Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

US Democratic congressional candidate Lander detained by Israeli authorities in West Bank

Brad Lander, an ally of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani who is a Democratic candidate for the US Congress, was among 90 volunteers detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to American and Israeli rights groups. Rabbis for Human Rights, ​an Israeli organization, said in a statement that Lander and other volunteers were accompanying Palestinian farmers harvest olives close to a village near Bethlehem before Israeli forces arrived and detained the group.

Georgian court begins hearing lawsuit seeking ban on major opposition parties

A court ​in Georgia opened hearings on Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by the government seeking outright bans on the five main opposition parties, in a move that civil society ‌groups say presages the beginning ​of one-party rule in the South Caucasus country. The Constitutional Court in the Black Sea city of Batumi will meet for three days to review the suit, first filed by the ruling Georgian Dream party a year ago. The court, whose ruling is final and cannot be appealed in Georgia, must give its decision by June 2027.

Turkey, Qatar, Pakistan, Indonesia sign defence cooperation accord, Ankara says

Turkey, Qatar, Pakistan, and Indonesia signed an agreement on Wednesday to boost defence cooperation and strengthen defensive capabilities, the Turkish Defence Ministry said. In a statement, the ministry said the countries signed the "Badr Memorandum of Understanding" in Doha as a sign of their desire to further deepen cooperation and develop partnerships.

Nigeria reports Ebola case, fourth African country affected by outbreak

Nigeria reported its first Ebola case in more than a decade on Tuesday, becoming the fourth African country and the most populous ‌yet to be affected by an outbreak that health officials have described as the fastest-spreading on record. The Ebola species behind the outbreak kills about half of those infected and has no approved treatment or vaccine. Since the first cases were confirmed in Democratic Republic of Congo in May, the disease has killed 4,646 people. Health officials fear misinformation and funding shortfalls could fuel further spread within the region and across borders.

Ghana president: anybody committed to fighting terrorism is welcome in West Africa

Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama said on Wednesday he was not concerned about Russian security assistance in the Sahel and that anyone committed to fighting terrorism is welcome in the region. “My opinion on this is that anybody who is committed to the fight against terrorism is welcome,” Mahama said at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London

Thousands of Greek students, teachers protest over education, pay

Thousands of students and teachers took to the streets across Greece on Wednesday, demanding higher state funding for education, better facilities and less-crowded classrooms, echoing protesters in other European countries. About 10,000 demonstrators, including school and university students, rallied peacefully in central Athens and suburbs, police said. Others joined rallies in cities across the country, all voicing their solidarity with growing ‌protests in France and elsewhere in Europe over soaring living costs and over what they called crumbling school conditions.

Starlink access in Ukraine a decision for Musk, not White House, Rubio says

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that decisions regarding Ukraine's access to Starlink were up to SpaceX and Elon Musk, not the White House, comments that suggested Musk may have restricted Kyiv's access to the service.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that Musk had ordered the slowdown of a military-grade version of Starlink that Ukraine relies on to ‌defend itself against missile attacks from Russia.

Analysis-Israel's election may change its leader, but not Iran war policy

Israel's election next week may change its leader, but not its strategy: Iran will remain its chief adversary, military force will continue to be its preferred tool and Palestinian statehood a distant prospect, regional policymakers and analysts say. That is because the strategic assumptions underpinning Israeli policy were hardened by the October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israeli communities by Palestinian militant group Hamas and by the wars in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.

Trump envoy asks Putin to resume three-way Ukraine peace talks, secures release of US citizen

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to consider resuming US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine and to review new ideas on ending the war amid Washington's latest push to stop Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War Two. The talks in a grand imperial palace in St Petersburg, the ninth time that Witkoff has met Putin in person, began with a goodwill gesture from Russia - the release of Stephen Hubbard, a retired US school teacher held in Russia.

Iran prolongs talks in stalemate to influence US midterms, officials say

Iran has deliberately prolonged talks with the US to try to weaken Donald Trump politically ahead of November's US midterm elections, senior officials say, while fears of renewed military action and deep distrust of Washington have reinforced Tehran's reluctance to strike a quick deal to end the war. Three senior Iranian officials and an ⁠Iranian insider, speaking on condition of anonymity, ​said Tehran was convinced the US president was ready to resort to renewed attacks to try to break the stalemate in the eight-month-old war.

Europe weighs giving ⁠utilities, infrastructure companies more powers to bring down drones

At a former flight-test base south of Paris, drones swoop over fields and woodland as teams on the ground test systems designed to stop them — a response to a growing wave of drone incursions and "hybrid attacks" since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The potential clients for technology such as electronic jammers and interceptor drones tested at the Brétigny-sur-Orge site are no longer just governments, police and armies.

Analysis-US invokes rarely used torture law in revamped case against Maduro

Nicolas Maduro is one of just a handful of people to be charged in the US with violating a federal law criminalizing torture committed overseas, a Reuters review of court records found, as prosecutors seek to ⁠broaden their criminal case against the ousted Venezuelan president. Maduro, 63, and his wife Cilia Flores, 70, pleaded not guilty last week to an expanded indictment accusing them of conspiring to torture political opponents to remain in power, in addition to the drug trafficking charges they already faced. They are scheduled to go on trial in June 2027.

France's Macron vows no repeat of riots as Yellow Vests mobilise

French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to prevent a repeat of last weekend's riots and looting, as the Yellow Vest movement filed plans for a major Paris march on Saturday that will present the government with its next big test. Macron said on Wednesday that those seeking to ​cause disorder at the next protests would be stopped, while Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu met union leaders in an effort to defuse one of the worst crises France has faced in recent years.

France to deploy troops, admits to failures over weekend unrest

France will reinforce police with troops and mount a huge security operation for more protests planned on Saturday, the government said on Tuesday, acknowledging failures in its response to last weekend's violence. "The deployment next Saturday will be massive," Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said, adding that the ⁠immediate priority was to restore order after rioting and looting swept Paris, Marseille, Lyon and other cities on October 17.

As Serbia votes, students emerge as greatest threat to Vucic’s long rule

Aleksa Simic, a political science student at Belgrade University, did not hesitate when he learned that the collapse of a railway station canopy in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad had killed 16 people in November 2024. Demanding justice for the dead, and an end to the kind of corruption that many believed led to the station's shoddy construction, he and other students blockaded the political science faculty in protest. As Serbia mourned, sympathetic residents brought them homemade meals, mattresses and pillows. Many stopped by to discuss the students' demands.

Who's a vulture? Spain struggles to identify ⁠culprits in fury ​over evictions

As anger boiled over in Spain about the death of Maricarmen Abascal two weeks after the 87-year-old pensioner was evicted from her Madrid home, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had no doubt who was to blame for the mounting housing crisis. Emergency housing legislation passed after he dissolved parliament and called a snap election for November 29 would "stand up to vulture funds," Sanchez said on October 6, adding that the measures would "target only those who regard housing as just another commodity to be speculated on."

Israel 'strongly' condemns Libyan approval of maritime deal with Turkey

Israel said on Wednesday it "strongly" condemned the Libyan eastern parliament's approval of a maritime-boundaries deal with Turkey that drew swift criticism from Israeli ally Greece. The deal approved on Tuesday is part of a years-old dispute over competing claims to sea borders and energy exploration rights in the eastern Mediterranean.

For Flavio Bolsonaro, runoff vote tests Brazilians' appetite for family's political brand

For right-wing Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro, his biggest strength is also his greatest weakness: the Bolsonaro family name. While supporters across Brazil consider him a more moderate iteration of his father's powerful conservative brand, many others view him as a continuation of Jair Bolsonaro's scorched-earth rule ⁠that polarized the nation and culminated in an attempted coup after he lost the 2022 election.

Iraq closes Sheeb border crossing with Iran to review security, sources say

Iraq has closed the busy Sheeb border crossing with Iran to review security and install detection equipment to stop the smuggling of prohibited materials, an Iraqi border official said on Wednesday. Sheeb would be closed to passengers, vehicles and commercial trucks until further notice, two other sources at the crossing said.

Russian strikes kill elderly Ukrainians after Trump urges Kyiv to agree terms

Two Ukrainians over 80 years ⁠old were among four killed in overnight Russian attacks that also targeted energy facilities across four regions, officials said, hours after US President Donald Trump urged Kyiv to agree ⁠peace terms with Russia. Relations between the United States and Ukraine have come under severe strain, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reporting a hiatus in advance warnings of missile strikes and limitations on Elon Musk's Starshield system.

Who is Stephen Hubbard, the US citizen released by Russia?

President Vladimir Putin announced the release of American citizen Stephen Hubbard from Russian detention on Wednesday, at the start of talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff. Here are details of Hubbard's case:WHO IS STEPHEN HUBBARD?

Water rationing, rubbish pile-up raise disease fears in Yemen's besieged Taiz

Families have started rationing water in and around Yemen's Taiz city, where renewed fighting has disrupted fuel supplies and access to water systems serving 3 million people, aid groups and UN agencies said. Meanwhile, mounting piles of rubbish along major roads are raising fears of disease outbreaks in the city, Yemen's third-largest.

Ukraine's Zelenskiy says he ‌supports ceasefire, trilateral talks with US and Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he hoped for a positive ‌outcome from US envoy Steve Witkoff's meeting in Russia on Wednesday and that he supports talks between the leaders of Kyiv, Washington and Moscow. Zelenskiy said in an interview with Fox News that his talks with Witkoff in Oslo a day earlier were productive and that Ukraine was ready for diplomacy. ​He thanked the US for restoring intelligence sharing and said he hoped the limitations on Starlink and Starshield satellite services would end soon.