Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Turks vote in local polls, Erdogan's party could lose in big cities

Turks voted on Sunday in local elections which President Tayyip Erdogan has described as a matter of survival for Turkey and which were tarnished by violence that left two party members dead in the country's southeast. Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for more than 16 years thanks in part to strong economic growth, has become the country's most popular, yet also most divisive, leader in modern history. Seven killed in China plant explosion; second deadly blast this month

A plant explosion in China's Jiangsu province has killed seven people, authorities said on Sunday, the second deadly blast in the province this month as Beijing begins a nationwide industrial safety inspection campaign. Sunday's blast involved a container of scrap metal that exploded in the outdoor yard of a metal-molding plant in a bonded area in the city of Kunshan, causing the plant to catch fire, the local government said on its official Weibo account. Comedian is center stage as Ukraine holds presidential vote

The top three contenders in Ukraine's presidential elections cast their vote on Sunday in a first round which a comedian - who happens to play a fictional president in a popular TV series - is tipped to win. Political newcomer Volodymyr Zelenskiy, 41, who is appealing to voters fed up with entrenched corruption, has consistently led opinion polls in a three-horse race against incumbent President Petro Poroshenko and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Brexit in meltdown: Theresa May under pressure to forge softer divorce deal

Britain's exit from the European Union was in disarray after the implosion of Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit strategy left her under pressure from rival factions to leave without a deal, go for an election or forge a much softer divorce. After one of the most tumultuous weeks in British politics since the 2016 referendum, it was still uncertain how, when or even if the United Kingdom will ever leave the bloc it first joined 46 years ago. U.N. head wants democratic transition in Algeria

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday that he welcomed efforts towards a peaceful and democratic transition in Algeria, where weeks of protests have pushed for President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to end his 20-year rule. Addressing an Arab League summit in Tunis, Guterres said any steps should be made in a way "that addresses the concerns of the Algerian people in a timely way". Trump cuts aid to Central American countries as migrant crisis deepens

The U.S. government cut aid to El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras on Saturday after President Donald Trump blasted the Central American countries for sending migrants to the United States and threatened to shutter the U.S.-Mexico border. A surge of asylum seekers from the three countries have sought to enter the United States across the southern border in recent days. On Friday, Trump accused the nations of having "set up" migrant caravans and sent them north. Arab summit expected to reject U.S. decision over Golan

Arab heads of state, long divided by regional rivalries, are expected to unite at a summit on Sunday to oppose a U.S. decision to recognize Israel's annexation of Arab lands captured in 1967. Arab leaders are already grappling with unrest in Algeria and Sudan, international pressure over the war in Yemen, regional splits over Iran's influence in the Middle East and a bitter Gulf Arab dispute. Meghan to shun London hospital famed for royal births: The Sun

Meghan Markle has broken a four-decade tradition by shunning the London hospital where many royal babies, including her husband Britain's Prince Harry, were born, The Sun newspaper reported. Meghan and Harry, who married last year, are expecting their first child this spring. Conversion is not your mission, pope tells Catholics in Morocco

Pope Francis told Morocco's tiny Catholic community on Sunday their role in the predominantly Muslim country was not to covert their neighbors but live in brotherhood with all other faiths. Francis has used his two-day trip to stress inter-faith dialogue. He has also backed Moroccan King Mohammed VI's efforts to spread a form of Islam that promotes inter-religious dialogue and rejects violence in God's name. Thousands march in Hong Kong over proposed extradition law changes

Thousands of people protested in Hong Kong on Sunday against a government plan to change extradition laws, fearing an erosion of personal freedom and the city's status as an international business hub. The Hong Kong government proposal, announced in February, would grant the city's leader executive power to send fugitives to jurisdictions not covered by existing arrangements, including Mainland China and Taiwan.