Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Pressure mounts to disband Brazil’s crack anti-corruption squad

Political pressure is growing in Brazil to disband a high-profile team of anti-corruption prosecutors that has put dozens of former executives and politicians behind bars, despite its strong popular support and hundreds of cases still pending. Prosecutor General Augusto Aras will decide on Sept. 10 whether to renew for another year the mandate of the team, which has repeatedly made headlines over the last six years with its sprawling ‘Car Wash’ corruption probe.

Pompeo discusses regional stability, unity with Bahrain crown prince

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed regional stability and Gulf unity with the crown prince of Bahrain on Wednesday, as part of a Middle East tour following an accord between Israel and the United Arab Emirates on normalising relations. On his arrival on Tuesday night, Pompeo had said it was vital to seize the momentum of the U.S.-brokered deal on normalising relations between Israel and the UAE that was announced on Aug. 13.

EU freezes Mali training missions after coup

The European Union has suspended its training missions in Mali after the military coup this month that removed President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita from power, EU officials said on Wednesday. The two missions training Mali’s army and police as part of international efforts to stabilise Mali and extend the state’s authority are frozen because they were designed to support “the legitimate national authorities,” one EU official said.

‘Polishing the gun’: China, U.S. tensions raise Taiwan conflict fears

Numerous Chinese and U.S. military exercises, Taiwan missiles tracking Chinese fighters and plummeting China-U.S. ties make for a heady cocktail of tension that is raising fears of conflict touched off by a crisis over Taiwan. In the last three weeks, China has announced four separate exercises along its coast, from the Bohai Gulf in the north to the East and Yellow Seas and South China Sea, along with other exercises it said were aimed at “the current security situation across the Taiwan Strait”.

Survivors, grieving families reject NZ mosque shooter’s ‘white supremacist’ world view

The father of slain three-year-old Mucaad Ibrahim, the youngest victim in the New Zealand mosque shootings, told the white supremacist who gunned down his son that “true justice” awaited him in the next life and it would be more severe than prison. “You have killed my son and to me it is as if you have killed the whole of New Zealand,” Aden Ibrahim Diriye said in a statement read by a family member during a sentencing hearing for Brenton Tarrant on Wednesday.

Pope to readmit faithful to general audiences from next week: Vatican

The faithful will be readmitted to Pope Francis’ weekly general audiences from Sept. 2, a Vatican statement said on Wednesday, as the Holy See slowly lift restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Thousands of people traditionally attend the weekly Wednesday gatherings, but the Vatican shut out the public in March, following the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, with the pope instead making his address via a video link.

UK court lifts bar on evidence transfer over Islamic State ‘Beatles’

Britain’s Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted a bar which prevented the government from giving evidence to U.S. authorities about an alleged Islamic State execution squad, nicknamed “the Beatles”, after reassurances were given that the men would not face the death penalty. The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking the extradition of Britons Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, who are accused of the killing and torture of Western hostages in Syria.

Kremlin says does not want Navalny illness to damage ties with West

The Kremlin said on Wednesday it hoped opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s illness would not damage Russia’s ties with the West and that it was keen to find out why he fell ill despite declining to open an investigation over the incident. Navalny is in a medically induced coma in a Berlin hospital where he was airlifted on Saturday after collapsing during a flight. The German clinic said its initial medical examination pointed to poisoning, though Russian doctors who had treated Navalny in a Siberian hospital have contradicted that diagnosis.

Protesters rounded up in Belarus; Nobel-winning writer due for questioning

Belarusian police have rounded up dozens of protesters heading home from peaceful demonstrations, rights groups said on Wednesday, after days in which the authorities exercised comparative restraint towards mass anti-government rallies. The country’s most celebrated writer, Nobel Prize-winner Svetlana Alexievich, was expected to appear for questioning later on Wednesday in a criminal investigation into an opposition council, two of whose leaders were jailed this week.

Australia to seek veto powers on all public deals with foreign nations, PM to say

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce on Thursday legislation giving the federal government new powers to review and cancel any agreements that local authorities and public institutions make or have made with foreign governments. If approved by parliament, the law will give the federal government a veto over any deals made between state and territory governments, local councils, and public universities and foreign administrations.