Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Lula, Flavio Bolsonaro tied in potential election runoff, poll shows

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro are statistically tied in a potential runoff in October's general election, with the challenger leading Lula for the first time within the survey's margin of ​error, a Quaest poll commissioned by brokerage Genial showed on Wednesday. In a potential run-off , Flavio Bolsonaro is seen with 42% of the vote compared with Lula's 40%, the poll showed.

Tanzania investigates death of American social ​media influencer

Police in Tanzania said they are questioning the fiancé of U.S. social media influencer Ashly Robinson, who died after an alleged suicide attempt while ‌the couple were ​on vacation in Zanzibar, a tourist hub off the east African country's mainland.

Police have confiscated the passport of her partner, Joseph Isaac McCann, 45, also a U.S. citizen, they said in a statement issued late on Tuesday.

Rattled by Trump, US allies eye Japan's biggest arms opening since WW2

Japan's imminent easing of arms export rules has sparked strong interest from Warsaw to Manila, Reuters reporting found, as President Donald Trump wavers on security commitments to allies and the wars in Iran and Ukraine strain U.S. weapons supplies. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's ruling party approved the changes this week as she tries to invigorate the pacifist country's military industrial base. Her government will formally adopt the new rules as soon as ‌this month, three Japanese government officials told Reuters.

Pope Leo, attacked again by Trump, flies to Cameroon on Africa tour

Pope Leo set off for Cameroon on Wednesday, where he is expected to appeal for peace in the simmering conflict in the country's English-speaking regions on the second leg of an ambitious 10-day tour of four African countries. Leo, who was attacked again overnight by U.S. President Donald Trump over the pope's opposition to the Iran war, will arrive from Algeria, where he blasted violations of international law by "neocolonial" world powers.

Exclusive-China moves to block entrance to disputed South China Sea shoal, images show

China is employing ships and a barrier to tighten control of the entrance to the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea amid roiling tension with the Philippines over the disputed feature, satellite imagery obtained by Reuters shows. Scarborough is one of Asia's most hotly disputed maritime sites, where some diplomats and analysts fear long-running frictions and confrontations could degenerate into armed conflict.

Exclusive-Russia-linked hackers compromised scores of Ukrainian prosecutors' email ‌accounts, data shows

Russia-linked hackers broke into more than 170 email accounts belonging to prosecutors and investigators across Ukraine during the last several months, according to data reviewed by Reuters, a campaign that shows how Moscow's spies are keeping tabs on the Ukrainian officials tasked with rooting out corruption and Russian collaborators. The data was inadvertently exposed to the internet by the hackers and discovered by Ctrl-Alt-Intel, a collective of British and American cyber threat researchers. Ctrl-Alt-Intel said data ‌left on the server - including logs of successful hacking operations and thousands of stolen emails - showed that the hackers compromised at least 284 inboxes between September 2024 and March 2026.

Trump says Iran war could end soon, as US blockades Iranian ports

U.S. President Donald Trump said the war with Iran could end soon, telling the world to watch out for an "amazing two days", while U.S. forces imposing a blockade turned back vessels leaving Iranian ports. With the prospect of U.S. and Iranian officials returning to Pakistan for more talks, Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation at negotiations that ended on Sunday without a breakthrough, said he felt positive about where things stood.

Hungary election winner Magyar expects to form government by mid-May

Election winner Peter Magyar said on Wednesday that President Tamas Sulyok would ask him at the inaugural session of parliament to form Hungary's next government, which could be sworn in by the middle of next month or somewhat sooner. "The President has informed me that he will ask me at the inaugural session of the new parliament to be Prime Minister and form a government, as the leader of the party that got the most votes," Magyar said after meeting Sulyok.

Ukraine ⁠retakes 50 sq km ​of territory in March, army chief says

Ukraine regained control of nearly 50 sq km (19 sq miles) of its territory from Russia in ⁠March, its army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Wednesday, building on its gains since the start of the year. He added that with the change of weather conditions, Moscow's forces have stepped up their offensive operations and were conducting them along almost the entire 1,200-km front line.

Trump doubles down in criticizing Pope Leo over Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump, whose war and immigration policies have been condemned by Pope Leo, reiterated his criticism of the religious leader on Tuesday night. In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged that "someone please tell Pope Leo" about the killings of protesters by Iran and ⁠that "for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable."

Student kills four in Turkey's second school shooting in two days

A teenage student shot at least four people dead including three fellow pupils and wounded at least 20 others at a middle school in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, the local governor said, marking the country's second school attack in two days. Three students and one teacher died in the attack in the province of Kahramanmaras, Governor Mukerrem Unluer told reporters, adding the shooter had shot and killed himself in the commotion.

UN watchdog says ​North Korea is boosting nuclear weapons capacity

North Korea has made "very serious" advances in its abilities to turn out nuclear weapons, with the probable addition of a new uranium enrichment facility, as it stepped up activity at a key complex, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said on Wednesday. Enriching uranium can provide an alternative, and experts say, a more effective, path to acquiring weapons-grade material in addition to reprocessing spent plutonium extracted from a nuclear reactor.

Britain ⁠calls for international effort to stop arms flow to Sudan at Berlin conference

The international community has failed in Sudan, British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper said on the sidelines of a Berlin conference on the war in the country, as she called for an international concerted effort to stop the arms flow. "Countries from across the world are coming together here in Berlin to discuss the way, frankly, the international community has failed the people of Sudan," Cooper said on Wednesday.

Dubai's landmark Burj Al Arab hotel will shut for 18-month refurb amid tourism decline

Luxury hotel Burj Al Arab in Dubai will shut during ⁠a ​major 18-month renovation, a staff member confirmed on Wednesday, its first since opening in 1999 and at a time when tourism in the region has slowed due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. The hotel's owner Jumeirah said in a statement on Tuesday the work would be carried out in phases over some 18 months and would be led by Paris-based interior architect Tristan Auer. It did not specify that the property would be closed during the renovation.

Serbia's president tells military to create units armed with attack drones

The Serbian army should create units with attack drones, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Wednesday, as the Balkan country seeks to modernise its armed forces from its obsolete Soviet-era technology. Belgrade has already bought modern weapons and equipment from Europe, Israel and China and it wants to adapt its military strategy to conform with modern warfare.

Trump says he asked China's Xi not to give Iran weapons

Donald Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping in a ⁠letter not to give Iran weapons, and Xi responded that China was not supplying Tehran, the U.S. president told Fox Business Network in an interview that aired on Wednesday. Trump, in the interview taped on Tuesday, did not say when the letters were exchanged. Last week, he threatened countries with an immediate 50% tariff if they supplied Iran with weapons.

Peru seeks second candidate for presidential runoff, leftist Sanchez gains ground

Peru entered on Wednesday its fourth day of ⁠vote counting with no clear second candidate to face conservative leader Keiko Fujimori in a presidential runoff, official data showed with about 90% ⁠of ballots counted. Left-wing congressman, Roberto Sanchez, and right-wing former Lima mayor, Rafael Lopez Aliaga, are vying for second place with about 12% of the votes, followed closely by center-left candidate Jorge Nieto with roughly 11%, Peru's electoral body, ONPE, said.

Hungary's Magyar targets mid-May cabinet formation, outlines key reforms

Hungary's election winner Peter Magyar said on Wednesday his cabinet could be sworn in by mid-May and take quick steps to release billions of suspended European Union funding, while clashing with allies of his predecessor who remain in place. Magyar's TISZA (Respect and Freedom) party won a landslide victory in Sunday's election, ending right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban's 16-year rule that became a prototype for "illiberal" conservative rulers across the western world.

Russia launches more ‌than 300 drones, missiles at Ukraine overnight

Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with hundreds of drones and ‌three ballistic missiles, targeting port infrastructure in the south, killing one and wounding at least seven people, Ukrainian officials said. Russia launched 324 drones in the period since 6 p.m. on Tuesday and three ballistic missiles, Ukraine's air force said. Air defence ​units shot down or neutralised 309 drones, but the missiles and 13 drones hit at nine locations, it said.

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