Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. North Korea rebuilds part of missile site as Bolton warns of more sanctions

North Korea has restored part of a rocket test site it began to dismantle after pledging to do so in a first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump last year, while Trump's national security advisor warned that new sanctions could be introduced if Pyongyang did not scrap its nuclear weapons program. South Korea's Yonhap News Agency and two U.S. think tanks reported on Tuesday that work was underway at the Sohae Satellite Launching Station at Tongchang-ri, even as Trump met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a second summit in Hanoi last week. Learning the ropes: Sri Lankan ad for hangmen draws 102 applicants

A Sri Lankan advert for hangmen has attracted more than 100 applicants, including an American, a prison service spokesman said on Wednesday, as the country pushes ahead with a plan to reintroduce the death penalty for drug offences. President Maithripala Sirisena said last year he wanted to resume hangings after a decades-long hiatus. The government began advertising last month. Satellite images show buildings still standing at Indian bombing site

High-resolution satellite images reviewed by Reuters show that a religious school run by Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in northeastern Pakistan appears to be still standing days after India claimed its warplanes had hit the Islamist group's training camp on the site and killed a large number of militants. The images produced by Planet Labs Inc, a San Francisco-based private satellite operator, show at least six buildings on the madrasa site on March 4, six days after the airstrike. Iran's Rouhani accuses U.S. of trying to change clerical establishment

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States on Wednesday of plotting to use economic pressure to overthrow the Islamic republic's clerical establishment, and ruled out the possibility of talks with Washington. "Iran is in economic and psychological war with America and its allies. Their aim is to change the regime but their wish will not come true," Rouhani said in a speech in the northern province of Gilan. Indian opposition attacks Modi over alleged political use of armed forces

Indian opposition parties are launching a united attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what they see as his politicization of the armed forces as he tries to ride a patriotic wave into a second term in office at a general election. It is a high-risk bet that could backfire given the jingoistic fervor that has overtaken India since a suicide bomber from the Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) killed 40 paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Feb 14. South African court jails two white farmers for killing black teenager

Two white South African farmers were sentenced to up to 23 years in prison on Wednesday for the murder of a black youth who was thrown from a moving vehicle after being accused of stealing about 80 rand ($5) worth of sunflowers. The death of 15-year-old Matlhomola Mosweu in April 2017 caused outrage in a country where deep racial divisions persist 25 years after the end of white minority apartheid rule. Algeria war veterans back protests demanding end to Bouteflika's rule

Algerian war veterans said protesters demanding ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika step down after 20 years in power had legitimate concerns and urged all citizens to demonstrate, in another sign of cracks in the ruling elite. The ongoing unrest poses the biggest challenge yet to the Bouteflika and his inner circle which includes members of the military and intelligence services and businessmen. Talks on amending Brexit deal difficult, no solution in sight: EU

Talks with Britain on amending its divorce deal with the European Union have made no progress and no solution is in sight, EU officials said on Wednesday, days before British lawmakers must vote on the plan to avoid a chaotic Brexit. Diplomats said talks in Brussels led by British Prime Minister Theresa May's chief lawyer, Geoffrey Cox, failed to yield a repackaged deal on Tuesday, with barely over three weeks to go before Britain's scheduled exit on March 29. At least 16 killed in bomb, gun attack in eastern Afghanistan

Suicide bombers and gunmen attacked a construction company office in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Wednesday killing 16 employees of the Afghan company, a provincial official said. The attack began when two suicide bombers set off their explosives outside the company office and gunmen then opened fire, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province. 2,000 more people quit IS Syria pocket: SDF military source

More than 2,000 people were evacuated on Wednesday from Islamic State's last pocket in eastern Syria at Baghouz, said a military source in the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which is besieging the area. More than 6,500 people were evacuated over the previous 24 hours, including hundreds of surrendering jihadist fighters, a spokesman for the SDF said on Tuesday, after the militia had slowed its assault to let out more civilians.