Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Kremlin critic Navalny is flown to German hospital; in ‘worrying’ condition

Gravely ill Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was evacuated to Germany for medical treatment on Saturday, flown out of the Siberian city of Omsk in an ambulance aircraft and taken to a hospital in Berlin. There was no word yet from the Charite hospital on his condition but the founder of the activist group that arranged the flight called Navalny’s health condition “very worrying”.

U.S. will aim to block Russia, China from violating Iran sanctions: Pompeo

The United States is prepared to block Russia and China from any attempts to violate sanctions on Iran, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday, one day after Washington moved to restore sanctions imposed on Tehran by the United Nations. Pompeo, in an interview on Fox News, also said Washington was disappointed that its allies did not support the U.S. effort to push for a “snapback” of U.N. sanctions, including an arms embargo, after what the Trump administration said was Iran’s violation of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

U.S. closes lanes, adds checks at Mexico border to contain coronavirus

The United States on Friday closed lanes at select ports of entry at the border with Mexico and will conduct more secondary checks to limit non-essential travel and the spread of coronavirus, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official said. Non-essential travel has been restricted at the border since March, but U.S. citizens and permanent residents can still enter the United States from Mexico. The new measures are aimed at those travelers, the CBP official said.

Belarus opposition summoned; Kremlin seen standing by weakened Lukashenko

Two leading members of a newly formed opposition council in Belarus were questioned on Friday in a criminal case over what President Alexander Lukashenko calls an attempt to seize power, after nearly two weeks of mass rallies against his 26-year rule. More public figures, including an Olympic athlete, came out in opposition to Lukashenko, whose political challengers say he rigged an Aug. 9 election.

Tsikhanouskaya says she would not seek Belarus presidency if new elections held

Belarusian politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has led the biggest challenge to Alexander Lukashenko’s 26-year rule of Belarus, said in an interview aired on Friday that would not run for the presidency if the country holds new elections. Tsikhanouskaya, who became Lukashenko’s opposition rival in the contested Aug. 9 election in which he was declared the victor, has fled to neighbouring Lithuania. She emerged from obscurity to take her husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski’s place in the election campaign after he was jailed in May.

IAEA chief Grossi plans trip to pressure Iran on access to suspect sites

The U.N. nuclear watchdog’s chief Rafael Grossi will make his first trip to Tehran in that role on Monday to pressure Iran to grant inspectors access to two suspected former atomic sites after a months-long standoff, he said on Saturday. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed a resolution in June raising pressure on Iran to let inspectors into the sites mentioned in two quarterly IAEA reports because they could still host undeclared nuclear material or traces of it.

Three men killed in north Lebanon shooting, security sources say

Three men were killed in a shooting in a village in northern Lebanon overnight, security sources and the National News Agency said on Saturday. The gunfire came from a car which the men had stopped as it passed through the village of Kaftoun, the sources said. The vehicle was later found abandoned, containing a gun with a silencer, a small explosive device and electrical wire, the sources said.

West African mediators jet to Mali seeking reversal of coup

Mediators from West Africa’s regional bloc are due in Mali on Saturday for talks aimed at reversing a coup that has been condemned abroad, but celebrated by many in a country battling an Islamist insurgency and simmering political unrest. Leaders from the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have taken a particularly hard line on Tuesday’s ouster of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. They quickly shut borders and ended financial flows – a move diplomats said was as much about dissuading opponents at home as stabilising Mali.

Exclusive: No. 2 U.S. diplomat to visit Russia, Lithuania to discuss Belarus

The number two U.S. diplomat will visit Russia and Lithuania soon for talks on Belarus, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday, as Washington seeks a peaceful resolution to that country’s election crisis that averts Russian intervention. Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun’s planned mission signals a greater U.S. role in trying to settle the strife that erupted when Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brutally cracked down on peaceful protesters rejecting his claim of a landslide Aug. 9 election win.

Basra killings undermine Iraqi PM’s efforts to rein in militias

Iraq’s Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had just embarked on a state visit to Washington when gunmen shot dead the young protest leader Reham Yacoub in her car in Basra on Wednesday. Yacoub, 29, was an outspoken critic of the Iran-backed militias whose power and influence Kadhimi has been trying to rein in since taking office in May.