Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Russia presses Germany for more detail on Navalny, urges ‘transparency’

The Kremlin said on Friday that it wanted dialogue with Germany over the case of opposition politician Alexei Navalny and that Russian doctors who treated him initially were much more transparent than the German doctors treating him now. Germany, where Navalny is in hospital, has said he was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent and wants the perpetrators held to account. Russia has until now not opened a criminal investigation and said there is no evidence yet of a crime. China planning building spree in Tibet as India tensions rise, sources say

China is planning a more than 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) push to accelerate infrastructure investment in Tibet, including new and previously announced projects, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The renewed push to step-up development of the remote and impoverished southwestern region signals Beijing’s intent to bolster frontier security amid heightened border tensions with India in recent months, two of the sources said. Results of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine produced antibody response: The Lancet

Russia’s “Sputnik-V” COVID-19 vaccine produced an antibody response in all participants in early-stage trials, according to results published on Friday by The Lancet medical journal that were hailed by Moscow as an answer to its critics. The results of the two trials, conducted in June-July this year and involving 76 participants, showed 100% of participants developing antibodies to the new coronavirus and no serious side effects, The Lancet said. EU to hone ‘carrot and stick’ line on Turkey, top official says

European Union leaders will decide on a “carrot and stick” approach to Turkey when they meet on Sept. 24-25, their chairman said on Friday, proposing a multi-party conference to defuse tensions in the eastern Mediterranean. European Council President Charles Michel spoke to Reuters and five other European news agencies as a stand-off over oil and gas deposits simmered between EU members Cyprus and Greece on one side and the bloc’s uneasy NATO ally Turkey on the other. Italy’s Berlusconi has pneumonia after positive coronavirus test: ANSA

Italy’s former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, in hospital after testing positive for coronavirus, has the early stages of double pneumonia, national news agency ANSA reported on Friday. Double, or bilateral, pneumonia affects both lungs and can make breathing difficult. The condition has been seen in many cases of patients hospitalized with COVID-19. ‘Never forgive, never forget’: Scarred survivor haunted by Beirut blast

In the days that followed the Beirut port explosion, Shady Rizk played a video he had taken on his phone again and again. Filmed from the balcony of his office directly opposite the port, it shows flames and smoke rising from what some officials knew were burning explosives. Suddenly there is a huge bang, flying glass and the screen goes black. No-trade deal Brexit fears rise as talks stuck on state aid

The chances of Britain leaving the European Union without a trade deal have risen sharply as negotiations have been threatened by London’s insistence that it have full autonomy over its state aid plans, negotiators and diplomats said. The United Kingdom left the EU on Jan. 31, turning its back after 47 years on the post-World War Two project that sought to build the ruined nations of Europe into a global power. Dutch far-right leader Wilders’ discrimination conviction thrown out

A Dutch court on Friday acquitted far-right Dutch populist Geert Wilders of inciting hatred or discrimination, although it said he may have intentionally insulted Moroccans as a group. Overturning a conviction by a lower court, the appeals court also dismissed a prosecution request that Wilders pay a fine of 5,000 euros ($5,900). Turkey says France’s Macron ‘hysterical’ over Syria, Libya, East Mediterranean

Turkey’s foreign minister said on Friday French President Emmanuel Macron had become “hysterical” over developments in the Libyan and Syrian conflicts and a dispute over maritime boundaries in the Eastern Mediterranean. Relations between NATO allies Turkey and France have deteriorated over conflicting policies in Syria, Libya and Turkey’s dispute with Greece over energy resources, and the two sides have traded barbs in recent weeks. Rescuers sift Beirut rubble amid signs of life a month after blast

Rescue workers dug through the rubble of a Beirut building for a second day on Friday, hoping to find someone alive more than a month after it was destroyed by a huge port explosion that shattered the Lebanese capital. Rescuers said on Thursday that sensors had detected signs of a pulse and breathing under the debris of the building in the Gemmayze district. Mechanical diggers lifted chunks of concrete and masonry as workers used shovels and their hands to dig down.