Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Explainer: How Wednesday's parliamentary Brexit debate will work

British Prime Minister Theresa May will on Wednesday update parliament on her progress towards securing a Brexit deal, giving lawmakers the chance to challenge her approach and vote on alternatives. May wants to negotiate changes to the departure deal she agreed with the European Union last year and has promised to bring it back for approval in parliament by March 12 at the latest. Brazil's Bolsonaro withdraws measure seen as weakening government transparency

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro late on Tuesday withdrew an executive order signed in January that would have increased the number of officials able to effectively keep government documents and data secret. In January, Vice-President Hamilton Mourao, acting for Bolsonaro while the president underwent surgery, signed the measure that altered Brazil's freedom of information rules by allowing a wider range of officials to designate information as secret or ultra-secret. The move was widely denounced by transparency advocates and journalists at the time. Kim's top aides on economic tour as North Korea looks to Vietnam model

North Korean officials visited some high-tech factories and a tourist site in Vietnam on Wednesday, as their leader, Kim Jong Un, looks to shore up his sanctions-hit economy by copying the successes of another old U.S. foe. President Donald Trump noted how Vietnam was thriving soon after he arrived late on Tuesday for his second summit with Kim, in Hanoi, a city the United States bombed during the Vietnam War. Indonesia president's campaign chief warns on fake news, undecided voters

The head of Indonesian President Joko Widodo's re-election campaign said on Wednesday supporters should not be complacent over the incumbent's lead in opinion polls, given the high number of undecided voters and threat of fake news. Widodo enjoys a double-digit lead in most opinion polls over retired general Prabowo Subianto ahead of the April 17 election, which is a repeat of the bitterly fought race in 2014. Vatican to open own investigation into accusations against Pell

The Vatican is opening its own investigation into accusations against Cardinal George Pell, who was found guilty of sexual abuse of minors in his native Australia, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The move means that Pell, who maintains his innocence and plans to appeal the verdict, could be dismissed from the priesthood if the Vatican's doctrinal department also finds him guilty. Head of UK Conservative eurosceptics softens on May's Brexit plan

The leader of a pro-Brexit faction in British Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative Party on Wednesday scaled back his opposition to her deal for leaving the European Union ahead of a vote on the agreement next month. Jacob Rees-Mogg said he would no longer insist that the so-called Northern Irish backstop be removed as a condition for his support and other legal ways might ensure it was not permanent. "I can live with the de facto removal of the backstop ... I mean that if there is a clear date that says the backstop ends, and that is in the text of the treaty or equivalent of the text of the treaty," Rees-Mogg told BBC radio. Trump and North Korea's Kim shake hands to kick off second summit

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump met in Hanoi on Wednesday for their second summit, with the U.S. president rejecting any suggestion he was walking back on U.S. demands for North Korea's denuclearization. Kim and Trump shook hands and smiled briefly in front of a row of their countries' flags at the Metropole hotel in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi. India, Pakistan down each other's jets as Kashmir conflict heats up

India and Pakistan both said they shot down each other's fighter jets on Wednesday, a day after Indian warplanes struck inside Pakistan for the first time since a 1971 war, prompting world powers to urge restraint. Both countries have ordered air strikes over the last two days, the first time in history that two nuclear-armed powers have done so, while ground forces have exchanged fire in more than a dozen locations. One witness, conflicting evidence: How Venezuelan justice targets the opposition

Local opposition leader Jose Rengel has spent almost five weeks in a cramped detention cell on the outskirts of the Venezuelan capital Caracas, after a single witness accused him of leading a riot that burned down a public building. Rengel was arrested together with eight other men on January 24 after the witness - a member of the ruling Socialist Party - told soldiers that the 59-year-old had sacked shops and "completely destroyed" a public transport office using Molotov cocktails, according to a National Guard report filed one day later. Trump adviser Kushner arrives in Turkey for talks with Erdogan

White House adviser Jared Kushner arrived in Turkey on Wednesday for talks with President Tayyip Erdogan that are expected to focus on a U.S. peace plan for the Middle East. Kushner, who has responsibility for Washington's Israel-Palestinian policy, has said the plan will address final-status issues of the conflict, including establishing borders.