Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Exclusive-China plans late entry into WHO leadership race, sources say

China plans to put forward a late candidate to lead the World Health Organization, according to four diplomats and a source familiar with the matter, giving Beijing a chance to expand its influence after the US quit the WHO. Beijing has long sought to take on more responsibility within UN agencies and ​other multilateral bodies, just as the United States under President Donald Trump winds down its engagement with the UN and some of its constituent organisations.

French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen's main budget proposals

French presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen, of the far-right National Rally, on ​Tuesday presented her main budget proposals ahead of next year's election. Below is a list of her main economic priorities.

North Korea warns US over Taiwan while Kim pledges support for Russia

North ‌Korea criticised the United ​States over its arms sales and military support for Taiwan, accusing Washington of fuelling tensions in the Taiwan Strait, state media KCNA said on Wednesday. A KCNA commentary citing North Korean international affairs analyst Kim Myong Chol said US policy on Taiwan was undermining peace and stability in the region.

Yemeni government fighters shown driving vehicles over Houthi opponents

Video posted by government forces in Yemen showed them driving armoured cars over Houthi fighters as they recaptured areas around the vital Bab el-Mandeb Strait from the Iran-backed group on Monday in a deadly new phase of the fragmented country's war. The videos gave a glimpse into the brutal closing stages of a pitched battle for control of territory near the strait that the Houthis had captured last month. The Houthi advance sent shockwaves through the oil market and pushed up petrol and diesel prices worldwide.

Catalan separatist Puigdemont set to return home after court lifts ‌arrest warrant

Spain's two top courts cleared the way on Tuesday for self-exiled Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont to return without being arrested, just as Spain is gearing up for an early national election on November 29. The Constitutional Court ruled that an amnesty law for Catalan separatists applies to embezzlement charges against Puigdemont. Shortly afterwards, the Supreme Court responded by lifting a warrant for Puigdemont's arrest.

Russia says tanker crew rescued in Black Sea after attack set ship ablaze

Emergency crews on Tuesday rescued the 23-member crew of a Liberian-flagged tanker, the Aframax Rio, which was set ablaze off Russia's Black Sea coast after coming under attack from an unmanned vessel, the Russian Transport Ministry said. The ministry, in a report posted on Telegram, said the crew was made up entirely of Indian nationals. It said there were no injuries.

No plague cases detected in Siberia, Russia says, and locals play down scare

Russia's health watchdog said on Tuesday that no cases of plague had been detected among anyone who had come into contact with a Siberian plague institute laboratory worker who died last week, and locals said their lives had barely been disrupted. Authorities say the 28-year-old woman died on Friday from pneumonia of an as-yet unestablished origin, in a case that has prompted international concern, ‌including from US President Donald Trump.

How is the Nobel Peace Prize decided?

The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday. Here is a look at how the award works: WHO IS NOMINATED?

UK police make further arrest over suspected Fairford airbase plot

British police arrested a 22-year-old British man in London on Tuesday as part of an investigation into a suspected plot that US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said involved a potential Iranian drone attack on a key airbase. Counter Terrorism Policing said the man was arrested in Westminster on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts. ‌He remains in custody.

Lula campaign scrambles to rebrand before Brazil runoff

After a bruising first round of Brazil's presidential election, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is rushing to overhaul his campaign communications to engage millions of Brazilians who did not vote, according to people close to the campaign. Lula finished nearly 2 percentage points — about 2.2 million votes — behind right-wing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in Sunday's vote, making the three-term leftist the underdog in an October 25 runoff.

Brazil ex-President Bolsonaro wins big without his name on the ballot

The biggest winner in Brazil's blockbuster weekend election did not even appear on the ballot. Banned from public office, former President Jair Bolsonaro is under house arrest, serving a 27-year sentence for a coup plot after his 2022 election loss. The 71-year-old watched from confinement on Sunday as his eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, scored an upset victory over leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the first round of the presidential election.

Carney to make first bilateral visit by a Canadian PM to Turkey

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will travel to Ankara and Istanbul from October 21 to 23, his office said on Tuesday, in what will be the first dedicated bilateral visit to NATO ally Turkey by a Canadian leader. The visit, which was first reported by Reuters, would mark Carney's latest break with Canadian diplomatic convention as he seeks to reduce the country's reliance on the United States, by far its biggest trading partner, after a collapse in trade talks in August.

Cornell hires ex-Justice Dept official Yates ⁠to review rape claims response

Cornell University ​has hired a top former US Justice Department lawyer for an internal investigation of how it handled a student's allegations that she was gang-raped, a case that has ⁠brought mounting scrutiny and triggered student protests at the Ivy League school. Sally Yates, who served as deputy US attorney general from 2015 to 2017, will conduct an independent review of how Cornell prevents and responds to sexual assault claims, university officials said on Tuesday.

Spain approves housing decrees that triggered snap election

Spain's government on Tuesday approved two housing decrees whose rejection by parliament last week prompted Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call a snap election. The measures, which include rent caps, a temporary ban on evictions and limits on corporate purchases of residential property, were "based on plain common sense", Sanchez said in a press conference, arguing that opinion surveys showed the public was broadly in favour of intervention in the property market.

Russia drops war posts ⁠case against children’s hospice founder Moniava

Russian investigators have dropped a criminal case against children's hospice founder Lida Moniava after finding her actions did not constitute a crime, her lawyer and a group of supporters said on Tuesday, a rare apparent reversal by authorities enforcing stringent wartime censorship laws. Moniava was briefly detained in September and charged with deliberately spreading false information about the actions of Russian armed forces against Ukrainian civilians.

Transcript of US Vice President Vance interview in Alaska

US Vice President JD Vance gave an exclusive interview to Reuters on Monday while campaigning in Alaska, a state that has emerged as a key battleground in the November elections that will determine control of Congress. This transcript ​of the interview, which took place after a rally at Fairbanks International Airport for Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan, has been edited lightly for length and clarity.

Trump says nobody knows who is running Iran

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that nobody knew who was running Iran during the US-Israeli war with Iran, now in its eighth month. QUOTES AND DETAILS:

Olympian cleared in vandalism case seeks watchdog probes of Trump's Reflecting Pool project

Lawyers for a former US Olympian accused and then cleared of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool demanded ⁠on Tuesday that two government watchdogs investigate the botched renovation of the Washington landmark by President Donald Trump's administration and the now-dismissed criminal case. Attorneys for David Hearn, a three-time US Olympic canoeist, urged the US Interior Department's inspector general to examine the flawed installation of an "American flag blue" liner at the bottom of the Reflecting Pool beginning in May. They also asked the US Justice Department's inspector general to investigate the case accusing Hearn of destruction of property, which prosecutors dropped weeks after securing an indictment.

Italy's electoral reform clears initial confidence vote hurdle

Italy's lower house of parliament on Tuesday approved part of a fiercely contested electoral reform championed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni which could be a factor in deciding an election due next year. Parliament approved the first articles of the bill ⁠in two ​confidence votes in the lower house.

Californians blast Trump remark that Iran could 'take out' Los Angeles, San Diego

President Donald Trump suggested to a crowd of his supporters in Nebraska that Iran could "take out" a major US city like Los Angeles or San Diego, drawing a swift rebuke from California's Democratic leaders and some fellow Republicans. Trump, speaking at a political rally in the state's farm belt on Monday, discussed American wartime economic sacrifices and said he was determined to "see a tremendous victory, because it verifies all the things we did."

Transcript of US Vice President Vance interview in Alaska

US Vice President JD Vance gave an exclusive interview to Reuters on Monday while campaigning in Alaska, a state that has emerged as a key battleground in the November elections that will determine control of Congress. This transcript of the interview, which took place after a rally at Fairbanks International Airport for Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan, has been edited lightly for length and clarity.

School protests sweeping France cause 'heaviest toll in decades'

Demonstrations swept across France on Tuesday as teachers and parents took to the streets with high school pupils on the biggest day of what Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu described as the most violent student demonstrations in ⁠decades. Police fired tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent groups on the fringes of marches in Paris, Strasbourg, Rennes and Toulouse, among other cities. The marches drew more than 250,000 people in dozens of cities, the interior ministry said, though organisers said 450,000 had participated.

Kenya confirms first Ebola case after man who travelled from Congo dies

Kenya confirmed its first Ebola case on Tuesday after a Kenyan citizen who had travelled from Democratic Republic of Congo died in Nairobi. Kenya is the fourth country to record a case linked to the Ebola epidemic in ⁠eastern Congo, the second largest on record with more than 8,000 cases.

Tennessee execution survivor Christa Pike is conscious and speaking, lawyers say

Convicted killer Christa Pike, who survived Tennessee's effort ⁠to execute her by lethal injection last week, foiling the state's first attempt to put a woman to death in two centuries, has regained consciousness and is speaking, her lawyers said in a statement on Tuesday. Despite severe injuries to her arms from the insertion of intravenous lines during the aborted execution last Wednesday, Pike, 50, is "still handcuffed and shackled" to her hospital bed while she remains under medical care, her team of public defense attorneys wrote.

Rubio tells Russia to share more information about plague death

Russia should share more information about the death of a plague laboratory worker who died last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday, in an incident Washington was watching "very closely". A laboratory worker at Siberia's plague research institute fell ill and died in undisclosed circumstances on Friday, prompting authorities to quarantine dozens of people and sparking public health fears on social media.

Drone sinks ship ‌off Bulgaria, as fears grow about hybrid attacks by Russia

The crew of a merchant ship was missing ‌on Tuesday after the vessel sank in the Black Sea off NATO member Bulgaria following a drone strike that Prime Minister Rumen Radev described as a gross violation of international law. It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack by air and sea drones about 70 nautical miles (130 km) off ​the coastal town of Byala in eastern Bulgaria, but there are growing concerns about hybrid attacks by Russia as it wages war in Ukraine.