Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Britain says unionist anger over Brexit deal could put Northern Ireland 'in quite a dangerous place'

Britain said on Friday that anger in Northern Ireland's unionist community over the Brexit divorce deal was serious and cautioned the European Union that such tensions could ultimately undermine stability unless properly addressed. Northern Ireland has always been the toughest issue in the Brexit divorce and just a month after the United Kingdom exited the EU, the European Commission briefly threatened to impose emergency controls on vaccines crossing the Irish land border. COVID-19 strikes Brazil's Congress as third senator dies

A third senator has died of COVID-19 in Brazil, raising questions around precautions taken in the country's Congress where as many as one-in-three lawmakers has been infected with the virus devastating Latin America's largest nation. Senator Major Olimpio, a former policeman who backed and later fell out with far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, was declared brain dead on Thursday by doctors at a Sao Paulo hospital where he had been in intensive care for three weeks. 'Tough' U.S.-China talks signal rocky start to relations under Biden

U.S. and Chinese officials concluded on Friday what Washington called "tough and direct" talks in Alaska, which laid bare the depth of tensions between the world's two largest economies at the outset of the Biden administration. The two days of meetings, the first high-level in-person talks since President Joe Biden took office, wrapped up after a rare and fiery kickoff on Thursday when the two sides publicly skewered each others' policies in front of TV cameras. Ten Iranian nationals charged with evading U.S. sanctions

U.S. prosecutors charged 10 Iranian nationals on Friday over an alleged long-running scheme to dodge U.S. sanctions on Tehran by disguising $300 million in transactions, including the purchase of two oil tankers. The eight men and two women were outside the United States and had not been arrested, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorneys Office in Los Angeles said. He declined to say if foreign governments had been asked to take them into custody. Biden steps up family expulsions as U.S.-Mexico border arrivals keep climbing

The United States is expelling migrants to Mexico far from where they are caught crossing the border, according to Reuters witnesses, in a move that circumvents the refusal of authorities in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas who stopped accepting the return of migrant families with younger children. The practice is a sign that President Joe Biden is toughening his approach to the growing humanitarian crisis on the U.S.-Mexican border after his administration's entreaties for Central American migrants to stay home have failed to stop thousands from heading north. Bolivian judge orders jailed ex-President Anez to be transferred to hospital

Bolivian former President Jeanine Anez, arrested last week over allegations she was part of a coup in 2019, will be transferred to a hospital for medical attention due to ill health after a judge's ruling, her attorney said on Friday. "We have confirmed that her health is still delicate," lawyer Ariel Coronado told Radio Compañera. U.S. and China spar over racism at United Nations

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, who is Black, clashed with her Chinese counterpart on Friday when she described her own experience with racism as a challenge, but said for millions of people in countries like China and Myanmar it was deadly. During a U.N. General Assembly meeting to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: "Racism was and continues to be a daily challenge wherever we are. And for millions, it's more than a challenge. It's deadly." Brazil government has not asked U.S. for vaccines despite Mexico, Canada deal

Brazil's government has not yet asked the United States for spare COVID-19 vaccines, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, despite Washington agreeing this week to send 4 million doses of AstraZeneca shots to Mexico and Canada. The country's Senate leader says he has requested U.S. help. Mexico rolls out steps to tighten southern border with Guatemala

Mexico has launched new measures to deter illegal crossings at its southern border with Guatemala, including posting militarized police and using drones to monitor entry points, the national migration institute (INM) said on Friday. The announcement comes after Reuters reported that Mexico was planning to beef up border enforcement along its southern reaches to stem a sharp increase in migrants illegally entering the country to head for the United States. Myanmar junta faces calls to halt bloodshed but more die in anti-coup protests

International pressure on Myanmar's military junta to halt its repression of pro-democracy protests following last month's coup increased on Friday but on the streets, security forces shot dead at least nine demonstrators in an unrelenting crackdown. Calls for dialogue and the end to the bloodshed came from several of Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbours led by Indonesia - an unusual stance in regional diplomacy.

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