Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. U.N. to host new Libya ceasefire talks after no deal in first round

Libya's warring parties will continue talks this month to try to reach a lasting ceasefire in a war for control of the capital Tripoli, the United Nations said on Saturday, after a first round in Geneva last week failed to yield an agreement. The U.N. hosted indirect talks between five officers from the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Khalifa Haftar, which has been trying to take Tripoli since April, and the same number from forces of the internationally recognized government in Tripoli. American dies of coronavirus in China; five Britons infected in French Alps

A 60-year-old American has died of the new coronavirus, the first confirmed non-Chinese death of the illness, U.S. officials said, as millions of Chinese began returning home after a Lunar New Year break that was extended to try to contain the outbreak. While the vast majority of cases have been in China, the virus has spread to some two dozen countries abroad, including five British nationals infected in a French mountain resort. Near tie between three main parties in Irish election: exit poll

An Irish national election exit poll on Saturday showed the three main parties on an almost identical share of the vote. The Ipsos MRBI exit poll showed the center-right Fine Gael of Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on 22.4%, left wing nationalists Sinn Fein on 22.3% and center-right pre-election favorites Fianna Fail on 22.2%. In China's locked-down coronavirus city, grocery delivery is a lifeline

Reluctant to go outside for fear of catching the new coronavirus sweeping the Chinese city of Wuhan, Edward Wang found a lifeline: grocery delivery services provided by local retailers. But with hundreds of thousands of other people in Wuhan also stuck inside their homes doing the same thing, and retailers struggling to get hold of their staff, the service became overloaded. Azeri president moves to modernize parliament with snap election

Azerbaijan holds a snap parliamentary election on Sunday, seen as the next step by President Ilham Aliyev to consolidate power and create a younger, more dynamic parliament to push forward economic reforms. Aliyev called the election in December, nine months before the vote was formally due. Officials from his ruling Yeni Azerbaijan party said the move was "to support the president's policy on reforms and personnel changes." Israel drawing up map for West Bank annexations: Netanyahu

Israel has begun to draw up maps of land in the occupied West Bank that will be annexed in accordance with U.S. President Donald Trump's proposed peace plan, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday. "We are already at the height of the process of mapping the area that, according to the Trump plan, will become part of the state of Israel. It won't take too long," Netanyahu said at an election campaign rally in the Maale Adumim settlement. Turkey reinforces troops in Syria's Idlib, talks with Russia

Turkey reinforced its military presence in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on Saturday as Turkish and Russian officials held talks about the Syrian government offensive there, which has displaced more than half a million people in two months. Turkey says the advances by Russian-backed Syrian troops and their allies threaten a fresh humanitarian disaster, driving another wave of potential refugees to its southern border, and has threatened to act if they do not pull back. Death toll hits 21 from Thai shooting after raid into mall

A member of the Thai security forces was killed early on Sunday in a raid into a shopping mall to try to stop a soldier on a shooting rampage, bringing the total death toll to 21, the health minister said. The killings began at around 3 p.m. (0800 GMT) on Saturday when the soldier opened fire in a house before moving to an army camp and then to the mall in Nakhon Ratchasima in northeastern Thailand, posting messages on Facebook as he went. U.S., Afghan forces come under fire in eastern Afghanistan: U.S. official

U.S. and Afghan forces came under attack in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said in Kabul as they launched investigations into whether the attackers were Afghan service members or wearing Afghan uniforms, what is known as an "insider attack." Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said a combined U.S. and Afghan force conducting an operation in Nangarhar province was engaged by direct fire. Iran says it is ready to mediate between Turkey and Syria

Iran is ready to help Turkey and Syria resolve their differences over the nearly nine-year-old war in Syria, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, adding that Tehran backs the sovereignty of its key regional ally Damascus. Turkey has backed rebels looking to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Iran and Russia have supported Assad’s forces in the war. The three countries have also collaborated on a political solution to the conflict.