Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Exclusive: Trump says China wants him to lose his re-election bid

U.S. President Donald Trump said he believes China's handling of the coronavirus pandemic is proof that Beijing "will do anything they can" to make him lose his re-election bid in November. In an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump talked tough on China and said he was looking at different options in terms of consequences for Beijing over the virus. "I can do a lot," he said. UK ethnic minorities suffer extra COVID deaths: think tank

People from some ethnic minorities in Britain are dying in disproportionate numbers from COVID-19, possibly in part because they are more likely to work in healthcare and other sectors most exposed to the virus, a leading think tank said on Friday. Per capita deaths for people in Britain who had black Caribbean heritage were three times that for British citizens who are white, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said. Rio beach vendor turns to home delivery to beat coronavirus lockdown

In the beach food capital of the world, the coronavirus lockdown has been a killer for vendors who normally slog up and down crowded sands in the baking sun to sell anything from corn on the cob to kebabs, sushi and cocktails. The beaches are deserted now. Trump confident coronavirus may have originated in Chinese lab

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was confident the coronavirus may have originated in a Chinese virology lab, but declined to describe the evidence, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing over the origins of the deadly disease. Trump did not mince words at a White House event on Thursday, when asked if he had seen evidence that gave him a "high degree of confidence" the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. UK is past the peak, says PM Johnson, promising lockdown exit plan

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday Britain was now past the peak of its coronavirus outbreak and promised to set out a plan next week on how the country might start gradually returning to normal life. In his first news conference since recovering from a serious case of COVID-19, Johnson sought to offer hope to weary Britons, but urged them to stick with lockdown restrictions that are hammering livelihoods and the economy. Canada's coronavirus curve flattens but worrying trends emerge: top medical officer

Canada's coronavirus curve is flat but worrying trends are emerging, particularly outbreaks in vulnerable indigenous communities, the country's top medical officer said on Thursday. The daily death toll in Canada has risen by 10% or more only once in the last 11 days. The total number of people killed by the coronavirus increased by 6% to 3,082 in a day, official data showed on Thursday. Peru's Keiko Fujimori to be freed from prison during graft investigation

Former Peruvian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori will be released from prison while she is under investigation for money laundering, her lawyer said on Thursday. Peru's supreme court accepted an appeal and ruled to revoke Fujimori's 15-month jail sentence, according to her lawyer, Giulliana Loza. Kremlin questions reliability of coronavirus allegations by junior medic

The Kremlin on Thursday questioned the reliability of allegations by a former junior medic at Moscow's main coronavirus hospital of lax safety standards and miserable pay. Natalya Lyubimaya was brought in to work at Moscow's Kommunarka hospital by an outsourcing company. She said in a video statement this week that she had received just 26,000 roubles ($350) a month for working as a junior medic before leaving her job. U.S. 'hopeful' U.N. will extend Iran arms embargo, Russia 'negative'

The United States is "hopeful" the U.N. Security Council will extend an arms embargo on Iran before it expires in October, a top U.S. State Department envoy said on Thursday, despite a key Russian official signaling that Moscow opposed such a move. Brian Hook, the U.S. Special Representative for Iran, said the United States had drafted a Security Council resolution on the issue, which would need nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, the United States, Britain or France to pass. Syria says Israeli helicopters strike targets in southern Syria

Syrian state media reported on Friday that Israeli helicopters fired several rockets from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on targets inside southern Syria in what Western intelligence sources have described as an increase in strikes against Iranian-backed militias this year. The attacks caused only material damage, according to state media.