Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

EU countries agree to share out Ocean Viking migrants

Six European Union countries have agreed to take in the 356 migrants stranded at sea for two weeks aboard the Ocean Viking rescue vessel, ending the latest standoff in the bloc over migration across the Mediterranean. The migrants aboard the ship, which is run by French charities, will be taken to Malta before being received by France, Germany, Romania, Luxembourg, Portugal and Ireland, the EU migration commissioner and Maltese prime minister said.

Yemen's separatists declare ceasefire in clash with government forces in Shabwa

Yemen's southern separatists declared a ceasefire in their clashes with government forces in the oil-producing province of Shabwa after two days of fighting. "The Southern Transitional Council (STC) calls upon all parties in the Shabwa governorate to exercise restraint and abide by the ceasefire called for by the Arab coalition," the council said in a statement early Saturday.

Tunisian police arrest presidential candidate Karoui on tax evasion charges

Tunisian police arrested presidential candidate Nabil Karoui on Friday after a court ordered his detention, the Interior Ministry said, in a case involving charges of money laundering but which Karoui's party said was a politically motivated attempt to exclude him from the election race. Karoui's own Nessma TV channel reported that the candidate had been arrested as he traveled to Tunis, and broadcast a video showing the police detaining him in his car.

North Korea launches ballistic missiles into Sea of Japan: Japan's Coast Guard

Japan's Coast Guard said it detected a suspected ballistic missile launch from North Korea on Saturday, while Yonhap news agency quoted the South Korean military as saying North Korea had fired two projectiles into the sea off its east coast. A series of launches by North Korea since U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met at the inter-Korean border in June have complicated attempts to restart talks between U.S. and North Korean negotiators over the future of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Italy's 5-Star plays hardball with PD as government talks begin

The anti-establishment 5-Star Movement sought to gain the initiative as it began formal talks on Friday with the opposition Democratic Party (PD) to try to form a coalition to end Italy's government crisis. The euro zone's third-largest economy is in political turmoil after its government, riven by months of infighting, imploded this week, forcing prime minister Giuseppe Conte to resign just as he was to begin preparing the 2020 budget.

Global disputes likely to thwart unity at G7 summit in France

Leaders of the G7 nations arrive in France on Saturday for a summit as a brewing U.S.-China confrontation over protectionism highlighted President Emmanuel Macron's tough task in delivering meaningful results on trade, Iran and climate change. The three-day meeting in the Atlantic seaside resort of Biarritz takes place amid sharp differences over a clutch of global issues that risk further dividing a group of countries already struggling to pull together.

Mexican families scour arid plains for graves of disappeared

Fifteen years after her daughter's disappearance, 55-year-old Silvia Ortiz spends day after day raking through arid scrubland in northern Mexico hoping to find her remains. Ortiz belongs to a group of families working to uncover graves of some of the 40,000 people who have gone missing in mounting lawlessness since the government sent in the armed forces to tackle Mexico's drug cartels at the end of 2006.

Encouraged by Johnson's visit, UK officials now hoping rest of EU agrees to work on Brexit solution

Britain is hoping the rest of the European Union falls in behind France and Germany and agrees to work on solving a deadlock over Brexit, with officials sensing a glimmer of hope after meetings this week, but conscious of the need for a wider consensus in Europe. Britain is on course to leave the EU, its biggest trading partner, on Oct. 31 without any formal deal to soften the unprecedented divorce, unless both sides agree to reopen stalled talks and find a way to resolve their differences.

Hong Kong families form peaceful human chains ahead of airport protest

Thousands of chanting Hong Kong protesters joined hands to form human chains on Friday in a peaceful protest, with almost three months of anti-government demonstrations showing no sign of let-up across the Chinese-ruled territory. Demonstrators, families young and old, some people masked, some using hand wipes to stay clean, linked hands across different districts as others held up banners thanking overseas nations for supporting "freedom and democracy" in Hong Kong.

Brazil's Bolsonaro says army may be sent to help combat Amazon fires

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro said on Friday that the army could be sent to help combat the fires sweeping through the Amazon rainforest, and that a decision will be taken later in the day. Bolsonaro, under growing international pressure over the unfolding crisis, told reporters in Brasilia that he will meet with ministers later on Friday to discuss the next steps.