Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. Venezuela government suspends talks with opposition over Saab extradition Venezuela on Saturday said it would suspend negotiations with the opposition that were set to resume this weekend, after Cape Verde extradited Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who is an envoy of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to the United States on money laundering charges.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Venezuela government suspends talks with opposition over Saab extradition

Venezuela on Saturday said it would suspend negotiations with the opposition that were set to resume this weekend, after Cape Verde extradited Colombian businessman Alex Saab, who is an envoy of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, to the United States on money laundering charges. The announcement was made by Socialist party legislator Jorge Rodriguez, who heads the government's negotiating team. Rodriguez said the Venezuelan government would not attend the talks set to begin on Sunday.

U.S. offers payments, relocation to family of Afghans killed in botched drone attack

The Pentagon has offered unspecified condolence payments to the family of 10 civilians who were killed in a botched U.S. drone attack in Afghanistan in August during the final days before American troops withdrew from the country. The U.S. Defense Department said it made a commitment that included offering "ex-gratia condolence payments", in addition to working with the U.S. State Department in support of the family members who were interested in relocation to the United States.

ASEAN excludes Myanmar junta leader from summit in rare move

Southeast Asian countries will invite a non-political representative from Myanmar to a regional summit this month, delivering an unprecedented snub to the military leader who led a coup against an elected civilian government in February. The decision taken by foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at an emergency meeting on Friday night, marks a rare bold step for the consensus-driven bloc, which has traditionally favoured a policy of engagement and non-interference.

Soldier suspected of firing towards Beirut protesters is under investigation - army

A Lebanese soldier suspected of firing towards protesters in Beirut on Thursday is under investigation, the army said on Saturday. Seven people were killed in clashes that erupted near the site of a protest against the judge leading an inquiry into a catastrophic port explosion in Beirut last year.

Iran court upholds jail term for UK-Iranian aid worker, lawyer says

An Iranian appeals court has upheld a one-year prison term for British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe on security offences, her lawyer was quoted by an Iranian news website as saying on Saturday. "The appeals court has approved the lower court's verdict without holding a hearing," attorney Hojjat Kermani told the Emtedad website.

Czechs want to know what's wrong with their ill president

When Vaclav Havel nearly died of a ruptured intestine as Czech president in 1998, doctors provided daily updates on his condition. Nearly a quarter of a century later, a Czech president is again in hospital but the public has not been told what is wrong with him.

Turnout in Iraq's election reached 43% -electoral commission

Turnout in Iraq's parliamentary election earlier this month reached 43%, the electoral commission said late on Saturday, a small increase from preliminary results but lower than that in the last election in 2018. More than 9.6 million people cast their ballots in the Oct. 10 vote, the commission said.

UK PM Johnson visits church where lawmaker stabbed to death

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday laid flowers outside the church where a lawmaker was stabbed to death a day earlier, and police were given more time to question the man detained under terrorism powers on suspicion of murder. The attack on David Amess, from Johnson's Conservative Party, comes five years after the murder of Jo Cox, a lawmaker from the opposition Labour Party, and has prompted a review of the security of elected politicians.

Centre-left favoured to take Rome in Italian municipal run-offs

Italians begin voting on Sunday in a two-day run-off for the local governments of 65 large cities and smaller towns, including the capital Rome. Two weeks ago, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD) won mayoral elections in numerous big cities and Rome's incumbent mayor, Virginia Raggi of the 5-Star Movement, failed even to make it to a run-off.

Venezuelan government suspends negotiations with opposition

Venezuela on Saturday said it would suspend negotiations with the opposition that were set to resume this weekend, after Cape Verde extradited Colombian businessman Alex Saab to the United States on money laundering charges. The announcement was made by Socialist party legislator Jorge Rodriguez, who heads the government's negotiating team. Rodriguez said the Venezuelan government would not attend the talks set to begin on Sunday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)