World News Roundup: Saudi crown prince begins Asia tour; Pompeo to visit Kuwait next month and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Pompeo to visit Kuwait next month, says Kuwait's deputy foreign minister

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Kuwait next month to hold the third round of strategic dialogue between the two countries, Kuwait's state news agency quoted the deputy foreign minister, Khaled Al-Jarallah, as saying on Sunday. Pompeo visited several Arab capitals in January, including in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in part to reassure allies after President Donald Trump said he would start withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria. He had to cut a short his Middle East trip to return to the United States for a family funeral.

Kashmiris complain of evictions after deadly attack on Indian forces, authorities promise safety

India has warned against rising communal tensions across the country as some Kashmiris living outside their state said they faced property evictions while others were attacked on social media after a suicide bomber killed 44 policemen in the region. The car bomb attack on a security convoy on Thursday, claimed by Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad and carried out by a 20-year-old Kashmiri man, was the worst in decades of insurgency in the disputed area, which is claimed in full by both the nuclear-armed neighbors.

Saudi crown prince begins Asia tour with $20 billion Pakistan investment pledge

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday said Saudi Arabia has signed investment agreements worth $20 billion during his high-profile visit to Pakistan, where tensions were flaring up with nuclear-armed rival India. Kicking off his tour of South Asia and China with a far higher Pakistan investment than expected, the crown prince said the $20 billion figure represents only the start of an economic tie-up that would bring the historic Muslim allies even closer.

Catholic Church credibility on the line at abuse meeting

The Vatican will gather senior bishops from around the world later this week for a conference on sex abuse designed to guide them on how best to tackle a problem that has decimated the Church's credibility, but critics say it is too little, too late. The unprecedented four-day meeting, starting on Thursday, brings together presidents of national Roman Catholic bishops conferences, Vatican officials, experts and heads of male and female religious orders.

Haiti vows to trim expenses and investigate PetroCaribe amid protests

The Haitian government vowed to deepen the investigation into alleged corruption in the PetroCaribe oil program and to reduce its expenses, seeking to meet some of protestors' demands as demonstrations roil the country. During a televised address on Saturday night, Prime Minister Jean-Henry Ceant announced nine measures aimed at alleviating the country's economic crisis. Ceant said the government will reduce its expenses by 30 percent, meet with the private sector to try to raise the minimum wage and appoint a new director to intensify the investigation into alleged corruption by PetroCaribe.

Germany warns it will stop extradition of its citizens to UK after Brexit: FT

Berlin will stop extraditing Germans to Britain immediately after Brexit even if it leaves the European Union with a deal, the Financial Times reported https://on.ft.com/2DPMBED on Sunday, citing a formal notification submitted by Germany to the European Commission last week. The notification cites concerns faced by Britain and the EU in maintaining their security cooperation at the current level after Brexit, according to the report.

U.S. Senator Rubio, other officials visit site of Venezuelan aid

A U.S. delegation including Senator Marco Rubio visited the Colombian border city of Cucuta on Sunday, where humanitarian aid is being stockpiled for planned delivery to economically crippled Venezuela next week. While Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is refusing to allow in the food, medicine and other supplies, opposition leader and self-declared president Juan Guaido has vowed to move hundreds of tonnes of the aid into the country on Feb 23.

U.S. cannot back Syrian forces who align with Assad: U.S. commander

The United States will have to sever its military assistance to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling Islamic State if the fighters partner with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or Russia, a senior U.S. general said on Sunday. The remarks by Army Lieutenant General Paul LaCamera, who is the commander of the U.S.-led coalition battling Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, underscore the tough decisions facing the SDF as the United States prepares to withdraw its troops from Syria.

Trump policies unite allies against him at European security forum

In 2009, then U.S. Vice President Joe Biden came to Munich to "press the reset button" with Russia. A decade later he came again to offer the world better relations, this time with his own country. Promising that "America will be back" once Donald Trump leaves office, Biden won a standing ovation at the Munich Security Conference from delegates who find the president's brusque foreign policy stance hard to like.

Yemen's warring parties agree on initial redeployment: U.N

Yemeni government and Houthi representatives have reached an agreement on the first phase of their redeployment of forces under a U.N.-sponsored deal for the warring armies to leave the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah, the United Nations said on Sunday. "The parties reached an agreement on Phase 1 of the mutual redeployment of forces," a statement by the U.N. spokesman's office said without giving details of exactly what the Iranian-aligned Houthis and the Saudi-backed government agreed.