Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Putin says Russia and Syria are not planning assault on Idlib for now

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday he did not rule out Syrian forces, backed by Russian air power, launching a full-scale assault on militants in Syria's Idlib province, but that such an operation was unpractical for now. Russia, one of the Syrian government’s staunchest allies, and Turkey brokered a deal in September to create a demilitarized zone in the northwest Idlib region that would be free of all heavy weapons and jihadist fighters. Putin says Russia may offer fast-tracked passports to all Ukrainians

President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday Moscow was considering offering all Ukrainian citizens fast-tracked Russian passports, a move likely to anger some politicians in Ukraine which has been at war with pro-Russian separatists since 2014. Putin made the statement days after signing an order to simplify the procedure for obtaining a Russian passport for residents of separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine, prompting calls from Kiev for more international sanctions. China's Xi touts more than $64 billion in Belt and Road deals

President Xi Jinping on Saturday hailed deals worth more than $64 billion signed during China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) this week as he sought to reassure skeptics the project will deliver sustainable growth for all involved. Xi said market principles will apply in all Belt and Road cooperation projects and that his signature initiative to recreate the old Silk Road joining China with Asia and Europe will deliver green and high-quality development. Trump proposals on nuclear arms disarmament 'not serious': Kremlin

U.S. President Donald Trump's proposals on nuclear arms disarmament is "not serious," a Kremlin spokesman said on Saturday. Trump has ordered his administration to prepare a push for a new arms-control agreements with Russia and China citing the cost of the 21st-century nuclear arms race, The Washington Post reported on Thursday citing administration officials. Israel to free two Syrian prisoners after recovering soldier's remains

Israel will release two prisoners after the remains of an Israeli soldier missing since 1982 were recovered by Russian special forces in Syria, an Israeli official said. Russia, a key Damascus ally, this month handed over the remains and personal effects of Zachary Baumel who was 21 when he was declared missing in action along with two other soldiers in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub during Israel's invasion of Lebanon. Turkey's Erdogan vows to confront opponents inside party after vote loss

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Saturday to confront opponents inside his own party weeks after he suffered shock election defeats in the capital Ankara and commercial hub Istanbul. Erdogan and his supporters have up to now blamed the losses on electoral fraud by unspecified groups and launched a string of legal challenges against the results. U.S. air strike kills three ISIS fighters in Somali region

A U.S. air strike killed three fighters from the Islamic State in the Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region on Friday, a U.S. military official said, two weeks after the group's deputy leader was killed in a strike. A witness said missiles struck two wells on the outskirts of Timirshe village, some 60km southeast of Puntland's commercial capital Bosaso. Putin calls U.S. treatment of admitted agent Butina an outrage

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday made his first comments on a U.S. court sentencing admitted Russian foreign agent Maria Butina to 18 months in prison, calling her treatment a travesty of justice. Butina was sentenced on Friday after the Siberia native, her voice breaking with emotion, begged a judge for mercy and expressed remorse for conspiring with a Russian official to infiltrate a gun rights group and influence U.S. conservative activists and Republicans. "Jilted bride": As South Korea marks peace summit, North stays aloof

Along forest trails below a bare mountain peak that until last year was a vantage point for a North Korean guard post, a group of around 20 ordinary South Koreans took a rare hike on Saturday near the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas. The hikers were chosen by lottery to explore a "peace trail" near the heavily fortified frontier, launched to mark the first anniversary of a landmark summit between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Sri Lanka gun battle with militants kills 15, U.S. pulls citizens out

A gun battle between troops and suspected Islamist militants on Sri Lanka's east coast left 15 dead, including six children, a military spokesman said on Saturday, six days after suicide bombers killed more than 250 people on the island. The shootout at a safe house erupted on Friday in Sainthamaruthu in Ampara district, to the south of the Sri Lankan town of Batticaloa, site of one of the Easter Sunday blasts which have been claimed by Islamic State.