Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Two dead in drone strikes in Russia's Belgorod region, officials say

Two people were killed in Ukrainian drone strikes on Thursday in Russia's border region of Belgorod, regional officials said. The regional operational headquarters reported one person died when a drone struck a car.

French students keep up protest pressure with some demonstrations hit by violence

French teenagers blockaded some high schools and ​marched through cities on Thursday in the latest wave of nationwide protests about conditions in the country's schools, and some of the demonstrations were marred by violent unrest. The Interior Ministry said 71,500 people participated in the day's demonstrations, of which 24,500 took part in the ​main Paris protest centred around the Bastille square.

Venezuela's Maduro charged in US with ordering torture of opponents, Americans

US prosecutors on Thursday charged ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia ‌Flores with conspiring to torture ​political opponents and American citizens, adding to the drug trafficking case the couple already faced. Separately, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who is overseeing the case, denied a request by Flores to be released from jail due to health concerns ahead of a trial scheduled for next year.

Poland's second school knife attack in two days kills one, raises copycat fears

A 15-year-old former pupil wearing a helmet-mounted camera killed one employee and injured two others at a Polish primary school on Thursday, the second school stabbing in two days possibly linked to an internet challenge, authorities said. A 37-year-old woman who worked as a caretaker had died in the latest attack, which took place at around 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) in Leszczydol-Nowiny, northeast of Warsaw, officials said.

Thousands of Spaniards march to mark death of octogenarian at heart of housing protests

Thousands of Spaniards marched through central Madrid on Thursday to mark the ‌death of the 87-year-old woman whose eviction from her home ignited protests across the country and led to a snap election next month. Maricarmen Abascal, who died on Wednesday, had been hospitalised for severe anxiety and exhaustion since her eviction on September 23. No cause of death has been announced.

Genre-defying Canadian poet Anne Carson wins 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature

Canadian poet and writer Anne Carson, whose work often blends verse, prose, dialogue and translation in a genre-defying mix, won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday for what the Swedish Academy called her "bold and inventive oeuvre". "Crazy, I think they're all crazy," Carson told Icelandic broadcaster RUV when asked how she was feeling after learning she had won while on the Arctic island. "I'll get a sticker on the front of my book."

Zelenskiy says Ukraine expects Europeans to join talks with US

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Ukraine expected Kyiv's European partners to join talks with the US in coming days. Zelenskiy earlier said that Ukraine's negotiators would hold talks in the United States on Friday and Saturday as part of efforts led by the United States to seek a settlement of the 4-1/2-year-old war with Russia.

Flavio Bolsonaro slightly ahead of Lula in Brazil runoff, Datafolha poll shows

Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro is slightly ‌leading President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a simulated scenario of the October 25 presidential runoff, a Datafolha poll showed on Thursday. The senator, the eldest son of former President Jair Bolsonaro, would receive 49% of the vote compared with 45% for Lula, Datafolha poll showed.

US to livestream Army execution of Fort Hood shooter, Pentagon official says

The US will livestream the Army's upcoming firing squad execution on December 3 of Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, in a 2009 shooting spree, a Pentagon official said, in what would be an unprecedented ‌move. Hasan, a former Army psychiatrist, is set to become the first person to be executed by firing squad by the US military since 1945.

Zelenskiy accuses US of inaction as Russian strikes kill over 70 in two days

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused the US of being unwilling to help Ukraine after a Russian bomb attack on Thursday killed at least 35 people in the east, sending the two-day death toll from Russian strikes to over 70. Hours after the strike on the embattled city of Kramatorsk tore through two buses, Zelenskiy criticised Washington's effort to pursue economic ties with Russia while also seeking to mediate the more than four-year war.

South Africa blames disinformation as anti-migrant protests turn violent

Anti-migrant protests in two South African cities including Johannesburg's Soweto township turned violent on Thursday, with the government blaming disinformation over a court ruling on asylum seekers. In coastal Durban, the second city hit by protests, a Reuters reporter saw five torched cars in the urban centre, where foreign-owned shops were also looted.

Kremlin: Russia agrees with Rubio that Ukraine conflict is in a stalemate

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Thursday that Russia agreed with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the Ukraine conflict was in a stalemate. "Yes, we agree with him," Russian news agencies quoted Peskov as saying on the sidelines of a meeting of leaders of ex-Soviet states in Turkmenistan.

Colombia faces hurdles to meet IMF commitments under possible lending deal

Colombia would face major hurdles in meeting any commitments it makes under a prospective ⁠agreement with the International Monetary Fund, from ​which it is seeking billions of dollars amid a fiscal crisis, according to current and former officials and economists. A team from the country's finance ministry traveled to Washington ⁠this week to meet with the multilateral lender, at the direction of recently inaugurated President Abelardo De La Espriella, who is seeking a way out of a crisis marked by soaring debt and lower tax revenue.

Brazil's tight election raises questions over fate of its climate-finance push

Brazil's tight presidential election has some investors, executives and climate-focused businesses worried that a government led by conservative Senator Flavio Bolsonaro may not maintain the policies underpinning the country's emerging green economy. Bolsonaro topped the first-round vote on the weekend with a stronger-than-expected performance, after a campaign in which he promised to strengthen the regulated carbon market but did not criticize the climate track record of his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, under whom deforestation soared.

New Brazil Congress poses risk ⁠to environmental legislation, campaign group says

Brazil's next Congress is likely to pose a greater obstacle to legislation to protect the environment after elections this month, according to a study by climate advocacy group Observatorio do Clima, which found that almost 70% of elected lawmakers have little or no commitment to environmental issues. The study analyzed bills, legislative proposals, speeches and public statements by new and re-elected lawmakers and concluded that 64 of the Senate's 81 members have a track record of "very low" or "low" commitment to environmental issues. In the lower house, 345 of 511 lawmakers were placed in the same category.

US imposes fresh sanctions on Iran's shadow fleet

The US imposed fresh sanctions on Iran on Thursday, targeting ​individuals, networks and 17 vessels for transporting Iranian crude, oil products and petrochemicals, the Treasury Department said, as Washington stepped up economic pressure on Tehran. The sanctions are part of the department's "Operation Economic Outcast," which aims to cut Iran's funding for the war with the US, missile construction, cyberattacks and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.

Former German Chancellor Schroeder celebrates Putin's birthday at president's home

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder helped celebrate Russian President Vladimir Putin's 74th birthday at the leader's home, the Kremlin said on Thursday. Pictures posted on Telegram showed ⁠Schroeder and Putin smiling broadly and shaking hands, with an old-style stove and a Russian samovar used to boil water for tea in the background.

US judge orders return of Egyptian deported to Equatorial Guinea

A US judge has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the release and return of an Egyptian man who was deported to Equatorial Guinea this year and has since been jailed there. Ahmed Soliman is one of hundreds of migrants sent from the US to African countries under so-called third-country deportation deals that the US government has used to accelerate removals.

Italy's Meloni forces through new electoral law ahead of vote, opposition cries foul

Italy's lower house of parliament gave final approval on Thursday to a fiercely contested electoral reform championed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni which provides the framework ⁠for a national ​election due next year. Meloni says the new rules are intended to increase the prospect of stable government. The centre-left opposition says the goal is to boost her chances of retaining power.

Germany's Left to start Berlin coalition talks after antisemitism deal

Germany's Left Party agreed measures on Thursday to address antisemitic incidents, satisfying a key condition set by potential coalition partners and allowing it to begin exploratory talks on Berlin's next state government. The agreement revives prospects for a three-party coalition between the Left, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens after the Left, a hard-left party represented in Berlin by lead candidate Elif Eralp, emerged from the September 20 state election as the largest force, with 25.7% of the votes.

Two men arrested after breaking into UK airbase used by US, counter-terrorism police say

British counter-terrorism police are investigating after two Latvian men were arrested inside a Royal Air Force base used by US personnel, authorities said on Thursday. The arrests come weeks after a suspected plot targeting another British airbase used by the US military raised concerns about security at military sites across Britain.

Northern Irish police contact Sinn Fein members over investigation into parade protest

Northern Irish police have contacted representatives of Sinn Fein in relation to their investigation into ⁠a protest that has blocked a Protestant parade from marching through a Catholic area for almost two weeks, the Irish nationalist party said. Thousands of protesters, including Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Fein and party leader Mary Lou McDonald, gathered on the Catholic Garvaghy Road to stop the September 26 march after it was allowed to proceed for the first time since the contentious route was banned in 1998.

Ex-prince Andrew search warrants quashed after police accept legal error

British police on Thursday said that search warrants they secured to search properties linked ⁠to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had been issued unlawfully and must be quashed, but said the investigation into King Charles' younger brother was ongoing. Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in ⁠public office in February, linked to his relationship with the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and searches were carried out at properties in Sandringham, eastern England, and Windsor.

Iranian intelligence sets sights on US military bases in Germany, WiWo reports

Iranian intelligence services are targeting US military installations in Germany, including Ramstein and Spangdahlem air bases, amid concerns over potential covert attacks linked to the Iran conflict, news outlet WirtschaftsWoche reported on Thursday. Israel warned US and German partners three weeks ago of a potential threat, with concern focused on bases supporting American military operations and logistics linked to the conflict with Iran, the report said, citing several unnamed Western intelligence officials.

Prison riot in violence-plagued Mexican state leaves 10 dead

A prison riot on Thursday in Mexico's violence-ridden state of Sinaloa left nine prisoners and one visitor dead, the state's security office said, with 16 other inmates injured. Prosecutors will investigate what caused ‌the incident and the prison is now under control, the office said in a statement.

Russia's Yandex says ‌it is unclear whether data centre can be restored after drone strike

Russian technology and AI company Yandex said on Thursday it could not yet determine whether equipment at a data centre hit by a Ukrainian drone attack could be restored. Yandex said earlier that the attack on its Sasovo hub, one ​of its five large data centres, caused a fire and forced it to suspend operations at the site, which hosts tens of thousands of servers.