World News Roundup: Exclusive: Under Biden, China has widened trade lead in much of Latin America; Poll shows Brazil's Lula maintains a strong lead in the presidential race and more

In southern Ukraine, another major battleground in the war, authorities said Russian attacks on agricultural sites including warehouses were compounding a global food crisis that has stirred concerns of famine in some developing countries. Car drives into crowd on Berlin shopping street, one dead A car drove into a crowd of people in Berlin on Wednesday, killing one person as it veered onto a pavement twice in a district of the German capital popular with tourists and shoppers, police said.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Exclusive: Under Biden, China has widened trade lead in much of Latin America

China has widened the gap on the United States in trade terms in large swathes of Latin America since U.S. President Joe Biden came into the office early last year, data show, underscoring how Washington is being pushed onto the back foot in the region.

An exclusive Reuters analysis of U.N. trade data from 2015-to 2021 shows that outside of Mexico, the top U.S. trade partner, China has overtaken the United States in Latin America and widened the gap last year.

Poll shows Brazil's Lula maintains a strong lead in the presidential race

Brazil's leftist leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is holding a strong lead against incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro for the October election, a Genial/Quaest poll released on Wednesday showed. Lula has 46% voter support in a first-round vote, a 16-percentage-point lead over his far-right rival, with Bolsonaro two points down from his best showing in April.

Russian army base sees scramble for Ukraine war supplies, some locals and soldiers say

The town of Valuyki in western Russia has become a crucial staging post in the latest phase of Russia's war over the nearby border in Ukraine. Throughout last month, helicopters buzzed overhead, military vehicles clogged the roads, and soldiers prepared for combat at a huge military base there. It's also a place where soldiers' relatives and private citizens are working to provide supplies and equipment for troops based near the town to address shortages, including drones, radios, and heat-detecting rifle sights, according to six volunteers and three soldiers Reuters spoke to, as well as a review of social media channels volunteers use to coordinate efforts.

Belgian king returns mask to Congo in a symbolic gesture of restitution

Belgium's King Philippe returned a traditional mask to the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday on his first visit to the former colony, where many remain angry at Belgium's failure to apologize for decades of brutal rule. By some estimates, killings, famine and disease killed up to 10 million Congolese during just the first 23 years of Belgium's rule from 1885 to 1960, when King Leopold II ruled the Congo Free State as a personal fiefdom.

Dispute, dissent dog Biden's plan to pitch Latin America reboot at the summit

President Joe Biden kicks off a summit on Wednesday that was conceived as a platform to showcase U.S. leadership in reviving Latin American economies and tackling migratory pressures but has instead been undermined by discord over the guest list. Biden's plan to unveil a package to spur recovery in Latin America, help stem immigration and counter China's growing regional economic clout has been marred by a partial boycott by leaders upset at Washington's decision to exclude Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua from the summit.

22 killed in Pakistan as passenger van plunges into ravine

At least 22 people were killed, including nine members of one family when a passenger van fell into deep ravine in southwest Pakistan, officials said on Wednesday. The accident happened apparently due to excess speed at Quetta – Zhob highway in district Killa Saifullah 200 km (120 miles) from Quetta in Balochistan province, though the exact cause of the crash was not immediately known, officials said.

After the Lavrov meeting, Turkey says Ukraine's grain-export plan was reasonable

Turkey's foreign minister said on Wednesday a United Nations plan to ease a global food crisis by restarting Ukrainian grain exports along a sea corridor was "reasonable", and requires more talks with Moscow and Kyiv to ensure ships' safety. Speaking alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Turkey's Mevlut Cavusoglu said their meeting in Ankara was fruitful, including a perceived will to return to negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv for a possible ceasefire.

Ukrainian forces come under renewed Russian attack in key eastern city

Ukrainian troops holding out in the ruins of Sievierodonetsk came under renewed heavy assault on Wednesday from Russian forces who see the capture of the industrial city as key to control of the surrounding Luhansk region. In southern Ukraine, another major battleground in the war, authorities said Russian attacks on agricultural sites including warehouses were compounding a global food crisis that has stirred concerns of famine in some developing countries.

Car drives into crowd on Berlin shopping street, one dead

A car drove into a crowd of people in Berlin on Wednesday, killing one person as it veered onto a pavement twice in a district of the German capital popular with tourists and shoppers, police said. Police identified the driver as a 29-year-old German-Armenian, who eventually crashed the car into a shop window and was detained by bystanders and handed over to the authorities.

UK charities seek an injunction to block migrant deportations to Rwanda

Human rights groups said their lawyers had submitted papers on Wednesday at the High Court in London to get an injunction to halt next week's planned deportation of asylum seekers from Britain to Rwanda, a scheme which has drawn wide criticism. The British government announced in April it had struck a deal to send potentially tens of thousands of asylum seekers to the East African nation in a bid to smash people-smuggling networks, and stem the flow of migrants risking their lives by crossing the Channel in small boats from Europe.