Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Israel’s Netanyahu urges Beirut neighborhood to ‘act now’ on alleged Hezbollah arms depot

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday accused Lebanon’s Hezbollah of storing weapons near a gas company in a residential Beirut neighborhood, but the Iran-backed movement denied it. Speaking in a video to the United Nations General Assembly, pre-recorded due to the coronavirus pandemic, Netanyahu warned the depot in the Jnah neighbourhood was “where the next explosion could take place”. Global coronavirus deaths rise above ‘mind-numbing’ million

The global coronavirus death toll surpassed a million on Tuesday, according to a Reuters tally, a bleak statistic in a pandemic that has devastated the global economy, overloaded health systems and turned daily life upside down. The number of COVID-19 deaths this year is now double the number of people who die annually from malaria – and the death rate has increased in recent weeks as infections surge in several countries. UK’s Brexit treaty override powers approved by parliament’s lower house

Britain’s House of Commons approved legislation on Tuesday that gives ministers the power to break its divorce deal with the European Union, despite the threat of legal action from Brussels and unrest within the governing Conservative Party. The UK Internal Market Bill, which ministers acknowledge breaks international law, was approved by 340 votes to 256 and now passes to the House of Lords for debate. Fighting continues in Nagorno-Karabakh: Azeri defence ministry

Fighting has continued overnight between Azerbaijan and its ethnic Armenian mountain enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azeri defence ministry said on Tuesday, in the fiercest round of the decades-old conflict in more than a quarter of a century. The ministry said in a statement that the opposing forces attempted to recover lost ground by launching counterattacks in the directions of Fuzuli, Cebrayil, Agdere and Terter. North Korea tells U.N. that now it has ‘effective war deterrent’ it will focus on economy

North Korea has a “reliable and effective war deterrent for self-defense” and will now focus on developing its economy, North Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Kim Song said on Tuesday, though he acknowledged that international sanctions were a hindrance. Addressing the U.N. General Assembly, Kim also said the “anti-epidemic situation in our country is now under safe and stable control” as a result of measures taken to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus. North Korea has said it has no confirmed cases, though some U.S. officials have cast doubt on that claim. Britain and Canada impose sanctions on Belarus leader Lukashenko

Britain and Canada imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Tuesday on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, his son and other senior officials, accusing their government of rigging an election and committing violence against protesters. The sanctions were the first to be implemented by major Western powers over the crisis in Belarus, a close Russian ally. There was no immediate announcement from United States, which sources had said last week was planning to coordinate a joint announcement with its two big English-speaking allies. Pompeo to visit Japan, South Korea, Mongolia next week -U.S. State Department

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Japan, South Korea and Mongolia between Oct. 4 and 8, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday. “On October 6 in Tokyo, Secretary Pompeo will participate in the second meeting of the Quad Foreign Ministers of Australia, India, and Japan,” the State Department said in a statement. Kuwait mourns Emir Sheikh Sabah, veteran defender of Arab unity

Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah died on Tuesday aged 91, plunging his country into mourning for a leader regarded by many Gulf Arabs as a savvy diplomatic operator and a humanitarian champion. The cabinet announced his brother and designated successor Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah as the new ruler in a statement read on state television. The parliamentary speaker tweeted that Sheikh Nawaf, 83, would be sworn in on Wednesday. U.S. ‘outraged’ by rocket attack in Baghdad -state department

The United States is “outraged” by Monday’s rocket attack in the Iraqi capital Baghdad that killed five civilians https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN26J2LD, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday, urging Iraqi authorities to take immediate action to hold the perpetrators accountable. On Monday three children and two women were killed when two militia rockets hit a family home, the Iraqi military said. Police sources said Baghdad airport was the intended target. North Korea says ‘faults’ found in anti-epidemic work amid controversy over slain South Korean

North Korea has discovered unspecified “faults” in its anti-epidemic measures, state media said on Wednesday, amid controversy over the death of a South Korean man whom Pyongyang said was killed to prevent the coronavirus. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un convened a meeting of the ruling Worker’s Party’s powerful politburo on Tuesday to review its anti-COVID-19 measures and discuss ways to improve them, the official KCNA news agency said.