Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Europe's patience with Iran wears thin, tiptoes toward Trump

In Tehran on Jan. 8 during a meeting with European envoys, Iranian officials abruptly stood up, walked out and slammed the door in an extraordinary break with protocol. The French, British, German, Danish, Dutch, and Belgian diplomats in the Iranian foreign ministry room had incensed the officials with a message that Europe could no longer tolerate ballistic missile tests in Iran and assassination plots on European soil, according to four EU diplomats.

Thousands walk with coffin of murdered Polish mayor

Carrying flags and candles in cold streets, thousands of Poles walked on Friday beside the coffin of Gdansk's former mayor Pawel Adamowicz who was stabbed on stage at a charity event. The murder of a liberal critic of the ruling party's anti-immigrant policies highlighted the charged atmosphere in parts of eastern Europe where populist leaders have fanned nationalist sentiment.

Trump, North Korea's Kim to hold second summit in late February

U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in late February but will maintain economic sanctions on Pyongyang, the White House said on Friday after Trump met Pyongyang's top nuclear negotiator. The announcement came amid a diplomatic flurry in Washington surrounding the visit of Kim Yong Chol, a hardline former spy chief, and marked a sign of movement in a denuclearization effort that has stalled since a landmark meeting between Trump and the North Korean leader in Singapore last year.

Germany urges Russia, Ukraine to de-escalate conflict

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Friday urged both Russia and Ukraine to de-escalate the conflict in eastern Ukraine and said France and Germany were ready to help by monitoring naval traffic near the Crimean coast. Speaking in Kiev after a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo Klimkin, Maas again called for Moscow to release of the crews of three Ukrainian navy vessels it seized in November off Crimea. He said Russia must allow ships to pass through the Kerch Strait that leads to the Sea of Azov.

Hundreds detained after Zimbabwe protests as U.N. denounces crackdown

Hundreds of Zimbabweans arrested during anti-government protests were detained on Friday on public order charges, as the United Nations urged an end to a brutal security crackdown and an internet blackout. The government has said three people died during the unrest that broke out on Monday after President Emmerson Mnangagwa raised fuel prices by 150 percent. Lawyers and activists say the toll was much higher and that security forces used violence and carried out mass arrests to quell the unrest.

UK PM May makes no change to demands in talks with EU leaders: report

British Prime Minister Theresa May made no change to her demands in talks with European Union leaders despite her Brexit plan being defeated by British lawmakers earlier this week, the Telegraph newspaper reported http://bit.ly/2RCdHch on Friday. May's demands continued to focus around either a legally binding time-limit for the Irish 'backstop'; a right for Britain to unilaterally withdraw, or a commitment to a trade deal finalization before 2021 to prevent the backstop from coming into force, the report said, citing unnamed senior EU diplomatic sources.

Russia says new U.S. missile strategy will unleash arms race in space

Russia said on Friday the new U.S. missile defense strategy would unleash a dangerous arms race in space and amounts to a relaunch of the Cold War-era "Star Wars" program. U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled a plan that envisages developing space-based sensors to detect incoming enemy missiles and exploring space-based weapons to shoot down missiles before they can threaten U.S. soil.

Canada dismisses China's warning of repercussions over Huawei ban

Canada's government on Friday dismissed China's warning of repercussions if Ottawa banned Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from supplying equipment to 5G networks, saying it would not compromise on security. China's ambassador to Canada issued the threat on Thursday as relations between the two nations continued to deteriorate after a senior Huawei executive was arrested in Vancouver last month on a U.S. extradition warrant. China has also detained two Canadians.

Nicaragua paper runs blank front page in protest of Ortega government

Nicaragua's oldest and most-widely read newspaper published its Friday edition with a blank front page in protest against what it says is the government's withholding of ink, paper and other materials needed for its printing press since September. In a Friday editorial, the La Prensa newspaper asked: "Have you imagined living without information?," and complained that the government of leftist President Daniel Ortega had impounded its supply of printing materials for 20 weeks.

Hundreds of Central American migrants enter Mexico with few checks

Hundreds of mostly Honduran migrants entered southern Mexico on Friday, joining around 1,000 other people from Central America who crossed a day earlier and putting to the test Mexico's vows to guarantee the safe and orderly flow of people. The cohort crossed the Guatemalan border into Chiapas state before dawn without needing the wrist bands that Mexican officials on Thursday gave migrants to wear until they could register with authorities, several migrants and an official told Reuters.