Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Reactions to election victory of Serbia's Student List

Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat to a student-led protest movement in a historic election on Sunday, ending his long grip on power and heralding a new political era in the Balkan country. Below are reactions to the students' victory:

Poland eyes more cooperation with Germany in space, Polish minister says

Poland sees a lot of room ​to deepen cooperation with Germany in the space sector, Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said on Monday, underscoring the need to possess sovereign technology in order to bolster security in the face of external pressures. "We need to invest in technologies ... that are not available right now ​in Europe, but are absolutely critical for our joint security," Domanski said, naming the space industry, during a joint panel with Germany's Economy Minister Katherina Reiche.

German climber dies on Nepal's ‌Ama Dablam mountain

A German climber ​died after a fall while descending from the summit of a Himalayan peak in northeast Nepal, a hiking company official said on Monday. The climber, who had topped the 6,814 metre (22,256 ft) Ama Dablam peak on Sunday, fell some 1,500 metres (4,920 feet) on his way back down from the summit and died on Monday, Gokul Thapa, head of the Real Himalaya Pvt Ltd company, which provided local logistics to him, said.

Ebola scientists to probe Nigeria case origin, Africa CDC says

A team of leading Ebola scientists will travel to Nigeria to help investigate how the country’s first patient in more than a decade got infected, Africa CDC Director-General Jean Kaseya said. Their task will involve trying to work out how the female patient, the Ugandan-born wife of a Swiss diplomat based in Abuja, caught the Bundibugyo species of Ebola. Her travel documents show she had not visited the outbreak epicentre in Democratic Republic of ‌Congo, Kaseya said in an interview with Reuters in London.

Japan indicts US Marine over Okinawa killing, media say

Japanese prosecutors have indicted a US Marine on charges of robbery and murder of a Japanese woman in the country's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa, Japanese media reported. Lance Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, is suspected of killing Anna Yagi, 39, in a hotel in Naha, the prefectural capital, earlier this month. Ballard has denied the allegations.

Analysis-Brazil's Lula hangs on, but his final term promises to be toughest yet

Brazil's octogenarian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces an uphill battle from day one of his final term, analysts say, with his plans hemmed in by economic headwinds and a right-wing Congress. Already the country's oldest president, Lula overcame a first-round loss to pull off a surprise runoff victory against Senator Flavio Bolsonaro on Sunday, securing 51.8% of votes and a record fourth term just two days before his 81st birthday.

Houthis say they attacked Saudi oil pumping stations, Riyadh airport as fighting intensifies

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they had attacked Saudi Arabia's East-West crude oil pumping stations and Riyadh airport, as rising hostilities choke oil supplies and threaten to erupt into a larger conflict. The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said earlier ‌it had destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in the capital Sanaa, including one used to fire a missile towards Riyadh that the coalition said it had intercepted.

Netanyahu faces reckoning for October 7 in Israel's first vote since attack

Gal Cohen walks along a memorial wall engraved with the names of the men, women and children slain in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on his kibbutz. For him, the idea that the man leading Israel, then and since, may be re-elected on Tuesday is painful. One-in-ten residents of his kibbutz, Be'eri, were among the 1,200 people killed in Hamas' ‌surprise attack. Dozens were among the 251 taken hostage to Gaza. It was Israel's deadliest single day.

Explainer-Serbia's new leaders face host of tough challenges

Serbia's student-led protest movement won a historic victory in Sunday's parliamentary election, ending the long rule of Aleksandar Vucic and sparking mass celebrations. But their yet-to-be named leaders face a long list of issues. Here are a few of them:

Ukrainian who fled Oleshky views US-brokered ceasefire with deep scepticism

Six weeks ago, Vitaly, his wife Iryna, their 13-year-old son Vlad and their cat left the besieged town of Oleshky in Russian-occupied Ukraine to escape what they feared was certain death by starvation. Now back in Ukraine after a gruelling journey via Russia and Belarus, Vitaly views with deep scepticism a temporary ceasefire in his native town set to begin on Tuesday to allow evacuations and send in supplies.

Brazil's Lula hangs on, but his final term promises to be toughest yet

Brazil's octogenarian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva faces an uphill battle from day one of his final term, analysts say, with his plans hemmed in by economic headwinds and a right-wing Congress. Already the country's oldest president, Lula overcame a first-round loss to pull off a surprise runoff victory against Senator Flavio Bolsonaro on Sunday, securing 51.8% of votes and a record fourth term just two days before his 81st birthday.

Drone strikes cut power across southeast Sudan, operator says

Paramilitary drone strikes hit power stations in southeast Sudan on Monday, cutting power across the region, the state electricity company said. The operator accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces — which have been ⁠fighting a civil war with the army ​for around 3-1/2 years — of knocking out power in four states, which cover about half the territory currently held by the military.

Venezuela opposition leader Machado returns home ⁠after fraught year away

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was greeted by tens of thousands of cheering supporters as she made her way by car to Caracas on Sunday night, after she arrived home following several failed return attempts which have strained her ties with US President Donald Trump's administration. "This country is giving lessons to everyone," she shouted as her convoy entered the capital, leaning out of the sunroof to shake hands and hug raucous supporters

Jordan arrests three relatives over deadly church attack after shootout, officials say

Jordanian security forces arrested two brothers and their brother-in-law after a shootout on Monday over a church attack that killed nine people, and the suspects appear to have no ties to other cells, senior government security officials said. "God willing, they ⁠only represent themselves," Jordan's Director of Public Security, Major-General Obeidallah al-Maaytah, said.

Oil spill off UAE widens, satellite images show, prompting more beach closures

An oil spill from a damaged tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates has widened, satellite images showed, triggering more beach closures and raising environmental concerns. Images from the European Union's Copernicus satellite observation network dated October 24 show the oil spill has widened over the last few days and is reaching close to the shores of the northern Umm Al Quwain emirate, with dark layers of oil spreading at sea and along its coastline.

French minister says Halloween protests could turn violent

French authorities are bracing for more street unrest next weekend despite ​a huge security operation that helped contain nationwide demonstrations on Saturday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Monday. The protests, which have rattled President Emmanuel Macron's government for weeks, show little sign of easing after violence nine days ago engulfed dozens of cities, leading to fears the state had lost control of the streets.

How Houthi attacks have grounded flights across Saudi Arabia

Attacks by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have nearly emptied the skies over Riyadh this month, aviation data showed on Monday, with cancellations grounding almost nine out of every 10 scheduled flights at ⁠the Saudi capital's airport. About 86% of scheduled flights at Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport, or 4,071 out of 4,736, were cancelled between October 8 and October 25, according to the latest data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

UK sanctions 15 commanders from rival Sudan factions over wartime rape

Britain on Monday sanctioned 15 military commanders, militia leaders and security officials from both sides of Sudan's conflict, accusing them of waging sexual violence, torture and attacks on civilians linked to the fall of al-Fashir. Those targeted include commanders from the Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as leaders of armed groups allied to the army, in what London said was its latest effort to hold perpetrators of abuses accountable.

North Korea-South Korea tensions high as letters lodged with UN, howitzers spotted

Tensions between North Korea and ⁠South Korea ​are running high this week after Pyongyang sent a letter to the UN Security Council, repeating accusations that Seoul fabricated a September landmine incident, and after North Korean howitzers were spotted close to the border. A Reuters witness at an observatory in South Korea overlooking the heavily armed border on Monday saw three North Korean armoured vehicles positioned in clear view near the frontier.

Kremlin hails defeated Serbian ally Vucic as student election win adds to its geopolitical woes

The Kremlin paid tribute to its longstanding Serbian ally Aleksandar Vucic on Monday after a student-backed protest movement pulverised his party in a parliamentary election, robbing Moscow of another important partner in Europe six months after the electoral defeat of ally Viktor Orban in Hungary. Serbia woke to a new era on Monday after Vucic, a frequent visitor to Moscow and in Serbian politics as prime minister or president since 2014, was humbled at the ballot box in a result that sparked nationwide celebrations, although few had an idea of how the Balkan country's new student-backed leaders would govern.

Explainer-Oleshky: the occupied Ukrainian town for which Melania Trump helped broker a ceasefire

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a localised ceasefire around the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine, an arrangement that ⁠will enable aid deliveries and allow evacuations from a frontline town suffering acute shortages of food and medicine. The agreement was announced on October 23 and brokered by US first lady Melania Trump, with the additional involvement of Pope Leo, as Washington seeks to revive broader peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv.

Russia says Ukraine has repeatedly struck Oleshky with artillery and drones ahead of local ceasefire

Russia's Defence Ministry on Monday accused Ukraine of repeatedly striking the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine with artillery and drones ahead of a planned local ceasefire this week, something it ⁠said had thwarted the delivery of food and medicine and stopped people leaving. Ukraine and Russia said on Friday they had agreed on a ceasefire in Oleshky, that would ⁠go into effect on October 27, allowing the delivery of aid and the evacuation of residents through humanitarian corridors.

Swiss court finds Belarusian man guilty over disappearance of Lukashenko opponent

A Swiss court on Monday found a former Belarusian security officer guilty over the abduction of businessman Anatoly Krasovsky, an opponent of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. Yuri Harauski, who has admitted involvement in the abductions more than two decades ago of three of Lukashenko's opponents who were later killed, was however acquitted over the kidnapping of former Belarusian Interior Minister Yuri Zakharenko.

Sweden's Centre leader hands task of forming government back to parliament speaker

Swedish Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist said on Monday she was handing the process of forming a government back to parliament speaker Andreas Norlen, as widely expected, after he tasked her a week ago with trying. An election last month gave the centre-left bloc a narrow majority in parliament, but while all four ‌opposition parties favour Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson as prime minister, they do not agree on who should be ‌part of a new government.

Norway joins the list of countries Trump has abused in vulgar terms

US President Donald Trump on Sunday escalated his invective against Norway, calling it a "shit house country" and saying Norwegian immigrants were not welcome in the United States because the Nobel committee, based in the capital Oslo, ​had not awarded him a Peace Prize. Trump made the comments at a political rally in Port Huron, Michigan, ahead of next week's midterm elections