Reuters World News Summary

Afghan president says ready to discuss elections to advance talks with Taliban Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Saturday, in a bid to push forward peace talks with the Taliban, that his government was ready to discuss holding fresh elections, insisting that any new government should emerge through the democratic process.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Ivory Coast votes for parliament as Ouattara opponents join forces

Ivory Coast voted on Saturday in a legislative election, with President Alassane Ouattara's allies facing a combined challenge from opposition parties led by two of his predecessors. The poll comes only months after Ouattara won a third term in an election marred by unrest that killed at least 85 people, the country's worst violence since a 2010-2011 civil war. U.S. detained nearly 100,000 migrants at Mexico border in February, sources say

U.S. border agents detained nearly 100,000 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in February, according to two people familiar with preliminary figures, the highest monthly total since a major border surge in mid-2019. The figures, which have not been previously reported, show the scope of a growing migrant influx at the southwest border as U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, seeks to roll back some of the restrictive policies of former President Donald Trump, a Republican. February was Biden's first full month in office. Hong Kong electoral reforms prevent 'dictatorship of the majority', says pro-Beijing lawmaker

Beijing's proposal for Hong Kong electoral reforms could prevent "dictatorship of the majority", a pro-Beijing Hong Kong lawmaker said, calling people who want one man one vote "politically immature". China's rubber-stamp parliament is deliberating plans to overhaul Hong Kong's electoral system to ensure Beijing loyalists are in charge. Pope Francis meets Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, visits birthplace of Prophet Abraham

Pope Francis entered a narrow alleyway in Iraq's holy city of Najaf to hold a historic meeting with the county's top Shi'ite cleric and visited the birthplace of the Prophet Abraham on Saturday to condemn violence in the name of God as "the greatest blasphemy". The back-to-back inter-religious events some 200 km (125 miles) apart, one in a dusty, built-up city and the other in a desert plain, reinforced the main theme of his risky trip to Iraq - that the country has suffered far too much. Myanmar forces fire tear gas, stun grenades on protest as U.N. envoy calls for action

Myanmar security forces used tear gas and stun grenades to break up a protest in Yangon on Saturday, just hours after a United Nations special envoy called on the Security Council to take action against the ruling junta for the killings of protesters. The Southeast Asian country has been plunged in turmoil since the military overthrew and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, with daily protests and strikes that have choked business and paralysed administration. Thai police warn protesters risk arrest ahead of planned demonstrations

Thai police warned anti-government protesters planning demonstrations in Bangkok on Saturday that they risked being arrested following an order overnight that banned public gatherings in the capital and surrounding provinces. A youth-led protest movement sprang up last year calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former junta leader, and reform of the powerful monarchy, and a clash between police and protesters last week was the most serious so far. Indian farmers block highway outside Delhi to mark 100th day of protest

Indian farmers began gathering on Saturday to block a six-lane expressway outside New Delhi to mark the 100th day of protests against deregulation of agriculture markets, to add pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government. Farmers young and old headed in cars, trucks and tractors to the highway for a five-hour roadblock to oppose three farm laws enacted in September 2020 they say hurt them by opening up the agriculture sector to private players. Afghan president says ready to discuss elections to advance talks with Taliban

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Saturday, in a bid to push forward peace talks with the Taliban, that his government was ready to discuss holding fresh elections, insisting that any new government should emerge through the democratic process. "Transfer of power through elections is a non-negotiable principle for us," Ghani told lawmakers at the opening of parliament session in Kabul. Grave of slain 'Everything will be OK' protester disturbed in Myanmar

Guarded by police and soldiers, authorities in Myanmar disturbed the grave of a 19-year-old woman who became an icon of the anti-coup protest movement after she was shot dead wearing a T-shirt that read "Everything will be OK", a witness and local media said. One witness said the body of Kyal Sin, widely known as Angel, was removed on Friday, examined and returned, before the tomb was re-sealed in Myanmar's second city of Mandalay. The independent Mizzima news service reported the same. Egypt's Sisi visits Sudan with dam diplomacy, security on the agenda

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi visited Sudan on Saturday for the first time since the overthrow of former President Omar al-Bashir, as the neighbours push to break a diplomatic deadlock over a giant dam being built by Ethiopia. Sisi was also due to discuss Red Sea security and developments on Sudan's borders during his visit to Khartoum, Egypt's presidency said in a statement.

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