Global Headlines: A Snapshot of Ongoing World Events

A comprehensive summary of recent global news events covers a wide range of topics, including the sentencing of a former Haitian gang leader, Julian Assange's plea deal, shocking incidents involving Israeli forces, a deadly fire in a South Korean factory, violent attacks in Russia's Dagestan, accusations against Israel by the UN chief, air strikes in Gaza, warnings from French President Macron, and escalating tensions between Russia and the US.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

US court sentences Haiti ex-gang leader to 35 years in prison

A Miami court on Monday sentenced Germine "Yonyon" Joly, a former leader of the notorious Haitian gang 400 Mawozo, to 35 years in prison for his role in laundering kidnapping ransoms and illegally trafficking U.S. firearms to Haiti, the Justice Department said in a statement. Joly admitted in a plea document early this year to being part of a plot to smuggle U.S. firearms to Haiti and helping transfer funds, some of which were proceeds from ransoms obtained by kidnapping U.S. citizens.

WikiLeaks' Julian Assange to be freed after pleading guilty to US Espionage Act charge

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is due to plead guilty this week to violating U.S. espionage law, in a deal that will end his imprisonment in Britain and allow him to return home to Australia, ending a long legal odyssey. Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defense documents, according to filings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.

US shocked by video of wounded Palestinian tied to Israeli military jeep

The U.S. State Department on Monday said a video of a wounded Palestinian man strapped on a military jeep by Israeli forces was "shocking" and urged a swift investigation to hold those responsible to account. At a State Department news briefing, a reporter asked: "Isn't that basically the army using Palestinians as human shields?"

Blaze at South Korea lithium battery plant kills 22 workers

A lithium battery factory in South Korea was set on fire after multiple batteries exploded on Monday, killing 22 workers, most of them Chinese nationals, fire officials said. The fire and a series of explosions ripped through the factory run by primary battery manufacturer Aricell in Hwaseong, an industrial cluster southwest of the capital Seoul.

Death toll rises to 20 after gunmen attack Russia's Dagestan

The death toll from a series of brazen attacks on churches and synagogues in Russia's mainly Muslim region of Dagestan rose to 20 on Monday after gunmen went on the rampage in coordinated attacks in two of the republic's most important cities. Gunmen with automatic weapons burst into an Orthodox church and a synagogue in the ancient city of Derbent on Sunday evening, setting fire to an icon at the church and killing a 66-year-old Orthodox priest, Nikolai Kotelnikov.

Without naming names, UN chief accuses Israel of misinformation

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres accused Israel on Monday of spreading misinformation about him during the more than eight-month-long war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "I've heard the same source many times saying that I never attacked Hamas, that I never condemned Hamas, that I am a supporters of Hamas," Guterres told a news conference on information integrity, without naming Israel.

Israel strikes kill at least 11 in Gaza, tanks push further into Rafah

Two Israeli air strikes targeting aid supplies killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza on Monday, medics said, as Israeli tanks pushed deeper into Rafah in the south and fought their way back into areas in the north they had already subdued months ago. One strike at a food distribution centre in Gaza City, near the Shati historic refugee camp, killed three people. Another, near Bani Suhaila town in the southern Gaza Strip, killed at least eight, including guards who accompany aid trucks, the medics said.

Macron warns podcast of 'civil war' risk as French elections loom

French President Emmanuel Macron told a podcast episode shown on Monday that both the far right National Rally (RN) party and the left-wing New Popular Front coalition - front runners in the parliamentary election- risked bringing "civil war" to France. Macron told the podcast "Generation Do It Yourself" that the manifesto of the RN party - which election pollsters put in first place - and their solutions to deal with fears over crime and immigration were based upon "stigmatisation or division".

Russia promises retaliation against US for Ukraine strike on Crimea

The Kremlin on Monday squarely blamed the United States for an attack on Crimea with U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles that killed at least four people and injured 151, and Moscow formally warned the U.S. ambassador that retaliation would follow. The war in Ukraine has deepened a crisis in relations between Russia and the West, and Russian officials have said the conflict is entering the most dangerous escalation to date.

Blinken emphasized to Israel's Gallant the need for post-war Gaza plan

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday pressed Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on the need for Israel to swiftly develop a robust post-war plan for Gaza and ensure the tensions with Hezbollah on Israel's northern border do not escalate further. "He (Blinken) updated Minister Gallant on ongoing diplomatic efforts to advance security, governance, and reconstruction in Gaza during a post-conflict period and emphasized the importance of that work to Israel's security," a State Department statement following the meeting said.

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