Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

US envoy Witkoff to visit Israel, meet Netanyahu, Israeli officials say

U.S. President Donald Trump's senior envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Israel for meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's military chief, two senior Israeli officials said on Monday. The officials said Witkoff's visit to the country was expected to begin on Tuesday. It comes amid heightened regional tensions with Iran, and as the Trump administration presses ahead with its plan to end the Gaza war.

Iranian police detain four unspecified foreigners over unrest

Iranian police have arrested four foreigners over last month's unrest, Iranian state media reported on Monday, without specifying their nationality. State media quoted Iranian police as saying the four foreigners had been arrested "in a raid inside their hideout". Four homemade sound grenades had been found in one of their bags.

Syrian state forces deploy into Kurdish-run city under ceasefire deal

Syrian ‌government security forces deployed into a Kurdish-controlled city in the northeast on Monday under a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal that foresees the Kurdish-run regions being merged with Damascus. The deal, declared on Friday, has staved off further conflict between President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which lost swathes of eastern and northern Syria to government troops in January.

Greek PM targets ministers' immunity, 'jobs for life' to restore voters' trust

Greece's prime minister proposed on Monday reviewing ministers' legal immunity and guaranteed "jobs for life" for state-sector workers in a bid to restore voters' trust after a graft scandal and to build support ahead of a 2027 national election. Kyriakos Mitsotakis' centre-right government remains ahead in opinion polls but it has been shaken by a corruption scandal in which some farmers, aided by state employees, faked land ownership to get subsidies. The affair was revealed by EU prosecutors in 2025 and parliament is looking into the ⁠case.

Norway crown princess showed poor judgement over Epstein ties, PM says

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said on Monday the Nordic country's crown princess, Mette-Marit, displayed poor judgement in having contacts with Jeffrey Epstein, following fresh reports of her ties with the late U.S. sex offender. New files related to Epstein published by the U.S. Justice Department on Friday included extensive email correspondence between Mette-Marit and Epstein after he was found guilty of child sex crimes in 2008.

Pakistani security forces hunt militants behind weekend attacks

Pakistani soldiers were hunting down separatist militants on Monday who stormed schools, banks, and security installations, killing nearly 50 people, in a series of coordinated attacks across southwestern Balochistan province, the military said. The attacks at the weekend brought Pakistan's largest province to a near standstill as the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) struck nearly a dozen targets in one of their largest ever operations, killing 17 security officials and 31 civilians.

Fernandez overwhelmingly wins Costa Rica presidency as populist project secures new term

Right-wing populist Laura Fernandez won a commanding victory in Costa Rica's general elections on Sunday, while her ruling party is set to gain a majority in Congress. Fernandez has nearly half of the votes with 88.43% of ballots counted. Fernandez was leading in opinion polls before Sunday's election and only needed 40% ​of the vote to win outright and avoid an April 5 runoff.

Drone incidents at UK military bases doubled last year

Britain's military bases experienced a doubling of drone incidents last year, highlighting the changing nature of warfare and prompting the government to hand more powers to its forces to protect sites from aerial threats. In 2025, there were 266 reported uncrewed aerial vehicle incidents near defence sites in Britain, up from 126 reported in 2024, part of a wider trend of European airspace being targeted by drones.

Bad Bunny wins top Grammy prize in a first for ‍a Spanish-language album

Bad Bunny, the Latino rap star whose forthcoming Super Bowl gig has ignited a culture wars controversy, won the top Grammy prize on Sunday, a first for a Spanish-language album, with "Debí Tirar Más Fotos," a celebration of his Puerto Rican roots. The 31-year-old performer-producer edged out fellow megastars Kendrick Lamar and Lady Gaga in what amounted to a three-way race to clinch his first album-of-the-year Grammy, considered the pinnacle of the music industry's highest honors.

Tens of thousands of transport workers walk off job in Germany

Commuters across Germany faced freezing temperatures and empty platforms on Monday as tens of thousands of public transport workers walked off the job in a strike called by trade union Verdi, shutting down bus and tram services in most cities.

Verdi, which represents nearly 100,000 transport workers, called the strike after talks with municipal and state employers over working conditions stalled last week.

Israel reopens Gaza's Rafah border crossing to Egypt, with tight limits

Israel reopened the border between Gaza and Egypt on Monday for a limited number of people on foot, allowing a small number of Palestinians to leave the enclave and some of those who escaped the war to return for the first time. The crossing, in Israeli-held territory in what was once a city of a quarter of a million people that Israel has since completely demolished and depopulated, is the sole route in or out for nearly all of Gaza's more than 2 million residents.

Germany arrests five for supplying Russian defence firms

German federal prosecutors said on ⁠Monday they had detained five individuals accused ‌of operating a network that exported goods to Russian defence companies, contravening European Union sanctions imposed following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The Federal Prosecutors' Office said the arrests were carried ⁠out by customs officers in Luebeck, a Baltic Sea port city in northern Germany, and the surrounding Herzogtum Lauenburg district. The suspects — identified as German, Ukrainian, and Russian nationals — were apprehended under warrants issued by the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice.

Russia is trying to de-escalate Iran tensions, the Kremlin says

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia was still trying to de-escalate tensions around Iran, and that it had long ago offered its services to process or store Iran's enriched uranium. Asked if Russia was discussing with Iran and the United States the possibility of taking Iranian enriched uranium, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "This topic has been on the agenda for a long time."

Philippine VP Sara Duterte faces new impeachment complaints

Philippine Vice President ‍Sara Duterte faced another round of impeachment complaints on Monday after surviving attempts to remove her last year, with rights groups and activists accusing her of betraying the public's trust, corruption and other crimes. The daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte is widely seen as a frontrunner for the 2028 presidential election and prevailed after a similar impeachment bid last year, which the Supreme Court struck down for violating constitutional safeguards.

Guinea-Bissau junta releases opposition leader, vows inclusive government

The junta that seized power in Guinea-Bissau in a coup in November has vowed to bring the revolutionary PAIGC party into government and has released its leader, former Prime Minister Domingos Simoes Pereira, though he remains under house arrest. The moves are ​an apparent attempt to appease the West African regional bloc ECOWAS, which has suspended Guinea-Bissau and demanded a quick transition to civilian rule.

Rome introduces Trevi Fountain access fee to curb coin-tossing crowds

Tourists keen to follow tradition by tossing a coin into Rome's Trevi Fountain will need to dig a little deeper from Monday, as the city introduces a new 2-euro ($2.40) visitor fee.

The charge, aimed at easing overtourism and helping fund upkeep of the monument, applies only to visitors who walk down the stone steps to get close to the ⁠fountain's basin.

British serial killer 'Suffolk Strangler' pleads guilty to 1999 murder

A British serial killer, dubbed the "Suffolk Strangler" by the media after he killed five young women, pleaded guilty on Monday to an earlier murder of a teenager committed more than 25 years ago. Steve Wright, who is already serving a life sentence with no prospect of parole for a 2006 killing spree, appeared at London's Old Bailey court where he admitted kidnapping and murdering 17-year-old Victoria Hall in 1999.

Nigeria charges nine with 2025 massacre that killed 150

Nigerian prosecutors filed 57 terrorism-related charges on Monday against nine men accused of carrying out a deadly attack on Yelwata community in Nigeria's central Benue state in June 2025 that killed about 150 people. Benue sits in Nigeria's volatile Middle Belt, the fault line between the Muslim north and ⁠Christian south. Years of violence over land, religion, and ethnicity have proved hard for the authorities to rein in.

UK expels Russian diplomat in response to Russia expulsion

Britain said on Monday it had revoked the accreditation of a Russian diplomat, responding to what it called Russia's "unprovoked and unjustified" decision to expel a British diplomat last month over accusations of spying.

Poland, Germany must take responsibility for Europe's economic revival, finance ministers say

Germany and Poland must take joint responsibility for an economic revival in Europe, the finance ministers of both countries said in Warsaw on Monday. "We need to make Europe more competitive," Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said during a joint press conference with German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil.

Iran weighs nuclear diplomacy with US; gaps over missiles remain

Iran is weighing the terms for resuming talks with the United States soon, a foreign ministry official said on Monday, after both sides signalled readiness to revive diplomacy over a long-running nuclear dispute and dispel fears of a new regional war. Tensions are running high amid a military buildup by the U.S. Navy near Iran, following a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last month, the deadliest domestic unrest in Iran since its 1979 revolution.

Ex-minister Mandelson quits ⁠Britain's Labour Party after new Epstein reports

Former British government minister Peter Mandelson said he had resigned as a member of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party after new reports of his ties with late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Mandelson, who was fired by Starmer as Britain's ambassador to the United States last year after previous revelations about his connections to Epstein, said he did not wish to cause "further embarrassment" to Labour.

Factbox-What to know about Gaza's Rafah border crossing

Gaza's Rafah border, the only crossing connecting the besieged Palestinian enclave with Egypt, reopened on Monday for a ⁠limited number of travellers on foot after being sealed shut by Israel for nearly a year. The crossing was seized by Israel in May 2024, in the early months ‌of its war against Hamas militants. Its reopening comes as a relief to Palestinians who want to leave Gaza for medical care or those who want to return after fleeing the fighting.

No new targeted Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Zelenskiy says

Russia has not carried out any targeted missile or drone strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure in the last 24 hours although energy facilities in frontline areas have come under fire, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday. Zelenskiy's statement highlighted the limitations of a short-term energy truce that Russia agreed to last week at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Hungary's Tisza party maintains lead over Orban's ruling Fidesz, poll shows

Hungary's centre-right opposition Tisza party kept an eight-point lead over Prime Minister Viktor Orban's governing nationalist Fidesz party in January, a poll showed on Monday, ahead of a parliamentary election set for April 12. Orban is facing the biggest challenge ⁠to his grip on power since Fidesz swept to victory in 2010, although the outcome remains highly uncertain.

Gaza border reopening long awaited by stranded Palestinians

Cut off from family or urgently requiring hospital care, Palestinians stranded on each side of Gaza's Rafah crossing waited with growing desperation for Monday's reopening of the border as a delayed part of October's ceasefire deal. How fully crossings to and from Egypt will resume, and under ‍what conditions, remains unclear with Israel retaining complete control of Gaza's frontier, but for those waiting to travel even a partial reopening feels long overdue.

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