Reuters World News Summary

The move comes after leftist President Xiomara Castro implemented a partial state of emergency last December in pockets of the country's largest cities, led mainly by members of the police. Russia's Lavrov: West trying to drive a wedge between Moscow, Beijing The West is trying to drive a wedge between Russia and China by talking about their unequal relations and Moscow's dependence on Beijing, Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

North Korea slams U.S. for protecting raiders of Spain embassy in 2019 case

North Korea criticized the U.S. for refusing to extradite a man who was accused of staging a break-in at North Korea's embassy in Spain in 2019, saying Washington was protecting terrorism, state media KCNA reported on Tuesday. The North Korean embassy in Madrid issued a statement marking the fourth anniversary of the raid, during which a group of men bound and gagged staff for hours before driving off with computers and other devices.

Brazil envoy met Putin to push Ukraine peace talks - CNN Brasil

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sent his top foreign policy adviser to speak to Russian leader Vladimir Putin about potential peace talks to end the war in Ukraine, CNN Brasil reported on Monday. "It would be an exaggeration to say the doors are open (to peace talks), but it's not true to say they are totally closed," the envoy Celso Amorim told CNN Brasil in an interview published on its website.

Ukraine mocks Russian claim to have taken Bakhmut, says attacks repelled

Kyiv scorned Russian claims to have captured eastern Bakhmut on Monday, saying its foes had raised a victory flag over "some kind of toilet" and that Ukrainian forces had repelled nearly 20 attacks along the city's front line in the last 24 hours. The battle for the mining city and logistics hub of Bakhmut has been one of the bloodiest of the conflict, now in its second year, with many casualties on both sides and the city largely destroyed by bombardments.

Belize reaffirms ties with Taipei as Taiwanese president visits

The prime minister of Belize gave Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen a welcome diplomatic boost during her visit on Monday, underlining his nation's support for Taiwan after rival China gained a new regional ally last month. Tsai's visit comes a week after Honduras severed diplomatic relations with Taipei in favor of Beijing amid heightened U.S.-China tensions. China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory with no right to state-to-state ties, a position Taipei strongly rejects.

Russian charged with war crimes may brief U.N. Security Council

Russia's commissioner for children's rights, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges, is likely to brief an informal meeting of the U.N. Security Council this week, according to a note seen by Reuters on Monday. Russia, which holds the monthly rotating presidency of the 15-member body for April, told council members in a note that it plans to hold an informal meeting on Wednesday on Ukraine, focused on "evacuating children from conflict zone."

Brazil creates rights medal named after Black writer, replacing princess

Brazil's leftist government on Monday abolished a human rights medal that former far-right President Jair Bolsonaro had named after the daughter of the country's last monarch, replacing it with a prize named after a Black writer and abolitionist. The medal will now be named after Luiz Gama, who was a leader of the movement to abolish slavery in Brazil in the 19th Century.

U.S. says it cannot confirm China collected real-time data from spy balloon

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration said on Monday it could not confirm reports that China was able to collect real-time data from a spy balloon as it flew over sensitive military sites earlier this year, saying analysis was still ongoing. NBC News on Monday reported that the Chinese balloon was able to transmit data back to Beijing in real time despite the U.S. government's efforts to prevent it from doing so -- a disclosure that could deepen Republican criticism of Biden for waiting for the balloon to reach a safe location before shooting it down.

Honduras deploys hundreds of military agents to fight crime

Honduras' government deployed soldiers across the country as part of a plan to fight criminal groups, authorities said Monday, with official images showing hundreds of soldiers being commissioned for the project. The move comes after leftist President Xiomara Castro implemented a partial state of emergency last December in pockets of the country's largest cities, led mainly by members of the police.

Russia's Lavrov: West trying to drive a wedge between Moscow, Beijing

The West is trying to drive a wedge between Russia and China by talking about their unequal relations and Moscow's dependence on Beijing, Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published on Tuesday. Lavrov, speaking to the Argumenty i Fakty news website, also said the European Union's hostile stand towards Moscow means it had "lost" Russia. And Moscow intended to deal with Europe in a tough manner if necessary, he said.

Jailed WSJ reporter in Russia files appeal as US pushes for his release

American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested and charged with espionage in Russia last week, has appealed against his pre-trial detention through his lawyers, as Washington said it was "pushing hard" to secure his release. A Moscow court last Thursday remanded the Wall Street Journal reporter in pre-trial detention until May 29 on charges that carry a prison term of up to 20 years.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)