World News Roundup: Troops seize highway in northwest Syria; Dozens of Rohingya refugees missing and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Iran says Canada's complaint over Ukrainian plane crash lacks legal basis

Canada's complaint about a Ukrainian passenger plane that was mistakenly shot down by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in January has no legal basis, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday, according to Iranian media reports. "Iran's actions are based on international rules," Zarif said, according to the Khabaronline website.

China reports record daily virus death toll, but new cases fall

China reported 108 new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, a daily record, bringing the total number of people killed in the country to 1,016, but the number of new cases fell. There were 2,478 new confirmed cases on the mainland on Feb. 10, down from 3,062 on the previous day, bringing the total to 42,638, the National Health Commission said.

Britain moves to end early release of convicted terrorists

Britain will end the automatic early release of convicted terrorists under new fast-tracked legislation to be introduced to parliament on Tuesday. The legislation follows an attack earlier this month by an Islamist militant just days after he was set free half-way through his jail term, despite authorities believing he still posed a threat to the public.

Thousands of Iranians mark revolution anniversary amid peak tensions with U.S.

Tens of thousands of Iranians poured into the streets of Tehran and other cities on Tuesday morning to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, against a backdrop of escalating tensions with the United States. State TV showed video footage of rallies in at least half a dozen cities outside the capital, including Mashhad, Ahvaz and Kerman, with people holding signs that read, “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”.

Government troops seize highway in northwest Syria as Turkey-Russia talks end inconclusively

Government forces seized control of a highway in northwest Syria for the first time since 2012 on Tuesday as they pressed their campaign to eradicate the last rebel strongholds in Idlib province and the Aleppo countryside, a war monitor said. In Ankara, talks between Turkey and Russian ended without agreement on stopping clashes in which 13 Turkish soldiers have been killed in Syria in one week.

NATO willing to expand Iraqi training mission to meet Trump demand

NATO is considering an increase to its training mission in Iraq to relieve the burden on the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, senior officials and diplomats said on Tuesday. NATO and the coalition have non-combat "train-and-advise" missions which aim to develop Iraqi security forces but both are suspended over fears for regional stability after a U.S. drone strike killed a top Iranian commander in Baghdad on Jan. 3.

Indonesia says nothing to hide after no coronavirus cases detected

Indonesia is not hiding anything over the coronavirus, the health minister said on Tuesday, after some medical researchers expressed concern that cases may have gone undetected in the world's fourth most populous country. While the virus has quickly spread from China throughout much of the rest of the region and beyond, the sprawling Southeast Asian country of more than 260 million people has not recorded any cases so far.

Facebook's 'double-edged sword' in Thai carnage

Facebook celebrity doctor Parkphum Dejhutsadin said his phone suddenly started pinging on Saturday - scores of his two million followers in Thailand were desperate and they needed his help. With nowhere to turn as they cowered in a shopping mall from a rogue soldier who had already killed more than two dozen people, they looked to Facebook and other social media to send their pleas and to try to find escape.

Dozens of Rohingya refugees missing, 15 confirmed dead after boat capsizes

Dozens of Rohingya refugees were missing and 15 were confirmed dead on Tuesday after a ship carrying about 130 people capsized in the Bay of Bengal while trying to reach Malaysia, a Bangladesh coast guard official said. Rescuers had saved 73 people from the vessel, which had set sail early on Tuesday packed with refugees trying to make their way to Malaysia from camps near the resort town of Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh, said the official, Hamidul Islam.

Exclusive: Coronavirus outbreak may be over in China by April - expert

The coronavirus outbreak is hitting a peak in China this month and maybe over by April, the government's senior medical adviser said on Tuesday, in the latest assessment of an epidemic that has rattled the world. In an interview with Reuters, Zhong Nanshan, an 83-year-old epidemiologist who won fame for combating the SARS epidemic in 2003, shed tears about the doctor Li Wenliang who died last week after being reprimanded for raising the alarm.

(With inputs from agencies.)