Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Queen sends a Brexit message to UK politicians: end your bickering

Queen Elizabeth has sent a delicately coded message to Britain's fractious political class over Brexit, urging lawmakers to seek common ground and keep their eyes on 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. U.S. set to send first group of asylum seekers back to Mexico

The United States was expected to send a first group of 20 Central American asylum seekers back to Mexico through the border city of Tijuana on Friday as part of President Donald Trump's hardening of longstanding U.S. immigration policy. Under a policy dubbed the Migrant Protection Protocols, announced on Dec. 20, the United States will return non-Mexican migrants who cross the U.S. southern border back to Mexico while their asylum requests are processed in U.S. immigration courts. Exclusive: Ukraine says it sees surge in cyber attacks targeting election

Hackers likely controlled by Russia are stepping up efforts to disrupt Ukraine's presidential election in March with cyber attacks on electoral servers and personal computers of election staff, the head of Ukraine's cyber police said on Friday. Serhiy Demedyuk told Reuters the attackers were using virus-infected greeting cards, shopping invitations, offers for software updates and other malicious "phishing" material intended to steal passwords and personal information. Canadian cops charge minor with terror offense after security raids

The Canadian police said on Friday they had charged a minor with terror-related offences in connection with a pair of national security raids in Kingston, Ontario Thursday night. Two people were arrested late Thursday after the raids. One, a minor, has been charged with knowingly facilitating terrorism and counseling a person to place a bomb "or other lethal device" in public, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in a statement. Seven bodies found after dam burst at Brazil mine, hundreds missing

Brazilian rescuers were searching for some 200 missing people after a tailings dam burst on Friday at an iron ore mine owned by Vale SA, with seven bodies recovered but the death toll expected to rise sharply. Avimar de Melo Barcelos, the mayor of the town of Brumadinho where the dam burst in Brazil's mining hub of Minas Gerais state, said seven bodies had been recovered by nightfall. No-deal Brexit could be 'extremely difficult' in short to medium term: junior minister

A no-deal Brexit could be "extremely difficult" in the short to medium term, a junior finance minister in Prime Minister Theresa May's government said, adding that there would ostensibly have to be a hard border on the island of Ireland. “In the short-to-medium term, I think it could be extremely difficult," Mel Stride was quoted as saying in an article published on Friday in parliament's The House magazine. Nigeria's Buhari suspends chief judge, drawing opposition ire before election

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari suspended the country's most senior judge on Friday weeks ahead of a presidential election, in what his challenger called an act of dictatorship and the bar association called an "attempted coup". Buhari, who was a military ruler in the 1980s and was voted into office in 2015, is seeking a fresh term in an election scheduled to take place on Feb. 16. Brazil's Bolsonaro to undergo surgery on Monday, VP takes over

Brazil's new right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro will undergo surgery on Monday in Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein hospital to remove a colostomy bag he has had since he was stabbed on the campaign trail last year, his spokesman said on Friday. Vice President Hamilton Mourao will assume the presidency for 48 hours while Bolsonaro is in surgery and during his initial recovery. Bolsonaro will have to stay in Sao Paulo for 10 days, spokesman Army General Otávio Santana do Rêgo Barros said. Exclusive: Kremlin-linked contractors help guard Venezuela's Maduro - sources

Private military contractors who do secret missions for Russia flew into Venezuela in the past few days to beef up security for President Nicolas Maduro in the face of U.S.-backed opposition protests, according to two people close to them. A third source close to the Russian contractors also told Reuters there was a contingent of them in Venezuela, but could not say when they arrived or what their role was. U.S. intensifies anti-Maduro push as Russia backs Venezuelan ally

The United States on Friday intensified its push to drive Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power, as U.S. diplomats left the embassy in Caracas and Russia vowed to back its socialist South American ally. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday will urge members of the United Nations Security Council to recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate head of state. Washington requested the meeting of the 15-member council after a string of countries threw their weight behind Guaido, who heads Venezuela's congress, and urged Maduro to step down.