World News Roundup: CA migrant caravan, Saudi arms sales, German state election

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Vatican meeting ends with call for greater role for women in Church

A major meeting of Catholic bishops ended on Saturday with a call for women to play a greater role in Church decision making as a "duty of justice", but appeared to water down language that would have been more welcoming to gays. The role of women took centre stage at the synod, which was focused on reaching out to young people but has been overshadowed by the scandal over sex abuse in the Church and acrimony between social conservatives and reformers.

Central American caravan moves on in spite of Mexico jobs offer

A U.S.-bound caravan of Central American migrants pressed on through southern Mexico on Saturday, in spite of government offers of jobs, as authorities stepped up efforts to disperse the convoy that has angered U.S. President Donald Trump. Mexican police in riot gear briefly blocked the march of men, women and children as they neared Oaxaca state before dawn, to relay the offer of temporary identification papers, jobs or education for those seeking asylum in Mexico.

Merkel government braces for high-stakes German state election

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition faces its second test in as many weeks on Sunday when voters go to the polls in the western state of Hesse for a regional election that could torpedo the national government. Should Merkel's conservative ally in Hesse, Volker Bouffier, lose his post as state premier, the chancellor's enemies will be emboldened ahead of her Christian Democrats' (CDU) party congress in early December and may try to hasten her demise.

Rouhani reshuffles economic team, says U.S. isolated against Iran

Iran's parliament approved a government economic reshuffle on Saturday, days before new U.S. sanctions on Tehran's oil exports take effect after President Hassan Rouhani said Washington was isolated among its allies in its confrontation with Iran. "It does not happen often that the U.S. makes a decision and its traditional allies abandon it," Rouhani told parliament before the vote to approve the new appointments.

Russia, Germany, France and Turkey call for lasting ceasefire, constitutional meeting for Syria

The leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Turkey stressed the importance on Saturday of a lasting ceasefire in Syria and said a committee to create a new constitution should meet by the end of the year. The leaders of the four countries gathered for a summit in Istanbul to discuss Syria, where violence this week in the last remaining major rebel stronghold has highlighted the fragility of a deal to avert a massive government offensive.

Mattis says Khashoggi killing undermines regional stability

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday that the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi undermined Middle Eastern stability and that Washington would take additional measures against those responsible. Washington Post columnist Khashoggi's murder has escalated into a crisis for the world's top oil exporter. Saudi Arabia's allies have reacted with outrage toward a country that is the lynchpin of a U.S.-backed regional bloc against growing Iranian influence in the Middle East.

Palestinian militants agree truce after exchange of fire with Israel

The Israeli frontier with Gaza fell silent on Saturday under what Palestinians described as an Egyptian-mediated truce after Israel responded to the biggest salvo of Palestinian rockets for months with scores of air strikes on Gaza targets. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, one of the armed groups operating in Gaza, said it fired the rockets in retaliation for Israel's killing of four Palestinians at a border demonstration on Friday. Israel said its air force hit more than 80 targets in response to about 40 Gaza rockets launched into Israel.

U.S.-backed Syria group says 14 of its fighters killed in clashes with Islamic State

Fourteen fighters from the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces were killed east of the Euphrates river in Syria in a battle with Islamic State militants, an SDF spokesman said on Saturday. "Daesh terrorists continue to launch counter-attacks, taking advantage of the bad weather conditions. Due to fierce clashes 14 of our fighters were martyred," Kino Gibrail, the spokesman said in a statement. Daesh is an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

Brazil leftist's hopes of catching Bolsonaro dim on eve of vote

The chances of Brazil's leftist presidential candidate Fernando Haddad narrowing the lead of right-wing front-runner Jair Bolsonaro took a hit when he failed to win a crucial endorsement on Saturday, a day before the two face off in a runoff election. Former centre-left candidate Ciro Gomes said in a video on social media that he would not take sides in the election campaign, withholding support for Haddad of the Workers Party (PT).

Germany seeks common European response on Saudi arms sales over Khashoggi killing

Germany, which has pledged to suspend arms exports to Saudi Arabia over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, said on Saturday it expects the European Union to adopt a common position on potential limits to weapons sales. The killing of Khashoggi - a Washington Post columnist and a critic of Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman - has sparked global outrage and pitched the world's top oil exporter into crisis.

(With inputs from Reuters)