World News Roundup: Portugal without Costa: ex-PM's economic legacy likely to endure; This year set to be warmest in 125,000 years, EU scientists say and more

The summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum follows a six-month U.S. push to engage its geopolitical rival, including through several unreciprocated cabinet-level visits, and recover from a diplomatic crisis over the U.S. downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon in February. Russia attacks Ukrainian energy system 60 times ahead of winter -Kyiv Russia has attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure 60 times in the last several weeks as winter approaches and temperatures drop, driving up public energy consumption, officials said on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Portugal without Costa: ex-PM's economic legacy likely to endure

Tuesday's shock resignation of Antonio Costa amid a corruption probe brought an ignominious end to his eight-year premiership, during which he endeared Portugal, once seen as the sick man of Europe, to investors and EU peers who saw it as a haven of fiscal stability. His efforts to attract investment to Portugal after its near bankruptcy and bailout in 2011 may have played a role in his downfall, as the investigation focused on alleged illegalities in his government's handling of auspicious, multi-billion-euro projects to mine lithium and produce hydrogen.

This year set to be warmest in 125,000 years, EU scientists say

This year is set to be the world's warmest in 125,000 years, European Union scientists said on Wednesday, after data showed last month was the hottest October on record by a massive margin. Last month exceeded the previous highest October average temperature, from 2019, by 0.4 degrees Celsius, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Deputy Director Samantha Burgess said, describing the temperature anomaly as "very extreme".

Biden, Xi set to steal APEC spotlight with talks to steady ties

U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to hold summit talks in San Francisco next week as they seek to stabilize tense ties by meeting in-person for just the second time in nearly three years, but little bonhomie and no grand bargains appear in the offing. The summit on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum follows a six-month U.S. push to engage its geopolitical rival, including through several unreciprocated cabinet-level visits, and recover from a diplomatic crisis over the U.S. downing of an alleged Chinese spy balloon in February.

Russia attacks Ukrainian energy system 60 times ahead of winter -Kyiv

Russia has attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure 60 times in the last several weeks as winter approaches and temperatures drop, driving up public energy consumption, officials said on Wednesday. Ukraine fears Russia may have already begun a concerted campaign of attacks on the power grid for a second winter at war. Last winter, thousands of Russian drones and missiles targeted Ukraine's power sector, causing sweeping blackouts.

Gaza health crisis deepens for the chronically ill as war intensifies

Tahreer Azzam, a nurse at Makassed Hospital in east Jerusalem, has been caring for young, desperately-ill Palestinian patients for 16 years. Since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last month, she now struggles to find them.

G7 calls for humanitarian pauses in Gaza, hostages' release

G7 foreign ministers on Wednesday called for humanitarian pauses in the Israel-Hamas war to allow in aid and help the release of hostages, and sought a return to a broader peace process. Ending a two-day meeting in Tokyo as Israeli forces continued to pound the Gaza Strip, the Group of Seven wealthy nations said in a joint statement that Israel had the right to defend itself. But they also underscored the need to protect civilians and to comply with international humanitarian law.

Israel targets Gaza tunnel network, UN repeats calls for humanitarian pause

Air strikes on the Gaza Strip killed a Hamas weapons maker and several fighters, the Israeli military said on Wednesday, as its air and ground offensive targeted the militants' tunnel network beneath the besieged Palestinian enclave. Gaza City, the Hamas militant group's main stronghold in the territory, is encircled by Israeli forces. The military said troops have advanced to the heart of the densely-populated city while Hamas says its fighters have inflicted heavy losses.

Reeling under toxic air, India's capital shuts schools

Reeling under hazardous air quality levels, India's capital New Delhi shut down all schools for an extended period on Wednesday, the latest in a series of measures to protect residents from growing air pollution. Air quality levels in the city were over 320 on the air quality index, a level categorised as 'hazardous' by Swiss group IQAir, although it was not as bad as the 400 range hit earlier this week.

Top US officials Blinken, Austin to visit India for Indo-Pacific talks

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will hold talks with India this week that officials say will focus on security challenges in the Indo-Pacific and concerns over China, rather than the wars in Gaza and Ukraine. The talks in New Delhi on Friday with India's foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and defence minister Rajnath Singh are part of the so-called "2+2 Dialogue", launched in 2018 to boost defence cooperation and align policy objectives in the Indo-Pacific region.

Russian artist who staged anti-war supermarket protest faces eight years in jail

State prosecutors in St Petersburg on Wednesday asked a judge to jail a female artist for eight years after she staged a protest against Russia's war in Ukraine by replacing supermarket price tags with calls to stop the conflict. Alexandra Skochilenko, 33, carried out the protest on March 31 last year, replacing price tags with pieces of paper urging an end to the war.