Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. EU ready to give Britain more guarantees 'backstop' is temporary: Barnier

The European Union is ready to give Britain more guarantees that the Irish "backstop" is only intended to be temporary, the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator said on Friday. "We know that there are misgivings in Britain that the backstop could keep Britain forever connected to the EU," Michel Barnier said in an interview with Germany's Die Welt newspaper to be published on Saturday. Pakistan releases captured Indian pilot; confrontation cools

Pakistan handed back a captured Indian pilot on Friday as the nuclear-armed neighbors scaled back a confrontation that has prompted world powers to urge restraint, although shelling continued in the disputed Kashmir region. Television footage showed Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman walking across the border near the town of Wagah just before 9 p.m. (1600 GMT). Indian officials confirmed he had been returned and said he would be taken for medical checks. Chemical weapons agency: 'toxic chemical' used in attack on Syrian rebel town last April

Inspectors have concluded that a "toxic chemical" containing chlorine was used in an attack last April in the Syrian town of Douma, at the time held by rebels but besieged by pro-government forces, the global chemical weapons agency said on Friday. The attack on April 7, 2018, killed dozens of civilians and prompted air strikes against the Syrian government by Britain, France and the United States. Southern Yemenis warn exclusion from U.N. peace talks could trigger new conflict

A separatist leader from south Yemen said a U.N.-mediated peace deal that fails to address the south’s wish for self-determination would be "dangerous" and could trigger a new conflict. In the war between the Iran-aligned Houthi movement and Yemen's internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, southern forces form part of a Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis. Gun battle rages between Al Shabaab and Somali troops after hotel attack

A gun battle raged in Mogadishu on Friday between Somali soldiers and Al Shabaab fighters, holed up in a building next to a hotel they had hit with a suicide car bomb the previous evening. Heavy gunfire resounded across the Somali capital through the night and as dawn broke, police said the death toll, put at 13 so far, was rising following the blast at the Hotel Maka Al-Mukarama, located on a street lined with hotels, shops and restaurants. U.S.-backed SDF expects 'fierce battle' in final Islamic State enclave

The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) expect a "fierce battle" with Islamic State militants who are still holed up in the group's last enclave in eastern Syria, Mustafa Bali, the head of the SDF media office, told Reuters on Friday. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the SDF had retaken 100 percent of the territory once held by Islamic State. Canada PM shuffles cabinet for second time in six weeks amid crisis

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday shuffled his cabinet for the second time in six weeks in response to a crisis caused by the resignation of a minister who then alleged inappropriate conduct by officials. Trudeau moved long-serving Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay to the veterans affairs portfolio to replace Jody Wilson-Raybould, who quit on Feb. 12 after less than a month in the job. Washington ups pressure on Venezuela as Guaido tours South America

The United States on Friday ramped up its attempt to dislodge Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power, imposing new sanctions and revoking visas of senior officials, while opposition leader Juan Guaido toured South America to drum up support. Venezuelan military officials last weekend blocked an opposition-backed effort to bring food into the country via its borders with Colombia and Brazil, leaving two aid trucks in flames and five people dead. U.S., S.Korea to replace spring exercises with smaller drills: officials

The United States and South Korea are expected to announce that they will not carry out large-scale spring joint military exercises, replacing them with smaller-scale drills, U.S. officials said on Friday. U.S. officials have long said the spring exercises, known as Foal Eagle and Key Resolve, would be reduced in scope. Mexico frets over U.S. plans to take divisive asylum policy to new cities

The United States is aiming to ramp up in coming weeks a program to send Central American asylum seekers to Mexico to await U.S. court dates, an experimental policy that Mexican officials and migrant shelters say risks overwhelming an underfunded system. In late January, the United States began sending Central American migrants who crossed at the Tijuana-San Diego border back to Mexico to wait as their asylum requests were processed, a program called Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP.