Reuters World News Summary

Ministers were on Friday reported to be considering a second national lockdown, after new COVID-19 cases almost doubled to 6,000 per day, hospital admissions rose and infection rates soared across parts of northern England and London.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. U.N. steps up monitoring of reported abuses in Belarus, raising stakes

The United Nations agreed on Friday to step up monitoring of reported rights abuses during Belarus's crackdown on protests, angering Minsk and its ally Moscow and raising the diplomatic stakes in the crisis. During a highly charged debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council, European ministers denounced the repression of demonstrations since Belarus's Aug 9. elections, and Britain's envoy said it would support sanctions. Belarus said the Council's decision on monitoring set "a dangerous precedent". After U.S. claims, France says no evidence of Hezbollah explosives stores

France's foreign ministry on Friday said there was no evidence to suggest the armed wing of Lebanon's Hezbollah was storing chemicals to make explosives in France after a senior U.S. official said the group had set up caches in Europe since 2012. Speaking on Thursday, Nathan Sales, the U.S. State Department's coordinator for counterterrorism, accused the Iran-backed group of smuggling and storing chemicals, including ammonium nitrate, from Belgium to France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. 'We have to comply,' Mexican president says as friction grows over U.S. water pact

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday that Mexico would meet its obligations under a water treaty with the United States as a looming deadline threatens to become a diplomatic issue ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election. "We have to comply," he said during his morning news conference, about a water transfer that this month sparked deadly protests in a drought-hit Mexican state. Lopez Obrador has been working to maintain a good relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump. Second UK lockdown? PM says second wave inevitable, new restrictions possible

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he did not want another national lockdown but that new restrictions may be needed because the country was facing an "inevitable" second wave of COVID-19. Ministers were on Friday reported to be considering a second national lockdown, after new COVID-19 cases almost doubled to 6,000 per day, hospital admissions rose and infection rates soared across parts of northern England and London. Taiwan scrambles jets as 18 Chinese planes buzz during U.S. visit

Taiwan scrambled fighter jets on Friday as 18 Chinese aircraft buzzed the island, crossing the sensitive midline of the Taiwan Strait, in response to a senior U.S. official holding talks in Taipei. China had earlier announced combat drills and denounced what it called collusion between the island, which it claims as part of its territory, and the United States. Hours after U.S.-Canada border closure extended to Oct. 21, Trump says it 'opening pretty soon'

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said border restrictions between Canada and the United States because of the novel coronavirus pandemic would be lifted "pretty soon", just hours after the two countries confirmed they would remain in place until at least Oct. 21. "We're looking at the border with Canada. Canada would like it opened and we want to get back to normal business," Trump told reporters in Washington. "We're going to be opening the borders pretty soon." Kremlin: bottle in Navalny case could have been evidence, but was removed from Russia

The Kremlin said on Friday that a water bottle found in the hotel room of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who Germany and other western governments say was poisoned with a nerve agent, could have served as evidence in his case but was instead taken out of Russia by his supporters. Navalny's team said on Thursday that the water bottle removed from his hotel room in the city of Tomsk last month had been taken to Germany and found to have traces of Novichok nerve agent. Dozens of Hong Kong people write postcards to fugitives arrested by China

Dozens of people in Hong Kong braved heavy rain on Friday evening to write postcards to 12 fugitives arrested by China at sea last month to offer comfort during the upcoming mid-Autumn festival. The 12 were arrested on Aug. 23 for illegal entry into mainland Chinese waters after setting off from Hong Kong in a boat bound for self-ruled Taiwan. Fear and resolve at Philippine maternity hospital amid pandemic

As the Philippines grapples with rising coronavirus infections, new mothers and medical staff at one of the world's busiest maternity hospitals face heightened anxiety during the pandemic. In the Dr Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in Manila overcrowding has been a problem for years, with new mothers often having to share beds due to high admissions. Pompeo visits refugees in Brazil, pressuring Venezuela's Maduro

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Venezuelan migrants at a refugee reception center in northern Brazil on Friday at the third stop of a regional tour to ramp up pressure to oust Venezuela's leftist President Nicolás Maduro. "They want what all human beings want - dignity, they want a democratic, peaceful, sovereign Venezuela to call home, one where they and their children can find jobs and live," he said at an air base in Boa Vista, capital of Roraima state.