World News Roundup: Trump lawyers to challenge limits on evidence-sharing, prosecutors warn of threats; Polish police arrrest five in swoop on cyber crime site and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Trump lawyers to challenge limits on evidence-sharing, prosecutors warn of threats

Donald Trump's lawyers on Friday will urge a judge to give the former U.S. president more leeway to publicly share portions of the evidence that will be used in his trial on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election. The lawyers' request goes against the objections of prosecutors, who are concerned that Trump could use details of the confidential evidence to intimidate witnesses.

Polish police arrrest five in swoop on cyber crime site

Polish police arrested five people suspected of being responsible for running a web platform that has been used to launch cyberattacks around the world, European policing agency Europol said on Friday. Europol said LolekHosted.net, a bulletproof hosting service - meaning an opaque infrastructure registration site that helps cyber criminals to anonymously conduct intrusions - had all of its servers seized and was no longer in operation.

West African nations mull troop contributions for possible Niger intervention

West African nations on Friday worked on gathering troops for a possible military intervention in Niger as the leaders of an army coup resisted international calls for them to step down and restore the ousted president to office. However, it was not yet clear how big the force could be, how long it could take to assemble, and if it would actually invade.

Ukraine to fire all regional military recruitment chiefs

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced the dismissal of the heads of all the country's regional military recruitment centres on Friday amid concerns about corruption. Zelenskiy said a review of Ukraine's recruiting centres revealed signs of professional abuse ranging from illegal enrichment to transporting draft-eligible men across the border despite a wartime ban.

Maui wildfire death toll hits 55 and may rise; recovery to take years

Maui's wildfires have killed at least 55 people, a toll expected to rise, and unleashed destruction on the resort town of Lahaina that will take many years and billions of dollars to rebuild, Hawaiian officials said on Thursday. Governor Josh Green said the inferno that reduced much of Lahaina to smoldering ruins was the worst natural disaster in the state's history, making thousands of people homeless and leveling as many as 1,000 buildings.

Canadian industries seek extension on country's human-rights supply chain law

Canadian industries are pushing back against the country's planned January launch date of the Modern Slavery Act, intended to fight forced labor and child labor in supply chains, as mining and apparel trade groups say the government has failed to spell out the details of the law's requirements. The act, passed in May, seeks to push corporations to provide greater transparency about their supply chains in order to avoid abetting what critics say amounts to modern slavery. The new measure takes effect on Jan. 1, 2024.

Israel downgrades homicide charge in settler case watched by Washington

Israeli police downgraded a homicide charge on Friday against a Jewish settler suspected of killing a Palestinian in what the United States has described as a "terror attack". A new remand request filed by police, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz and shared with Reuters, showed Yehiel Indore was accused of "deliberate or depraved-indifference homicide" in the Aug. 4 shooting of 19-year-old Qusai Maatan.

Ecuador awaits funeral for assassinated presidential candidate

Supporters of assassinated Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio have been hosting gatherings in his memory and waiting to see whether his family on Friday will give details of plans for his funeral. Villavicencio, a former lawmaker and crusading anti-corruption journalist, was gunned down leaving a campaign event on Wednesday evening, less than two weeks before the election.

Russia says it downs Ukrainian drone west of Moscow, two airports reopen

Russian air defences on Friday downed a Ukrainian drone as it flew towards an unspecified target in Moscow, the defence ministry said, the latest in a flurry of drone attacks on the Russian capital. Earlier, Moscow's Vnukovo airport and Kaluga airport, some 150 km (95 miles) southwest of the capital, were temporarily shut due to a suspected drone flight. They later reopened.

Eight-year-old boy killed as Russian missiles hit western Ukraine - officials

Russia attacked the western Ukrainian region of Ivano-Frankivsk with hypersonic missiles on Friday, hitting areas near a military airfield and killing an eight-year-old boy, Ukrainian officials said. One missile crashed into the grounds of a family's home in the Kolomyia district, wounding several people including the boy, who later died in hospital, regional governor Svitlana Onyshchuk said.

(With inputs from agencies.)