Reuters World News Summary

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and PNG Prime Minister James Marape on Monday signed the defence pact in the Pacific nation's capital of Port Moresby, which would make it easier for the U.S. military to train PNG's armed forces. Turkey's third-place candidate endorses Erdogan in runoff Turkey's third-place election candidate endorsed President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, boosting the incumbent and intensifying the challenges for opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in a Sunday runoff vote.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

U.S., Papua New Guinea sign defence pact at Pacific summit

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a defence cooperation pact signed with Papua New Guinea on Monday would expand the Pacific island nation's capabilities and make it easier for the U.S. military to train with its forces. Blinken and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held separate meetings with 14 Pacific island leaders in the PNG capital Port Moresby, pledging support for the region's priorities of health, development and climate change.

Beijing rebukes Japan, Britain over 'anti-China' G7 summit

State-backed Chinese mouthpiece Global Times called the G7 an "anti-China workshop" on Monday, a day after Beijing summoned Japan's envoy and berated Britain in a fiery response to statements issued at the group's summit in Hiroshima. Group of Seven (G7) declarations issued on Saturday singled out China on issues including Taiwan, nuclear arms, economic coercion and human rights abuses, underscoring the wide-ranging tensions between Beijing and the group of rich countries which includes the United States.

Moscow says G7 nuclear rhetoric intended to pressure Russia, China

Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Group of Seven nuclear "rhetoric" has the sole aim of exerting psychological, military and political pressure on Moscow and Beijing. In the first ever communiqué on nuclear disarmament issued at the G7 summit last week, the group called on Russia and China to show greater transparency about their nuclear arsenals, akin to steps taken by the United States, Britain and France.

Mitsotakis hoping to rule solo with victory in second Greek vote

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis declined to seek a coalition on Monday following this weekend's inconclusive election, paving the way for a second vote in June that he hopes his conservative party will win outright. New Democracy won 40.8% of the vote versus 20.1% for the leftist Syriza, in a stunning boost for Mitsotakis, who has had to navigate a wiretapping scandal, the COVID pandemic, a cost of living crisis and a deadly rail crash that enraged the public.

US says Russia's Wagner Group seeking to transit material acquisitions through Mali

The U.S. State Department on Monday said Russia's Wagner Group is trying to obscure its efforts to acquire military equipment for use in Ukraine, adding that Washington has been informed the mercenary force is seeking to move those acquisitions through Mali to aid Russia in its war. Wagner is willing to use false paperwork for such transactions, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters at a regular news briefing.

Russia fights cross-border raid that Ukraine says is Russian opposition

Russia said on Monday it was battling a cross-border incursion by saboteurs who burst through the frontier from Ukraine, in what appeared to be one of the biggest attacks of its kind since the war began 15 months ago. The governor of Russia's Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said a Ukrainian "sabotage group" had entered Russian territory in the Graivoron district bordering Ukraine and was being repelled.

Police to search Portuguese dam 16 years after Madeleine McCann vanished

Portuguese police will on Tuesday search a reservoir inland from where British three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007, authorities said, in the first formal development in the case in Portugal in several years. A fire brigade spokesperson said police were preparing to start searches on Tuesday at a dam in the southern region of Algarve about 50 km (31.07 miles) inland from a beach resort where Madeleine went missing from a rented apartment while on a family holiday.

Sudan ceasefire starts precariously as continued fighting reported

A week-long ceasefire in Sudan got off to a shaky start on Monday as witnesses in the capital Khartoum reported fighter jets flights over the city and continued fighting in some areas.

Heavy bombardments could be heard in east Khartoum, witnesses said, and one resident shared a picture of thick black smoke rising into the sky. In Omdurman and Bahri, Khartoum's twin cities, people said they heard sounds of weapons firing.

Australia welcomes US-Papua New Guinea defence pact

The Australian government on Tuesday welcomed a defence cooperation agreement between its closest neighbour Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the U.S. aimed at bolstering regional security amid China's plans to increase influence in the Pacific. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and PNG Prime Minister James Marape on Monday signed the defence pact in the Pacific nation's capital of Port Moresby, which would make it easier for the U.S. military to train PNG's armed forces.

Turkey's third-place candidate endorses Erdogan in runoff

Turkey's third-place election candidate endorsed President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, boosting the incumbent and intensifying the challenges for opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in a Sunday runoff vote. Sinan Ogan, a hardline nationalist who was little known among the broader public before the campaign, won 5.2% support in the initial presidential election on May 14, prompting some analysts to call him a potential "kingmaker" for the runoff.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)