Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Kremlin accuses Ukraine of flouting spirit of US peace efforts with strikes on Russian oil refineries

The Kremlin on Thursday said that Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries ran counter to US peace efforts, after a Ukrainian drone struck a refinery in Russia's Ryazan region overnight. US President Trump declared an energy ceasefire on Sunday, something Ukraine said it had first learnt about from media reports and which Russia did not ​publicly commit itself to.

Bolsonaro's lead over Lula narrows ahead of Brazil runoff, Datafolha poll shows

Brazilian Senator Flavio Bolsonaro continues to slightly lead President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva heading to the October 25 election runoff, but the gap has narrowed, a Datafolha poll showed on Thursday. The senator, the eldest son of ​former President Jair Bolsonaro, would receive 47% of the vote compared with 45% for the president, according to the poll. Last week, a Datafolha poll showed the younger Bolsonaro leading Lula 49% to 45%.

Pope Leo ‌recovering as planned after lung ​cancer surgery, doctors say

Pope Leo's recovery from surgery for lung cancer was going as planned and the 71-year-old pontiff has started to do a little work again, the Vatican said on Thursday. Leo has been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer, and doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung in an operation on Tuesday afternoon.

UK's Streeting says he and Hegseth welcomed Starlink restoration in Ukraine

Britain's defense minister said he and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth welcomed the restoration of the Starlink service in Ukraine in talks on Thursday, and he stressed the need to move forward in supporting Kyiv following renewed discord between the US and Ukrainian leaders. In an appearance on Fox News' "The Story with Martha MacCallum," Wes Streeting said it was "not the first time we've seen a falling out between President Trump and President Zelenskiy."

Venezuela's Maduro and wife plead not guilty to US torture charges

Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a new US indictment ‌accusing them of conspiring to torture political opponents. The additional charges, brought last Thursday, significantly expanded the US criminal case against Maduro, 63, and Flores, 70. They previously pleaded not guilty to charges that they abused their power to help drug traffickers ship cocaine.

Nineteen hurt after minibus hits train at French channel tunnel terminal

At least 19 people were injured on Thursday evening after a minibus collided with a train at a loading platform for the Channel Tunnel in northern France, the local prefect's office said. None of the injuries were life-threatening, the prefecture said in a statement, adding that ambulances, a helicopter and police were at the scene.

Exclusive-Order to limit Starshield for Ukraine came from inside White House, sources say

The order to limit a satellite system used by Ukraine for battlefield communications and drone operations came from inside the White House, according to two US officials and a Western official briefed on the matter. The officials said leaders at the Defense Department received a message that the SpaceX Starshield service for the Ukrainian military needed to be slowed.

Indonesian rescue centre takes in more orangutans as fires rage

In the jungles of Indonesian Borneo, a rehabilitation centre is taking in more orangutans as the country's worst wildfires in a decade sweep through the forest home of the critically endangered animals. The intense wildfires, burning mainly on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, began in July and could continue until November, aggravated by a severe El Niño weather pattern, the ‌government has warned.

How the Houthis are helping Iran turn Saudi Arabia into a pressure point

The Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia are about more than Yemen. By targeting infrastructure and disrupting investment events central to Saudi Arabia's economic ambitions, they aim to pressure Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to both meet Houthi demands in Yemen and persuade US President Donald Trump to ease the US blockade choking Iran's economy, according to Saudi, Iranian and regional sources.

Shooter killed at Oregon elementary school; CNN, CBS report four dead in violence

A person with a gun opened fire on Thursday at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, wounding multiple victims, including children, before the ‌assailant was killed, possibly by an armed onlooker, according to police. CNN and CBS News, citing law enforcement sources, reported that one adult and three children were killed in the violence, but it was not immediately clear whether the shooter was included in that death toll.

Exclusive-UN chief frontrunner Rebeca Grynspan says UN has 'become too risk-averse'

The United Nations has become too risk-averse and its next leader must be prepared to bear the cost of diplomatic failure and try again, Rebeca Grynspan, the frontrunner to be the next UN chief, told Reuters on Thursday. She spoke ahead of another Security Council poll on Friday to gauge support for a new secretary-general to succeed Antonio Guterres, whose second five-year term ends on December 31.

Crucial to give Ukraine all means needed to defend population, infrastructure, France's Macron says

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that it was crucial to give Ukraine all the means it needs to defend and protect its civilian population and its infrastructure, after he met in Brussels with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Zelenskiy, writing on Telegram, described his conversation with Macron as "very much to the point" and said Ukraine valued France for "helping as much as possible to find responses to Russian escalation."

EU leaders kick off summit with wrangles over high energy prices and spending

The European Union began a packed summit on Thursday that quickly underscored wrangles over how to tame soaring energy prices, design a budget to keep the bloc competitive and curb surging exports from China that are blamed for job losses. The leaders from the EU's 27 members met in Brussels on the back of securing an agreement with Beijing to limit imports of hybrid cars from China, a first step towards cutting a goods trade deficit ⁠that hit €360 billion ($400 billion) in 2025.

Rotting ​meat smell sparks protest at Mexico's screwworm sterile-fly plant

A rotten smell hanging over a town in Mexico's southern Chiapas state drove residents into the streets on Thursday to demand the removal of ⁠a sterile-fly plant at the center of the US-Mexican fight against the flesh-eating New World screwworm parasite. Residents in Metapa de Dominguez compared the odor to rotting meat and spoiled food, describing it as “pungent in your nose and mouth” and causing nausea. The smell, once concentrated around the plant, could now be detected farther away, particularly when winds carried it across the town, protesters said. The odor had reached schools near the plant and disrupted classes.

Houthis attack presidential palace complex in Yemen's Aden, PM unharmed, officials say

Yemen's Houthis fired missiles at the presidential palace complex in the southern city of Aden on Thursday, killing two security guards, two government officials told Reuters. Yemen's prime minister and cabinet members who were at the Maashiq presidential palace complex were unharmed, Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani said, adding that the Houthis had fired five missiles at the ⁠complex.

Analysis-How are Yemen’s Houthis attacking Saudi Arabia so effectively?

Houthi militants who control northwestern Yemen have in the past week attacked Riyadh international airport and hit the headquarters of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil company, in air assaults that have laid bare Saudi Arabia's vulnerability to threats from its enemy next door. The attacks are shattering the illusion of Saudi Arabia as a safe international investment hub as it tries to attract foreign money and diversify away from oil.

Somalia says it will hold a presidential election in May 2027

Somalia's electoral commission said on Thursday the Horn of Africa country will hold a presidential election on May 15 next year. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's term was due to end in May this year, but in March lawmakers voted to enact constitutional changes that potentially ​extend his term by a year, a move that drew criticism from the opposition.

Thirty-four children and a teacher killed in Pakistan school roof collapse

At least 34 schoolchildren and a female teacher were killed on Thursday when the roof of a school collapsed during morning classes in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar, police and rescue officials said. As panicked parents and relatives thronged the school site to search for their loved ones, rescue workers spent hours pulling children from the rubble of the privately run Al-Khair Education Center.

Brazil candidates focus fiscal plans on voter-friendly measures before runoff

As Brazil's presidential runoff campaign enters its ⁠final stretch, both candidates are focusing plans for fiscal adjustments on politically palatable measures, reinforcing economists' views that strategies to curb the country's rising debt burden will only come to light after the election. The country's gross debt has risen more than 10 percentage points during President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's current term, reaching 82.9% of gross domestic product (GDP), as the leftist incumbent seeks reelection after unexpectedly trailing Senator Flavio Bolsonaro in the first round earlier this month.

Russia builds major new drone attack base in six weeks, satellite images show

Russia has nearly finished building a major new base for launching jet-powered drones in just six weeks, according to defence experts and a Reuters analysis of satellite imagery, in the latest expansion of its attack capability close to Ukraine. The site in what was an empty field in Russia's southwestern Rostov region on August 31 had become a complex facility the size ⁠of around ​126 soccer pitches by Wednesday, commercial imagery provided by Planet Labs and Airbus showed.

Congo Ebola outbreak spreads to new province bordering Central African Republic

The ongoing Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo has spread to a new province bordering Central African Republic, two health officials said on Thursday, posing a fresh challenge for authorities struggling to contain it. North Ubangi becomes the eighth province to be affected by the outbreak of the Bundibugyo species of Ebola, which was announced in mid-May and has become the second-largest Ebola outbreak on record, with more than 9,000 cases and more than 4,000 deaths confirmed.

Elon Musk agrees to settle lawsuits over 2024 election lottery

Elon Musk and his America PAC political action committee said on Thursday they agreed to settle two proposed class actions alleging the billionaire entrepreneur defrauded residents in closely contested states before the 2024 US election by promising voters a lottery-style daily $1 million giveaway. Here are the details:

Trump shuts down Hegseth plan to livestream military execution

US President Donald Trump scrapped plans to livestream the execution of the former Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, overruling Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth on Thursday after the proposal drew opposition from Republicans, religious leaders and the public. The reversal ended a plan to broadcast Nidal Hasan’s December 3 firing-squad execution. It also marked a rare public disagreement between Trump and one of the president’s closest allies, although the ⁠Pentagon said the two were “completely aligned.”

Rubio urges Lebanon to not return confiscated explosives to Hezbollah, US official says

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun about the confiscation of hundreds of kilograms of explosives from Hezbollah, a US State Department official said on Thursday. Rubio urged Aoun to hold accountable those who ordered, financed and directed the shipment, and "underscored that returning explosives to (Hezbollah) should be out of the question," the US official said.

North Korea says opening ceremony was held for new bridge to China

North Korea's state media KCNA said on Friday that an opening ceremony was held for the Amnok River bridge linking ⁠to China, which is also called New Yalu River Bridge. The bridge will "accelerate the advance for the prosperity of the two countries and the well-being of the peoples and add fresh vigour to the equally beneficial ⁠economic cooperation," Pak Thae Song, premier of the North Korean cabinet, said at the ceremony through video conferencing, according to KCNA.

Iraq parliament approves remaining cabinet posts, PM deputies

Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved the remainder of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's cabinet, completing the formation of a government that took office five months ago with several key positions, lawmakers said. Lawmakers approved 11 portfolios, including Nayef al-Shammari as defence minister and Yasir al-Maliki as interior minister

Brazil's Bolsonaro racks up endorsements, shaping potential governing bloc

Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro has secured the new backing of multiple parties ahead of an election runoff later this month, suggesting his campaign is building momentum and offering an early glimpse of what a governing coalition could look like if he wins. The right-wing lawmaker, the eldest son of ex-President Jair Bolsonaro, will face leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in the runoff on October 25, after he exceeded expectations in the first-round vote with a slight lead over the incumbent.

Lula pledges free weekend transit nationwide as Brazil runoff ‌nears

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Thursday he will send Congress a constitutional amendment guaranteeing free weekend public ‌transport nationwide, the latest in a series of voter-friendly measures less than two weeks before Brazil's presidential runoff. In a video posted on social media, Lula said the program would be funded through congressional budget earmarks. The president did not say when exactly he would send the proposal.

3 children, 1 adult killed in shooting at school in Oregon, US ​media reports

Three children and one adult were killed in a shooting at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, CNN and CBS News reported on Thursday, citing sources.