Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Israeli troops storm back into eastern Khan Younis; bodies recovered in hospital ruins

Israeli troops fought their way back into an eastern section of Khan Younis in a surprise raid, residents said on Monday, sending people who had returned to abandoned homes in the ruins of the southern Gaza Strip's main city fleeing once more. Elsewhere in Khan Younis, scores more bodies were recovered from what Palestinian authorities said were mass graves on the site of the city's main hospital, abandoned by Israeli troops. Further south there were fresh air strikes on Rafah, the last refuge where more than half of the enclave's 2.3 million people have sought shelter.

US aid could buy Kyiv time, but Ukraine needs many more troops

For the exhausted Ukrainian artillery gunners holding off Russian forces near the eastern town of Kupiansk, the U.S. aid package expected to finally pass this week is a lifeline and, potentially, a gamechanger, although that could take some time. "If they'd passed it (earlier), it would have changed the situation dramatically," said one soldier, call sign "Sailor", who said a shortage of shells had reduced their covering fire for infantrymen, costing lives and territory.

Drone, rocket attacks targeted US forces in Iraq, US officials say

U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria faced two separate rocket and explosive drone attacks in less than 24 hours, Iraqi security sources and U.S. officials told Reuters on Monday, in the first such incidents reported after a near three-month pause. Two drones were shot down near Ain al-Asad air base that hosts U.S. troops in the western Iraqi province of Anbar out of an abundance of caution, a U.S. official said.

Blinken says genocide in Xinjiang is ongoing in report ahead of China visit

Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department's annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese counterparts.

Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested at Yale, Columbia cancels in-person classes

Police arrested dozens of people at a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Yale University on Monday, hours after Columbia University canceled in-person classes in response to protesters setting up tent encampments at its New York City campus last week. Demonstrators blocked traffic around Yale's campus in New Haven, Connecticut, demanding the school divest from military weapons manufacturers. Police arrested more than 45 protesters, according to the student-run Yale Daily News.

Solomon Islands faces tense wait for election results

Solomon Islands faces a tense wait for an election result after opposition parties pulled ahead of incumbent Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare's OUR party, as counting on Tuesday showed independents will be key to forming government. Last week's national election was the first since Sogavare struck a security pact with China in 2022, inviting Chinese police into the archipelago and drawing the Pacific Islands nation closer to Beijing.

Series of earthquakes rattle Taiwan, centred on east coast

More than 80 earthquakes, the strongest of 6.3 magnitude, struck Taiwan's east coast starting Monday night and into the early hours of Tuesday and some caused shaking of buildings in the capital Taipei, the island's weather administration said. The quakes were centred on the largely rural eastern county of Hualien, where on April 3 at least 14 people died after a 7.2 magnitude temblor. Taiwan has been jolted by hundreds of aftershocks since then.

US rights report on India cites abuses in Manipur, harassment of media and minorities

The U.S. State Department's annual human rights assessment found "significant" abuses in India's northeastern Manipur state last year and attacks on minorities, journalists and dissenting voices in the rest of the country. Manipur has seen fierce fighting between its tribal Kuki-Zo and majority Meitei populations after a court order a year ago suggested the Kuki's minority privileges be extended to the Meitei. More than 200 people have been killed.

On first day of Trump hush money trial, prosecutors say he corrupted 2016 election

New York prosecutors said on the first day of Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial that the former president broke the law and corrupted the 2016 election by trying to cover up sexual encounters with a porn star and a Playboy model, while his defense lawyer said he committed no crime. Jurors in the historic trial also heard briefly from the prosecution's first witness: former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who prosecutors say participated in a "catch and kill" scheme to suppress unflattering stories about Trump and help him get elected.

Israeli military intelligence head resigns over Oct. 7 failures

The head of Israeli military intelligence has resigned after accepting responsibility for the failures that allowed the devastating Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, the military said on Monday. Major General Aharon Haliva, a 38-year veteran of the military, was one of a number of senior Israeli commanders who said they had failed to foresee and prevent the deadliest attack in Israel's history.