Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Canadian PM fires envoy to China after remarks on Huawei case

In an unprecedented move, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday said he had fired his ambassador to China, who prompted a political furor with comments about Huawei's high-profile extradition case. John McCallum had embarrassed Trudeau's Liberal government by saying Huawei Technologies Co Ltd Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou could make a strong argument against being sent to the United States. Foreign troops to quit Afghanistan in 18 months under draft deal: Taliban sources

Taliban officials said U.S. negotiators on Saturday agreed on a draft peace pact setting out the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan within 18 months, potentially ending the United States' longest war. The details of the draft were given to Reuters by Taliban sources at the end of six days of talks with U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in Qatar aimed at ending the war, more than 17 years since American-led forces invaded Afghanistan. Not so fast: Most Germans favor speed limits on the Autobahn

A majority of Germans favor setting maximum speed limits for Germany's famously fast Autobahns to help battle climate change, according to a poll published on Saturday. Fifty-two percent of those polled wanted vehicle speeds limited to between 120 kph and 140 kph (75 mph and 87 mph), the poll conducted by the Emnid institute and published by Bild am Sonntag newspaper showed. Forty-six percent opposed such limits. Hundreds missing in Brazil, 34 found dead, after Vale dam burst

Brazilian rescue workers searched for hundreds of people missing and feared dead under a sea of mud after a tailings dam burst at an iron ore mine owned by Vale SA, killing at least 34 people and halting mine operations. The dam ruptured on Friday, releasing a torrent of mud that tore through the miner's offices and cut through a nearby town, leaving a roughly 150-meter-wide (500-foot-wide) wake of destruction stretching for miles (km). Exclusive: Brazil prosecutor says Vale dam burst may scramble Samarco talks

The Brazilian prosecutor running talks to settle a lawsuit over a 2015 tailings dam rupture at the Samarco mine told Reuters on Saturday that a deadly dam burst on Friday at a mine run by Vale SA could scramble those sensitive negotiations. Federal prosecutor Jose Adercio Sampaio said that depending on Vale's culpability in the new disaster, it may change how his task force handles a 155 billion reais ($41 billion) case against Samarco Mineracao SA, a Vale joint venture with BHP Group. That case is currently suspended amid negotiations for a potential settlement. French 'yellow vests' defy Macron again in tense protests

Thousands of "yellow vest" demonstrators marched in Paris and other French cities on Saturday in protests that brought sporadic clashes with police and suggested that President Emmanuel Macron has yet to defuse public discontent. On the 11th consecutive weekend of action against the government, 69,000 people took to the streets, including 4,000 in Paris, the interior ministry said, down from an estimated 84,000 demonstrators across the country last Saturday. Brexit date could be pushed back by a 'couple of extra weeks': Leadsom

The date Britain leaves the EU could be pushed back by a couple of weeks to give time for legislation to be approved by lawmakers, the leader of Britain's lower house of parliament said, the most senior figure to make such a suggestion. Britain, the world's fifth largest economy, is due to leave the European Union on March 29 but Prime Minister Theresa May's negotiated exit deal was rejected by lawmakers, leaving open the possibility of a disorderly Brexit. U.S. calls on world to 'pick a side' on Venezuela; Europeans set to recognize Guaido

The United States on Saturday called on the world to "pick a side" on Venezuela and urged countries to financially disconnect from Nicolas Maduro's government, while European powers signaled they were set to follow Washington in recognizing Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as the country's rightful leader. In heated back-and-forth exchanges at a United Nations Security Council meeting, the opposing camp led by Venezuela and Russia, which has invested heavily in Venezuela's oil industry, accused Washington of attempting a coup, and lambasted Europeans' demand that elections be called within eight days. Pope says weary Church 'wounded by her own sin,' in reference to abuse

Pope Francis said on Saturday the Roman Catholic Church was weary and "wounded by her own sin," in an apparent reference to the global sexual abuse crisis. Francis made the comment in the homily of Mass for priests, nuns, and members of Catholic lay organizations in Panama City's newly renovated cathedral of Santa Maria Antigua, the first in mainland America, which was completed in 1716. Hezbollah could 'for years' enter Israel, group's leader says after tunnels found

Iran-backed Hezbollah has "for years" been able to enter Israel, the Lebanese group's leader said on Saturday, responding for the first time to Israel's discovery of tunnels dug into Israeli territory from Lebanon. Israel's unveiling of what it called Hezbollah "attack tunnels" last month, and Lebanon's accusation that an Israeli border barrier crosses into its territory, have increased tensions.