Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Algerian police disperse journalists protesting in capital

Police in Algeria arrested several journalists at a protest in the capital on Thursday calling for the right to cover rarely seen anti-government demonstrations which began a week ago, according to witnesses and Reuters television footage. Dozens of journalists gathered in the city center chanting "Democracy!" before being dispersed by police. Since Friday thousands of Algerians have taken part in protests against the ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's plan to seek a fifth term in April 18 presidential elections. Mass grave found in last Islamic State bastion: SDF

A mass grave containing the bodies of dozens of people who may be Yazidis enslaved by Islamic State has been found in territory recently seized by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an SDF official said on Thursday. Many of the bodies found in the Baghouz area were those of women. "They were slaughtered," SDF commander Adnan Afrin said. Most had been decapitated, he added. The SDF was still trying to confirm if the bodies belonged to members of the Yazidi sect. Israel security forces should face justice for Gaza killings: U.N.

United Nations investigators said on Thursday Israeli security forces may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in killing 189 Palestinians and wounding more than 6,100 at weekly protests in Gaza last year. The independent panel said it had confidential information about those it believes to be responsible for the killings, including snipers and commanders. Cardinal Pell's lawyer apologizes for 'terrible choice of phrase'

The defense lawyer for Australian Cardinal George Pell, a former top Vatican official now in custody pending sentencing for sexually abusing 13-year-old boys, apologized on Thursday for controversial comments he made about the assault. The former Vatican treasurer is the most senior Catholic cleric to be convicted for child sex offences. He was found guilty in December of five offences committed in the 1990s, but the verdict was only made public this week when the court lifted a suppression order on the case. 'Sometimes you have to walk': Trump scraps North Korea summit deal

U.S. President Donald Trump said he had walked away from a nuclear deal at his summit with Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on Thursday because of unacceptable demands from the North Korean leader to lift punishing U.S.-led sanctions. Trump said two days of talks in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi had made good progress in building relations and on the key issue of denuclearization, but it was important not to rush into a bad deal. Britain's Labour Party backs Brexit referendum

Britain's opposition Labour Party will support a new referendum on Brexit after parliament defeated its alternative plan for leaving the European Union, the party's leader Jeremy Corbyn said. With 29 days left until the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union, the leaders of Britain's two main parties have been forced into making key turns on the divorce in recent days. Saudi sisters stranded in Hong Kong face deportation as visa deadline nears

Two Saudi sisters fleeing what they described as beatings in their home country face a deadline for deportation from Hong Kong within hours unless authorities extend their stay. The pair, aged 18 and 20, whose identities have not been revealed in a bid to secure their safety, say they could face death if they are deported. Pakistan says it will return captured Indian pilot, as U.S. urges de-escalation

Pakistan will return a captured pilot "as a peace gesture" to India, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Thursday, amid efforts by the United States to defuse a crisis between the two nuclear powers a day after both downed enemy jets. The pilot, identified by Islamabad as Wing Commander Abhi Nandan, became the human face of the latest flare-up following the release of videos showing him being captured and later held in custody. Exclusive: Meeting Maduro - Inside a U.S. businessman's oil deal with Venezuela

In November 2017, Harry Sargeant III, a wealthy American businessman, flew to Venezuela to see about buying some oil. Sargeant, the former finance chairman of the Florida Republican Party, was looking to purchase a New Jersey asphalt plant that needed a steady supply of the heavy crude that Venezuela has in abundance. Libyan PM, eastern commander agree national election needed: U.N.

Libya's internationally recognized Prime Minister and the military commander of its breakaway eastern half have met and agreed that national elections are necessary, the U.N. said on Thursday. Wednesday's meeting in United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the first to be confirmed between Fayez al-Serraj and commander Khalifa Haftar since November, when they came face to face in Palermo, Sicily.