World News Summary: Brexit, Maldives election, Korean denuclearization and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

EU leaders keep up pressure on May to take Brexit deal

EU leaders lined up on Thursday to tell Theresa May she needs to give guarantees on the Irish border before they will grant her the Brexit deal the prime minister wants to avoid Britain crashing out of the bloc in March. On a second day of summitry in Austria, May's European Union peers rammed home their message on her plea for them to ease up on a "backstop" plan dealing with the border between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU member state Ireland.

Who will come out on top in Maldives election - and are the polls fair?

More than a quarter of a million people will vote on Sunday for the next leader of the small Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives in an election criticized internationally for a lack of transparency and suppression of government critics. Restrictions on the media and alleged changes to voting practices have also raised questions over the fairness of the poll and created uncertainty over the post-election situation in the islands, best known as a luxury holiday destination and a key state in the battle for influence between India and China.

U.S. ready to resume North Korea talks, seeks denuclearization by 2021

The United States said it was ready to resume talks with North Korea after Pyongyang pledged on Wednesday to dismantle its key missile facilities and suggested it would close its main Yongbyon nuclear complex if Washington took unspecified actions. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had invited North Korea's foreign minister to meet in New York next week, with the aim of completing its denuclearization by January 2021, after a Pyongyang summit between the leaders of the two Koreas.

In Colombia, victims of sexual abuse speak out after peace deal

Yeimy sobbed with her head in her hands as she described how her husband was tied to a pole, gagged and made to watch as she was raped by four fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) 12 years ago. Her husband, Elkin, had been abducted by the FARC's 45th Front in the Tolima region of central Colombia after refusing to pay a revolutionary tax or hand their six-year-old son to the Marxist rebels to become part of the armed group, Yeimy said.

Yemen separatist leader says Hodeidah offensive will not stop

A campaign to drive the Houthi movement from Yemen's main port of Hodeidah, which resumed this month after peace talks failed, will not be halted again until the city is captured, a Yemeni commander leading southern separatist forces said on Thursday. Aidaroos al-Zubaidi is the leader of the separatists who aim to restore the independent state of Southern Yemen, which united with northern Yemen in 1990.

Iran says U.S. offer to reach a treaty is a mocking call for peace: twitter

Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday that United States cannot seek to negotiate a new treaty with Tehran while it has violated its treaty obligations by withdrawing from a 2015 nuclear deal. "U.S. calls JCPOA (the nuclear deal) a personal agreement between two governments, claiming it seeks a treaty. Wrong." Zarif tweeted. "U.S. has violated its treaty obligations too... Apparently, U.S. only mocks calls for peace."

Millions of Shi'ites express suffering in Ashura ritual in Iraq

Millions of Shi'ites Muslims gathered at shrines and mosques in Kerbala and other parts of Iraq on Thursday to mark the climax of the annual ritual of Ashura with expressions of suffering. Huge crowds came from all over the world to commemorate the slaying of Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.

Japan PM Abe wins extended term, faces Trump trade challenge

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a ruling party leadership vote on Thursday, setting him on track to become Japan's longest-serving premier and try to cement his legacy, including by revising the post-war pacifist constitution. If Abe, who quit abruptly after a troubled 2006-2007 term, stays in office through November 2019, he will have exceeded the 2,886 days marked by Taro Katsura in the early 20th century.

Landslide kills 12 in the Philippines, dozens feared trapped

A landslide triggered by heavy rains killed at least 12 people on Thursday in the central Philippines, as security forces and rescue workers raced to uncover dozens more feared trapped, in the latest of a series of deadly incidents in the past week. Twelve people were pulled out alive after boulders and earth loosened by rain engulfed a cluster of homes near a limestone quarry on the fringes of Naga City on the island of Cebu, where the tally of those missing stood at about 50.

Former Malaysian PM charged with money laundering, abuse of power

Malaysian prosecutors charged former Prime Minister Najib Razak with 21 counts of money laundering and four counts of abuse of power on Thursday over hundreds of millions of dollars received in his personal bank account. The charges bring the total number against Najib to 32 as investigators ramp up a probe into how billions went missing from scandal-plagued 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) - a state fund that he founded and chaired.