Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Palestinians from Gaza rebuild in Mexico City through food

Loud noises still cause anxiety for Mohammed Abed, a Palestinian systems engineer from Gaza. The planes that crisscross the skies of Mexico City and the rumble of summer thunder evoke memories of the 2025 Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza, where an air strike killed his 4-year-old daughter. The 36-year-old arrived in Mexico last spring with 17 family members ​seeking asylum. These days, Tuesday mornings begin not with fear of bombardment but with work. Before sunrise, he loads his motorized tricycle with Palestinian food to sell at an open-air market in Condesa, one of the capital's most cosmopolitan neighborhoods.

Brazil next, US midterms coming, in impactful global election year

Brazil's voters ​will choose from a field of presidential contenders with two familiar frontrunners on Sunday - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro - in a closely watched race. The contest is ‌one of several remaining races out ​of some 40 worldwide this year that could impact financial markets.

Explainer-Why renewed fighting in Ethiopia's Tigray risks a regional war

After months of tension, fighting has erupted in northern Ethiopia between federal troops and a rebel alliance headed by Tigrayan forces. On the surface, the clashes look like the revival of the 2020-2022 civil war that pitted the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) against the federal government and killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Iran says it receives US response to latest proposal as Washington pulls out of Iraq

Iran said on Wednesday it had received a US response to its latest proposal to resurrect the collapsed ceasefire in the Gulf, days after President Donald Trump said he had rejected it.

Iran's allies were celebrating on Wednesday after Washington withdrew the last of its forces from neighbouring Iraq, where 4,500 US troops died in the biggest US war of the century. More than 200,000 Iraqi civilians were killed in chaos unleashed after US forces toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in ‌2003.

Argentina announces citizenship-by-investment program

Argentina will launch South America's first citizenship-by-investment program, economy minister Luis Caputo announced on X on Friday. Applications will open in the fourth quarter of 2026 and will offer citizenship through a non-refundable contribution of $350,000 or by purchasing a public bond of $800,000, the economy ministry said in a statement.

UK police arrest dual UK-Iranian man in Fairford air base investigation

British counter-terrorism police investigating a suspected plot involving an air base used by the US to target Iran said on Thursday they had arrested a dual UK-Iranian national on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts. In an incident which triggered a huge police response, raised alarm among Western allies, and remains largely unexplained, five British men in their 20s were arrested on Sunday on suspected terrorism and explosive offences near RAF Fairford in western England.

Students and police clash as France struggles to quell school protests

Riot police clashed with high school students in cities across France on Friday, as President Emmanuel Macron's government battled to contain increasingly violent protests over classroom conditions and funding. Tear gas clouded the streets in the eastern city of Strasbourg, fireworks were aimed at police lines in Marseille in the south and rubbish bins set ablaze in Rennes in the west.

Polish city reopens Cold War shelter as Russian attacks in Ukraine intensify

The Polish city of Lublin has revived a Cold War-era air raid shelter as Russia steps up attacks in Ukraine, ‌with one symbolic change reflecting a shift in perceived threats: its emergency exit now faces west, not east. Poland, once part of the Soviet bloc and now a member of NATO, is on heightened alert after several Russian missile and drone incursions into its airspace. Residents of eastern regions have been issued warnings to seek shelter during Russian airstrikes on neighbouring western Ukraine.

Taiwan's first two F-16V fighter jets arrive to bolster defences against China

The first two of a batch of 66 new F-16V Block 70 fighter jets ordered in 2019 arrived in Taiwan on Friday after months of delays, helping to strengthen an air force that has ‌to scramble almost daily to shadow China's military. Taiwan faces a rising military threat from Beijing, which claims the democratically governed island as its own territory. Taipei has complained of repeated delays to weapons ordered from the United States, its most important international backer and arms supplier.

Russian airstrikes target bridges across Dnipro River in Kyiv

Russian airstrikes killed one person in Kyiv on Friday and forced the closure of two bridges over the River Dnipro that link the two sides of the Ukrainian capital, as Moscow steps up its bombardment of infrastructure before winter. Long traffic jams formed in the morning and video footage posted online showed people walking across a bridge that had been closed for cars and metro trains after it was struck multiple times.

With a mixed scorecard, Trump poised to test his powers again at US Supreme Court

The US Supreme Court begins its new nine-month term on Monday much as it ended its last one, confronted with more cases involving President Donald Trump's far-reaching policies and aggressive uses of power that will keep testing how far the justices will let him expand his authority. The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, wrapped up its last term in June, one dominated by legal battles centered on Trump's exertion of presidential powers. The justices gave the Republican president several major wins and a few big losses.

Exclusive-Chinese work gathering pace on Antelope Reef in South China Sea, latest satellite images show

Chinese construction of a runway on Antelope Reef in the Paracels archipelago is well underway with analysts estimating it could be completed by mid-2027, strengthening Beijing's military control over the disputed South China Sea. Satellite images reviewed by Reuters show grading work, ⁠piles of gravel and concrete, and compaction ​cranes in operation to build a full-scale runway that military attaches and security analysts say could be one of China's most important offshore bases in the region.

Guinea-Bissau military leaders bar ⁠ousted president's return

The military leaders of Guinea-Bissau have decided to block former President Umaro Sissoco Embalo from returning to the West African country, citing national security concerns and the need to preserve public order. Embalo, who was toppled in a military coup last November, had planned to return on Sunday and contest a presidential election scheduled for December, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier this week

US suspends consular services before Brazil vote, citing security

The United States suspended consular services at its embassy and consulates in Brazil on Friday in advance of that country's presidential election, citing unspecified security concerns. The State Department did not elaborate on the security issues or link them to Sunday's election. The department did not immediately return a request for more information.

Syrian students get caught in rift between ⁠Druze leaders and Damascus

Young people in Syria's Sweida province are unable to progress through school and university due to a deepening rift between the post-Assad Islamist government and the Israel-aligned Druze leaders of the last area outside central control. Their dilemma reflects deep trauma and lingering instability in the province, where hundreds of Druze were killed last year in sectarian violence by government-linked forces and Israel struck Syria's military, saying it was defending the minority.

How Brazil's election winner could reshape its institutions as vacancies mount

Brazil's next president is set to inherit an unusually large number of appointments to the country's most powerful institutions, with vacancies piled up at the Supreme Court, central bank and economic regulators. The growing backlog of unfilled posts means the winner of the tight race between leftist ​President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro could gain significant influence over bodies that help shape monetary policy, oversee financial markets and interpret the constitution. The two candidates will face off in the first round of the electoral contest on Sunday, with a runoff later in the month forecast as the most likely outcome.

France's Le Pen pledges to hardwire deficit cuts with 'golden rule'

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen set out on Friday plans for a binding budget rule she said would put France's public finances back on track, seeking to ease investor concerns ⁠about her fiscal credibility. Le Pen leads the polls for both rounds of the April 18-May 2 election, but investors have cut exposure to French assets, doubting that whoever wins the presidency next year can bring the deficit under control.

Ally of Spanish PM threatens to derail housing decree as fury over evictions grows

Spain's leftist government faced a bruising battle in parliament on Friday after an allied party opposed its plans to tackle a housing crisis stirring public protests, particularly over the eviction of an 87-year-old woman. Junts, a Catalan region separatist centre-right party with seven lawmakers, argued that the proposals would exacerbate matters by reducing housing supply.

World food prices near four-year high in September, UN says

World food prices rose in September to their highest in nearly four years as logistics disruptions and weather concerns affected crop markets, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization said. Fears ⁠about a ​severe El Nino weather pattern have pushed international sugar prices to an 18-month high, while a war-related collapse in Black Sea trade pushed wheat futures to a three-year peak early last month.

Indian pilot tells PM Modi he opened flydubai cockpit door during attack

The Indian pilot stabbed by his co-pilot on a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv replayed the dramatic attack and his desperate effort to open the cockpit door to seek help, in a video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. Smit Machchhar, seen with a tube in his nose and bandages on his head and hands, spoke to Modi from a hospital bed in Abu Dhabi during a nearly 10-minute clip released on the prime minister's social media channels, wiping away tears as he narrated his ordeal.

Cargo stacks up as Pakistan seizes containers to block capital routes

Pakistan's effort to keep supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan out of the capital has led to a pileup of shipping containers in the nation's main port of Karachi, 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) away. Truckers are refusing to drive north, for fear their vehicles will be seized and the containers used to barricade Islamabad ahead of an Oct 4 march on the city planned by Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition party.

Swedish opposition leader gets second chance to form government

Sweden's parliament speaker ⁠on Friday asked Magdalena Andersson, the leader of the Social Democrats, to again try to form a new government, despite her saying on Monday she was unable to secure enough backing to do so. Andersson's centre-left bloc won 176 seats to 173 for Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's right-wing coalition in a September 13 election, but the four parties that won disagree over who should be allowed to be part of the new government.

Nepal plans to drain four glacial lakes after deadly floods

Nepal will kick off a high-stakes effort this fiscal year to drain four glacial lakes perched high in the mountains, as ⁠it scrambles to reduce flood risks, officials said, after a recent disaster that killed more than 1,400. Rescuers are still searching for more than 5,000 people missing in the border region with China after August's ⁠glacier collapse unleashed landslides and a flash flood that tore through valleys.

US looks to expand use of canoe-sized drones to deter migrant crossings

The Pentagon may expand its use of autonomous surveillance boats on the Rio Grande and in the Gulf of Mexico after the canoe-sized vessels helped authorities detect and deter illegal border crossings and narcotics trafficking during a pilot program that began in January, a US official said. The unmanned surface vessels, built by San Diego-based startup Seasats, patrol the river for long periods without crews and are part of a growing push by the military and law enforcement agencies to use relatively inexpensive, autonomous systems for surveillance and security missions.

South Korea's Lee threatens action against Ukraine over transfer of North Koreans

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Friday threatened unspecified measures against Ukraine unless Kyiv acknowledged a confidentiality agreement that Seoul says covered the transfer of two captured North Korean soldiers and issued an apology. "If the refusal to acknowledge the facts ‌and issue a public apology continues, we will take additional measures," Lee said in a post on X.

Ethiopian forces near Tigray ‌capital, fears grow of wider conflict

Ethiopian government forces closed in on the capital of the northern rebel stronghold of Tigray on Friday, residents and a diplomat said, as fears grew that fighting could spill into a wider war after Ethiopia and Eritrea cut diplomatic ties. Banks and shops in the city, Mekelle, were closed with ​the Ethiopian National Defence Force and allied militiamen reported to be within striking distance, two residents, who asked not to be named for security reasons, told Reuters.