Reuters World News Summary

The bloc's 27 national leaders will hold a summit in Brussels as world powers try to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East, more than six months into the war between Israel and the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas. UK's Cameron, in Israel, says Israelis have decided to retaliate against Iran Israel has clearly decided to retaliate against Iran for missile and drone attacks, Britain's foreign minister David Cameron said during a visit to Israel on Wednesday, the starkest warning yet of another volley coming in regional escalation.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Russian peacekeepers have begun withdrawing from Azerbaijan's Karabakh, says Kremlin

The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Russian peacekeepers had begun withdrawing from Azerbaijan's Karabakh area, ending a multi-year deployment which gave Moscow an important foothold in the strategically-important South Caucasus region. Azerbaijan retook the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh in September last year despite the presence there of Russian peacekeepers in a move which triggered the mass exodus of ethnic Armenians living there.

After surviving airstrike Palestinian boy dies seeking aid

When an Israeli airstrike destroyed his family's home in November, Zein Oroq was pinned under rubble. He was wounded but survived, while 17 members of his extended family died. But Zein, 13, would later suffer a cruel fate in Gaza, where Palestinians face severe shortages of medicine, food and water in a deepening humanitarian crisis.

Social media platform X blocked in Pakistan over national security, ministry says

Pakistan's interior ministry said on Wednesday it blocked access to social media platform X around the time of February's election on national security concerns, confirming a long-suspected shutdown. Users have reported problems using X, formerly known as Twitter, in Pakistan since mid-February, but the government has made no official announcements.

Russian dissident Kara-Murza faces brutal prison transfer, lawyer says

Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza faces a long and arduous transfer from a Siberian penal colony to a Moscow court to appeal against his 25-year sentence on treason and other charges, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Maria Eismont told reporters that the conditions of the transfer would amount to torture for Kara-Murza, 42, who suffers from a serious nerve condition.

Exclusive-'5,000 lives in one shell': Gaza's IVF embryos destroyed by Israeli strike

When an Israeli shell struck Gaza's largest fertility clinic in December, the explosion blasted the lids off five liquid nitrogen tanks stored in a corner of the embryology unit. As the ultra-cold liquid evaporated, the temperature inside the tanks rose, destroying more than 4,000 embryos plus 1,000 more specimens of sperm and unfertilized eggs stored at Gaza City's Al Basma IVF centre.

Georgia's parliament approves law on 'foreign agents' in first reading

Georgia's parliament on Wednesday approved the first reading of a bill on "foreign agents" that has provoked several days of protests by critics who see it as authoritarian and Russian-inspired, Georgian media reported. Eighty-three out of 150 deputies voted in favour of the bill, while opposition MPs boycotted the vote. It must pass two more readings before becoming law.

Caribbean ambassador calls for global action to establish slavery tribunal

A high-level Caribbean ambassador said on Wednesday it was crucial to establish a new international special tribunal to seek reparations for transatlantic slavery and its legacies in today's society. Reuters reported earlier this month that support was building among Africa and Caribbean nations for the creation of such a tribunal on atrocities dating to transatlantic slavery.

Afghan women turn to entrepreneurship but struggle to access capital

Female-led businesses now represent an economic lifeline for Afghan women living under Taliban restrictions, but face a series of problems accessing capital and markets, a United Nations Development Programme study released on Wednesday showed. The UNDP found that 41% of 3,100 Afghan female entrepreneurs surveyed had to take on debt but just 5% of them had been able to gain credit through a bank or micro-finance institution, instead mostly relying on lending from friends or family members.

EU leaders to discuss Iran sanctions following attack on Israel

European Union leaders will meet on Wednesday to discuss stepping up sanctions against Iran after Tehran's missile and drone attack on Israel. The bloc's 27 national leaders will hold a summit in Brussels as world powers try to prevent a wider conflict in the Middle East, more than six months into the war between Israel and the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas.

UK's Cameron, in Israel, says Israelis have decided to retaliate against Iran

Israel has clearly decided to retaliate against Iran for missile and drone attacks, Britain's foreign minister David Cameron said during a visit to Israel on Wednesday, the starkest warning yet of another volley coming in regional escalation. World powers are striving to prevent a wider outbreak of conflict in the Middle East after Iran's attacks on Saturday night, which involved hundreds of missiles and drones, the first time Iran has directly attacked Israel after decades of confrontation by proxies.

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