Reuters World News Summary

A week later, China's balloon has been shot down, the trip remains unscheduled, and the Friday and Saturday downing of two unidentified aircraft over Alaska and Canada raised questions about whether an adversary had sent more spy vessels into North American airspace. Israel president floats plan to prevent 'constitutional collapse' Israel's president floated a compromise plan on Sunday to spare the country what he described as a "constitutional collapse" and possible violence, over a contested judicial overhaul sought by the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Death toll in Turkey, Syria quake tops 33,000; Turkey starts legal action against builders

Rescuers pulled more survivors from the rubble on Sunday, nearly a week after one of the worst earthquakes to hit Turkey and Syria, as Turkish authorities sought to maintain order across the disaster zone and began legal action over building collapses. With chances of finding more survivors growing more remote, the toll in both countries from Monday's earthquake and major aftershocks rose above 33,000 and looked set to keep growing. It was the deadliest quake in Turkey since 1939.

Berlin chooses change in rerun election with clear lead for conservatives

Germany's conservative CDU party was course for a clear victory in a repeat election in Berlin, in a blow to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats who have governed the city state for 22 years. An exit poll by broadcaster ZDF on Sunday put the Christian Democrats (CDU) on 28% of the vote, 10 percentage points more than in the 2021 election, which a court was ruled invalid due to irregularities.

Cyprus politician Christodoulides wins presidential vote

Former Cypriot foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides was elected president on Sunday in a runoff vote, promising a unity government tasked with breaking a deadlock in peace talks with estranged Turkish Cypriots. Official results showed Christodoulides, 49, taking 51.9% of the vote, compared with runoff rival Andreas Mavroyiannis, 66, who took 48.1%.

Zelenskiy: too early to declare victory after repairs to power system

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday hailed efforts to restore power generation systems damaged by Russian attacks but warned the population it was too early to declare victory on the energy front. Zelenskiy said power workers had done such a good job repairing the damage caused by Russian missile and drone strikes on Friday that most people had not had to face too many outages on Saturday and Sunday.

Israel authorises West Bank outposts, despite U.S. admonition

Israel granted retroactive authorisation on Sunday to nine Jewish settler outposts in the occupied West Bank and announced mass-construction of new homes within established settlements, moves likely to draw U.S. opposition. The first to publish the decisions by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet were two pro-settler politicians whose inclusion in the coalition he built after a Nov. 1 election had already signalled a hard-right tack.

Tunisia police arrest ex-judges sacked by president, lawyer and media say

Tunisian police on Sunday arrested two former judges who were dismissed by President Kais Saied last year, a lawyer and local media said, in the second day of a wave of detentions of prominent people, including politicians and a businessman. Bechir Akremi and Tayeb Rached, who were among the dozens of judges and members of the judiciary sacked in 2022, were detained by police, Anouar Awled Ali, a lawyer close to the cases, told Reuters.

U.S. fighter jets shoot down octagonal object near Canadian border

U.S. military fighter jets on Sunday shot down an octagonal object over Lake Huron, the Pentagon said, the latest incident since a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon put North American security forces on high alert. It was the fourth unidentified flying object to be shot down over North America by a U.S. missile in a little more than a week.

Analysis-After spy balloon incident, can China and the U.S. talk again?

When U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken this month called off his trip to Beijing, he chose his words carefully. China's launch of a spy balloon on a high-altitude journey over the United States was unacceptable and irresponsible, he said, but he was postponing - not canceling - his visit. A week later, China's balloon has been shot down, the trip remains unscheduled, and the Friday and Saturday downing of two unidentified aircraft over Alaska and Canada raised questions about whether an adversary had sent more spy vessels into North American airspace.

Israel president floats plan to prevent 'constitutional collapse'

Israel's president floated a compromise plan on Sunday to spare the country what he described as a "constitutional collapse" and possible violence, over a contested judicial overhaul sought by the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The rare prime-time television speech by President Isaac Herzog, whose figurehead role is designed to unite an often fractious society, included an appeal to coalition lawmakers to hold off on initial legislation steps in parliament which some had planned to begin this week.

Children among those pulled from destroyed buildings in Turkey

A father and daughter, a toddler and a 10-year-old girl were among survivors pulled from the ruins of collapsed buildings in Turkey on Sunday, nearly a week since a devastating earthquake. The quake and major aftershocks early last Monday flattened swathes of towns and cities in parts of Turkey and Syria, killing at least 33,000 people in the two countries.

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