Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Belarus leader looks to Putin to help him cling on to power

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus will seek the backing of Russia’s Vladimir Putin at a crucial meeting on Monday after a fifth consecutive weekend of huge protests demanding that he step down. Lukashenko, facing the gravest crisis of his 26 years in power, will travel to Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi with his fate in Putin’s hands. Venezuelan media name alleged U.S. spy arrested near refinery complex

Pro-government media in Venezuela on Sunday named an alleged U.S. spy who President Nicolas Maduro said was captured last week near the country’s largest oil refinery complex. Outlets close to the ruling Socialist Party identified the detainee as a former marine, John Heath Mattew, and said he was arrested on Thursday with three other people including a sergeant major in Venezuela’s National Guard as they drove between Falcon and Zulia states in northwestern Venezuela. Kremlin set for election wins, but Navalny supporters make rare gains in Siberia

The ruling United Russia party looked set for an array of local election wins on Sunday, but was also on course for some setbacks as stricken Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s supporters made rare gains in city politics in Siberia. The local elections were closely watched for signs of protest voting against the ruling party that backs President Vladimir Putin amid frustrations over years of falling wages and the government’s handling of the pandemic. ‘Shocking’: Blair, Major chide UK plan to breach international law

Former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major on Sunday said Britain must drop a “shocking” plan to pass legislation that breaks its divorce treaty with the European Union, in a breach of international law. The British government said explicitly last week that it plans to break international law by breaching parts of the Withdrawal Agreement treaty that it signed in January, when it formally left the EU. Turkey says U.S. needs to return to neutral stance on Cyprus

Turkey said early on Monday that the United States needed to return to a neutral stance on Cyprus, after Washington and Nicosia signed a memorandum of understanding to create a training centre. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this month that the United States would lift a 33-year arms embargo on Cyprus and deepen its security cooperation with Nicosia. Queen applauds photographers who captured lockdown Britain

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth on Monday congratulated entrants to Hold Still, a photography project launched by the Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton to capture a snapshot of the nation in coronavirus lockdown. The project received more than 30,000 submissions, from which Kate and four other judges picked 100 final images that will be published online by the National Portrait Gallery on Monday. Hungary says it will be only EU country to send minister to Israel-UAE accord signing

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto will be the only EU diplomatic leader to attend the signing ceremony on Tuesday in Washington for the Israel-United Arab Emirates peace deal, his spokesman said on Sunday. “At the invitation of U.S. President Donald Trump, as the only European Union minister, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto will also attend … the signing ceremony in the White House on Tuesday,” Mate Paczolay told Hungarian news agency MTI. Australia’s COVID-19 hotspot reports lowest one-day rise in cases in nearly three months

Australia’s second most populous state, the epicentre of the country’s coronavirus second wave, on Monday reported its lowest single-day rise in new infections in nearly three months. Officials recorded 35 new COVID-19 cases and seven deaths in Victoria, as a tight lockdown in the state capital of Melbourne was partially eased. Japan’s Suga poised to win party race, headed for premiership

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, a longtime loyal aide of outgoing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, was poised to win a ruling party leadership election on Monday, virtually ensuring that he replaces Abe this week in the nation’s top job. Suga, 71, who has said he would pursue Abe’s key economic and foreign policies, is expected to get the bulk of votes from 394 Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers and is likely to win a majority of 141 votes from the party’s local chapters. Fed-up Lesbos islanders, migrants stuck waiting for Europe to decide

Crisis-weary residents of the Greek island of Lesbos and the thousands of migrants stranded there after this week’s refugee centre fire are united by one thing – they all want to see the migrants moved off the island. Lesbos and other islands off the Turkish coast have been among the main entry points for migrants into Europe for years, peaking in 2015-16 when around a million people arrived in a seemingly endless stream of small boats.