Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

South Korea seeks 'speedy resumption' of U.S.-North Korea nuclear talks

South Korea's foreign minister called on Monday for a quick resumption of stalled U.S.-North Korean nuclear talks, adding that her government stood ready to engage with Pyongyang to facilitate dialogue. Kang Kyung-wha, addressing the U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament, said the goal remained complete denuclearisation on the divided Korean peninsula.

'Namaste Trump': Modi holds huge rally for president's visit

Donald Trump was cheered by more than 100,000 Indians at the opening of the world's largest cricket stadium on Monday, promising "an incredible trade deal" and "the most feared military equipment on the planet" at his biggest rally abroad. Indians wore cardboard Trump masks and "Namaste Trump" hats to welcome the U.S. president at the huge new Motera stadium in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own political homeland, the western city of Ahmedabad.

Australia under 'unprecedented' threat from foreign interference: spy chief

Australia is under an "unprecedented" threat of foreign espionage and interference, one of the country's most senior spy chiefs said on Monday. In a rare speech, Mike Burgess, Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) said a range of nations are seeking to influence lawmakers, government officials, media figures, business leaders and academics.

Merkel's crisis-hit CDU sets April 25 congress to pick new leader: sources

Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats will convene a special congress on April 25 to pick a new leader, participants at a meeting of top CDU officials said on Monday as they sought to resolve a crisis shaking the party's hold on power. The meeting took on added urgency after voters handed the CDU its worst result in a state vote in Hamburg on Sunday, punishing it for flirting with the far right in an eastern state and driving it into a messy leadership battle.

Malaysian politics in turmoil amid new coalition talk

The fate of Malaysia's ruling coalition hung in doubt on Monday after surprise weekend talks between Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's party and other groups on forming a new government that would exclude his anointed successor Anwar Ibrahim. The tussle between old rivals Mahathir, 94, and Anwar, 72, has shaped Malaysian politics for decades and tension has persisted, despite their alliance to win 2018 elections based on a promise that Mahathir would one day cede power to Anwar.

A police raid, viral videos and the broken lives of Nigerian gay law suspects

The 57 men stumbled out of the back of a dark police truck into the glare of a sunny courtyard and a phalanx of cameras. Some clutched another's hand, as if for comfort. They lined up on wooden benches in the dirt, almost all of them trying to hide their faces, and not succeeding. Standing behind a bank of microphones, the Lagos state police commissioner, Imohimi Edgal, told the gathered journalists that he personally had ordered the raid that swept up the men after the authorities received a tipoff that young men were being initiated into a "homosexual club."

New coronavirus cases rise in Italy, Korea and Iran but fall in China

Italy, South Korea and Iran reported sharp rises in coronavirus infections on Monday, triggering concern from the World Health Organization (WHO), but China relaxed some curbs on movement, including in Beijing, as the rate of new infections there eased. The virus has put Chinese cities into lockdown, disrupted air traffic to the workshop of the world and blocked global supply chains for everything from cars and car parts to smartphones.

Julian Assange put lives at risk, lawyer for United States says

Julian Assange is wanted for crimes that put at risk the lives of people in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan who had helped the West, said a lawyer acting for the United States in its bid to extradite the 48-year-old. Almost a decade since his WikiLeaks website enraged Washington by leaking secret U.S. documents, a clean-shaven Assange appeared before an extradition hearing at London's Woolwich Crown Court to confirm his name and age.

British spies deny withholding intelligence from interior minister

British intelligence took the unusual step on Monday of denying a newspaper report that the main domestic spy agency, MI5, had withheld information from the interior minister because some spies did not trust her. The Sunday Times reported that the Security Service, known as MI5, did not trust Home Secretary Priti Patel and so had reduced the volume of intelligence they showed to her.

At talks, Libyan government demands Haftar forces withdraw

Libya's government took a firm position at peace talks in Switzerland on Monday, demanding that renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar withdraw from the ramparts of the capital and describing him as a "war criminal". The internationally recognized government nearly walked out of talks last week aimed at creating a ceasefire in Tripoli, which eastern commander Haftar has been trying to capture. The government blamed Haftar's forces for shelling Tripoli's port shortly after the talks got under way.