Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. No sign of progress in three days of talks to prepare second U.S.-North Korea summit

The U.S. special representative for North Korea held three days of talks in Pyongyang to prepare a second summit to be held this month between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the State Department said on Friday, while giving no indication of any progress in the meetings. The State Department said Stephen Biegun had agreed with his counterpart Kim Hyok Chol to meet again ahead of the summit, which Washington has said will take place from Feb. 27-28 in Vietnam. Exclusive: Long a spoiler, Pakistan starts behind-scenes aid to U.S.-Taliban talks

Pakistan, long at odds with the United States over the war in Afghanistan, has begun to play a behind-the-scenes but central role in supporting U.S. peace talks with the Afghan Taliban, including by facilitating travel to negotiations, U.S. officials and Taliban sources told Reuters. The Pakistani assistance, which has not been reported in such detail before, also includes exerting pressure on Taliban leaders who fail to cooperate, including by detaining members of the militants' families, the insurgents say. Saudi-led coalition in Yemen launches a targeting operation in Sanaa

The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen launched a targeting operation in the Houthi-held capital, Sanaa, Saudi state TV reported on Saturday. The operation targeted a location for storing and preparing drones and launch vehicles in Sanaa. EU urges May to seize Labour opening as way out of Brexit impasse

It's a proposal that is not even on the table, and reverses Theresa May's determined position - but EU officials are still urging her to grasp an offer from the Labour opposition to break an impasse over the terms of Britain's EU exit. The Conservative prime minister gave no sign during her visit to Brussels on Thursday of softening her rejection of a permanent EU-UK customs union, as Labour proposes, European Union sources said. Canadian gets life sentence for killing six in Quebec mosque shooting

A Canadian man who gunned down six members of a Quebec City mosque in 2017 was sentenced to life in prison on Friday, with the judge saying he would be eligible for parole after serving 40 years behind bars. Alexandre Bissonnette, 29, pleaded guilty last year to six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder for the attack, one of Canada's rare mass shootings. Saudi Arabia's al-Jubeir says crown prince did not order Khashoggi killing

A top Saudi official on Friday reiterated his government's position that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman did not order the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and he declined to comment specifically on a newspaper report that the crown prince in 2017 said he would use "a bullet" on the journalist. On Thursday, the New York Times reported that a year before Khashoggi was killed, the crown prince told an aide he would use "a bullet" on the journalist if he did not return home and end his criticism of the government. Thai king moves to block sister's 'inappropriate' candidacy for PM

Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Friday moved to block his elder sister's surprise bid to run for prime minister in March, calling her candidacy for a populist opposition party "inappropriate" and unconstitutional. Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, 67, stunned the nation when she announced on Friday she would be the sole prime ministerial candidate for the party, which is loyal to ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, in the March election. Ten soccer players killed as fire sweeps through Flamengo lodging in Rio

Fire swept through an unlicensed lodging at the training center of Rio de Janeiro soccer club Flamengo on Friday, killing 10 members of the club's youth team and injuring three more, one of them seriously, firefighters and news reports said. All 10 of the dead were aged between 14 and 16 and either played for the club or were having trials there, according to detailed information on Brazil's Globo website. Brazil president's medical condition improving: spokesman

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has no fever or pain and is quickly overcoming a bout of pneumonia, signs that his medical condition is improving, spokesman General Otavio Rego Barros said on Friday. A feeding tube and another tube draining liquid that accumulated where his colostomy bag had been attached to his intestine have been removed, according to a medical bulletin issued by the Sao Paulo hospital where he is being treated. Exclusive: U.S. in direct contact with Venezuelan military, urging defections - source

The United States is holding direct communications with members of Venezuela's military urging them to abandon President Nicolas Maduro and is also preparing new sanctions aimed at increasing pressure on him, a senior White House official said. The Trump administration expects further military defections from Maduro's side, the official told Reuters in an interview, despite only a few senior officers having done so since opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president last month, earning the recognition of the United States and dozens of other countries.