Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Nepal flood losses estimated at $2.56 billion, official says

Property, housing and infrastructure worth at least 387.5 billion Nepalese rupees ($2.56 billion) was lost in Nepal's catastrophic floods nL4N44V09R last week, the country's disaster authority chief told Reuters on Friday. In the first four months of early recovery, the estimated cost to build roads and temporary shelters, provide drinking water and restore power would be around $52.6 million, Dharma Raj Upreti, chief of ​the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, said.

UAE pardons Egyptian-Turkish poet facing 10 years in jail

Egyptian-Turkish poet Abdulrahman Youssef al-Qaradawi was pardoned by United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Friday, state news agency WAM said, a week after receiving a 10-year jail sentence following his extradition ​from Lebanon. Qaradawi, the son of late senior Muslim cleric Youssef al-Qaradawi, was arrested in Lebanon in December 2024 after making critical comments about the UAE, Saudi Arabian and Egyptian authorities in a video posted ‌online.

US pressure on Iran starting ​to tell, as sanctions and blockade bite

A U.S. campaign to throttle Iran's economy by blockading its oil exports nL8N44N1OO and stopping sanctions evasion is growing increasingly difficult to withstand, three senior Iranian sources said. Washington has in recent weeks sought to ratchet up the economic pressure on Tehran, in an effort to extract concessions in any future negotiation that six months of conflict have so far failed to secure.

Factbox-Major tunnel and underground rescue operations

Rescuers pulled two survivors from a tunnel linked to a hydropower station on Nepal's Trishuli River on Friday, nine days after a glacier collapse caused a torrent of ice, rock and mud that killed more than 1,300 people and left over 5,600 missing. Below is a list of some major rescue operations.2023 - Rescuers, who drilled through debris of rock, concrete and earth, pulled out 41 workers who were trapped for 17 days inside a collapsed tunnel in the Himalayas. The tunnel was a part of the Char Dham highway that connected four Hindu pilgrimage sites in northern India.

Americans ‌evacuated after Mozambique wildlife camp attack, source says

At least three Americans were evacuated after suspected insurgents attacked a camp co-owned by soccer coach Carlos Queiroz in a wildlife reserve in northern Mozambique, a source familiar with the incident said on Friday. Queiroz, who coaches Ghana's national team, said he was awaiting information from military and security authorities to ascertain what had happened.

Exclusive-China's Xi to bring large CEO delegation on US visit, sources say

President Xi Jinping is preparing a large business delegation to accompany him on his visit to Washington, two sources said, an unusual move given U.S. scepticism towards Chinese investment and Beijing's strained ties with private enterprise. Xi rarely travels abroad with corporate executives, many of whom fell out of favour after Beijing's regulatory crackdowns on the technology, education and property sectors that began in 2020.

Cyclosporiasis outbreak exposes a weakened US public health system

During the height of the summer outbreak of cyclosporiasis, Dea Lancaster set aside her usual duties as nurse coordinator at Michigan's Washtenaw County Health Department to call patients, asking about their symptoms and tracing the contaminated food they ate. The stress of handling one of the largest U.S. foodborne illness outbreaks in decades gave her an eye twitch as she called dozens of patients a day while commiserating with overwhelmed colleagues and cracking dark jokes to cope.

Senior aides to Reform UK's Farage step down after foreign funding sting

Britain's populist Reform UK said two senior aides to leader Nigel Farage stepped down on ‌Friday after an undercover investigation alleged the party had broken electoral law by arranging for a foreign donor to pay for political polling. Reform denied any wrongdoing and said it had been the victim of a hoax perpetrated by climate activists.

Israel says it has cleared Hezbollah fighters from tunnels under key Lebanon ridge

Israel's military has cleared Hezbollah fighters holed up in tunnels under the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Friday, though the Iran-backed group did not immediately comment. Israel had said Hezbollah fighters were embedded in tunnels under the ridge, which overlooks a wide area and had become one of ‌the most hotly contested areas in the Israel-Hezbollah war, despite a ceasefire announced in June.

Body of King Oyo Nyimba, once world's youngest monarch, returns to Uganda for burial

The body of Uganda's King Oyo Nyimba, who became the world's youngest reigning monarch when he took the throne at the age of three in 1995, arrived back in the country on Friday after his death from cancer, and ahead of burial on September 12. King Oyo Nyimba Kabamba Iguru Rukidi IV of Tooro Kingdom, one of many traditional monarchies in the country and located near the Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda's west, died on August 27 in the United States where he was receiving treatment.

Brazil's richest captured record income share despite Lula's effort to prioritize the poor

Brazil's wealthiest captured a record share of national income under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, tax-return data show, offering a striking counterpoint to the leftist leader's effort to convince voters that gains have been widely shared under his administration as he seeks reelection in October. Lula has pointed to falling inequality, as measured by a record-low Gini coefficient in 2024, and rising employment as evidence that his administration prioritizes poorer Brazilians.

Exclusive-US military turns off ad trackers on devices amid Middle East targeting reports

U.S. military officials say they have disabled advertising trackers on a range of phones and computers, according to letters released on Friday by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and statements given to Reuters, a development that follows reports that commercially available location data had been used to target American forces in the Middle East. The Air Force told Wyden it disabled the advertising identifiers on computers and mobile phones two months ago. U.S. Special Operations Command said in a separate letter that it had "recently" disabled ⁠them on its Windows devices. The Army ​told Reuters that advertising IDs tied to mobile devices had been disabled since earlier this year.

Salmonella outbreak linked to pumpkin seeds infects 81 in France

An outbreak of salmonella related to a ⁠batch of pumpkin seeds infected 81 people, hospitalising six, in several French regions between May and August, the Health and Agriculture ministries said on Friday. The public health investigation points to pumpkin seeds processed by a food company located in southwestern France and sold by several retailers, including the Grand Frais chain, the ministries said in a joint statement.

Romanian prosecutors indict Andrew Tate for trafficking minors, money laundering

Romanian prosecutors officially indicted social media influencer Andrew Tate on Friday for trafficking minors, money laundering, sex with a minor and witness tampering and his brother Tristan for complicity, years after they began investigating them. The Tate brothers, former kickboxers with dual U.S. and British citizenship, were arrested in Miami in late July after Britain requested their extradition.

Will Trump's restrictions on mail-in ballots be in place for the midterms?

President Donald Trump https://www.reuters.com/world/us/donald-trump/ 's administration on ⁠Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow it to enforce https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-administration-takes-mail-in-ballot-fight-us-supreme-court-2026-09-03/ a new U.S. Postal Service rule tightening the use of mail-in ballots, leaving states in limbo as to whether they will be required to implement it for the November 3 midterm elections. The uncertainty has taken on new urgency as deadlines approach for U.S. states to send out mail ballots ahead of the midterms https://www.reuters.com/world/us/elections/, with Trump's Republicans defending narrow majorities in both chambers of Congress. North Carolina was expected to send out its ballots on Friday, the first state to do so.

Rebel-held eastern Congo records new Ebola case after declaring outbreak over

A new Ebola case has been recorded in an area controlled by AFC/M23 rebels in eastern Congo, the group said, more than two months after it ​declared the outbreak over in the territory it holds. The Rwanda-backed AFC/M23 rebels, who control large parts of North and South Kivu provinces after staging a lightning offensive last year, declared areas under their control Ebola-free in late June, after 21 days without new cases.

Netanyahu partners renew calls for removal of Gazans as Israeli election nears

Two Israeli ministers floated proposals this week for the mass removal of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, resurfacing an idea voiced repeatedly by right-wing politicians over the past three years as they seek to rally supporters ahead of an election. The calls by two of Prime Minister ⁠Benjamin Netanyahu's political allies have revived Palestinian fears that Israel ultimately aims to forcibly expel them from Gaza despite U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to end the conflict there.

France's National Rally would stop migrants reaching UK, says Bardella

Jordan Bardella, president of France's far-right National Rally party, said on Friday that if his party won power in 2027 it would seek to ensure migrants could no longer travel from France to Britain. Speaking at the annual conference of Britain's populist Reform UK party, Bardella said a RN government would tighten border controls, return migrants to their countries of origin and stop small boats heading to England from the French coast.

Weeks after mass abduction, Nigerian families seek news from kidnappers, action from government

Two weeks after gunmen raided the northwestern Nigerian village of Dekera, killing dozens and kidnapping hundreds, residents and family members say they have heard nothing from the kidnappers and seen little action ⁠from the ​government. Mass kidnappings for ransom are relatively common across much of northern Nigeria, but the coordinated August 22 attack on communities in north-central Niger state was one of the biggest in recent years, underscoring the extent of insecurity as the country heads towards an election next year.

Chinese shipper COSCO denies its vessels spied for Beijing

China's state-owned shipping giant COSCO rejected allegations it used concealed equipment on its vessels to collect intelligence for Beijing, calling the claims "totally unfounded" and false. Reuters on Tuesday reported, citing two senior Trump administration officials, that COSCO used the equipment to spy on military communications near the coastlines of target nations including the United States.

Rubio to visit Colombia, Ecuador and Peru next week

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Latin America next week, visiting Ecuador and meeting a pair of newly elected presidents in Colombia and Peru in his first trips to those two countries as America's top diplomat, the State Department said on Friday. Rubio, who has made four prior trips to Latin America and the Caribbean as secretary of state, will travel Tuesday to Thursday, the State Department said in a statement.

Nepali foreman rescued from tunnel says he stayed behind to help others

When the mountain gave way above the Nepali power plant where Sanjay Sah worked, he had a choice: flee, or stay. He chose to stay and help. The mechanical foreman was rescued on Friday ⁠alongside another worker, nine days after a wall of ice, rock and debris levelled the valley where the Upper Trishuli 3A Hydropower Station was located, providing a rare glimmer of hope in search operations for thousands missing after the unprecedented disaster.

Argentina's Milei steps up Falklands sovereignty claims with oil sanctions

Argentine President Javier Milei said he would sanction oil companies drilling in the Falkland Islands, stepping up the country's claims to sovereignty over the British overseas territory. Milei's comments in a televised national address on Thursday came days after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was reviewing the United States' neutral position on the remote archipelago in the South ⁠Atlantic.

France gives farmers €1 billion to recover from record heatwaves

France on Friday announced more than €1 billion ($1.16 billion) in aid for farmers after this summer's record heatwaves and droughts devastated crops, pastures and water supplies. The ⁠support comes as the government is working on a politically perilous budget for next year, with Paris seeking to keep the deficit under control ahead of a 2027 presidential election.

TASS says Trump envoys to visit Russia and Ukraine at weekend, Kremlin declines comment

Russian state news agency TASS said the two U.S. envoys seeking to end the war between Russia and Ukraine would visit both countries on Saturday and Sunday, but the Kremlin declined to comment. TASS did not identify its source.

Exclusive-Sydney airport near-miss involved controllers flagged as high-fatigue risk, records show

Several air traffic controllers on duty when two Qantas aircraft nearly collided at Sydney airport in July had been flagged as facing a high risk of fatigue, according to internal records and a call recording obtained by Reuters, a staffing situation one shift manager described as "a bit insane". The July 27 incident, in which a landing Qantas turboprop narrowly avoided a Qantas Boeing 737 that had been cleared to cross the runway, was the first of six near-misses ‌at Sydney Airport in about a month, drawing further scrutiny of air traffic control staffing amid global shortages.

Polish PM's 'right-hand man' gets ‌nod from parliament for top court job

Poland's parliament voted on Friday to make an ex-cabinet member known as Prime Minister Donald Tusk's "right-hand man" a leading judge, in a move critics, including within Tusk's coalition, said undermined government claims it is restoring checks and balances. The appointment to the Constitutional Tribunal of Maciej Berek, who until August was Minister for Government Policy ​Implementation, created tension in the ruling coalition, which has vowed to reform a judicial system it says became politicised under the previous nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) administration.