Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Five Algerian billionaires arrested as part of anti-graft investigation: State TV

Five Algerian billionaires, some of them close to former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika who quit over mass protests, have been arrested as part of an anti-graft investigation, state TV said on Monday. The five are Issad Rebrab, considered the richest businessman in the energy-rich north African nation who is especially active in the food and sugar refining business, and four brothers from the Kouninef family, it said. Russia's Putin, North Korea's Kim on track to meet by end of April: Kremlin

Russia' President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are on track to meet by the end of April, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. Last week the Kremlin said that Kim Jong Un would travel to Russia this month, announcing the first Russia-North Korea summit since Kim came to power in 2011. Thai navy tows floating home of fugitive U.S. 'seasteader'

Thailand's navy on Monday began towing to shore the floating cabin of a fugitive U.S. citizen and his Thai girlfriend, both prominent members of the "seasteading" movement who face possible death sentences for setting up their offshore home. The cabin set on top of a spar 14 nautical miles off the Thai island of Phuket had been touted as milestone in the movement to build floating communities in international waters as a way to explore alternative societies and governments. Sri Lanka imposes emergency, says international network involved in attacks

Sri Lanka said on Monday it was invoking emergency powers in the aftermath of devastating bomb attacks on hotels and churches, blamed on militants with foreign links, in which 290 people were killed and nearly 500 wounded. The emergency law, which gives police and the military extensive powers to detain and interrogate suspects without court orders, will go into effect at midnight on Monday, the president's office said. U.S. will not reissue waivers for Iran oil imports: White House

U.S. President Donald Trump has decided to eliminate all waivers issued to eight economies allowing them to buy Iranian oil without facing U.S. sanctions, the White House said on Monday, while vowing to ensure global oil market was well supplied. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to make an announcement on Monday detailing the decision. What next? Comedian's win in Ukrainian presidential election poses riddle

Ukraine entered uncharted political waters on Monday after near final results showed a comedian with no political experience and few detailed policies had dramatically up-ended the status quo and won the country's presidential election by a landslide. The emphatic victory of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, 41, is a bitter blow for incumbent Petro Poroshenko and presents a riddle for investors, the West and Russia who wonder what approach he will take on everything from Moscow to the domestic banking sector. Myanmar’s top court to rule on jailed Reuters journalists' appeal

Myanmar's Supreme Court will rule on Tuesday on an appeal of two Reuters journalists imprisoned for breaking a colonial-era official secrets law, in a case that has raised questions about the country's transition to democracy. Wa Lone, 33, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 29, have spent more than 16 months in detention since they were arrested in December 2017 while working on an investigation into the killing of 10 Rohingya Muslim men during a military crackdown in the western part of the country. Arrests at London climate-change protests top 1,000

The number of environmental campaigners arrested during eight days of direct action in London topped 1,000 on Monday, police said, adding that Waterloo Bridge, one of the sites blockaded by the protests, had re-opened to traffic. Climate group Extinction Rebellion has targeted sites in central London, such as Oxford Circus and Parliament Square, in a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience with the aim of stopping what it calls a global climate crisis. Turkey detains nine people over attack on main opposition leader

Turkey has arrested nine people, including a member of the ruling AK Party, after the country's main opposition leader was punched and his car was stoned at a soldier's funeral at the weekend, the interior minister said on Monday. Kilicdaroglu was attacked on Sunday as he attended a funeral in a northern district of Ankara for a soldier killed in clashes with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants. Iran and Pakistan to form joint rapid reaction force at border: Rouhani

Iran and Pakistan will form a joint quick reaction force to combat militant activity on their shared border, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday during a televised press conference with Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan. Khan arrived in Iran on Sunday to discuss security and regional issues, Iranian state TV reported, a day after Islamabad urged Tehran to act against militants behind killings in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province.