Reuters World News Summary

The visit was meant to spotlight the crises facing the Caribbean country as it struggles to combat violent gangs that have largely overrun the capital Port-au-Prince, and Guterres made a plea for solidarity. Ukraine's Zelenskiy says 'serious threat' remains at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on Saturday that a "serious threat" remained at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and said Russia was "technically ready" to provoke a localized explosion at the facility.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Japan says Russian warships spotted near Taiwan, Okinawa islands

Japan's defence ministry said late on Friday it had spotted two Russian Navy ships in the waters near Taiwan and Japan's Okinawa islands in the previous four days, following a similar announcement this week from Taiwan. Taiwan's defence ministry said on Tuesday it had spotted two Russian frigates off its eastern coast and send aircraft and ships to keep watch.

Bosnia envoy revokes Bosnian Serb laws defying the state, peace deal

Bosnia's international peace overseer, Christian Schmidt, on Saturday annulled two laws that Bosnian Serb parliament had adopted defying the constitution and the terms of a peace deal that ended the Balkan country's war in the 1990s. Schmidt, who as international High Representative in Bosnia has powers to impose laws and sack obstructive officials, also amended a law so that those seen as attacking the state institutions can be criminally prosecuted.

CIA's Burns: armed mutiny shows damage Putin has done to Russia

U.S. CIA Director William Burns said on Saturday that the armed mutiny by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was a challenge to the Russian state that had shown the corrosive effect of President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. Putin this week thanked the army and security forces for averting what he said could have turned into a civil war, and has compared the mutiny to the chaos that plunged Russia into two revolutions in 1917.

Ron DeSantis criticized over 'homophobic' video

Gay Republicans criticized as "homophobic" a video posted by Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis' campaign highlighting rival Donald Trump's past statements in support of gay rights, and the former president declined at a rally on Saturday to respond to the attack. Florida Governor DeSantis' campaign posted the video on Twitter late on Friday, saying it marked the end of a month of LGBTQ+ pride celebrations.

UN chief urges international aid in visit to gang-ravaged Haiti

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, visiting Haiti's capital on Saturday, said international aid has not met the impoverished country's growing humanitarian needs, and urged more support for the Haitian police to fight gangs. The visit was meant to spotlight the crises facing the Caribbean country as it struggles to combat violent gangs that have largely overrun the capital Port-au-Prince, and Guterres made a plea for solidarity.

Ukraine's Zelenskiy says 'serious threat' remains at Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned on Saturday that a "serious threat" remained at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and said Russia was "technically ready" to provoke a localized explosion at the facility. Zelenskiy cited Ukrainian intelligence as the source of his information.

Seven killed in building collapse in Ivory Coast

A six-storey building collapsed while under construction in Ivory Coast's commercial capital Abidjan on Friday, killing at least seven of the builders on site, firefighters at the scene said. Around midday local time, the workers heard cracking sounds and the building started to crumble around them, said caretaker and builder Jourdin Yoro.

Sri Lanka parliament approves domestic debt restructuring plan

Sri Lanka's parliament approved a domestic debt restructuring plan on Saturday that is crucial to continue a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The plan passed with a majority of 122 votes in the 225-member parliament.

King apologises for Netherlands' historic role in slavery

Dutch King Willem-Alexander on Saturday apologised for the Netherlands' historic involvement in slavery and the effects that it still has today. The king was speaking at a ceremony marking the 160th anniversary of the legal abolition of slavery in the Netherlands, including its former colonies in the Caribbean.

France braced for fifth night of riots as family buries teenager

Tens of thousands of police were deployed in cities across France on Saturday ready for a potential fifth night of rioting after the funeral of a teenager of North African descent, whose shooting by police sparked nationwide unrest. President Emmanuel Macron postponed a state visit to Germany that was due to begin on Sunday to handle the worst crisis for his leadership since the "Yellow Vest" protests paralysed much of France in late 2018.

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