Reuters World News Summary

Malaysia's king rejects emergency rule in blow to PM Muhyiddin Malaysia's King Al-Sultan Abdullah rejected on Sunday a request by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin for him to declare a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis, saying that he did not see the need.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Sudan says it will discuss trade, migration deals with Israel

Sudan and Israel will discuss agreements to cooperate on trade and migration issues in the coming weeks, the Sudanese foreign ministry said on Sunday, signalling steps to implement a normalisation pact after decades of hostilities. Israel for its part said it will send wheat worth $5 million to "our new friends of Sudan", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office tweeted. U.S. announces new Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire as fighting persists

The United States on Sunday said a new humanitarian ceasefire will take effect on Monday in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, even as fresh fighting erupted between the two sides who blame each other for the failure of previous truces. The ceasefire is due to take effect at 8 a.m. local time (12 a.m. EDT) on Oct. 26, the U.S. State Department and the governments of Azerbaijan and Armenia said in a joint statement. Putin rejects Donald Trump's criticism of Biden family business

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that he saw nothing criminal in Hunter Biden's past business ties with Ukraine or Russia, marking out his disagreement with one of Donald Trump's attack lines in the U.S. presidential election. Putin was responding to comments made by Trump during televised debates with Democratic challenger Joe Biden ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Malaysia's king rejects emergency rule in blow to PM Muhyiddin

Malaysia's King Al-Sultan Abdullah rejected on Sunday a request by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin for him to declare a state of emergency in response to the coronavirus crisis, saying that he did not see the need. The king's rejection is a major setback for Muhyiddin, who is facing a leadership challenge from opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and infighting within his ruling coalition. Polish protesters disrupt church services over near-total abortion ban

Thousands of activists disrupted church services across Poland on Sunday, chanting during mass and spraying slogans on walls to protest against a court ruling that amounts to a near-total ban on abortion. In the first large-scale demonstrations directly targeting churches in the predominately Catholic country, crowds carried posters depicting a crucified pregnant woman and handed out protest cards to priests. Israel to start COVID-19 vaccine human trials on Nov. 1

Israel will begin human trials for a potential COVID-19 vaccine developed by a research institute overseen by the Defence Ministry on Nov. 1 after receiving regulatory approval, the ministry said on Sunday. The Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) began animal trials for its "BriLife" vaccine in March. The Health Ministry and an oversight committee have now given the green light to take it to the next stage. Australia's coronavirus hot spot reports zero cases for first time since June

Australia's coronavirus hot spot of Victoria on Monday reported zero cases of the new coronavirus for the first time since June, a day after the state delayed the easing of restrictions because of a fresh outbreak in Melbourne's northern suburbs. The 5 million residents of Melbourne, Victoria's state capital, have been placed under a hard lockdown since July to contain the spread of the virus, shutting down businesses and restricting people's movements. Belarus opposition prepares mass strikes after Lukashenko ignores deadline to quit

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko defied an ultimatum to surrender power by midnight on Sunday, challenging his opponents to make good on their threat to paralyse the country with a national strike. Eleven weeks after a disputed presidential election, the crisis in the former Soviet republic entered a new phase with the expiry of the "People's Ultimatum" set by opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Pakistani PM writes to Facebook CEO seeking ban on Islamophobic content

Pakistan's prime minister has written a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seeking a ban on Islamophobic content on the site, warning of an increase in radicalisisation amongst Muslims, the government said on Sunday. In the letter, shared by the Pakistani government on Twitter, Imran Khan said that "growing Islamophobia" is encouraging extremism and violence across the world -- especially through social media platforms such as Facebook. UK 'SBS' special forces storm tanker and detain stowaways in Channel

British special forces stormed a Greek-operated oil tanker in the English channel on Sunday to wrestle control of the vessel from seven stowaways who had threatened the crew in a suspected hijacking. Troops from the Special Boat Service, a navy special forces unit whose headquarters in just a few miles away from where the vessel began showing signs of distress, boarded the Nave Andromeda near the Isle of Wight off southern England.