World News Roundup: Algeria Bans full-face veils, Afghan shooting, Brexit deal

Since 2016, the Venezuelan government has distributed subsidized food, mostly imported from nearby countries, to help address Venezuela's severe shortages of basic goods.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Putin says Islamic State has seized 700 hostages in Syria

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Islamic State militants had seized nearly 700 hostages in part of Syria controlled by U.S.-backed forces and had executed some of them and promised to kill more. Speaking in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Putin said the hostages included several U.S. and European nationals, adding that Islamic State was expanding its control in the territory on the left bank of the River Euphrates controlled by the U.S. and U.S.-backed forces.

Mexican firms to pay $3 million reparations over Venezuela food aid program

A group of companies and individuals have agreed to pay $3 million in reparations to the United Nations Refugee Agency to settle allegations by Mexico of overcharging for basic food-aid packages distributed by the Venezuelan government, the Mexican attorney general's office said on Thursday. Since 2016, the Venezuelan government has distributed subsidized food, mostly imported from nearby countries, to help address Venezuela's severe shortages of basic goods.

Trump says Saudi journalist likely dead; Turkey searches for remains

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he presumes missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead and that the U.S. response to Saudi Arabia will likely be "very severe" but that he still wanted to get to the bottom of what exactly happened. Turkish police are searching a forest on the outskirts of Istanbul and a city near the Sea of Marmara for the remains of Khashoggi more than two weeks after he vanished after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, two senior Turkish officials told Reuters.

Israel steps up armored deployment on Gaza border

Israel ramped up its armoured forces along the Gaza border on Thursday in a daylight show of force, a day after a Palestinian rocket destroyed a home in southern Israel. With the deployment clearly visible from main Israeli roads near the Gaza Strip, senior Egyptian security officials met leaders of the enclave's ruling Hamas to try to calm tensions.

Ecuador expels Venezuela ambassador after official says Moreno lied

Ecuador expelled Venezuela's ambassador to Quito on Thursday after a Venezuelan government minister called Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno a liar, and Venezuela reciprocated by ordering Ecuador's top diplomat to go home. In a Wednesday press conference, Venezuelan Communication Minister Jorge Rodriguez said Moreno was a "liar" and accused him of exaggerating in a speech at the United Nations the number of Venezuelan migrants arriving in Ecuador.

Algeria bans wearing of full-face veils at work

Algerian authorities on Thursday banned women from wearing full-face veils, or niqabs, at work, citing reasons of identification for the decision. The country has been split between moderate and more radical forms of Islam since it was plunged into years of civil war in 1992 when a military-backed government cancelled elections that an Islamist party was poised to win.

U.S. student in boycott case allowed to stay in Israel: court

An American student who was barred from entering Israel under a law against foreign activists who support boycotts of the state over its Palestinian policies was given permission to stay in the country by the Supreme Court on Thursday. In its ruling, the court criticized Israeli authorities for denying entry to Lara Alqasem, 22, saying their decision gave "the unavoidable impression" that she was barred for her political opinions.

Top Afghan police chief killed in shooting, U.S. general unhurt

General Abdul Razeq, one of Afghanistan's most powerful security commanders, was killed on Thursday in a shooting attack by a bodyguard that dealt a severe blow to the Afghan government ahead of parliamentary elections on Saturday, officials said. General Scott Miller, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan who had been at a meeting with Razeq and the governor of the southern province of Kandahar only moments earlier, was not injured in the attack.

Tribe of slain Libya rebel commander protests at eastern oil port

Libyan tribesmen staged a demonstration at the eastern oil port of Hariga on Thursday in protest against the appointment of a government minister, a leading member of the tribe said. It was not clear whether the action affected oil exports from the port, located in Tobruk near the Egyptian border.

Despite 'big gaps', Britain and EU talk up Brexit prospects

British Prime Minister Theresa May and other EU leaders voiced renewed confidence on Thursday they could secure a Brexit deal, saying they were working hard to overcome the hurdles that only days ago brought the talks to a halt. Less than six months before Britain quits the EU in its biggest shift in policy for more than 40 years, the two sides are at odds over how to deal with their only land border, between the British province of Northern Ireland and Ireland.

(With inputs from Reuters)

(With inputs from agencies.)