Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Britain's Prince William to visit New Zealand to honor shooting victims

Britain's Prince William will visit New Zealand next month to honor the 50 victims of the mass shooting at mosques two weeks ago, his office said on Wednesday. William, the Duke of Cambridge, will make the trip on behalf of his 92-year-old grandmother Queen Elizabeth, New Zealand's head of state, following a request from its Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Trump tells Russia to get its troops out of Venezuela

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Russia to pull its troops from Venezuela and said that "all options" were open to make that happen. The arrival of two Russian air force planes outside Caracas on Saturday believed to be carrying nearly 100 Russian special forces and cybersecurity personnel has escalated the political crisis in Venezuela. Modi hails India's arrival as space power after it shoots down satellite in test

India shot down one of its own satellites in low-Earth orbit with a ground-to-space missile on Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, hailing his country's first test of such weaponry as a breakthrough establishing it as a military space power. India would only be the fourth country to have used such an anti-satellite weapon after the United States, Russia and China, said Modi, who heads into general elections next month. May expected to offer her job for Brexit deal as parliament tries multiple choice

British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected on Wednesday to indicate a date for quitting as the price for getting her twice-defeated Brexit deal ratified, while parliament tries to select its own alternative from a multiple-choice list of options. As the United Kingdom's three-year Brexit crisis spins towards its finale, it is still uncertain how, when or even if it will leave the European Union, though May hopes to bring her deal back to parliament later this week. Guatemala amnesty would free war criminals, soldiers who held women as sex slaves

Starting in 1982, during one of the darkest moments of Guatemala’s civil war, at least 11 Mayan Q’eqchi indigenous women were kidnapped, enslaved and raped over a period of six years at an army camp in the jungle. Now an alliance of lawmakers who back Guatemala's President Jimmy Morales is drumming up support for an amnesty bill that would allow the men sentenced for the atrocity to walk free. Dozens of other army veterans convicted of crimes against humanity would also benefit. U.S. approves secret nuclear power work for Saudi Arabia

U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry has approved six secret authorizations by companies to sell nuclear power technology and assistance to Saudi Arabia, according to a copy of a document seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The Trump administration has quietly pursued a wider deal on sharing U.S. nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia, which aims to build at least two nuclear power plants. Several countries including the United States, South Korea and Russia are in competition for that deal, and the winners are expected to be announced later this year by Saudi Arabia. Morning commute in Australian city disrupted after police operation

The morning commute for Australians in the country's second largest city was thrown into chaos on Thursday after armed police stormed a train station in response to an erroneous sighting of a gun. Trains at Melbourne's Flagstaff Station were suspended shortly around 8am local time (2200 GMT), while commuters were urged to stay clear of the local area. China launches month-long safety probe after deadly chemical blast

China will launch a month-long, nationwide inspection program into hazardous chemicals, mines and fire safety, the country's safety watchdog said, following a deadly pesticide plant blast that killed 78 people last week. The Ministry of Emergency Management said in a notice late on Wednesday authorities needed to "deeply absorb" the lessons of the explosion at the chemical park in the city of Yancheng in eastern China's Jiangsu province. Taiwan president, seeking tanks and fighters, says U.S. responding positively

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said on Wednesday the United States was responding positively to Taipei's requests for new arms sales to bolster its defenses in the face of growing pressure from China. Speaking during a stopover in Hawaii at the end of a Pacific tour, Tsai told Washington's Heritage Foundation think tank via videolink that Taiwan had submitted new requests to the United States for M-1 Abrams tanks and F-16B fighter jets. Peru police arrest five men in gang rape of mentally ill teenager

Police in Peru have arrested five men in connection with the gang rape a mentally ill young woman last week and are searching for two other suspects in a case that has shocked the South American country. Prosecutors are examining the contents of three cell phones seized from the suspects, ages 20 to 27, who allegedly recorded the rape of their 19-year-old victim and shared it on social media, the attorney general's office said on Twitter.