Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Netanyahu leads in Israeli election, but still lacks majority

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led on Tuesday in Israel's third national election in less than a year but was short of a governing majority, nearly complete results showed. Netanyahu claimed victory in Monday's vote over his main challenger, former armed forces chief Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White party, after exit polls projected the right-wing leader's Likud party had come out on top. Putin wants constitutional ban on Russia handing land to foreign powers

President Vladimir Putin wants to amend the constitution to make it illegal for Russia to give away any part of its territory to a foreign power, a proposal likely to irritate Japan and Ukraine that have territorial disputes with Moscow. The amendment is one of an array of constitutional changes proposed by Putin as part of a shake-up of the political system that critics say may be designed to keep him in power after he is due to leave the Kremlin in 2024. Libya's eastern government opens Damascus embassy, pledges united fight against Turkey

Libya's eastern-based government linked to military commander Khalifa Haftar opened an embassy in Syria on Tuesday and called for the two countries to unite in their common fight against Turkey-backed militant groups. Syria has faced resistance from Turkish forces allied to rebels in its northeast. Pope tests negative for coronavirus, Italy report says

Pope Francis, who canceled a Lent retreat for the first time in his papacy because he is suffering from a cold, has tested negative for coronavirus, the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero reported on Tuesday. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said he had no immediate comment on the report. The 83-year-old Roman Catholic leader, who had part of one lung removed because of an illness decades ago, also canceled most audiences last week. Wash your hands, Iran's Khamenei says, as coronavirus toll rises

Iran's Supreme Leader Aytollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday that Iranians should follow the recommendations of authorities to prevent the spread of coronavirus, as the deputy health minister reported more infections and a higher death toll of 77. Iran has had the highest number of deaths from the coronavirus outside China, where the virus originated. Turkey shoots down Syrian warplane as fighting escalates

Turkey shot down a Syrian government warplane on Tuesday over northwest Syria, where fighting has intensified in recent weeks as Turkish forces have intervened in the battle over the last remaining area under rebel control. It was the third Syrian warplane Turkey has shot down since Sunday in an escalating campaign against President Bashar al-Assad's forces that threatens to bring NATO-member Turkey into direct confrontation with Assad's superpower ally Russia. Lesbos, once a Nobel peace contender, hardens its heart against migrants

"Go away, go," a smartly dressed Greek woman in sunglasses and a black leather jacket shouted in English at about 40 migrants in a dinghy bobbing near the small harbor. A headscarfed woman in the boat waved her forefinger, a baby on board wailed. In an ugly standoff, which continued for about an hour on Sunday, about 20 locals on the Greek island of Lesbos jeered the migrants and kept pushing their dinghy away from the quay. Greek army, police on high alert along Turkey border after migrant clashes

Greek troops and riot police remained on high alert on Tuesday along the land border between Greece and Turkey, the main flashpoint in an escalating row between the EU and Ankara over how to deal with a new wave of migrants and refugees. Some 10,000 migrants have been trying to breach the border since Turkey said last Thursday it would no longer uphold a 2016 accord with the European Union to keep refugees on its territory in return for billions of euros in aid. Relief operations in Syria's Idlib overwhelmed: U.N. official

Relief operations to meet the needs of nearly 1 million people who fled recent fighting in northwest Syria's Idlib have been overwhelmed, the U.N. aid chief said on Tuesday as the United States and Britain pledged to step up aid efforts. While Syrian government forces fought Turkey-backed rebels in Idlib, U.S. and U.N. officials visited Turkey's Hatay border province to view efforts to cope with one of the biggest humanitarian crises of Syria's nine-year civil war. World finance officials plot 'powerful and timely' response to beat coronavirus

Group of Seven officials will discuss ways to bolster their economies against the impact of the spreading coronavirus outbreak on Tuesday, but are not expected to call for new spending or coordinated interest rate cuts, a G7 official said. G7 finance ministers and central bank governors were due to hold a conference call at 1200 GMT to discuss the outbreak. But according to the official, who declined to be identified, a statement they are crafting does not detail any fiscal or monetary steps.