Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Syrian air defences intercept Israeli aerial strikes on Palmyra: state media

Syrian air defences responded to an Israeli aerial attack on the city of Palmyra in eastern Homs province in central Syria and downed several "hostile targets", state media said on Monday. A news flash on state media did not give any details of the aerial attack on the ancient city in eastern Homs where Iranian backed-militias are dug in on its outskirts according to Western intelligence sources. Wearing face masks, Syria's Assad and Iran's Zarif condemn West at Damascus meeting

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javid Zarif wore face masks on Monday for their meeting in Damascus where they said the West was exploiting the coronavirus pandemic for political ends, state media said. State media said Assad conveyed condolences to Iran, where more than 5,200 people have died from the disease. Spain's confirmed coronavirus cases surpass 200,000: health ministry

The number of people diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Spain has surpassed the 200,000 threshold, the country's health ministry said on Monday. The ministry said the number of cases rose to 200,210 from 195,944 cases on Sunday. Spain has the second highest number of diagnosed cases in the world after the United States, according to Reuters data. Trump says he rejected sum South Korea offered for defense costs

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he had rejected a sum offered by South Korea in response to his demand that Seoul pay for a larger share of the cost of U.S. military forces deployed in the country. "Now they've offered us a certain amount of money and I've rejected it," Trump said at a White House news conference. Nothing hidden from member states, CDC experts on board: WHO chief

The head of the World Health Organization said on Monday that nothing in its coronavirus response had been "hidden" from the United States, as senior officials said U.S. technical experts had been an important part of the WHO's effort. The comments appeared to be a rejoinder to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has criticised WHO's handling of the pandemic, accusing it of promoting Chinese "disinformation", and suspended U.S. funding last week. Coronavirus puts missile showdown between Turkey and U.S. on hold

Turkey's plans to switch on its new Russian missile defence systems have been delayed by the coronavirus outbreak but it does not intend to reverse a decision which has raised the threat of U.S. sanctions, a senior Turkish official said. Tensions between NATO allies Turkey and the United States over the S-400 air defence systems had looked set to reach a showdown in April, when President Tayyip Erdogan and the government had said they would be activated. Mexican president tells gangs to stop donating food, end crime instead

Mexico's president chastised drug gangs on Monday, telling them to end violence instead of distributing food, after several reports across the country in recent days showed armed narcos handing out care packages stamped with cartel logos. Imploring criminals to behave better, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador declared that the care packages filled with basic foodstuffs and cleaning supplies are not helpful. Death toll in Canada mass shooting rises to 18: Trudeau

The death toll from the worst mass shooting in Canadian history has risen to 18, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday, including a police officer and the gunman. "A gunman claimed the lives of at least 18 people, among them a woman in uniform whose job it is to protect lives even if it endangers her own," Trudeau told reporters, referring to Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Constable Heidi Stevenson, who was killed on Sunday in the shooting spree in the Atlantic province of Nova Scotia. Netanyahu and rival Gantz clinch Israel power-sharing deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his centrist election rival Benny Gantz signed a deal on Monday to form a national emergency government, ending a year of unprecedented political deadlock. The power sharing agreement clinched after weeks of negotiations gave a clear end-date for the premiership of Netanyahu, Israel's longest serving leader, who has become for many the face of the nation. Police in Indian-administered Kashmir target journalists for alleged 'fake news'

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir are investigating two journalists for allegedly spreading "fake news," authorities said on Monday, as a months-long security crackdown in the Muslim-majority state persists. Kashmir Police Chief Vijay Kumar told Reuters freelance Kashmiri photojournalist Masrat Zehra, a contributor to various international publications, had been booked under India's Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for her "anti-national" posts on Facebook and other social media.