Following is a summary of current world news briefs.
Putin: Meeting with British PM could be step to moving past Skripal row
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a published interview he believed his meeting with Britain's Theresa May at the G20 summit this week could help repair relations after the poisonng of a former Russian spy on British soil. He said that the incident was an issue between intelligence agencies and should not be allowed to damage relations and economic interests shared by Britain and Russia.
U.S. churches, some immigration officers denounce sending asylum seekers to Mexico
U.S. faith leaders on Thursday expressed outrage over a Trump administration policy that sends asylum seekers to some of Mexico's most violent cities, echoing U.S. asylum officers who said the program was contrary to America's "moral fabric." In an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump and other political leaders, a coalition of evangelical churches said it was "deeply troubled" by a policy it said left children vulnerable to violence and trafficking, as well as by reports of "inhumane" conditions in U.S. federal immigration facilities.
Iran on course to exceed nuclear pact limit within days: diplomats
Iran is on course to breach a threshold in its nuclear agreement with world powers within days by accumulating more enriched uranium than permitted, although it has not done so yet, diplomats said, citing the latest data from U.N. inspectors. France, one of the European powers caught in the middle in an escalating confrontation between Washington and Tehran, said it would ask U.S. President Donald Trump to suspend some sanctions on Iran to allow negotiations to defuse the crisis.
'We only want to sell our oil,' Iran official says before nuclear talks
Iran's main demand in talks aimed at saving its nuclear deal is to be able to sell its oil at the same levels that it did before Washington withdrew from the accord a year ago, an Iranian official said on Thursday. Iran is threatening to go over the maximum amount of enriched uranium it is allowed under the deal in retaliation for crippling U.S. economic sanctions imposed in the past year. It is just days away from that limit, diplomats say, and going over it could unravel the accord.
Rescue ship's captain accuses European states of abandoning migrants
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The captain of rescue ship Sea-Watch 3 said on Thursday European states have no interest in finding a political solution for the 42 migrants aboard her vessel, now positioned off the Italian island of Lampedusa. After 14 days stranded in international waters the captain, Carola Rackete, said she had decided to head to the Italian coast because she felt maritime emergency law permitted the ship to do so.
Germany's Merkel seen shaking for second time this month, but heads to G20
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was seen shaking as she met President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday, her second such bout within two weeks, but her spokesman said she was fine and she headed off to Japan for this weekend's G20 summit. Merkel, 64, has no history of serious health issues. She was attending a farewell ceremony for Justice Minister Katarina Barley, who is leaving to become a lawmaker in the European Parliament, when the incident occurred.
No-deal Brexit could end Japan investment boom, envoy tells UK PM rivals
Japan on Thursday cautioned the two candidates vying to replace Prime Minister Theresa May that a no-deal Brexit would be so disruptive for many companies that Japanese capital's 35-year bet on Britain could end. In an appeal to both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, Foreign Minister Taro Kono said Tokyo did not want a no-deal Brexit, that some companies were already moving out and that more investment could go.
Australia says no progress in finding student feared detained in North Korea
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday Canberra has yet to establish the whereabouts of an Australian man missing in North Korea for several days.The family of Alek Sigley said on Thursday they had not heard from the 29-year-old university student in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, since Tuesday. Australia's foreign affairs department said on Thursday it was seeking urgent clarification about reports that an Australian had been detained in North Korea.
U.S. slaps sanctions on two former Venezuelan officials
An ex-Venezuelan electricity minister and another former official at the country's electricity ministry on Thursday were placed under U.S. sanctions for corruption and charged separately for their respective roles in an alleged bribery scheme, U.S. officials said. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said it designated Luis Motta, who was sacked by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro as electricity minister in April after a series of blackouts, and Eustiquio Jose Lugo Gomez, a former deputy minister of finance at the electricity ministry.
El Salvador president says China relations fully established
El Salvador's new president said on Thursday that relations with China were complete and established, giving the strongest signal yet that the small Central American nation will not take up ties again with Taiwan. "At the moment, we have diplomatic relations with China that are complete, that are established," President Nayib Bukele said at a business conference in the capital. "We have to recognize China's status in the world."
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