Reuters World News Summary

U.S. says Maduro blocking Americans from leaving Venezuela The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is blocking U.S. citizens in the country from leaving, rebuffing efforts by Washington to arrange humanitarian evacuation flights, a State Department spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. France and Germany: we can give Navalny medical care in Europe

Germany and France offered on Thursday to provide medical care on their soil for Russian opposition leader Alexander Navalny, who is gravely ill after aides said he was poisoned. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said they were deeply concerned at what was happening to Navalny, one of the fiercest critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin. U.S. moves to restore all U.N. sanctions on Iran in dispute over nuclear deal

The United States moved to restore all U.N. sanctions on Iran on Thursday, arguing Tehran was in violation of a nuclear deal it struck with world powers in 2015 even though Washington itself abandoned that agreement two years ago. The United States submitted a letter to the 15-member U.N. Security Council accusing Tehran of non-compliance, starting a 30-day clock that could lead to the "snapback" of U.N. sanctions even though remaining parties to the nuclear deal oppose this. Regional delegation to visit Mali to try to reverse coup as junta, opposition close ranks

West African countries will send a delegation to Mali in an effort to reverse a military coup, presidents from the region said, as an opposition coalition there joined the junta in rejecting foreign interference. Leaders of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) convened over the crisis on Thursday, after it suspended Mali, shut off borders and halted financial flows in response to Tuesday's overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. U.S. says Maduro blocking Americans from leaving Venezuela

The government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is blocking U.S. citizens in the country from leaving, rebuffing efforts by Washington to arrange humanitarian evacuation flights, a State Department spokeswoman said on Thursday. "We have made offers in the past that would allow U.S. citizens to leave, but all were rejected by Maduro and his cronies," the spokeswoman, Morgan Ortagus, said in an emailed statement, adding that Washington was looking at all options to ensure the secure return home of U.S. citizens. Biden on North Korea: Fewer summits, tighter sanctions, same standoff

No more "Little Rocket Man", exchanging love letters or summit pageantry. If Joe Biden is elected U.S. president, American policy toward North Korea is likely to see less emphasis on personal dealings with leader Kim Jong Un, and more focus on allies and working-level diplomacy, campaign advisers and former officials say. Latin America passes 250,000 death toll from COVID-19

The number of reported COVID-19 deaths in Latin America passed 250,000 on Thursday, as the virus continues to devastate the region that has become the worst affected in the world. The grim milestone was passed as Brazil reported 1,204 deaths from the virus in the past 24 hours, according to the country's health ministry. U.S. outraged by killing of anti-government activists in Iraq: State Department

The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it was outraged by the assassination of civil society activists in Iraq and by attacks on protesters in Baghdad and the southern city of Basra. A female activist was killed on Wednesday and three others wounded when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their car in Basra, security and health sources told Reuters. It was the third incident in the past week in which gunmen targeted an anti-government political activist. Chinese students in Australia head home as coronavirus upends study

Just a few months after arriving in Sydney for a planned two-year stay, university students Maggie Zhang and boyfriend Sunny Gu sat down to make a "pros and cons" list about life in Australia. The list was very quickly unbalanced. On the positive side, staying to complete their Masters in Commerce at the University of Sydney would keep the couple, who had met in Australia, together. Mexico to get at least 2,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik vaccine to test

Mexico will receive at least 2,000 doses of Russia's potential COVID-19 vaccine, dubbed 'Sputnik V', to test among its population, a senior Mexican government official said on Thursday. "Mexico was offered at least 2,000 doses of the vaccine to do its protocol to start testing it in Mexico, which is very good news because again we buy ourselves time," said Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard. Putin critic Navalny fights for life, aides suspect poisoning

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was fighting for his life in a Siberian hospital on Thursday after drinking tea that allies said they believe was laced with poison. If confirmed, it would be the latest in a long series of poisonings and suspected poisonings of people who have fallen out with the Kremlin, which denies settling scores with its foes by murdering them.

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