World News in Brief: February 20

Belarus' Defence Ministry said Russia and Belarus would extend joint military exercises that had been due to end on Sunday, because of increased military activity near the borders of Russia and Belarus and an escalation of the situation in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass.

Saudi Arabia is committed to working with its OPEC+ partners to ensure energy-market stability, the country's foreign minister said on Saturday, adding this required the participation of all members.
Saudi Arabia is committed to working with its OPEC+ partners to ensure energy-market stability, the country's foreign minister said on Saturday, adding this required the participation of all members.

* Russia's strategic nuclear forces held exercises overseen by President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, and Washington accused Russian troops massed near Ukraine's border of advancing and being "poised to strike".

* Western countries repeatedly predicting dates for a Russian invasion of Ukraine is provocative and can have adverse consequences, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency on Sunday.

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday he had an "urgent" phone conversation with the French President Emmanuel Macron and discussed possible ways of immediate de-escalation and political-diplomatic settlement in eastern Ukraine.

* The World Bank Group on Saturday said it is readying a 350 million USD disbursement to Ukraine that the group's board will consider by the end of March as part of a plan for short- and long-term financing for the country.

* French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday, urging him to agree to a deal to revive a 2015 nuclear agreement, the Elysee said.

* Malta will hold a general election on March 26, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday, adding that he would ask the president to dissolve parliament.

* Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Saturday Lebanon must offer stronger signals that it is serious about reform to secure support from the international community as it struggles with a financial crisis.

* China reported 195 new COVID-19 cases in the mainland for Feb. 19, up from 137 cases a day earlier, the health authority said on Sunday. As of Saturday, mainland China had 107,707 confirmed coronavirus infections, while the COVID-19 death toll remained at 4,636, it said.

* US health regulators are looking at authorizing a potential fourth dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the fall, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

* Canadian police on Sunday are making possibly the final push to clear the capital city of demonstrators who have paralyzed it by parking and camping on the streets for more than three weeks to protest against pandemic restrictions.

* Italy reported 50,534 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, against 53,662 the day before, the health ministry said, while the number of deaths fell to 252 from 314.

* Britain wants to retain the capability to spot new coronavirus variants but it must stop spending so heavily on free testing as cases and fatalities fall, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.

* Mexico's health ministry reported 470 new confirmed deaths from COVID-19, according to data released on Saturday, bringing the official death toll since the pandemic began to 315,525.

* Around 155,000 British homes were still without power late on Saturday after Storm Eunice knocked more than 1.3 million households off the grid the day before, energy companies said.

* A passenger who was missing after a blaze swept through a ferry sailing from Greece to Italy has been found alive, a Greek shipping ministry official said on Sunday, leaving another 11 people unaccounted for.

Reuters