World News Roundup: Argentina on a knife-edge as presidential election offers clashing visions of the future; At APEC, Biden touts workers' rights, stable Chinese relations and more

Israel risks a long, bloody insurgency in Gaza Israel risks facing a long and bloody insurgency if it defeats Hamas and occupies Gaza without a credible post-war plan to withdraw its troops and move toward the creation of a Palestinian state, U.S. and Arab officials, diplomats and analysts said.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Argentina on a knife-edge as presidential election offers clashing visions of the future

Argentine voters are angry and afraid. Which is stronger will tip the balance of the South American country's presidential election on Sunday and may reshape its diplomatic ties, economic future, and the wider region's political fault lines. The country of some 45 million people will vote in the Nov. 19 run-off election between Sergio Massa, currently economy minister for the ruling Peronists, and libertarian outsider Javier Milei. Opinion polls indicate a tight race and a deeply divided electorate.

Indian rescuers still 40 metres away from workers trapped in collapsed tunnel

Rescuers drilled about one-third of the way into the debris of a collapsed highway tunnel in India by Friday morning to reach 40 workers trapped inside for five days, officials said. Drilling had penetrated through about 21 metres (70 feet) of debris, Devendra Singh Patwal, a disaster management officer, told Reuters.

At APEC, Biden touts workers' rights, stable Chinese relations

U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday said he would keep working to advance a Pacific trade pact, even as his vision for a regional deal to counter China's influence stumbled over his bid to strengthen workers' rights. "Our work is not yet done," Biden told corporate CEOs in San Francisco where he attended a summit of the 21-member Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum.

UN says starvation imminent in Gaza, no let-up in Israeli assault

U.N. aid deliveries to Gaza were suspended again on Friday due to shortages of fuel and a communications shutdown, deepening the misery of thousands of hungry and homeless Palestinians as Israeli troops battled Hamas militants in the enclave. The United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) said civilians faced the "immediate possibility of starvation" due to the lack of food supplies.

Magnitude 6.7 quake shakes south Philippines, kills one

A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck the southern Philippines on Friday, killing one person, injuring dozens and damaging buildings, authorities said. The quake struck off Mindanao island at a depth of 60 km (37.3 miles), according to the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ).

China, Japan reaffirm 'strategic relationship' in rare leader talks

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said they would pursue mutually beneficial relations in their first face-to-face talks in a year, putting emphasis on shared economic interests amid a series of diplomatic disputes. The leaders of Asia's two largest economies discussed thorny issues such as China's ban on Japanese seafood and the case of a Japanese businessman detained in China on suspicion of espionage during hour-long talks at a hotel in San Francisco on Thursday.

Forever war? Israel risks a long, bloody insurgency in Gaza

Israel risks facing a long and bloody insurgency if it defeats Hamas and occupies Gaza without a credible post-war plan to withdraw its troops and move toward the creation of a Palestinian state, U.S. and Arab officials, diplomats and analysts said. None of the ideas floated so far by Israel, the United States and Arab nations for the post-war administration of Gaza have managed to gain traction, according to two U.S. and four regional officials as well as four diplomats familiar with the discussions, raising fears the Israeli military may become mired in a prolonged security operation.

With drones and dawn assault, Myanmar's Chin rebels open new front

In the pre-dawn darkness on Monday, a 22-year-old Myanmar rebel fighter approached a hill-top military camp in remote Chin State with dozens of comrades for an assault that opened up another front in a mounting nationwide offensive against the junta. "We cut the fencing wire," said Suan, who gave only his first name. "I was the first to enter. As soon as I entered, they started firing at us."

Madagascar president takes huge lead in early results of low turnout vote

Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina took a predictably commanding early lead on Friday in his bid for re-election in a vote marked by low turnout and an opposition boycott, preliminary results showed. The 49-year-old entrepreneur and former DJ rose to power on the Indian Ocean island in a 2009 coup, stepped down after almost five years as leader of a transitional authority, then won a 2018 election.

Analysis-Russia's Putin sees political, economic upside to Israel's war with Hamas

Russian President Vladimir Putin waited three days before commenting on Hamas' massacre of Israelis, which happened to take place on his 71st birthday. When he did, he blamed the United States, not Hamas. "I think that many will agree with me that this is a clear example of the failed policy in the Middle East of the United States, which tried to monopolise the settlement process," Putin told Iraq's prime minister.