World News Roundup: Libyan migrant centres are like concentration camps; Mexican president to hold first meeting with Trump and more

EU must emerge stronger, more united from corona-crisis, Merkel says Preserving basic rights, fostering solidarity, protecting the climate, digitalisation, and Europe's role in the world are Germany's top priorities during its six-month presidency of the European Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Foreign students fret over being sent home after U.S. visa rule

When the phone rang Tuesday morning, Raul Romero had barely slept. The 21-year-old Venezuelan, on a scholarship at Ohio's Kenyon College, had spent hours pondering his options after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced Monday that international students taking classes fully online for the fall semester would have to transfer to a school with in-person classes or leave the country.

Libyan migrant centres are like concentration camps, pope says

Pope Francis on Wednesday compared migrant detention centres in Libya to concentration camps, saying the world was being given only a diluted version of how hellish life really was for the people living there. The pope, who has in the past called for the camps to be closed, made his comments in his homily during a Mass to mark the seventh anniversary of his trip to the Italian island of Lampedusa, landing place for many migrants making the perilous crossing from north Africa.

Mexican president to hold first meeting with Trump as U.S. election looms

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador meets with his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, for the first time on Wednesday, in a potentially awkward encounter that has drawn flak from some U.S. Democrats unhappy it is coming so close to the presidential election. The leftist leader has brushed off criticism at home to push ahead with plans to meet Trump, a Republican widely disliked in Mexico because of his incendiary remarks about its people.

Thai cabinet backs bill allowing same-sex unions

Thailand's cabinet approved a civil partnership bill on Tuesday that would recognise same-sex unions with almost the same legal rights as married couples, in one of the most liberal moves yet for a largely conservative nation known for its tolerance. If passed by parliament, the legislation would make Thailand only the second place in Asia to allow registration of same-sex unions, with couples able to adopt a child and afforded rights to inheritance and joint property ownership.

France calls for release of Mali opposition leader Cisse

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Wednesday called for the release of Malian opposition leader Soumaila Cisse, who has been held hostage by suspected Islamist militants since March. "France expresses its outrage over Mr Soumaila Cisse's situation. He is the opposition leader, he was candidate in the presidential election and he was taken hostage three months ago and we are strongly calling for his release," Le Drian told the National Assembly when asked about Cisse.

Bosnian Serb government indoctrinating children over Srebrenica, U.N. tribunal head says

The Bosnian Serb government is indoctrinating children with denials of the 1995 genocide in Srebrenica of 8,000 Muslim men and boys, and wrecking attempts at reconciliation, the head of a U.N. court said in an interview. Judge Carmel Agius, president of the court completing war crimes trials stemming from the breakup of Yugoslavia, added unhealed ethnic divisions in Bosnia were driving the younger generation away in their tens of thousands.

Taliban suicide bomber kills three as violence rises despite peace push

A Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed military vehicle on the approach to the provincial governor's residence and police headquarters in the Afghan province of Kandahar on Wednesday, killing at least three people, authorities said. Bloodshed is escalating anew in Afghanistan even as the United States tries to broker a peace deal between the Taliban and Afghan government after almost two decades of war.

In Africa, lack of coronavirus data raises fears of 'silent epidemic'

When the new coronavirus hit Tanzania in mid-April, President John Magufuli called for three days of national prayer to seek God’s protection from the scourge. Barely a month later, he claimed victory over the disease and invited tourists to return to his East African nation. His rush to reopen came despite alarm from the World Health Organization (WHO) over an almost total lack of information on the spread of the virus in the country of 55 million people, which has one of the region’s weakest healthcare systems.

EU must emerge stronger, more united from corona-crisis, Merkel says

Preserving basic rights, fostering solidarity, protecting the climate, digitalisation, and Europe's role in the world are Germany's top priorities during its six-month presidency of the European Union, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday. "We want Europe to come out of the (coronavirus crisis) more united and stronger," Merkel said in speech to European Parliament lawmakers in Brussels.

China challenges U.S. to cut nuclear arsenal to matching level

China would "be happy to" participate in trilateral arms control negotiations with the United States and Russia, but only if the United States were willing to reduce its nuclear arsenal to China's level, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday. Washington has repeatedly called for China to join in trilateral negotiations to extend New START, a flagship nuclear arms treaty between the United States and Russia that is due to expire in February next year.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)