Following is a summary of current world news briefs. After months of heartache, signs of COVID-19 easing in Brazil

Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll appears to be easing for the first time since May, data shows, a sign the Latin American country could be descending from a long infection plateau that has seen it suffer the world’s second-worst outbreak after the United States. With nearly 4 million confirmed cases, the virus has killed over 120,000 people in Brazil. But the level of average daily deaths dropped below 900 per day last week – the lowest in three and a half months and below the rate of both the United States and India, according to a Reuters tally. Twitter account of India PM Modi’s personal website apparently hacked

A Twitter account of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal website appeared to be hacked early on Thursday with a series of tweets requesting its followers to donate to a relief fund through cryptocurrency, which was subsequently taken down. Twitter did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Modi’s office also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the tweets posted on the account narendramodi_in. Putin critic Navalny was poisoned with Novichok nerve agent, Merkel says

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, who is in intensive care in a Berlin hospital, was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent in an attempt to murder him, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday. She said Berlin now expected Moscow to explain itself and that Germany would consult its NATO allies about how to respond, raising the prospect of new Western sanctions on Russia, sending Russian asset prices tumbling. Italy’s former PM Berlusconi tests positive for coronavirus

Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi vowed to carry on with political activities ahead of local elections in September after testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. “Unfortunately, this too has happened to me, but I carry on fighting,” Berlusconi was quoted by his staff as telling supporters during a video meeting. Belarus to hit Baltics with sanctions, Russia steps up support

Belarus will impose travel bans on senior officials in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in retaliation for measures targeting its own officials, the foreign minister said on Wednesday, as Russia stepped up support for the Belarusian government. More than three weeks after a political crisis erupted in Belarus over allegations of vote rigging in a presidential election which incumbent Alexander Lukashenko said he had won, Minsk and close ally Moscow are pushing back hard against Lukashenko’s domestic and foreign critics. Stop or suspend West Bank annexation? Devil in the detail for Israel-UAE deal

A difference between English and Arabic versions of a trilateral statement after an historic flight from Israel to the UAE has been seized upon by Palestinians to suggest the Gulf state has overstated Israeli readiness to drop West Bank annexation plans. The English version of a joint communiqué by the United Arab Emirates, Israel and the United States in Abu Dhabi on Monday said the accord had “led to the suspension of Israel’s plans to extend its sovereignty”. Swedes confidence in PM’s handling of coronavirus crisis declining, poll shows

Confidence in the way Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven and his government have handled the coronavirus pandemic has dropped sharply over the last three months, a poll in daily Dagens Nyheter showed on Wednesday. Sweden has followed its own path in fighting the coronavirus, rejecting a strict lockdown and relying mainly on voluntary measures focused on social distancing. Most schools and many businesses have remained open. U.S. blacklists ICC prosecutor over Afghanistan war crimes probe

The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, over her investigation into whether American forces committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Pompeo also said Phakiso Mochochoko, the head of the ICC’s Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division, had also been blacklisted under sanctions authorized by President Donald Trump in June that allow for asset freezes and travel bans. Britain to fund expansion of rapid COVID-19 test trials

Britain is putting 500 million pounds ($666 million) into trials of rapid COVID-19 tests and into population-testing for the disease, the health ministry said on Thursday. Health minister Matt Hancock has said he hopes mass testing using faster COVID-19 tests can be rolled out towards the end of the year, adding that they are key to restoring freedoms after months of COVID-19 restrictions. Exclusive: Brazil Amazon fires likely worst in 10 years, August data incomplete, government researcher says

The official August data on the number of fires in Brazil’s Amazon needs to be corrected and will likely show an increase over last year, meaning that blazes surged to a decade high, a scientist responsible for the figures told Reuters on Wednesday. Brazilian media has reported that fires in Brazil’s section of the Amazon rainforest fell by 5% in August, citing data currently on the website of government space research agency Inpe that has not been corrected.