Reuters World News Summary

A record heatwave in South Korea has killed 16 people, prompting President Lee Jae Myung to urge authorities to step up support and protect citizens from extreme weather.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

South Korea's Lee urges authorities to step up support as heatwave kills 16

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged on Tuesday authorities to step up support for people affected by a record heatwave in the country, saying the death toll had risen to 16 and warning that extreme weather was becoming more frequent. Speaking at a cabinet meeting, ​Lee called on officials to take necessary measures to protect the daily lives of people and inspect power systems as demand for air conditioning surges.

Status of US-Iran talks uncertain as ship struck in Hormuz

An attack on a vessel near the Strait of ​Hormuz and a rebound in oil prices on Tuesday underscored doubts that the U.S.-Iran warwas nearing a resolution, as Tehran pushed back against President Donald Trump's assertion that talks were ‌under way. Oil prices rose nearly ​3% after a steep selloff in the previous session as investors reassessed optimism over diplomacy, while a cargo vessel reported being struck by an unidentified projectile near the Strait of Hormuz off Oman's coast, according to the UKMTO maritime security agency.

India's Gen Z cockroach party resists lure of election after rattling Modi

India's Gen-Z Cockroach Janta Party, whose recent protest against exam paper leaks claimed a rare ministerial scalp, has no immediate plans to enter electoral politics, its founder told Reuters on Tuesday. Abhijeet Dipke spearheaded demonstrations that spread nationwide from Delhi, forcing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's education minister to resign, and spotlighting young people's worries about high jobless rates despite rapid economic growth.

Spain's Ceuta overwhelmed as thousands remain after migrant border rush

Hundreds of migrants set up camp on a beach in Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta on Monday as local authorities struggled to cope with the thousands still in ‌the tiny territory after a massive border rush last week. Spain estimates that about 69,500 migrants have returned to Morocco over the past four days, exceeding initial estimates of around 50,000 arrivals in Ceuta on Thursday. The official death toll on the Spanish side of the border stands at 72, with 11 deaths on the Moroccan side.

Voters prefer Democrats over Republicans on economy for first time in a decade, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds

Americans picked Democrats over Republicans as better stewards of the economy for the first time in nearly a decade in a Reuters/Ipsos poll, which also found their approval of President Donald Trump's performance falling to 35%. The finding, in a poll conducted Wednesday through Monday, showed how Trump's handling of the economy, including rising energy prices resulting from the Iran war, could weigh on his party's chances in the November midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the next two years.

After deadly day, Gazans say Trump's touting of plan jars with grim reality

Palestinians in Gaza said on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump's touting of a deal aimed at disarming Hamas and ending the war was out of touch with their worsening reality, after Israel killed 18 people in one of the deadliest days since a ceasefire last ‌year. Trump declared last Thursday "a major milestone" toward implementing the Gaza peace plan agreed to in October, saying that Hamas would disarm and Israel would withdraw in phases.

Landslide kills 14 in Ethiopia's Amhara region, state media says

Fourteen people were killed in a landslide near a monastery in Ethiopia's Amhara region, the state-run Amhara Media Corporation said late on Monday. The landslide occurred near the Tsadkane Mariam Monastery in Amhara's North Shewa zone, the broadcaster said.

Afghan child malnutrition surges as aid cuts force clinics to turn families away, WFP says

Child malnutrition in Afghanistan has reached critical levels and ‌aid shortages are forcing health workers to turn away millions of children and mothers — six in seven of those in need — the U.N. World Food Programme said on Tuesday. Child wasting, the deadliest form of malnutrition, has reached critical levels in a third of Afghanistan's provinces, while the number of children being admitted to health centres is rising sharply, WFP's country director in Afghanistan, John Aylieff, told reporters in Geneva.

Ukraine drones kill six, damage warehouses in Russia, authorities say

Ukraine's overnight attacks on Russia killed six people and injured nine, as they damaged warehouses near the cities of Moscow and St Petersburg, governors said, while Russian strikes killed and injured people in Ukraine. Five were killed and six injured after Ukrainian drones attacked the Moscow region, governor Andrei Vorobyov said on messaging app Telegram on Tuesday. A warehouse caught fire which was later doused, he said, without giving details.

French coastguards rescue 157 from burning migrant boat in English Channel

French coastguards rescued 157 people from a boat carrying migrants that caught fire in the English Channel on Tuesday near the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, the local administration said in a statement. Three coastguard ships rescued those on board, the local French administration which handles the English Channel and North Sea areas said.

South Korea's Lee calls heatwave a national disaster as deaths rise to 19

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged on Tuesday authorities to step up support for people affected by a record heatwave in the country, calling it a national disaster after scorching conditions were ⁠blamed for 19 deaths. Speaking at a ​cabinet meeting, Lee ordered officials to take necessary measures to protect the daily lives of people and inspect power systems as demand for air conditioning surges.

Exclusive-US has ⁠used 'virtually all' of its long-range precision missiles during Iran war, sources say

The U.S. Army has used up much of its stockpile of highly accurate long-range missiles during its five-month war with Iran, according to three people familiar with the data, raising concerns about the military's readiness for future conflicts. The missiles are principally the Army's surface-to-surface weapons, known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) and Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM). The U.S. has used "virtually all" of these weapons, according to two of the sources.

Sri Lanka cabinet backs extending superior court judges' tenure

Sri Lanka's cabinet on Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment that would extend superior court judges' tenure by two years, an official said, as the country seeks to clear a backlog of more than 1 ⁠million court cases and ease the pressure on its overcrowded prisons. The move follows two recent prison riots that killed 31 people, including 10 prison officials, and injured dozens more. One prisoner died and nine inmates were injured in a riot on Saturday at Mahara prison, about 15 km (9 miles) from the commercial capital Colombo.

Michigan primary offers key test of Democratic voters' views on Israel

Michigan voters head to the polls on Tuesday in a high-stakes Democratic Senate primary that could shape the battle for control of Congress and the future of the Democratic Party amid a fierce internal debate over U.S. support for Israel. The contest pits Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official who ​wants to end unconditional U.S. military aid to Israel and accuses it of genocide, against U.S. Representative Haley Stevens, a moderate backed by pro-Israel groups and a longtime outspoken supporter of Israel.

Trump vowed to 'bring free speech back.' Judges in 75 cases ruled that he has stifled it

U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly campaigned for his second term as a champion of free expression, vowing in his January 2025 inaugural address to stop what he described as years of "government censorship." Since then, a wave of court rulings has concluded his administration ⁠has done the opposite. Reuters identified 75 federal-judge rulings finding Trump’s government infringed on First-Amendment rights including freedoms of speech, religion, and the press.

Japan casts military buildup as path to economic prosperity

Japan's government is portraying its accelerating military buildup not only as a way to protect the country but as a route to greater prosperity, arguing in its latest defence white paper that arms production can support economic growth. The annual assessment of threats posed by neighbouring China, Russia and North Korea calls for Japan, constrained for decades by postwar restrictions on military activity, to harness technology, to fund startups and use more commercial components in weapons production.

Wildfires ease in Greece as people return to gutted homes

Wildfires were easing in Greece on Tuesday though hundreds of firefighters were on alert ⁠for persistent ​flare-ups northwest of Athens, where rugged hills and canyons hampered efforts to fully contain a blaze that gutted homes and scorched forests, farmland and olive groves. Local crews supported by water-bombing aircraft and reinforcements from Romania and France were operating on three fronts west of Athens in the Gulf of Corinth, dousing flames raging since Friday.

Indonesia completes ferry fire rescue operation, five dead, agency says

Indonesian rescuers have evacuated 233 of the 238 passengers and crew trapped on a ferry that caught fire off the country's Madura island on Sunday, the search and rescue agency said on Tuesday, with the total death toll at five. Here are the details:

Cameroon's Biya, unseen for 58 days, reshuffles military leadership

Cameroon's President Paul Biya has reshuffled senior military staff, promoting the head of the Presidential Guard to a brigadier general from colonel and replacing commanders in four of the country's five joint military regions, according to three separate presidential decrees. Biya, the world's oldest head of state, has been out of the public eye for two months. He left Cameroon on June 7 for what the civil cabinet described as "a brief private stay in Europe" and has not returned.

Ukraine accuses Russia of war crime after video ⁠shows drone hunting market vendor

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Tuesday accused Russia of committing a war crime after a video was released showing a drone chasing down and wounding a street vendor in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. Footage released by Ukrainian police shows the drone pursuing an unidentified man around a van being used as a street stand before exploding after he dives for cover behind the vehicle. Police said the vendor, a man in his 50s, survived but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries.

As Europe migration debate rages, Bologna businessman's death highlights human ⁠cost

When tens of thousands of would-be migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last week, Italy's right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni promptly said she would suspend ⁠a free-movement accord with Spain, even though Ceuta is excluded from the pact. And when a distressed Moroccan businessman who feared repatriation despite having lived in Italy for 36 years died after being stopped by police two weeks ago in Bologna, with viral footage showing two officers sitting on him to restrain him, the government jumped to the law enforcers' defence.

Exclusive-Ukraine's Fire Point starts to integrate European tech into missile defence system

Ukrainian drone and missile maker Fire Point has secured agreements from over a dozen European defence companies to provide radar, guidance and other systems for the Freyja missile defence project, and is starting to integrate the various systems, its CEO has said. Ukraine had urgently sought partners to develop a weapon capable of stopping Russia's ballistic missiles. The pan-European project was launched officially in Paris last month by 10 governments and 12 defence firms - including Eurosam, Leonardo, Thales and ‌SAAB.

Six years on, families of those killed in huge Lebanon port blast hope for justice at last

Lebanon ‌on Tuesday marked the sixth year since a deadly blast at Beirut port, with victims and Lebanese officials expressing a renewed but cautious hope that justice could finally be served over one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. The blast on August 4, 2020, which killed more than 200 people and ​destroyed swathes of the capital, was thought to have been set off by hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored at the port.