Reuters World News Summary

Macron says France won't remove statues, erase history French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday fighting racism should not lead to a "hateful" re-writing of history following worldwide protests over the killing of George Floyd, a black man, by a police officer in the United States.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Irish parties plan to sign coalition deal on Monday

Irish political parties Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens will sign a deal on Monday on the formation of a new coalition government, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said after talks on Sunday aimed at ending four months of political deadlock. The talks will resume on Monday morning to resolve the final issues, negotiators for the three parties told reporters. Green Party leader Eamon Ryan said it was just a matter of "crossing the 't's" in the proposed policy programme. Britain's Johnson to launch cross-government commission on racism

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a cross-government commission would examine racism and the disparities experienced by minority ethnic groups in education, health and the criminal justice system following Black Lives Matter protests. Johnson said he could not ignore the strength of feeling shown by tens of thousands of people who had demonstrated in London and other British cities following the death of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis last month. France must seek greater economic independence after virus, says Macron

President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday he was accelerating France's exit from its coronavirus lockdown and that the crisis had laid bare the country's need for greater economic independence. In a televised address to the nation, Macron promised that the 500 billion euro cost of keeping companies afloat and people in jobs during the worst downturn since World War Two would not be passed to households through higher taxes. Turkish jets strike Kurdish militant targets in northern Iraq

Turkish warplanes struck Kurdish militant targets in various regions of northern Iraq on Sunday night in response to an increase in militant attacks on Turkish army bases, the Defence Ministry said. "The Claw-Eagle Operation has started. Our planes are bringing the caves down on the terrorists' heads," the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Twitter. Low expectations as Johnson joins EU leaders to break Brexit deadlock

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will join a video-conference with EU leaders on Monday, keen to make headway in negotiations on a future EU-UK relationship, but officials in Brussels expect no breakthrough in the Brexit deadlock. Britain's Mail on Sunday reported that Johnson would use the meeting to "bang the table", pressing the 27-nation European Union to aim for an agreement by the end of the summer and not to use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to drag its feet. A picture and its story: Black man carries suspected far-right protester to safety

"That's not what we do!" Reuters photographer Dylan Martinez heard the words ring out during chaotic scenes in London on Saturday, when mostly peaceful anti-racist demonstrations turned into violent scuffles with counter-protesters in the area. Beijing steps up coronavirus measures as dozens of cases emerge from a food market

After weeks with almost no new coronavirus infections, Beijing has recorded dozens of new cases in recent days, all linked to a major wholesale food market, raising concerns about a resurgence of the disease. The capital is taking steps to try to halt the outbreak including ramping up testing. On Sunday night Beijing ordered all companies to supervise 14-day home quarantine for employees who have visited the Xinfadi market or been in contact with anyone who has done so. Putin says Russia's handling of coronavirus is superior to U.S.

President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Russia was emerging from the novel coronavirus epidemic with minimal losses, having handled it better than the United States where he said party political interests got in the way. With 528,964 confirmed cases, Russia has the third-highest number of infections after Brazil and the United States. Macron says France won't remove statues, erase history

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday fighting racism should not lead to a "hateful" re-writing of history following worldwide protests over the killing of George Floyd, a black man, by a police officer in the United States. Some protesters in the United States and elsewhere have targeted statues of historic figures associated with slavery or other past human rights abuses. UK PM Johnson defends Churchill, criticises 'distortion of our history': Telegraph

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Britain cannot "photoshop" its cultural landscape and complex history as doing so would be a distortion of its past, amid an ongoing row over the removal of statues of historical figures. "If we start purging the record and removing the images of all but those whose attitudes conform to our own, we are engaged in a great lie, a distortion of our history," Johnson wrote https://bit.ly/37sQcXE in The Telegraph.