Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. NATO-Russia meeting fails to break deadlock over Russian missile

NATO and Russia failed on Friday to resolve a dispute over a new Russian missile that Western allies say is a threat to Europe, bringing closer Washington's withdrawal from a landmark arms control treaty. At a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council in Brussels, envoys from NATO's 29 members renewed their call on Moscow's top diplomat to the alliance to destroy a nuclear-capable cruise missile system before a Feb. 2 deadline. Queen sends a Brexit message to UK politicians: end your bickering

Queen Elizabeth has sent a delicately coded message to Britain's factious political class over Brexit, urging lawmakers to seek common ground and grasp the big picture to resolve the crisis. With the clock ticking down to March 29, the date set in law for Britain to leave the European Union, the United Kingdom is in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973. Amid tensions with Japan, South Korea to boost world awareness on wartime sex abuses

South Korea is committed to advancing relations with Japan but will step up efforts to share with the world its experience of Japanese wartime atrocities, including sexual violence against its women, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha told Reuters. Kang said South Korea was seeking to host an international conference on sexual violence in conflict in the first half of this year. France tells Iran new sanctions loom if missile talks fail

France is ready to impose further sanctions against Iran if no progress is made in talks over its ballistic missile program, the French foreign minister said on Friday. "We are ready, if the talks don't yield results, to apply sanctions firmly, and they know it," Jean-Yves Le Drian told reporters. Turkey's Erdogan sees Syria 'safe zone' in place within months

Turkey expects a "safe zone" to be in place in Syria along the Turkish border within a few months and only Ankara can establish it, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. In a speech in the eastern province of Erzurum, Erdogan said a 1998 agreement with Syria allowed Turkey to enter Syrian territory when it faces threats. He added that it was out of the question for an international coalition to form the safe zone. U.S. warships pass through Taiwan Strait amid China tensions

The United States sent two warships through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday in the first such operation this year, the Taiwan government said, as it increases the frequency of transits through the strategic waterway to the concern of China. The passage by the U.S. ships will likely be viewed in Taiwan as a sign of support from U.S. President Donald Trump's government amid growing friction between the self-ruled island and Beijing. Myanmar army chief must be prosecuted for Rohingya 'genocide': U.N. rights envoy

Myanmar's army chief should be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya Muslim minority, a U.N. human rights investigator said, adding that holding perpetrators to account for crimes was necessary before refugees who fled the country could return. Yanghee Lee, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, was speaking during a trip to Thailand and Bangladesh, where she met officials and Rohingya driven out of western Rakhine state after an army crackdown in 2017. U.S. seeks to cut off money for Venezuela's Maduro, aid opposition

The United States is seeking to ensure that Venezuelan oil revenue goes to opposition leader and self-declared interim president Juan Guaido, and to cut off money from increasingly isolated President Nicolas Maduro, a top U.S. official said on Thursday. Although short on details, the announcement signals that Washington is willing to go beyond traditional diplomatic measures and will seek to drain cash from Maduro's government, which is already struggling under an unprecedented economic meltdown. Irish PM says army might be needed at border after chaotic Brexit: Bloomberg

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said soldiers might have to return to the border with Northern Ireland if Brexit went wrong, Bloomberg reported. In a worst-case scenario, a hard border could "involve people in uniform and it may involve the need, for example, for cameras, physical infrastructure, possibly a police presence, or an army presence to back it up," Varadkar told Bloomberg. Australian officials visit writer detained in China

Australian embassy officials visited on Friday a Chinese-born Australian writer being held in Beijing on suspicion of endangering state security, the Australian foreign ministry said. China has said that Yang Jun, a naturalized Australian writer, who goes by the name Yang Hengjun, is being held under "coercive measures" - a euphemism for detention - by Beijing city's State Security Bureau and being investigated on suspicion of endangering state security.