Reuters World News Summary

U.S. formally exits global climate pact amid election uncertainty The United States formally exited the Paris Agreement on Wednesday, fulfilling an old promise by President Donald Trump to withdraw the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter from the global pact to fight climate change.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs. 'Praying that Biden wins': Asylum seekers hold their breath as U.S. votes

In a makeshift refugee camp just across the border from Brownsville, Texas, Oscar Borjas and a few friends are planning to gather on Tuesday night to watch anxiously as results from the U.S. presidential election roll in. Borjas, a Honduran asylum seeker who has spent the last year living in a cold and unsanitary encampment in Matamoros, Mexico, is not a U.S. voter. PM of Melania's homeland congratulates Trump on victory

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa congratulated Donald Trump on what he described in a tweet as a clear victory in the U.S. presidential election, becoming the first European Union leader to do so. "It’s pretty clear that American people have elected @realDonaldTrump @Mike_Pence for #4moreyears," said the leader of the tiny Alpine country, which is homeland of first lady Melania Trump. Aegean quake toll rises to 116 as Turkey ends search

Turkey on Wednesday ended search and rescue efforts in the rubble of buildings that collapsed as a result of Friday's strong earthquake in the Aegean Sea, after the death toll crept up to 116 in the western city of Izmir and a Greek island. The quake, the deadliest to hit Turkey in nearly a decade, injured 1,035 people in Izmir and 137 were still being treated, Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said. Austrian police arrest 14 in manhunt after gunman's deadly rampage

Austrian police raided 18 properties and arrested 14 people in a massive manhunt on Tuesday for possible accomplices of a convicted jihadist who shot dead four people and injured 22 others in a late-night rampage in the centre of Vienna. The gunman, who was killed by police minutes after opening fire on crowded bars on Monday, had been released from jail less than a year ago. He was identified as Kujtim Fejzulai, a 20-year-old Austrian who also held North Macedonian nationality. U.S. formally exits global climate pact amid election uncertainty

The United States formally exited the Paris Agreement on Wednesday, fulfilling an old promise by President Donald Trump to withdraw the world's second-largest greenhouse gas emitter from the global pact to fight climate change. But the outcome of the tight U.S. election contest will determine for how long. Trump's Democratic rival, Joe Biden, has promised to rejoin the agreement if elected. In China, bemusement and scorn over unresolved U.S. election

Chinese social media users watched election day in the United States with bemusement and mockery, as President Donald Trump complained of a "major fraud on our nation" and falsely claimed victory before millions of votes had been tallied. "Whether he wins or loses, his final mission is to destroy the appearance of American democracy," one user on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform wrote on Wednesday. Palestinian officer fires at Israeli troops and is shot dead, army says

A Palestinian motorist fired a pistol at Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday and was killed by them, a military spokesman said, and Palestinians identified the dead man as an officer in their security forces. There were no Israeli casualties in the incident at a roadside military position near the Palestinian city of Nablus. As America counts, the world holds its breath for U.S. election outcome

A day after Americans voted in a bitterly contested election, the rest of the world was none the wiser on Wednesday, with millions of votes still to count, the race too close to call and a mounting risk of days or even weeks of legal uncertainty. Donald Trump's pre-emptive declaration of victory at the White House was condemned by some U.S. political commentators and civil rights groups, who warned about the trampling of long-standing democratic norms. China says U.S. sends out wrong signals to Taiwan on potential drone sale deal

China's foreign ministry said on Wednesday the United States has sent out wrong and grave signals to the so-called Taiwan military forces on the potential drone sale deal. China will take legitimate and necessary responses in light of the changing circumstances, Wang Wenbin, spokesman of the ministry told a regular briefing in Beijing. Iran's Rouhani says U.S. policies important, not who becomes president

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday the result of the U.S. election was not important for the country's clerical rulers, but that the next president in Washington should respect international treaties and laws. "For Tehran, the next U.S. administration's policies are important and not who wins the U.S. election," Rouhani said in a televised cabinet meeting.