Reuters World News Summary

U.S. hits Syria with toughest sanctions yet to push Assad to end war The United States on Wednesday imposed its toughest sanctions ever targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to choke off revenue for his government in a bid to force it back to United Nations-led negotiations and broker an end to the country's nearly decade-long war.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Exclusive: Amid Brexit impasse, Germany urges no-deal preparations - document

The German government is urging other EU states to prepare for a no deal Brexit, according an internal document that casts doubt on Britain's optimism over chances of an early agreement on its future ties with the bloc. Britain left the European Union on Jan. 31 and their relationship is governed by a transition arrangement that keeps previous rules in place while new terms are negotiated. South Korea's Moon faces crisis in peace bid with North but has few options

South Korea's President Moon Jae-in faces the biggest crisis yet in his bid to foster reconciliation with North Korea, as it lashes out with the destruction of a joint office and rolls back agreements, but he has few options, analysts say. Relations between the two Koreas have plunged to their lowest since Moon took office in 2017 vowing to work to end decades-old confrontation and be a mediator in nudging North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile programmes. U.S. hits Syria with toughest sanctions yet to push Assad to end war

The United States on Wednesday imposed its toughest sanctions ever targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to choke off revenue for his government in a bid to force it back to United Nations-led negotiations and broker an end to the country's nearly decade-long war. The fresh round of penalties on Syria, which designate Assad and his wife Asma personally, come at a time when Assad is grappling with a deepening economic crisis after a decade of war and amid a rare outbreak of protests in government-held areas. WHO moves to update COVID-19 guidance after 'great news' in drug study

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was moving to update its guidelines on treating people stricken with COVID-19 to reflect results of a clinical trial that showed a cheap, common steroid can help save critically ill patients. Trial results announced on Tuesday by researchers in Britain showed dexamethasone, used since the 1960s to reduce inflammation in diseases such as arthritis, cut death rates by around a third among the most severely ill COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital. Israel's Netanyahu mulls two-phase West Bank annexation, newspaper says

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is weighing a limited initial annexation in the occupied West Bank, hoping to quell international opposition to his pledge of wide territorial moves, an Israeli newspaper said on Wednesday. Netanyahu has said a U.S. peace plan, which envisages Israel retaining its settlements in the West Bank, provides an "historic opportunity" to extend Israeli sovereignty to them and to the Jordan Valley area. Special Report: The pub and the pandemic - Regulars, suppliers, owner adrift in lockdown

When the Greenwich Pensioner was built in 1827, the girl who would become Queen Victoria was 8 years old and John Quincy Adams was serving as the sixth president of the United States. Since then, the pub in London's East End has survived two world wars, including bombings that flattened the houses next to it, four cholera epidemics and the devastating Spanish flu pandemic of a century ago. Pompeo to meet with China's top diplomat in Hawaii: State Dept

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet with Yang Jiechi, China's top diplomat, on Wednesday in Honolulu, the State Department said, a crucial meeting as relations between the two countries have deeply soured since the start of the year. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 0900 a.m. local time, according to the agency's public schedule. In addition to an intensifying strategic rivalry, the world's top two economies have been at loggerheads in recent months over the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and China's move to impose new security legislation on Hong Kong. UK's Labour says will hold government to promise of EU deal by year-end

Britain's opposition Labour Party will hold Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government to its promise of securing a free trade deal with the European Union by the end of the year, the spokesman for its leader Keir Starmer said on Wednesday. Johnson has suggested an agreement could be achieved in July but negotiators on both sides have so far given a downbeat assessment of talks. Eight suspects arrested in South Africa's 'biggest bank robbery' VBS fraud case

South African authorities have apprehended eight people suspected of illegally siphoning 2.3 billion rand ($133.87 million) from small lender VBS Mutual Bank, which collapsed in 2018 because of the corruption scandal. Godfrey Lebeya, head of South Africa's Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, said four were already in custody, three were due to turn themselves in on Thursday and an eighth suspect had agreed to appear after clearing COVID-19 quarantine. China says it has agreed with India to de-escalate border situation

China and India have agreed to de-escalate the situation at their border as soon as possible following a clash between the their troops, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday. Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi told Indian Foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during a phone call on Wednesday that India should severely punish those responsible for the conflict and control its frontline troops, the Chinese ministry said in a statement.