World News Summary: 1MDB case, Brexit news, North Korea denuclearization and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Ex-Malaysian PM Najib to face further charges in 1MDB case

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will face further corruption charges related to money allegedly siphoned off from scandal-plagued state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), the anti-corruption agency said on Wednesday. Najib has faced intense scrutiny since unexpectedly losing a general election in May to Mahathir Mohamad, who reopened investigations into allegations that billions of dollars were stolen from 1MDB.

May presses her Brexit plan with EU to avoid disorderly UK departure

Prime Minister Theresa May will press EU leaders on Wednesday to back her proposal for a "fair arrangement" on future ties between Britain and the bloc, call off "unacceptable" demands and show the goodwill needed to avoid a disorderly Brexit. Before a two-day European Union summit starts on Wednesday evening, May showed no sign of backing away from her Brexit plan, shrugging off criticism at home and in Brussels over her proposals for future trade relations, the biggest policy shift for Britain in almost half a century.

North Korea's Kim agrees to inspections in bid to salvage nuclear talks

North Korea said on Wednesday it would permanently abolish its key missile facilities in the presence of foreign experts, the latest gesture by leader Kim Jong Un to revive faltering talks with Washington over his country's nuclear program. Speaking at a joint news conference in Pyongyang, Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in said they agreed to turn the Korean peninsula into a "land of peace without nuclear weapons and nuclear threats".

Nigerian military struggles against Islamic State in West Africa: sources

Islamist militants have killed hundreds of soldiers in attacks in northeastern Nigeria in recent weeks, security and military sources say, forcing a turnaround in the course of an insurgency which the government has frequently claimed to have vanquished. The fatigued, ill-equipped government troops have reached breaking point, they said.

Amnesty says crackdown turns Egypt into an 'open-air prison' for critics

Amnesty International on Wednesday accused Egypt's government of mounting a crackdown on freedom of expression that had turned the country into an "open-air prison" for critics. The international human rights group said authorities had arrested at least 111 people since December for criticizing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Egypt's human rights situation in a campaign that surpassed any under ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Prominent British Conservative distances himself from Steve Bannon

One of the leading British politicians pushing for a sharp exit from the European Union, Jacob Rees-Mogg, says he has no interest in joining a campaign to disrupt EU operations organized by former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon. Rees-Mogg, whose image as an old-fashioned, unashamedly "posh" Conservative has endeared him to many voters disillusioned with more modern-looking politicians, said he had met Bannon only once, in 2017.

Aging Japan: Military recruiters struggle as applicant pool dries up

As a Japanese military recruiter sat patiently at a booth outside a supermarket in northern Tokyo one recent weekend, she welcomed a rare visitor, high school student Kazuaki Matsumura. But Matsumura, who plans to go to university, wasn't there to sign up. He was just curious.

Wild celebrations as ousted Pakistan PM Sharif and daughter freed from jail

A Pakistani court on Wednesday ordered the release of jailed ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter, suspending the sentences they received from a lower court in July and prompting celebrations among supporters waiting outside. The Islamabad High Court suspended the 10-year sentence for Sharif and the seven-year term handed down to his daughter, Maryam, over corrupt practices linked to his family's ownership of upscale London flats.

Afghan Shi'ites brace for attacks ahead of Ashura celebration

Afghan police and volunteer groups of armed civilians tightened controls across the capital Kabul on Wednesday ahead of Ashura, the holiest day of the Shi'ite Muslim calendar, following a series of attacks on Shi'ite targets by Islamic State militants. Armed men stood at key points in areas like Dasht-e Barchi, a zone in western Kabul where many members of the mainly Shi'ite Hazara minority live and where some 20 people were killed in a suicide attack on a wrestling club two weeks ago.

Korea summit economic pledge raises sanctions-busting fears

A pledge by the leaders of North and South Korea to foster economic ties has heightened worries among skeptics that Seoul's push to revive nuclear talks could undermine the sanction regime credited with bringing Pyongyang to the negotiating table. Speaking at a joint news conference in Pyongyang on Wednesday, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to the normalization of the Kaesong joint border industrial park and tours to North Korea's Mount Kumgang.