World News Roundup: Italians seek to identify victims of glacier collapse; Exclusive-Pope to give women a say in the appointment of bishops and more

A light rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of a sea of people packing the northern city's Townhall Square, their clothes already drenched with the red wine and sangria that flow freely during the eight-day festival, made famous by Ernest Hemingway's novel "The Sun Also Rises". French PM sets out Macron's agenda, opposition flexes its muscles French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne will set out her minority government's priorities on Wednesday and spell out how she will try to navigate a new era of political uncertainty and work with a fragmented parliament.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Italians seek to identify victims of glacier collapse

Italian authorities sought on Wednesday to find the remaining victims of the glacier collapse in the Alps that is feared to have killed 12 people and is being blamed on rising temperatures. "The drones are flying over the avalanche surface in the hopes that the melting ice will allow us to find something on the surface," said Maurizio Dellantonio, president of the local Trentino Alpine Rescue team.

Exclusive-Pope to give women a say in the appointment of bishops

Pope Francis said he wants to give women more top-level positions in the Holy See and disclosed that for the first time he would name women to a previously all-male Vatican committee that helps him select the world's bishops. The role of women in the Vatican hierarchy was one of the many Church and international topics the 85-year-old pontiff discussed in an exclusive interview with Reuters in his Vatican residence on July 2.

In exile or prison, Cuban activism gutted one year after mass protests

On July 11 last year, Cuba appeared poised for political change. Protests - the largest since the late Fidel Castro took power in 1959 - rocked the Communist-run island as Cubans poured onto the streets demanding social and economic reform.

Russian advance on Ukraine's Donetsk region thwarted so far, Kyiv says

Ukraine has so far thwarted an attempted Russian advance into the north of its Donetsk region but the city of Sloviansk and other civilian areas are being heavily shelled, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday. Russia has increased its focus on Donetsk, the southern part of which it and its proxies already control, after completing its seizure of the neighbouring Luhansk region on Sunday with the capture of Lysychansk, which now lies in ruins.

Some 300 inmates on run after suspected Boko Haram raid on Nigeria prison

Around 300 inmates are on the run after a suspected raid by Islamist Boko Haram militants on a prison in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Tuesday night, an interior ministry official said. The raid, and a separate ambush on an advance convoy of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari - who was not present - heading to his hometown in the northern state of Katsina, highlights Nigeria's going security challenges, especially in northern regions where armed insurgents and gangs are rife.

Increasingly isolated, Boris Johnson pledges to fight on

Britain's Boris Johnson defiantly vowed on Wednesday to fight on against growing calls for him to resign as prime minister, but his pledge to keep going was met with scornful laughter at a parliamentary appearance. Badly wounded by the resignations of a stream of senior colleagues and junior ministers who said he was not fit to govern, Johnson sought to come out fighting at parliament's weekly prime minister's questions session.

Belgium provisionally clears contentious Iran prisoner swap treaty

Belgian lawmakers gave initial clearance on Wednesday to a prisoner exchange treaty with Iran that could lead to the release of an Iranian diplomat convicted of planning to bomb a rally of an exiled opposition group. The foreign relations committee of Belgium's lower house debated the treaty for more than six hours over two days before finally approving it.

Social unrest over spiralling living costs spreads to France's railways

Railway workers in France went on strike on Wednesday, disrupting travel across the rail network days before the summer holidays begin and at a time of unrest in other areas of the economy as high inflation eats into salaries. With three of the four main unions at the SNCF, France's state-owned railway operator, taking part in the walkout, nearly a third of intercity and regional train services were cancelled. Commuter trains in and out of Paris were also impacted.

Spain's Pamplona bull-running fiesta back with a bang after COVID ban

Thousands of revellers wearing white clothes and red scarves filled the streets of Spain's Pamplona on Wednesday as the bang of a firecracker kicked off the first San Fermin bull-running festival since the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Light rain did nothing to dampen the spirits of a sea of people packing the northern city's Townhall Square, their clothes already drenched with the red wine and sangria that flow freely during the eight-day festival, made famous by Ernest Hemingway's novel "The Sun Also Rises".

French PM sets out Macron's agenda, opposition flexes its muscles

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne will set out her minority government's priorities on Wednesday and spell out how she will try to navigate a new era of political uncertainty and work with a fragmented parliament. President Emmanuel Macron won a second term in April but his centrist alliance lost its absolute majority in legislative elections in June.

(With inputs from agencies.)