Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Denmark speeds up Ukraine aid package after Russian warship fires flares at helicopter

Denmark is speeding up a donation to Ukraine in response to a recent incident in which a Russian warship fired flares towards a Danish military helicopter, narrowly missing the aircraft, the Nordic country's government said on Friday. Denmark on Monday said a Russian frigate fired flares without warning at the helicopter as it ​sought to photograph the ship in international waters, while Moscow in response accused Denmark of carrying out dangerous manoeuvres near its vessel.

One killed, four injured in Philippines school shooting, provincial governor says

At least one person was killed and four were injured in a shooting at a high ​school in the southern Philippines on Friday, a provincial governor said. The incident took place at Banga National High School in South Cotabato, Governor Reynaldo Tamayo said.

Exclusive-Putin envoy and far-right AfD prepare talks ‌to get Russian gas back ​for Germany, sources say

Russian President Vladimir Putin's top economic envoy and Germany's far-right AfD leadership have begun preparations to meet next year to discuss restarting gas supplies to Europe's biggest economy, two people familiar with the plan said. The discussions for a meeting as early as March underline the close relations between Moscow and the AfD, which, although blocked from power by a coalition of its rivals, is Germany's most popular party with voters.

Zelenskiy launches 'Carpathian Eight' initiative on trade, security

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy launched on Friday a new regional grouping of eight countries from the Carpathian region of central and eastern Europe, at a summit in Ukraine designed to promote trade and security cooperation. At the meeting in western Ukraine, Zelenskiy thanked regional allies for keeping trade and transport links open following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Barefoot and terrified, Yemenis flee the Houthi advance

When a terrifying bombardment erupted around their camp in Yemen this week as a long-paused civil war reignited, Rawya Hassan and ‌her family fled for their lives, barefoot and leaving their animals and other belongings behind. The family had already been forced from their village by war years earlier and now had to escape the fighting again, joining 115,000 people who aid agencies say are on the move after a rapid advance by the Houthi group.

Canada and EU should ally to protect democracies, Carney says, after 'associate member' proposal angers Trump

Canada and Europe should ally to protect their markets, democracies and rule of law in a world dominated by the United States and China, Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday, after an EU proposal to make Canada an "associate member". The Canadian prime minister received warm applause for his speech to the European Parliament, delivered hours after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened trade sanctions in response to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's proposal to create a new status for the EU-Canada relationship.

Analysis-As Iran war grinds on, Trump to face skeptical world leaders at UN

When President Donald Trump addressed the United Nations a year ago, he touted the US bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites just months earlier as "totally obliterating everything" and said he had brought peace between Israel and Iran. Returning to the world body on Tuesday, Trump will face a deeply skeptical audience increasingly rattled by six months of war between US forces and an emboldened Iran, growing ‌regional instability and a nuclear threat that has not disappeared despite his claims.

In a Nepal town, flood survivors find little trace of former lives

Anusa Thapa Magar rushed home from her job in the Maldives after hearing about Nepal's devastating floods, hoping that her beloved grandmother was one of those who survived. She headed for the family's two-storey house in the small town of Betrawati.

Saudis and Houthis exchange strikes, Yemenis flee by boat as Middle East war spreads

Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis exchanged fresh strikes across their border on Thursday and Yemenis took to boats in the Red Sea to escape fighting, as ‌the spreading Middle East war created new threats to global oil supplies. Houthi-controlled television reported Saudi airstrikes in Hajjah province close to the Saudi border near the Red Sea coast, and the vicinity of Taiz further inland to the south.

Pakistan police re-arrest prominent rights lawyer after top court granted bail

Pakistani police re-arrested prominent human rights lawyer Imaan Mazari and her husband on Thursday night, hours after the country's top court granted bail and suspended their sentences in a cybercrime case, her lawyer said. The couple was re-arrested "from prison in an old case," Mazari's lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi, told Reuters. The separate case relates to allegations of "protesting and blocking a road in Islamabad."

Exclusive-US gives UN more time to end support for Somalia peacekeepers

The United States has agreed to give the UN another year to wind down its support for African peacekeepers in Somalia, a document showed - a move that gives some breathing space to a force that was fearing quicker cuts, but still leaves its future in peril. Reuters reported in July that Washington - increasingly frustrated with the fragile administration in Mogadishu - said it would block the UN from supporting the African Union force which props up the government and helps it fight al Qaeda-linked militants.

Hungarian gay couple hoping for adoption breakthrough under new PM Magyar

A Hungarian gay couple who have been trying to adopt for years are hoping for a change in fortune after Prime Minister Peter Magyar started to roll back some curbs on LGBTQ rights enacted under right-wing former leader Viktor Orban. Adoption by gay and lesbian couples had been possible in Hungary, a European Union member state, if one partner applied as ⁠a single person.

Nigeria forces open fire ​at protest over deaths of detainees, witnesses say

Security forces opened fire as people took to the streets of a city in central Nigeria on Friday to protest against ⁠the deaths of 37 detainees in the custody of a paramilitary force, witnesses said. A Reuters witness said some protestors in Minna, the capital of Niger State, were armed with sticks, machetes and traditional hunting rifles. At least one body lay on the streets.

Indonesia recovers three bodies as effort begins to right capsized ship

Indonesian divers retrieved three bodies from a passenger ship that capsized and sank in the Java Sea, although more than 100 passengers remain missing, a Navy official told Reuters on Friday. The divers managed to enter the ship in a salvage operation and found the bodies of two men and a woman, the official, Edy Setyawan, said. But strong currents forced a halt to the underwater search, which would be resumed on Saturday, he added.

Spanish police launch operation to clear Ceuta migrants ⁠off beach

Spanish riot police fired rubber bullets into the air and struck people with batons on Friday as they began an operation to clear thousands of migrants off beaches in the North African enclave of Ceuta and move some of them into temporary housing. Spain estimates 10,000 migrants remain in the tiny territory. More than 72,000 crossed into the enclave from Morocco at the end of July in an unprecedented border rush, although most later left.

US envoy raps Czech Republic for lagging on defence spending

The Czech Republic must spend more on defence to meet required NATO targets, the US ambassador to NATO told a conference in Prague on Friday. The Czech Republic has so far failed under successive governments to meet even the ​minimum 2% NATO threshold of spending and will miss the target again this year before just achieving the level in 2027.

Egyptian deported by US to Equatorial Guinea held incommunicado for a week, lawyer says

An Egyptian man deported from the US to Equatorial Guinea who criticized the conduct of security forces there has been held for a week at a gendarmerie station, one of his lawyers said. Ahmed Soliman was arrested on Friday last week and has not been able to see his attorneys, the lawyer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

Italy's minister calls for ⁠more ships to protect Red Sea navigation

Italy's defence minister on Friday called for a stronger naval presence in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping amid concerns over the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a vital waterway threatened by the widening Middle East conflict. The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have made rapid advances in recent weeks along the Red Sea coast, further complicating routes in a region that also includes the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic had already dwindled because of the U.S.-Iran war.

Malaysia's jailed ex-PM Najib Razak granted house arrest in second royal pardon

Malaysia's king agreed on Friday to allow jailed former premier Najib Razak to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest, in a second royal pardon over his conviction for his involvement in a multi-billion-dollar financial scandal. Najib, prime minister from 2009 to 2018, was found guilty of corruption ⁠in ​relation to the embezzlement of billions of dollars tied to 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a state investment fund he co-founded while in power. He has consistently denied wrongdoing.

Russians vote in election that Putin sees as barometer of public support for his war in Ukraine

Russians began voting on Friday in a three-day parliamentary election which President Vladimir Putin has said will show that millions of people back his army fighting in Ukraine, even though most anti-war candidates were not allowed to run. The State Duma election, the first since Russia launched its full-scale war in Ukraine in February 2022, is widely expected to see the ruling pro-Putin United Russia party retain its dominance in Russia's tightly controlled political system.

Malawi police rescue kidnapped British woman after exchange of gunfire

Malawi police said they had rescued a British woman who was kidnapped last week, in an intelligence-led operation in which the kidnappers were shot and later died. Police said 47-year-old British national Nusrat Osman was abducted by four unidentified men in the city of Blantyre's Mount Pleasant suburb on September 11.

Philippine teen kills two students, then himself in school shooting

A 16-year-old student shot dead at least two fellow students and then killed himself at a school in the southern Philippines on Friday, provincial officials said. Eight others were injured, with four in critical condition, ⁠and all the victims were students aged 14 to 17, said Albert Palencia, mayor of Banga town in South Cotabato, where the shooting took place.

Nigeria forces open fire at protest over deaths of detained miners

Security forces opened fire in a city in central Nigeria on Friday as hundreds of people took to the streets to protest against the deaths of 37 detainees in the custody of a paramilitary force, witnesses said. The victims were found dead on Thursday in the cells of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), which had raided suspected illegal gold mines and locked up dozens of ⁠miners in Minna, the capital of Niger State.

Russia adapts a training missile to lead its ballistic onslaught of Ukraine

The bodies of passengers strewn across a bloodied suburban railway platform near Kyiv last ⁠month bore grim testament to the escalating air war dominating the conflict in Ukraine. They were among eight people killed in a barrage of Russian missiles that was mainly focused on industrial facilities in the Brovary district, where the station is located, according to local officials. The attack that hit the railway wasn't carried out by Russia's main Iskander strike missile, Ukrainian investigators said, but by a less accurate weapon originally designed to serve as target practice for air defense crews.

Yemen conflict displaces 112,000 people inside country, thousands flee to Djibouti, UN migration agency says

At least 112,000 people have been displaced inside Yemen within the last two weeks as fighting continues along the country's west coast amid a renewed conflict, while nearly 3,000 have fled by sea to Djibouti, the United Nations migration agency said on Friday. Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have stepped up attacks on Saudi cities and energy infrastructure while advancing along Yemen's Red Sea coast towards the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, ‌a key shipping route. Responding to the Houthi offensive, the Saudi and Yemeni air forces have bombarded Houthi targets.

Suicide ‌attack kills 16 near mosque in northwest Pakistan police compound

At least 16 people were killed and 57 wounded after a suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden car into a police facility in northwest Pakistan on Friday as officers and their families were praying in a mosque inside, officials said. Five police officers were among the dead ​after the vehicle smashed into the outer wall and gunmen who accompanied it opened fire in the city of Kohat, provincial police chief Zulfikar Hameed said.