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. Venezuela's U.S. defense attache breaks with Maduro

Venezuela's defense attache to the United States broke with the government of President Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, saying free and fair elections were needed after an opposition leader proclaimed himself interim president this week. Speaking from his office in the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, Colonel Jose Luis Silva told Reuters he no longer recognized Nicolas Maduro as president of Venezuela and supported opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim leader. Risk of new Brazil dam burst forces 24,000 to evacuate homes

Firefighters called for the evacuation to higher ground of some 24,000 people from the Brazilian town hit by deadly mud flow from an earlier mining dam rupture, as a second dam threatened to collapse. Sirens began before dawn on Sunday, triggered by dangerous water levels at a tailings dam still standing in the Vale SA facility near Brumadinho in Minas Gerais state. Kremlin says with deal with Turkey on Syria's Idlib not fully implemented: Ifax

An agreement with Turkey on Syria's Idlib province has not been fully implemented, raising concerns in Moscow and Damascus, Interfax news agency quoted a Kremlin spokesman as saying on Sunday. Moscow and Ankara have tried to create a de-escalation zone in the region. Spy novels, 'daigou' and democracy: the many lives of Australian writer held in China

A Chinese-born Australian writer detained by authorities in Beijing for suspected espionage has long been a divisive figure among overseas Chinese dissidents and activists. To his supporters, Yang Hengjun is a dedicated democracy activist who believed that China's autocratic system would, with time, necessarily liberalize. His detractors say he had long since abandoned criticizing the ruling Chinese Communist Party in favor of protecting his personal and business interests. U.S peace envoy visits Kabul to consult president on talks with Taliban

U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Sunday to try to secure cooperation from Afghanistan's president after breakthroughs in peace negotiations with Taliban leaders in Qatar. With Khalilzad and his boss U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as well Taliban officials, hailing progress toward ending America's longest war, he must now win over President Ashraf Ghani -- whose government the Taliban have so far kept out of the process. Philippines vows to crush 'terrorists' after church bombs kill 20

The Philippines vowed to destroy those behind twin bombings that killed 20 people during a Sunday church service in the country's restive south, six days after a referendum on autonomy for the mainly Muslim region returned an overwhelming "yes" vote. The attack wounded 81 and was one of the deadliest in recent years in a region long plagued by instability. It came amid hope and excitement about the ratification of a devolution plan that aims to bring development, jobs and peace to one of Asia's poorest and most volatile places. Britain has martial law option under Brexit no-deal, but no plan to exercise it: minister

Britain has the option of using martial law to quell civil disorder that might ensue under a no-deal Brexit, but that is not the focus of the government's attention, Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday. The Sunday Times cited unnamed officials as saying the government had been examining the powers at its disposal if a no-deal Brexit resulted in civil disobedience, including martial law, curfews, and the use of the army to quell rioting. Indonesia death toll from floods, landslides climbs to 68

At least 68 people have been killed and nearly 7,000 forced to take refuge in emergency shelters after floods, landslides and a tornado battered the Indonesian island of Sulawesi in the past week, authorities said on Sunday. Rescue teams were still looking for seven missing people, while 47 had been injured during the devastation that saw heavy rains cause a dam to overflow, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia's disaster mitigation agency. Venezuela's Maduro denounces election call but says ready to talk

Venezuela's embattled President Nicolas Maduro rejected an international ultimatum to call elections within eight days and said opposition leader Juan Guaido had violated the country's constitution by declaring himself leader. Maduro, in an interview with CNN Turk aired on Sunday, also said he was open to dialogue and that meeting U.S. President Donald Trump was improbable but not impossible. The broadcaster dubbed the interview from Spanish into Turkish.