Reuters World News Summary

After Pompeo criticism, Vatican asserts right to go its own way on China The Vatican's number two said on Thursday after talks with Mike Pompeo that the two sides' positions on China remained far apart and firmly asserted the Holy See's right to pursue an accord with Beijing denounced by the U.S. Secretary of State.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Thousands of U.S.-bound migrants cross into Guatemala without authorization

Over 2,000 Central American migrants heading to the United States from Honduras barged past armed Guatemalan security troops at the border on Thursday, as they sought to escape poverty exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, caravan members, many wearing face masks, began gathering near the Guatemalan border at 6.30am. By mid-day more than 2,000 migrants had crossed without authorization, said Guatemalan officials, who expressed concern about contagion. Lebanon asks Interpol to arrest Russian ship captain, owner over port explosion

Lebanon has asked Interpol to issue arrest warrants for the Russian captain and owner of the ship that brought the explosive material that detonated at Beirut port in August, killing nearly 200 people, state media reported on Thursday. About two months after the explosion that injured thousands and ravaged the Lebanese capital, questions remain about why and how the cargo was abandoned in Beirut. Exclusive: Russian operation masqueraded as right-wing news site to target U.S. voters - sources

The Russian group accused of meddling in the 2016 U.S. election has posed as an independent news outlet to target right-wing social media users ahead of this year's vote, two people familiar with an FBI probe into the activity told Reuters. The latest operation centred around a pseudo media organisation called the Newsroom for American and European Based Citizens (NAEBC), which was run by people associated with the St. Petersburg-based Internet Research Agency, the sources said. China's U.S. envoy says U.S.-China relations must be put on right track

China's ambassador to Washington said on Thursday that China's relations with the United States were facing "severe difficulties" and the two countries should lose no time in putting them on the right track. Ambassador Cui Tiankai told a virtual ceremony to mark China's National Day that Beijing was willing to develop relations with Washington with "goodwill and sincerity." Human rights lawyers sue Trump administration over 'unconstitutional' ICC sanctions

Human rights lawyers launched a legal challenge on Thursday to U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order imposing economic sanctions on employees of the world's permanent war crimes tribunal, arguing it breaches the U.S. constitution. A filing lodged at a district court in New York by the Open Society Justice Initiative, a public interest law centre that specialises in war crimes cases, names Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and seven other members of his administration. EU leaders win agreement for sanctions on Belarus

EU leaders overcame a diplomatic stalemate on Friday to agree sanctions on Belarus at a summit after a long evening of talks, assuring Cyprus the bloc would stand firm on Turkey for its oil and gas drilling in the Mediterranean. The agreement to sanction some 40 Belarus officials accused of rigging an Aug. 9 presidential election allows the EU to make good on its promise to support pro-democracy protesters in Minsk and regain some credibility after weeks of delays. After Pompeo criticism, Vatican asserts right to go its own way on China

The Vatican's number two said on Thursday after talks with Mike Pompeo that the two sides' positions on China remained far apart and firmly asserted the Holy See's right to pursue an accord with Beijing denounced by the U.S. Secretary of State. Pompeo met Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Foreign Minister Archbishop Paul Gallagher on Thursday on a visit to Rome marked by Vatican irritation over Pompeo's public criticism of a Holy See accord with Beijing on the appointment of bishops. Turkey rebuffs Russia, France and U.S. over Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire moves

The presidents of France, Russia and the United States called on Thursday for an immediate ceasefire between Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenian forces around Nagorno-Karabakh, but Turkey said the three big powers should have no role in peace moves. France, Russia and the United States are co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Minsk Group, set up in 1992 to mediate in the decades-old conflict over the mountainous enclave in the South Caucasus. Kremlin says Navalny works with CIA after he accuses Putin of poisoning

The Kremlin on Thursday accused opposition politician Alexei Navalny of working with the CIA after Navalny said he believed President Vladimir Putin was behind the suspected poisoning that put him in a coma in Germany. The accusation from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov appears to be the first time the Russian authorities have directly accused Putin's highest-profile critic of working with a foreign intelligence agency. U.S. defense chief's rare Algeria visit points to Sahel region threats

U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper made a rare visit to Algeria on Thursday for talks with the president about war-torn Libya and the troubled Sahel region to the south of the Sahara. Both countries are alarmed by the threat posed by Islamist militant groups in North Africa and the Sahel, and Algeria is weighing a more active military role against them outside its own borders.

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