World News Roundup: Merkel doesn't rule out sanctions on Russian gas pipeline; India overtakes Brazil as country second-worst hit by COVID-19 and more

Almost a month into mass demonstrations against the outcome of the contest, in which President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory to prolong his 26-year-old rule, the EU aims to punish the government crackdown and support calls for fresh elections.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Merkel doesn't rule out sanctions on Russian gas pipeline, spokesman says

Chancellor Angela Merkel does not rule out imposing sanctions on a pipeline set to bring Russian gas to Germany in response to the suspected poisoning of a Kremlin critic with a Soviet-style nerve agent, her chief spokesman said on Monday. Merkel is under mounting pressure from members of her conservative party to suspend the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a huge project to double Russian gas exports to Germany that is more than 90% complete and due to start operating from early 2021.

Hundreds of Belarus protesters say they were beaten by police, demand justice

Artur Khomenko, an entrepreneur from Minsk, said police officers began beating him with their fists and truncheons after they detained him on the fourth night of huge protests that have weakened Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko's grip on power. Then they pulled down his underwear and threatened to rape him with a truncheon, before beating him and making him kneel handcuffed on the floor face down for four hours, he said.

India overtakes Brazil as country second-worst hit by COVID-19

India's coronavirus infections surged past 4.2 million on Monday as it overtook Brazil to become the country with the second-highest number of cases. With 4,204,613 infections, India is nearly 70,000 cases ahead of Brazil, which will post its most recent numbers later on Monday.

Brexit back in crisis as UK threatens to undercut divorce pact

Britain's tortuous divorce from the European Union veered into fresh crisis on Monday after London signalled it could undermine the exit agreement with Brussels unless free trade terms are agreed by next month. In yet another twist to the four-year saga since Britain voted narrowly to quit the EU, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government was reportedly planning new legislation to override parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement it signed in January.

Amazon animal rescue brings hope from blazes great and small

Xita, a tiny monkey with sad brown eyes, clutches her newborn tight. Both are fighting for their lives. Vets at the Clinidog clinic in the Amazon city of Porto Velho believe the mother and baby were run over by a car as they fled fires raging across the world's largest rainforest.

Belarusian protest leader detained by unidentified people: Tut.By media report

Unidentified people detained Belarusian protest leader Maria Kolesnikova in central Minsk on Monday and drove her off in a minivan, the Belarusian Tut.By media outlet cited a witness as saying. Kolesnikova is the last of three female politicians left inside Belarus who joined forces before an Aug. 9 presidential election to try to challenge veteran incumbent Alexander Lukashenko.

Exclusive: EU to blacklist 31 Belarus senior officials over election, diplomats say

The European Union aims to impose economic sanctions on 31 senior Belarus officials including the country's interior minister by mid-September, three EU diplomats said, in response to an Aug. 9 election that the West says was rigged. Almost a month into mass demonstrations against the outcome of the contest, in which President Alexander Lukashenko claimed victory to prolong his 26-year-old rule, the EU aims to punish the government crackdown and support calls for fresh elections.

Charlie Hebdo uncowed after attacks - but now with bodyguards

More than five years after Islamist militants killed 12 of their colleagues, staff at French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo say they re-published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad to tell the world they are "still standing" - albeit with a security detail. Police officers guard the entrance to the magazine's new, bunker-like office, and some staff have bodyguards shadowing them.

Assange's legal fight to avoid U.S. espionage trial resumes in London

Julian Assange resumed his battle in a London court on Monday to avoid extradition to the United States to face criminal charges over the activities of his WikiLeaks website, after months of delay due to the coronavirus lockdown. The U.S. authorities accuse Australian-born Assange, 49, of conspiring to hack government computers and of violating an espionage law in connection with the release of confidential cables by WikiLeaks in 2010-2011.

Russian delegation holds talks with Assad as Syrian economy crumbles

Senior Russian officials held talks in Damascus on Monday with President Bashar al Assad, as the Syrian leader grapples with a crumbling economy that threatens to undermine military successes he has achieved with Moscow's help in a decade-long conflict. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived after Moscow said it would support Damascus in the face of tougher U.S. sanctions, which penalise foreign firms dealing with Syrian government entities.

(With inputs from agencies.)