Reuters World News Summary

Russia's emergency services said the fire broke out in an unfinished multi-storey ⁠residential building in the Aeroport district, spreading across the second and third floors. UK counter-terrorism police investigate arson at Jewish memorial wall Police said on Tuesday they were investigating suspected arson at a memorial wall in a part of north London that is home to a large Jewish community, amid a recent spate of such incidents in the British capital.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Belarus releases Polish-Belarusian journalist as part of prisoner exchange

Belarus has released Polish-Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday, as the two countries conducted a prisoner exchange at their border.

"Andrzej Poczobut is free! Welcome to your Polish home, my friend," Tusk wrote on social media platform X, ​posting a picture of himself with the journalist of Polish origin.

Five wounded in two shootings in Athens, 89-year-old gunman at large

Five people were wounded in two separate shooting attacks in Athens carried out by an elderly gunman who remained ​at large, police and local media reported on Tuesday. The suspect, an 89-year-old man, opened fire with a shotgun at a branch of Greece’s EFKA social security agency, ‌wounding an employee ​in the leg, police said.

Effort begins to rescue Timmy, the humpback whale, stranded off Germany's Baltic coast

An attempt to remove a stranded humpback whale from shallow waters off Germany's Baltic coast began on Tuesday, after four weeks of intense public debate over the best way to help the animal the public has named Timmy. The juvenile male will be guided through a newly dredged channel onto a water-filled barge normally used to transport ships before heading to the North Sea, according to organisers of a private rescue initiative cited by local media.

As war nears two months, displaced Lebanese family sinks into despair

It has been nearly two months, but Rabih Khreiss still has trouble recognising his new life. The father-of-nine could once put food on the table through his car workshop in southern Lebanon, but is ‌now barely surviving in a tent in the capital Beirut.

Suspect in Washington dinner shooting charged with trying to assassinate Trump

The man accused of opening fire at the venue of a Washington dinner attended by Donald Trump was charged on Monday with attempting to assassinate the U.S. president and could face life in prison if convicted. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, wore a blue jail-issue V-neck shirt and pants at his first appearance in Washington federal court, two days after authorities said he launched an unsuccessful attack at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, an annual black-tie gathering of journalists and politicians. His hands were cuffed behind his back as he was led into and out of the courtroom.

Ukraine hits Russia's Tuapse oil refinery again, causing new blaze and evacuation

A Ukrainian drone attack caused a major fire at a Russian oil refinery in the city of Tuapse on Tuesday, officials said, in the third attack on the Black Sea port in less than two weeks. Ukraine's military confirmed it had carried out the attack, the latest in an intensified series of strikes designed to disrupt Russia's oil industry and slash revenues ‌that help Moscow to fund the war in Ukraine.

Gulf leaders meet in Saudi Arabia to discuss response to Iranian strikes

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman chaired a consultative meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Jeddah on Tuesday, state media said, the first in-person meeting of Gulf leaders since their states became a front in the Iran war two months ago. A Gulf official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the meeting aimed to craft a response to the thousands of Iranian missile and drone attacks ‌Gulf states have faced since the U.S. and Israel launched the war with strikes on Iran on February 28.

Ex-aide backs UK's Starmer over Mandelson appointment

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's one-time closest aide, Morgan McSweeney, backed his former boss on Tuesday by taking responsibility for promoting the "wrong" appointment of Labour veteran Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington. While describing it as a "serious error of judgment" that cost him his job, however, McSweeney denied having driven the appointment through by instructing officials to ignore procedures or grant clearance.

How a rising star of France’s far right weaponised a routine inquiry against public broadcasters

A French fact-finding inquiry — normally a dull parliamentary ritual — has turned into a polarising political spectacle, giving France's far right an unexpected platform to wage a culture-war campaign against public broadcasters. Leading the probe is 32-year-old Charles Alloncle, an ally of National Rally leader Jordan Bardella, who has transformed it into a gripping confrontation between far-right forces in parliament and institutions they have long accused of bias.

UAE leaves OPEC and OPEC+ in major blow to global oil producers' group

The United Arab Emirates said on Tuesday it was quitting OPEC and OPEC+, dealing a heavy blow to the oil exporting groups and their de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, at a time when the Iran war has caused a historic energy shock and unsettled the global economy. The loss ⁠of the UAE, a longstanding ​OPEC member, could create disarray and weaken the group, which has usually sought to show a united front despite internal disagreements over a range of ⁠issues from geopolitics to production quotas.

Brazil's Lula and Flavio Bolsonaro are neck and neck in presidential runoff, poll finds

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro were tied in a simulated run-off, an AtlasIntel/Bloomberg poll showed on Tuesday, ahead of this year's presidential election. Right-wing challenger Bolsonaro would receive 47.8% of the vote in a second round of voting, compared with 47.5% for the leftist incumbent.

Trump unhappy with Iran's latest proposal to end the war

U.S. President Donald Trump is unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal on resolving the two-month war, a U.S. official said, dampening hopes for resolution of a conflict that has disrupted energy ⁠supplies, fuelled inflation, and killed thousands. Iran's latest proposal would set aside discussion of Iran's nuclear programme until the war, on hold following a ceasefire announced earlier this month, is ended and disputes over shipping from the Gulf are resolved.

King Charles to promote British-American unity in speech to Congress

Britain's King Charles will press the importance of unity with the United States and the need to defend democratic values in an address to Congress on Tuesday at a time of deep divisions between the two countries over the war in Iran. Charles and Queen Camilla are on a four-day state visit to the U.S. designed ​to underscore the ties forged between Britain and its former colony over the 250 years since independence, known in recent decades as the "special relationship".

Blaze at Moscow construction site kills at least seven

At least seven people were killed and 13 others injured in a fire at a building under construction in northern Moscow on Tuesday before firefighters brought the blaze under control, authorities said, according to TASS news agency. Russia's emergency services said the fire broke out in an unfinished multi-storey ⁠residential building in the Aeroport district, spreading across the second and third floors.

UK counter-terrorism police investigate arson at Jewish memorial wall

Police said on Tuesday they were investigating suspected arson at a memorial wall in a part of north London that is home to a large Jewish community, amid a recent spate of such incidents in the British capital. London's Metropolitan Police said the investigation was being led by Counter Terrorism Policing, though it was not being treated as a terrorist incident. They said no arrests had been made.

Indonesia commuter train crash toll rises to 15 as rescuers complete evacuation

The death toll from a train collision near the Indonesian capital Jakarta has risen to 15 with another ⁠88 ​injured, a senior minister said on Tuesday, as emergency teams completed work to rescue passengers trapped in the wreckage. The collision between a commuter train and a long-distance train happened late on Monday in Bekasi, just outside Jakarta, with a carriage reserved for women bearing the brunt of the crash.

Children at 'breaking point' in Darfur as they face extreme hunger and violence, UN says

Five million children across Sudan's Darfur region are facing extreme deprivation, the United Nations children's agency said on Tuesday, issuing an emergency warning over the situation as the civil war in the country enters its fourth year. The warning, known as a "Child Alert", is used sparingly by UNICEF and is designed to signal that a situation has reached a critical threshold. It is the first time the agency has issued one in 20 years for Darfur.

Analysis-SpaceX ties Musk compensation to Mars colonization goal

SpaceX's board has approved a compensation plan for founder Elon Musk with goals as futuristic and celestial as the company's ambitions: colonizing Mars and running data centers in outer space. The details of Musk's sweeping pay package, which have not ⁠been widely reported, were revealed in the company's confidential registration statement filed in recent weeks with the Securities and Exchange Commission and reviewed by Reuters last week.

Russia's FSB says archaeologist Butyagin released by Poland in prisoner swap, TASS reports

Russia's Federal Security Service said on Tuesday that Russian archaeologist Alexander Butyagin had been released by Poland as part of a prisoner swap, state news agency TASS reported. Butyagin was arrested in Poland in December last year and had been due to be extradited to Ukraine, which accused him ⁠of conducting unauthorised excavations and plundering historical artefacts in Crimea. Russia had expressed outrage over his arrest and demanded his release.

Austrian man pleads guilty to ⁠foiled attack on Taylor Swift's Vienna concert

A 21-year-old accused of planning an Islamist attack on a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna in 2024 that was foiled at the 11th hour pleaded guilty as his trial opened on Tuesday. The defendant, an Austrian identified as Beran A, was arrested on August 7, 2024, the day before the first of three planned concerts by the U.S. pop star in Vienna.

OpenAI trial pitting Elon Musk against Sam Altman kicks off

A trial that could help shape the future of artificial intelligence begins on Tuesday, with billionaires Elon Musk and Sam Altman at odds over the evolution of ChatGPT maker OpenAI from a nonprofit to a profit-seeking juggernaut worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Opening statements in Musk's civil lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman will take place ‌in the Oakland, California, federal court, following the selection on Monday of nine jurors.

US soldier accused of ‌gambling on Maduro removal due in court

The U.S. Army soldier charged with winning $400,000 by using insider information to bet on the removal of ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is due in court on Tuesday, where he is expected to be asked how he pleads to ​fraud charges. Gannon Van Dyke, 38, is due to appear before U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett in Manhattan at 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT).