Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

North Korea denies it amassed $2 billion through cyberattacks on banks

North Korea denied on Sunday allegations that it had obtained $2 billion through cyberattacks on banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, and accused the United States for spreading rumors. A United Nations report seen by Reuters last month said North Korea had used "widespread and increasingly sophisticated" cyberattacks to steal from banks and cryptocurrency exchanges, amassing $2 billion which it used to fund weapons of mass destruction programs.

Saudi-led coalition says it bombed Houthi arms site in Yemen, group says prison hit

A Saudi-led military coalition said on Sunday it had launched air strikes on Houthi military targets in southwest Yemen that Houthi-run media said had hit a prison, killing dozens of people. The Sunni Muslim coalition, which has been battling the Iran-aligned Houthi movement for more than four years in Yemen, said in a statement carried on Saudi state television that it destroyed a site storing drones and missiles in Dhamar.

Myanmar army says to punish soldiers in Rohingya atrocities probe

Myanmar's army will court-martial soldiers after a new finding in an inquiry into atrocities in Rakhine state, from which more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims fled a 2017 army-led campaign the United Nations says was executed with "genocidal intent". On Saturday, the website of Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing said a military court that visited the northern state found soldiers had shown "weakness in following instructions in some incidents" at a village said to have been a Rohingya massacre site.

Russia says U.S. strikes in Syria's Idlib put ceasefire at risk: reports

Russia's military said the United States had mounted air strikes in Syria's Idlib without forewarning Moscow or Ankara, endangering a ceasefire there, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday. The strikes without a heads-up in the "de-escalation zone" breached previous agreements and caused several casualties, TASS news agency cited the Russian defense ministry as saying.

U.S., Taliban near Afghanistan deal, fighting intensifies in north

U.S. and Taliban negotiators are close to a deal that would open the way for peace in Afghanistan, a top U.S. official said on Sunday, as the insurgents followed their weekend assault on the strategic center of Kunduz by attacking a second northern city. Zalmay Khalilzad, the Afghan-born U.S. diplomat overseeing negotiations for Washington, said he would travel to the Afghan capital of Kabul on Sunday for consultations after wrapping up the ninth round of talks with Taliban officials in Qatar.

Israeli drone dropped incendiary substance in border forest: Lebanon army

The Lebanese military said an Israeli drone, which violated Lebanon's airspace, dropped incendiary material and sparked a fire in a pine forest by the border on Sunday. The fires near the border in Lebanon "originate with operations by our forces in the area," the Israeli military said in a statement without elaborating.

Italy's Salvini issues new migrant ban as seeks to derail new coalition

Italy's outgoing interior minister, Matteo Salvini, has banned another migrant-rescue ship from docking in the country, using the issue of immigration to pile pressure on his main two political rivals as they seek to form a new government. Salvini, who leads the League party, issued a decree banning the Alan Kurdi ship, operated by the German Sea-Eye NGO, with 13 migrants abroad, from entering Italian waters, the second time in a week that he has acted to prevent rescue ships bringing migrants ashore.

Netanyahu repeats pledge to annex Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intends to annex all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, he said on Sunday, reiterating an election promise made five months ago but again giving no timeframe. Settlements are one of the most heated issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestinians have voiced fears Netanyahu could defy international consensus and move ahead with annexation with possible backing from U.S. President Donald Trump, a close ally.

Hong Kong protesters target airport in call for democracy

Thousands of protesters blocked roads and public transport links to Hong Kong airport on Sunday in a bid to draw global attention to their fight for greater democracy for the Chinese-ruled city which is facing its biggest political crisis in decades. Planes were taking off and landing, with delays, but trains were suspended and approach roads to the airport impassable as protesters erected barricades and overturned trolleys at the airport and in the nearby new town of Tung Chung.

UK lawmakers opposed to no-deal Brexit to bring forward legislation

British lawmakers opposed to no-deal Brexit will attempt to pass a law this week to stop Prime Minister Boris Johnson allowing Britain to crash out of the European Union on October 31, the opposition Labour Party's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said. Senior minister Michael Gove, however, refused to guarantee the government would abide by any such legislation, saying it needed to see what it said.