World News Roundup: Burundi-born ex-police officer seeks to be Greece's first Black lawmaker; Air strikes, artillery fire escalate as factions battle in Sudan capital and more

Its head, Patriarch Kirill, said last year that those who died fighting in Ukraine would be purged of their sins. Erdogan rival appeals to Turkish youth ahead of runoff vote Tayyip Erdogan's presidential challenger appealed to young Turkish voters on Tuesday to support him in a May 28 election runoff, as he seeks to prevent the president extending his rule of NATO-member Turkey into a third decade.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Burundi-born ex-police officer seeks to be Greece's first Black lawmaker

In working-class neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Athens, Spiros Richard Hagabimana is going door-to-door in an election campaign that could see him become Greece's first Black lawmaker. It is a remarkable journey for Hagabimana, who just eight years ago was jailed in his native Burundi for refusing to open fire on anti-government protesters as a high-ranking officer of the National Police.

Air strikes, artillery fire escalate as factions battle in Sudan capital

Air strikes and artillery fire intensified sharply across Sudan's capital early on Tuesday, residents said, as the army sought to defend key bases from paramilitary rivals it has been fighting for more than a month. The air strikes, explosions and clashes could be heard in the south of Khartoum, and there was heavy shelling across the River Nile in parts of the adjoining cities of Bahri and Omdurman, witnesses said.

Seven things to know about bats and pandemic risk

For millennia, bat viruses lurked in forests across West Africa, India, South America and other parts of the world. But, undisturbed, they posed little threat to humanity. No longer, a new Reuters data analysis found. Today, as more and more people encroach on bat habitat, bat-borne pathogens pose an epidemiological minefield in 113 countries, where risk is high that a virus will jump species and infect humans.

Putin gave Orthodox Church famed icon because of its importance to believers: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to hand over the historic 15th-century Trinity icon from a museum to the Russian Orthodox Church because of its importance to believers, the Kremlin's spokesman said on Tuesday.The Church, whose conservatism Putin has espoused as part of his vision for Russia's national identity, is one of the most ardent institutional supporters of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Its head, Patriarch Kirill, said last year that those who died fighting in Ukraine would be purged of their sins.

Erdogan rival appeals to Turkish youth ahead of runoff vote

Tayyip Erdogan's presidential challenger appealed to young Turkish voters on Tuesday to support him in a May 28 election runoff, as he seeks to prevent the president extending his rule of NATO-member Turkey into a third decade. Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the candidate of a six-party opposition alliance, won 45% support in Sunday's vote while Erdogan got 49.5%, falling just short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff of a vote seen as a referendum on his autocratic rule.

In first, Kyiv says it shoots down volley of Russian hypersonic missiles

Ukraine said on Tuesday it had shot down six Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missiles in a single night, thwarting a superweapon Moscow had previously touted as all but unstoppable.

It was the first time Ukraine had claimed to have struck an entire volley of multiple hypersonic missiles, and if confirmed would be a demonstration of the effectiveness of newly deployed Western air defences.

Chinese warships return to West Pacific for live-fire drills

Two Chinese warships have ventured into the Western Pacific for live-fire exercises, the military said on Tuesday, shortly after one of China's two aircraft carriers returned from a patrol, in its latest projection of force into more distant waters. The destroyer Dalian and guided-missile frigate Huangshan sailed to an unidentified area of the West Pacific "not long ago" and conducted attack and defence drills, the Southern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement.

An Israeli missile worsens the adversity of five disabled siblings

When an Israeli missile struck the residential block of the Nabhan family in Gaza four days ago, no one was killed, but a family with five disabled members were among 45 people made homeless. For the five siblings, three of whom are on wheel chairs and all five of whom suffer from physical disability, muscular dystrophy and convulsions, the misery was multiplied, as their wheelchairs, medicine, special beds and bathroom were buried under the rubble.

Six dead in New Zealand hostel fire

A fire at a hostel in New Zealand killed at least six people on Tuesday and officials said they believe the toll could rise with 11 people still missing. The blaze broke out on the top floor of Loafers Lodge in the Wellington neighbourhood of Newtown just after midnight, police said, causing major structural damage that is hampering recovery efforts.

Analysis-Germany's Greens lose appeal as voters fear cost of policies

A slide in support for Germany's Greens, a junior partner in Olaf Scholz's coalition, could force the party to consider scaling back its climate ambitions as voters fret over their financial and social cost. Support for the Greens slumped by a third to 12% in the state of Bremen on Sunday compared with the last election in 2019, according to projected results. The vote reflected a drop in support at a federal level too, to around 15% in opinion polls from a peak of 23-24% last year.