Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Catalan parliament passes motion against monarchy

Catalonia's regional parliament on Friday passed a non-binding motion condemning the monarchy in the wake of the abrupt departure abroad by Spain's former king Juan Carlos amid a cloud of scandals. Three separatist parties, which hold a majority of seats in the parliament, voted in favor of the motion which criticized the decision of Juan Carlos to go into exile. The separatists do not recognize King Felipe VI, the serving monarch.

U.S. imposes sanctions on Hong Kong's Lam, other officials over crackdown

The United States on Friday imposed sanctions on Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam, the territory's current and former police chiefs and eight other top officials for what Washington says is their role in curtailing political freedoms in the territory. The sanctions were imposed under an executive order President Donald Trump signed last month to punish China for its moves against dissent in Hong Kong and are the latest dramatic action by his administration against Beijing in the run-up to his November re-election bid.

Exclusive: Germany and France quit WHO reform talks amid tension with Washington - sources

France and Germany have quit talks on reforming the World Health Organization in frustration at attempts by the United States to lead the negotiations, despite its decision to leave the WHO, three officials told Reuters. The move is a setback for President Donald Trump as Washington, which holds the rotating chair of the G7, had hoped to issue a common roadmap for a sweeping overhaul of the WHO in September, two months before the U.S. presidential election.

Air India repatriation flight crash-lands, at least 17 killed

At least 17 people were killed and more than 100 injured when an Air India Express passenger plane repatriating Indians stranded by the COVID-19 pandemic overshot the runway in heavy rain near the southern city of Kozhikode on Friday, officials said. The Boeing-737 flight from Dubai to Calicut International Airport was carrying 190 passengers and crew, the civil aviation ministry said in a statement. Among them were 10 infants.

Lebanon sees possible 'external interference' in port blast

Lebanon's president said on Friday its investigation into the biggest blast in Beirut's history would examine whether it was caused by a bomb or other external interference, as residents sought to rebuild shattered homes and lives. Rescuers sifted rubble in a race to find anyone still alive after Tuesday's port explosion that killed 154 people, injured 5,000, destroyed a swathe of the Mediterranean city and sent seismic shockwaves around the region.

Palestinian woman killed in West Bank as Israelis, Palestinians clash

A Palestinian women was shot dead in the West Bank where Israeli soldiers clashed with Palestinians on Friday, Palestinian medical officials said. Palestinian officials said Israeli troops had shot the 23-year-old.

Latam calls grow louder to delay regional bank vote, in setback for Trump pick

Support grew in Latin America on Friday for a move to delay the election of a new president for the region's leading development finance lender, a potential setback for U.S. President Donald Trump's divisive pick to lead the institution. The U.S. candidate, Mauricio Claver-Carone, a Trump adviser known for his hard-line stance on Venezuela and Cuba, is the current favorite to win the top spot at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which is set to hold a vote on the matter next month.

EU drops Morocco from safe country travel list

The European Union removed Morocco from its safe list of countries from which the bloc allows non-essential travel, after a review by EU ambassadors on Friday. The move leaves 10 countries on the new list, which takes effect August 8, after the EU also excluded Algeria last week.

State Department: We're responsible for Russian, Iranian text message campaign

The U.S. State Department said on Friday that it was responsible for a text message campaign that left a trail of confusion and ridicule across Russia and Iran. In an email, a spokesperson for the department said the unsolicited text messages - which promoted a multimillion dollar bounty for information about cyber threats to the upcoming U.S. election - were aimed at building awareness internationally.

Honduran party clamors for convicted money launderer to run for president

A former Honduran presidential candidate who confessed to laundering drug money arrived in his home country on Friday afternoon, after serving a three-year sentence in a U.S. prison. Some members of former minister Yani Rosenthal's opposition Liberal Party said he should run in the November 2021 election.