Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Kuwait looks at Iran's threats to block Strait of Hormuz 'with concern'

Kuwait is looking at Iranian threats to block the Strait of Hormuz with concern, the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) on Sunday quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah as saying. KUNA said Jarallah was commenting on tensions in the region after Iran's Revolutionary Guards made a threat to close the strategic waterway. "We are looking at these threats with concern, and hoping as always to distance our region from this tension," KUNA quoted him as saying.

Arabs in Syria's Deir al-Zor protest against ruling Kurdish militia: residents

Arabs in Syria's Deir al-Zor have stepped up protests against the U.S.-allied Kurdish militia that controls the oil-rich province after seizing it from Islamic State, residents, protesters and tribal chiefs said on Sunday. Starting five days ago, they said demonstrations against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) had taken place in a string of towns, from Busayrah to Shuhail, in a strategic oil belt in the heart of Arab tribal territory, east of the Euphrates River.

Libyan forces push back against Haftar in house-to-house battles

Forces backing Libya's internationally recognized government fought house-to-house battles with troops loyal to commander Khalifa Haftar in southern parts of the capital Tripoli on Sunday and appeared to be gaining ground. Government soldiers, some in jeans and t-shirts, took cover by abandoned buildings as they fired on Haftar's positions. Some carried anti-aircraft guns they had to remove from their trucks to get through the narrow streets.

Guaido cancels western Venezuela rally after 'dictatorship' blocks route

The leader of Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly, Juan Guaido, canceled a rally scheduled to be held in the country's fourth-largest city on Sunday and said the "dictatorship" had prevented him from entering. Guaido has traveled outside the capital, Caracas, more and more in recent weeks to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to step down. In January, he invoked the constitution to assume an interim presidency, arguing Maduro's 2018 re-election was illegitimate.

U.S. envoy signed North Korea document to pay for Warmbier's care: Bolton

The United States signed a document agreeing to pay North Korea for the care of American Otto Warmbier but never paid the $2 million Pyongyang demanded, White House national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday. Bolton, who said he was not part of the administration at the time, confirmed newspaper reports that North Korea demanded the money before Warmbier was flown out of Pyongyang in a coma on June 13, 2017.

Sri Lanka raids headquarters of hardline Islamist group suspected in church bombings

Sri Lankan police raided the headquarters of a hardline Islamist group founded by the suspected ringleader behind the Easter suicide bombings of churches and hotels, a Reuters witness said, as Sunday mass was canceled due to fears of further attacks. Armed police in the town of Kattankudy searched the headquarters of the National Thawheedh Jamaath (NTJ) and detained one man at the premises, a Reuters reporter at the scene said. Police did not comment.

Map of landmines: How Brexit might help the Scottish independence quest

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's plans to lead her nation to independence from the United Kingdom have been muddled by Brexit, but the whirlwind at the center of British politics may yet advance her cause. Brexit has disrupted British politics not least because, while the United Kingdom as a whole voted to leave the European Union in a 2016 referendum, the populations of two of its four nations - Scotland and Northern Ireland - voted to stay.

Spanish voters put Socialists in pole position to regain power

Spain's Socialist prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, emerged from inconclusive elections on Sunday with a strong chance to regain power, though he faces weeks or even months of negotiations to assemble a government from a deeply divided new parliament. In one of the country's most hotly contested elections in decades, the rise of nationalist party Vox split the right-wing vote, echoing fragmented parliaments across Europe where traditional groups have ceded to anti-establishment upstarts.

Britons opt for non-EU holidays in face of Brexit impasse: Thomas Cook

British holidaymakers are favoring destinations outside the European Union after repeated delays to Brexit discouraged travelers from booking early and prompted them to look further afield, travel firm Thomas Cook said on Monday. Turkey and Tunisia are among the biggest beneficiaries from the trend towards non-EU bookings, the firm said in a report, with demand for both recovering after security concerns curbed bookings in recent years.

Iran says leaving nuclear treaty one of many options after U.S. sanctions move

Iran said on Sunday it could quit a treaty against the spread of nuclear weapons after the United States tightens sanctions, while an Iranian general said the U.S. Navy was interacting as before with an elite military unit blacklisted by Washington. Tensions between Tehran and Washington have risen since the Trump administration withdrew last year from a 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and began ratcheting up sanctions.