the colonial-era divisions that separated classes and races in Peru remained.

U.S., Russia hold nuclear talks in Geneva after summit push

Senior U.S. and Russian officials on Wednesday restarted talks on easing tensions between the world's largest nuclear weapons powers and agreed to reconvene in September after informal consultations, the State Department said. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov headed their delegations at the meeting at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva.

Peru's Castillo shuns palatial 'House of Pizarro' in break from colonial past

Peru's new President Pedro Castillo, a champion of the rural poor, will not live in the government palace in Lima known as the 'House of Pizarro' - a symbolic break from some 500 years of tradition and the Andean country's colonial past. Castillo, who comes from a family of peasant farmers in rural Peru, said in his first address https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/perus-castillo-assumes-presidency-amid-political-storms-divided-nation-2021-07-28 to the nation after his inauguration on Wednesday that the palace would instead be used to house the Ministry of Cultures under his government.

Haiti premier says he plans elections as quickly as possible

Haiti's new Prime Minister Ariel Henry on Wednesday said the government plans to create conditions for the Caribbean nation to hold elections as swiftly as possible following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise earlier this month. Already struggling with political paralysis, economic malaise and gang-fueled violence, Haiti was pushed deeper into turmoil by the killing of Moise, which the government blamed on a group of mostly Colombian mercenaries.

Houston man pleads guilty in scheme to sell $317 million bogus masks to Australian state

A Texas man has pleaded guilty to involvement in a scheme to fraudulently sell 50 million N95 respirator masks he did not have for $317.6 million to the government of New South Wales in Australia, U.S. prosecutors said. Arael Doolittle entered his plea to a wire fraud conspiracy charge on Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes in Houston.

Tunisian president replaces head of television station

Tunisian President Kais Saied removed the head of the national television station, Mohamed al-Dahach, on Wednesday and appointed a temporary replacement, his office said, after calls to protect free speech. Saied on Sunday invoked emergency powers to seize control of government, remove the prime minister and freeze Parliament in a move his foes have called a coup.

Pentagon chief to nudge ties with Vietnam as human rights concerns linger

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will on Thursday look to nudge forward security ties with Vietnam that have been slowly deepening as both countries watch China's activities in the South China Sea with growing alarm. Despite growing military relations, more than four decades after the Vietnam War ended in 1975, President Joe Biden's administration has said there are limits to the relationship until Hanoi makes progress on human rights.

U.S. 'deeply troubled' by attacks on civilians as Taliban sweep across Afghanistan

The United States said on Wednesday it was deeply troubled by reports of escalating attacks on civilians as the Taliban sweep across Afghanistan and Washington pulls out its last remaining troops and ends its longest war. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a visit to India, said the only path to peace in Afghanistan was through negotiations, which all parties must take seriously.