Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Houthi official says Saudi Arabia freed 13 detainees

An official of Yemen's Houthi movement said on Saturday the group had received 13 detainees released by Saudi Arabia in exchange for a Saudi detainee freed earlier, ahead of a wider prisoner exchange agreed by the warring sides. Houthi official Abdul Qader al-Mortada said on Twitter the 13 detainees had arrived in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, which is held by the Iranian -aligned Houthi group that has been battling a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia since 2015.

Chinese planes cross Taiwan Strait median line as angry China starts drills

Seventy-one Chinese military aircraft crossed the sensitive median line of the Taiwan Strait on Saturday as China began drills around Taiwan in anger at President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. The three-day drills, announced the day after Tsai returned from the United States, had been widely expected after Beijing condemned her Wednesday meeting with Speaker Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles.

'It was heartbreaking' - Ukraine children back home after alleged deportation

More than 30 children were reunited with their families in Ukraine this weekend after a long operation to bring them back home from Russia or Russian-occupied Crimea, where they had been taken from areas occupied by Russian forces during the war.

Mothers hugged sons and daughters as they crossed the border from Belarus into Ukraine on Friday after a complex rescue mission involving travel across four countries.

At Easter vigil, Pope Francis encourages hope amid 'icy winds of war'

Pope Francis led the world's Roman Catholics into Easter at a Saturday night vigil Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, decrying the "icy winds of war" and other injustices. The 86-year-old Francis skipped an outdoor event on Friday night because of unseasonably cold temperatures in Rome. His doctors ordered prudence after he was hospitalised last week for bronchitis.

Forty-four dead in two attacks in Burkina Faso

Unknown assailants killed 44 people in two attacks in northern Burkina Faso overnight on Thursday, authorities said. The raids occurred in the villages of Kourakou and Tondobi in the Sahel region of the West African country, an area overrun by Islamist groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State that have carried out repeated attacks for years.

Iran installs cameras in public sites to identify unveiled women -police statement

In a further attempt to rein in the increasing number of women defying Iran's compulsory dress code, authorities are installing cameras in public places and thoroughfares to identify and penalise unveiled women, the police announced on Saturday. After they have been identified, violators will receive "warning text messages as to the consequences", police said in a statement.

Thousands join Israeli judicial protests in shadow of attacks

Tens of thousands of Israelis joined protests on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to tighten controls on the Supreme Court, despite heightened security worries after two deadly attacks a day earlier. The latest in a series of protests against the plans, which were paused last month in the face of a wave of strikes and mass demonstrations, come as Israel faces a sharp rise in tensions on several fronts during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Hundreds attend Moscow funeral of pro-war blogger

Hundreds of mourners, including the leader of Russia's Wagner private militia group, attended the funeral on Saturday of pro-war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, who was killed on April 2 in a cafe bomb blast that Moscow has blamed on Ukraine. Russia charged Darya Trepova, 26, on Tuesday with terrorist offences over the killing of Tatarsky in the St Petersburg cafe where he had been due to talk. She was remanded in custody and could face up to 20 years in jail.

UK PM Sunak to meet U.S. President in Northern Ireland

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet Joe Biden in Northern Ireland next week when the U.S. president flies in to take part in events to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday peace accord. Having helped broker the 1998 deal, the United States remains an influential voice in Northern Ireland's politics and has sought to protect the peace from the strains caused by Britain's exit from the European Union.

Attack kills around 20 in eastern Congo; Islamic State claims responsibility

Islamic State on Saturday claimed responsibility for an attack on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that authorities said killed around 20 people. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its Telegram channel.

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