Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Next big COVID-19 treatment may be manufactured antibodies

As the world awaits a COVID-19 vaccine, the next big advance in battling the pandemic could come from a class of biotech therapies widely used against cancer and other disorders – antibodies designed specifically to attack this new virus. Development of monoclonal antibodies to target the virus has been endorsed by leading scientists. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, called them “almost a sure bet” against COVID-19.

Afghan forces besiege prison seized by Islamic State fighters

Afghan security forces laid siege to a prison seized by Islamic State fighters in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Monday, with at least 24 people killed after the militants’ overnight assault led to a mass jailbreak. After detonating a car bomb at the entrance on Sunday evening, IS gunmen overran the prison where many IS militants captured during a campaign in the past month were being held, along with Taliban fighters and common criminals.

Long-term complications of COVID-19 signals billions in healthcare costs ahead

Late in March, Laura Gross, 72, was recovering from gall bladder surgery in her Fort Lee, New Jersey, home when she became sick again. Her throat, head and eyes hurt, her muscles and joints ached and she felt like she was in a fog. Her diagnosis was COVID-19. Four months later, these symptoms remain.

Man suspected to be armed takes hostage in Kyiv bank

A man suspected to be armed took a hostage in a bank office in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday but has made no demands yet, deputy interior minister Anton Gerashchenko said. Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook that the man came to the bank at midday, told employees there he had a bomb in his backpack and asked them to call police.

EU eyes softening key state aid demand in Brexit talks: sources

The European Union is willing to compromise to help break a deadlock in Brexit talks by softening its demand that Britain heed EU rules on state aid in the future, diplomatic sources told Reuters. They said Brussels could go for a compromise entailing a dispute-settling mechanism on any state aid granted by the UK to its companies in the future, rather than obliging London to follow the bloc’s own rules from the outset.

Televisa, Azteca to provide TV learning as Mexican schools stay shut

Mexican schools will not reopen when the academic year begins on August 24 in order to safeguard the health of students and teachers because cases of coronavirus are still too high, education minister Esteban Moctezuma said on Monday. The government has agreed with major networks including Televisa and TV Azteca to launch a home schooling scheme to be broadcast nation-wide, the minister said.

Scientists inspired by ‘Star Wars’ create artificial skin able to feel

Singapore researchers have developed “electronic skin” capable of recreating a sense of touch, an innovation they hope will allow people with prosthetic limbs to detect objects, as well as feel texture, or even temperature and pain. The device, dubbed ACES, or Asynchronous Coded Electronic Skin, is made up of 100 small sensors and is about 1 sq cm (0.16 square inch) in size.

Europe cushions workforce as U.S. lifeline runs threadbare

While millions of U.S. workers thrown into unemployment by the coronavirus pandemic fret about feeding their families, idled German airline purser Marco Todte is mainly concerned about his next vacation. Todte, 41, hasn’t flown for work since April. But Germany’s state-subsidized “Kurzarbeit” furlough scheme and a top-up from employer Lufthansa means he is getting 90% of his regular income and has the cash to explore what few leisure options there are in an economy still emerging from lockdown.

John Hume, Northern Irish Catholic leader and Nobel Peace laureate, dies at 83

John Hume, a key Roman Catholic architect of Northern Ireland’s 1998 Good Friday peace agreement who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending 30 years of sectarian violence, died on Monday at the age of 83, his SDLP party said. Hume, a veteran civil rights campaigner credited with kick-starting peace negotiations in a British region convulsed by bloodshed in the early 1990s, shared the Peace Prize with Northern Ireland’s then-first minister, David Trimble of the Protestant Ulster Unionist Party. Flash floods kill two in Thailand, storm heads for Myanmar

Flash floods killed at least two people and swept through hundreds of houses in northern Thailand, authorities said after tropical storm Sinlaku dumped heavy rains on 18 provinces over the weekend. Muddy, waist-high waters poured into homes in rural areas on Sunday. Soldiers used small boats to rescue villagers and handed out aid packs in Loei, the worst-hit province.