Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Poland urges internet firms to act on violent content after school stabbings

Poland summoned internet companies including Google and Meta to the Digital Affairs Ministry on Friday, demanding they do more to curb the spread of violent content following a series of school stabbing attacks. Thousands of police were sent to schools this week to ensure security after a series of three attacks in four days triggered ​a wave of online threats that left pupils and teachers fearing for their safety.

Pope Leo to make Sunday appearance after 'steady improvement', Vatican says

Pope Leo is showing steady improvement in hospital after undergoing surgery for lung cancer this week, the Vatican said on Friday, adding that he is ​now able to do normal daily activities with full autonomy. The pope will make his first public appearance since his hospitalisation on Sunday to deliver the traditional Angelus prayer, while preparations continue for his planned ‌November trip to South ​America, the Vatican said.

Analysis-Modi's predicament: Gen Z pours out on India's streets as dissent surges

Despite tens of thousands of security personnel deployed to stop them, youth protesters in India scaled barricades last week, chanted anti-government slogans and scuffled with police officers trying to drag them away. "Long live the revolution," shouted one young man before police bundled him into a bus.

Explainer-Will a new leader and a new name boost the rebellion in eastern Congo?

The former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, took over leadership of rebel forces occupying eastern regions this week, in the most significant shake-up of the uprising in years. The move gives the rebels a highly prominent Congolese figurehead and could boost their efforts to present themselves as a national movement rather than a Rwandan proxy, diplomats, rebel sources and analysts said.

'Wild-eyed' comedian Russell Brand tried to drag me into toilets, woman tells UK court

One of six women who accuse Russell Brand of sex offences told a ‌London court on Friday that the British actor and comedian turned into a "wild-eyed maniac" when he tried to drag her into a toilet cubicle at her workplace. Brand, once one of Britain's most high-profile broadcasters and the former husband of US singer Katy Perry, is on trial accused of three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of indecent assault against six women between 1999 and 2009.

Israeli settlers burn olive trees, injure journalist in West Bank attack

Clad in black and their faces masked, dozens of militant Israeli settlers burned olive trees and threw rocks at Palestinians in a coordinated attack on Friday on a West Bank village's annual harvest that injured at least two people including a journalist. Some 80 settlers, some of them carrying gas canisters, descended from a hill above a terraced olive grove where villagers from Abu Falah had gathered to pick ripe fruit, a cherished annual tradition in Palestinian life, Reuters witnesses said.

Explainer-Why is the battle for Yemen's Taiz so important?

The city of Taiz is rapidly emerging as the most important battlefront in Yemen's reignited civil war, pitting the Iran-allied Houthis against the internationally recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led coalition. Houthi forces have encircled Taiz in recent weeks by cutting its main road south to Aden, causing widespread displacement and worsening a humanitarian crisis.

Swiss journalist risks court sentence for ‌exposing top banker

Zurich prosecutors this week charged Swiss journalist Lukas Haessig with violating banking secrecy over reporting that set off a high-profile corporate criminal trial of the former boss of Raiffeisen Bank Switzerland, Haessig said on his financial blog Inside Paradeplatz. Zurich-based Inside Paradeplatz published a series of articles in 2016 about Pierin Vincenz, former CEO of Raiffeisen Bank Switzerland, and his business partner Beat Stocker, who were found guilty of fraud in April 2022

EU leaders rally around Zelenskiy as Trump calls Ukrainian strikes on Russia a 'disgrace'

European Union leaders rallied around President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at a summit on Friday as US President Donald Trump fired another ‌salvo at Ukraine, calling its strikes on Russian refineries a "disgrace". The EU is hosting Zelenskiy in Brussels at one of the most difficult moments for Ukraine, with missiles and drones raining down on Ukrainian cities and fears that the US could pull back intelligence sharing and weapons support from Kyiv.

Exclusive-US holds more secret talks with Myanmar's military-backed rulers in Tokyo, sources say

The US and Myanmar's military-backed government held talks in Tokyo last week, people familiar with the matter said, their second meeting in a month as Washington steps up re-engagement with the generals it shunned after their 2021 coup. Earlier talks in Myanmar's capital Naypyitaw in mid-September focused on securing the release of an American businessman and shutting down scam centers that target Americans, but could pave the way for broader discussions, including on Myanmar’s rare-earth mineral deposits, Reuters previously reported.

Catholics in Africa outnumber those in Europe, Vatican says

There are now more Catholics in Africa than in Europe, the Vatican said on Friday, releasing the latest Catholic Church statistics compiled by its news agency Fides. The total number of Catholics in the world stood at 1.422 billion at the end of June 2024, representing 17.8% of the global population, and up 0.1% year on year

Exclusive-Iran ships some LPG, jet fuel despite US blockade, data shows

Iran has managed to export some liquefied petroleum gas and jet fuel since July, despite a US naval blockade, shipping intelligence showed and people involved in security said. Tehran has in recent weeks been concealing such cargoes among a growing volume of ship-to-ship transfers by other Gulf producers off Oman, four people in maritime security who track Gulf oil movements ⁠told Reuters.

Russian drones kill 3 people ​in Ukraine, cut power to hundreds of thousands

Russian drones killed at least three people across Ukraine early on Friday, hit two shopping centres and knocked out power to around 370,000 ⁠in the northwest after strikes on the energy grid, officials said. Two people died and 12 more were wounded in attacks on three districts of the eastern city of Kharkiv, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said. He had earlier put the death toll at three.

Major hurricane Trudy keeps strengthening as it nears Mexico's Pacific coast

Hurricane Trudy rapidly intensified into a major hurricane on Friday morning, carrying maximum sustained winds near 120 mph (195 kph) and higher gusts, as it moves closer to Mexico's Pacific coast. Additional strengthening is still forecast before Trudy is expected to approach the Mexican coast on Saturday as a life-threatening major hurricane, the US-based National Hurricane Center said.

Major delays at Italian airports due to data network failure

Air travellers faced delays and cancellations across Italy on Friday due to a technical fault affecting ⁠air traffic control, which authorities said was not caused by malicious activity. Air traffic authority ENAV said it introduced temporary restrictions on air traffic capacity after detecting anomalies overnight on the data transmission network supporting air traffic control services nationwide.

Shooter kills four at Oregon elementary school before being shot dead by community member

A 16-year-old shooter opened fire on Thursday at an elementary school in Bend, Oregon, killing four people including three children, before being killed by an armed member of the community who had pursued the assailant into the school, police said. The shooter entered Silver Rail Elementary School by firing through locked doors, police said, without offering any details beyond the suspect's age.

Analysis-Brazil's incoming right-wing Congress takes aim at judge who jailed Bolsonaro

Brazil's next Congress is ​spoiling for a fight with the Supreme Court, including plans for an unprecedented impeachment of one of its justices that could dramatically expand the reach of a right-wing agenda, more than a dozen experts and officials at both the Senate and court told Reuters. Driving the effort are allies of far-right former President Jair Bolsonaro who dominated legislative elections this month and plan to take aim at Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice responsible for the ex-president's arrest and conviction on coup-plotting charges.

Trump says US may need to strike Iran's Pickaxe Mountain

President Donald Trump said the ⁠US may have to target Pickaxe Mountain, a site linked to Iran's nuclear program, as he aims to ensure Tehran does not get a nuclear weapon. In an interview with Newsmax on Thursday night, Trump also said he would not use a nuclear weapon in the war on Iran, which began in February with US-Israeli strikes. * Trump said the US wanted to make sure Iran will never have a nuclear weapon "because if they had it, they would use it."

Russia talks up refinery attack as Trump blames Ukraine for expensive fuel

Russia has publicly acknowledged a Ukrainian drone strike on a major oil refinery this week and broadcast images on state media, breaking with its usual practice in order to highlight an attack that US President Donald Trump has branded a "disgrace". Ukraine has frequently struck Russian oil refineries in attacks that officials typically ⁠describe ​as hits on "industrial enterprises".

Russian strikes and winter hardship may drive more Ukrainians from homes, UN agency warns

Millions of Ukrainians face another winter of hardship as attacks on critical infrastructure, damaged housing and rising living costs threaten to force more people from their homes, the United Nations migration agency said on Friday. With temperatures set to fall in the coming months, many families are struggling to secure reliable heating, electricity and water after years of war, the International Organization for Migration said.

Russia says strategic bombers made planned flight over Baltic Sea, Interfax reports

Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber planes, escorted by fighter jets, carried out a planned flight over neutral waters of the Baltic Sea, Russian news agencies quoted the Defence Ministry as saying on Friday. Foreign fighter jets escorted the bombers during parts of the flight, which lasted over four hours, the ministry said without specifying the reason for the mission.

Hegseth's TV instincts backfire as Trump rejects execution livestream

As he took to the stage this week at an Army event, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remarked how much it looked like a TV set. The former Fox News host said that put him at ease, even as the first in a series of anti-war protesters shouted at him. But Hegseth's TV instincts, while perhaps one of the tools he relies on most in his ⁠Pentagon role, appear to have failed him on Thursday when President Donald Trump pulled the plug on his plans, announced last week, to livestream the Army's firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan.

Norwegian teen sentenced to 20 years for UK murder plot tied to Iran-linked group

A Norwegian teenager who planned to commit murder in Britain after being recruited by a Swedish organised crime group linked to the Iranian government was on Friday sentenced to 20 years' detention. Johannes Natland, now 19, was arrested in a hotel room in Huddersfield, northern England, in March 2025 with two firearms and ammunition in his ⁠possession.

Hungary, Ukraine agree to reset ties, Magyar says

Budapest and Kyiv agreed to put their relations on a new footing, Hungary's Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Friday after meeting Ukraine's ⁠President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, as the leaders aim to calm tensions over minority rights. Magyar has taken a less confrontational stance towards Kyiv than his predecessor Viktor Orban. He had repeatedly said that Hungary would not send arms to Ukraine, however, and demanded progress on the rights of its ethnic Hungarian minority.

Thousands march in Albanian capital as anti-government protests spread

Thousands of young Albanians marched through Tirana on Friday, breaking some windows and traffic lights on the fourth day of an increasingly violent student-led campaign to force Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign. The demonstrations, which are spreading through the country, turned into a riot in the capital on Thursday, with protesters smashing windows, raiding a bank and clashing with police. They follow months of mostly peaceful demonstrations that the students say the government ignored.

UN says Gaza malnutrition gains fragile as commercial supplies halt

Gains in tackling malnutrition in Gaza remain fragile and could be undermined by disruptions to supplies entering the Palestinian enclave, the UN children's ‌agency UNICEF said on Friday, urging that all crossings remain open. Israel said on Wednesday commercial goods were no longer entering ‌Gaza because of what it described as a dispute over taxes between local merchants and militant group Hamas.

Italy prolongs Schengen suspension with Spain, talks loom

Italy has extended by another week its suspension of the European Union's border-free travel arrangements with Spain over a surge in migrant arrivals in Ceuta in late July, an Italian government ​source said on Friday. A Spanish government spokesperson said the interior ministers of both countries would work over the coming week on lifting the border controls.