Reuters World News Summary

Lebanese president says Beirut aid should go where needed Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Saturday that international aid pledged following a massive explosion in Beirut last week that killed 178 people and made 300,000 homeless should go where it is needed.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Lebanese president says Beirut aid should go where needed

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Saturday that international aid pledged following a massive explosion in Beirut last week that killed 178 people and made 300,000 homeless should go where it is needed. In an interview with French news channel BFM TV, Aoun said all hypotheses remained open in the investigation into the blast at the port of Beirut that wrecked huge swathes of the capital. France reports another post-lockdown peak in daily COVID-19 cases

The French Health Ministry on Saturday reported 3,310 new coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, setting a new post-lockdown high for the fourth day in a row and taking the country's cumulative cases to 215,521. A total of 252 clusters were being investigated, up 17 compared with 24 hours earlier, the ministry said in a website update. Number of migrants landing in Italy more than doubles in past year

The number of migrants landing on Italy's shores has more than doubled in the last year as an economic crisis in Tunisia fuels migration in boats across the Mediterranean, Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said on Saturday. More than 21,000 people reached Italy between August 2019 and the end of July, up 148% year-on-year, the minister said, speaking at an annual Aug. 15 press conference. Battling protests, Lukashenko says Putin agreed to help security of Belarus

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he had secured a pledge from Russia to provide comprehensive assistance if needed to ensure the security of his country in a phone call with President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. The two presidents spoke as tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Minsk once again urging Lukashenko to quit and staff at the Belarusian state broadcaster BT considered joining a wave of strikes and mass protests. Japanese ship involved in Mauritius oil spill breaks apart

A Japanese bulk carrier that ran aground on a reef in Mauritius last month threatening a marine ecological disaster around the Indian Ocean island has broken apart, authorities said on Saturday. The condition of the MV Wakashio was worsening early on Saturday and it split by the afternoon, the Mauritius National Crisis Committee said. Turkey slams Biden's past call for U.S. to back Erdogan opponents

Turkey on Saturday condemned as "interventionist" comments that U.S. Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden had made in December when he advocated a new U.S. approach to the "autocrat" President Tayyip Erdogan and support for opposition parties. Biden's comments to New York Times editors resurfaced in a video that made him the most popular topic on Twitter in Turkey, where Erdogan has governed for 17 years and has good relations with U.S. President Donald Trump. Mexico needs 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses; shots could start in April

Mexico will need up to 200 million coronavirus vaccine doses, according to a senior government official, and inoculation of its 120 million inhabitants could start as early as April if clinical trials and regulatory approvals for pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca Plc go as planned. In partnership with the governments of Mexico and Argentina, AstraZeneca initially plans to produce 150 million doses in early 2021 and eventually make at least 400 million doses for distribution throughout Latin America. AstraZeneca is among those working on COVID-19 vaccine candidates now in development around the world. Trump says he probably would not participate in Putin Iran summit

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday all but dismissed Russian President Vladimir Putin's call for a summit of world leaders to discuss Iran, saying he probably would not participate. During a news conference at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, Trump also said he intended to move next week to trigger a "snapback" of sanctions on Iran at the United Nations. France asks Afghans not to free Taliban convicted of killing French citizens

France has asked the Afghan government not to include Taliban fighters convicted of killing French citizens in a prisoner release deal, the foreign ministry said on Saturday. The Afghan government has agreed to release 400 "hard-core" prisoners as part of moves towards peace talks with the Taliban militants, and an official said on Friday that 80 of these convicts had been freed so far. Iran's president says UAE made 'huge mistake' with Israel deal

The United Arab Emirates has made a "huge mistake" in reaching a deal toward normalising ties with Israel, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday in a speech furiously condemning what he called a betrayal by the Gulf state. The Iranian hardline daily Kayhan, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said "the

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