Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Suspects planned arson attack on drone maker Skyeton, Slovak prosecution says

An arson attack planned by three suspects in eastern Slovakia targeted the drone maker Skyeton, the Slovak prosecution said on Thursday. The company produces intelligence gathering and targeting drones and has a facility in eastern Slovakia, according to its website.

Hundreds ​killed, more than 1,000 missing in Nepal and China after Himalayan flood

Rescuers searched for survivors in the debris-strewn valleys and hillsides of Nepal on Thursday as more than 1,000 people were missing in the Himalayan country and ​neighbouring China after a wall of ice, mud and rock collapsed into a mountain river, triggering a catastrophic flash flood. Authorities in Nepal used helicopters to search ‌for survivors and ​drop emergency supplies to thousands cut off in towns and valleys after Wednesday's disaster swept a road thronged by trekkers and pilgrims that links Kathmandu with Lhasa in Tibet.

Tate brothers to press for release from US jail during extradition fight

Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate are due in U.S. court on Thursday to seek release on bail from a Miami jail as they contest extradition to Britain, where they are wanted on rape charges. The Tate brothers' hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) before Magistrate Judge Lauren Louis in Miami federal court.

Malaysia says first Myanmar repatriations will start on Sept. 29

Malaysia said on Thursday that it has finalised the first phase of a voluntary repatriation programme that will see some 1,500 ‌Myanmar refugees return home. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim previously stated that Myanmar had agreed to repatriate 5,000 ethnic Rohingya refugees amid rising tensions with local communities in Malaysia.

Families seek news of pilgrims missing in deadly Nepal-Tibet floods

Syed Sadique's travel agency in southern India sent nearly 60 people on a pilgrimage to a Hindu holy site in China's Tibet, via Nepal, and now three dozen of them are missing, including his tour-guide son, after a flash flood hit the border area. Rescuers are searching for nearly 1,500 people, including more than 700 foreigners, missing across Nepal and Tibet after a wall of mud and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river on Wednesday. Indians make up the largest group of foreigners unaccounted for, followed by Australians, Americans, Britons, Canadians, Malaysians, South Koreans and Japanese.

Exclusive-Pentagon's NATO review preparing troop options for Hegseth by November 6

A Pentagon review of U.S. troop deployments in Europe will create at least four sets of options for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth by November 6, well ahead of a December deadline for the review's completion, according to ‌a document seen by Reuters. NATO allies worry that the six-month review, announced in June, will lead to large-scale cuts to the roughly 80,000 U.S. forces across Europe and punish countries that President Donald Trump believes failed to support the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, convicted of genocide, has died, Serbian TV reports

Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, who was serving a life sentence for genocide in the bloody 1992-95 war in Bosnia, has died in the United ‌Nations detention centre in The Hague, Belgrade's Informer TV reported on Thursday.

Burnham's summer reprieve gives way to a reckoning over his spending plans

After enjoying a summer of well-received measures giving "people some breathing space now", British Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces a much greater test when parliament resumes next week – how to fund some of his more ambitious policies. Burnham, who entered Number 10 Downing Street in July, two months earlier than he might have liked, has focused almost exclusively on domestic issues, tweaking a system he wants his premiership to deliver a "circuit breaker" to.

Australia says information on 34 missing citizens in Nepal is 'very limited'

Australia Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday at least 34 of its citizens on pilgrimages and tours in Nepal were missing following deadly floods, but information there was "very limited". More than 1,000 people including at least 600 foreigners are missing across Nepal and China's Tibet, authorities said on Thursday, after a wall of mud and rock collapsed into a Himalayan river, sending catastrophic floods through towns and valleys.

Russian air attacks target Kyiv, ports and industrial sites

Russia hammered the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and other cities with missiles and drones early on Thursday, officials said, targeting warehouses, ports, and energy and industrial facilities in an hours-long assault that dragged ⁠into the morning. Commuters in Kyiv streamed ​to work under the booming sound of air defences firing at jet-powered drones attacking the city in several waves, after an overnight barrage that ⁠included an unspecified number of ballistic missiles and 258 drones.

Zelenskiy's top aide says Ukraine-Russia talks may be possible in September

Talks between Ukrainian and Russian teams could be held in September and include U.S. representatives, the Ukrainian president's chief of staff Kyrylo Budanov said on Thursday. Budanov said Ukraine was aiming to revive the talks, with further developments likely next month. The U.S.-led peace talks stalled this year as Ukraine refused Russian demands to cede more territory and as Washington became increasingly preoccupied with the conflict with Iran.

Qatar PM visits Tehran to pursue mediation efforts

Qatar's prime minister visited Tehran on Thursday in a ⁠bid to relaunch diplomacy after the U.S. and Iran traded recriminations over Washington's promise to increase economic pressure, a move one Iranian official described as "all-out economic war". A Gulf neighbour of Iran and a U.S. ally, Qatar has served as a back-channel negotiator for the warring parties and played a direct role in securing a June ceasefire that briefly led to a cessation of hostilities.

Bulgaria will get seven minehunter ships from Belgium and Netherlands to protect Black Sea

Bulgaria has approved the purchase of seven minehunter ships from Belgium and the Netherlands, as the NATO alliance seeks to bolster ​its capabilities to clear naval mines and secure shipping routes in the Black Sea, local media reported on Thursday. Along with Romania and Turkey, Bulgaria agreed at a NATO summit in July to expand a joint task force that clears mines floating in the Black Sea to include missions to protect critical infrastructure.

Teacher of Oscar-winning Russian filmmaker behind 'Mr. Nobody Against Putin' calls him a traitor

Pavel Talankin, who filmed how one Russian school tried to justify the ⁠war in Ukraine to its students in a clandestine project for the Oscar-winning "Mr. Nobody Against Putin", was guilty of treachery, his former teacher told Russian state TV. The documentary, by Talankin and David Borenstein, was based on two years of footage that Talankin recorded at a school where he was employed in the Chelyabinsk region, some 1,500 km (930 miles) southeast of Moscow.

Six consequences of six months of war in Iran

Six months after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, the war that President Donald Trump has called a "little excursion" has become a deeply unpopular stalemate that threatens to derail his presidency. Iran has not surrendered, shipping through the ⁠Strait ​of Hormuz remains severely disrupted, and there is no clear path to ending the conflict that Trump once predicted would be over in four weeks.

Norway's King Harald in 'very serious' condition, family at his bedside

Norway's King Harald was in a "very serious" condition in hospital on Thursday, the royal court said, and family members gathered at his bedside. Hundreds of people gathered outside the Royal Palace in central Oslo and many lay flowers as they awaited further news of the 89-year-old king's health.

Factbox-The world’s deadliest glacier disasters

A glacial collapse triggered a massive flash flood on Wednesday in the Himalayan border areas of Nepal and adjoining Tibet, killing at least 270 people, with authorities fearing more casualties. Here are some of the deadliest glacial disasters in history.

Canada excludes US seafood from retaliatory tariffs

Canada removed seafood and fish products from a list of counter tariffs on U.S. imports on Wednesday, a day after announcing levies on about $20 billion worth of American products. Here are a few details:

Trial for accused mastermind of 9/11 attacks set for June 2028

A ⁠U.S. Air Force judge on Wednesday ordered Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, and three co-defendants to go on trial before a military tribunal in June 2028. The trial-scheduling order entered by Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Michael Schrama marked the latest milestone in a military prosecution beset by two decades of legal deadlock surrounding the four detainees held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Analysis-After six months, the Iran war has reached its endgame - ⁠a costly stalemate

The Iran war has reached its endgame: a costly stalemate. Six months after U.S. and Israeli forces attacked Iran, killing its supreme ⁠leader and maiming his son and successor, the Iranian government is under economic siege, but it still holds power and believes it has time on its side.

Meta settlement opens new front in global fight over social media harm

Meta's move to restrict teenagers' use of social media in the U.S. shows companies have tools to better protect young people online, Australian officials said on Thursday, as the country grapples with patchy enforcement of restrictions at home. Meta's up to $18 billion settlement with nearly all U.S. states over social media harm to teenagers has opened a new front in a global government fight to protect children and curb addiction to platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

Taiwan parliament rejects government military drone plan, passes own version

Taiwan's opposition-controlled ‌parliament rejected on Thursday a T$210 billion ($6.6 billion) government plan for a special budget to buy ‌new military drones and passed their own plan instead, which sets annual spending at T$40 billion. The government said its plan, to run until 2031, to buy about 210,000 drones, could not wait, as the wars in Ukraine and Iran showed the importance ​of uncrewed weapons in modern warfare amid a rising threat from China, which sees the island as its own territory.