Reuters World News Summary

Scholz will travel to the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba on Saturday to meet on Sunday with Jordan's King Abdullah before flying on to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel prepares return to ceasefire talks; UN says Gaza hunger crisis worsens The main U.N. aid agency operating in Gaza said on Saturday that acute malnutrition was accelerating in the north of the Palestinian enclave as Israel prepared to send a delegation to Qatar for new ceasefire talks on a hostage deal with Hamas.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Venezuela's Maduro announces candidacy for July re-election

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro will run for a second re-election to secure another six-year term in voting planned for July 28, the ruling Socialist party said on Saturday. Maduro, a 61-year-old former union leader, was proclaimed as the Socialist party's candidate by Vice President Diosdado Cabello, and took the stage at a large sports arena to address supporters.

India vote to start on April 19, Modi says confident of win

India will elect a new parliament in seven phases between April 19 and early June, the country's election authority said on Saturday, in what amounts to the world's largest election with nearly one billion eligible to vote. The election pits two-term strongman Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his regional allies against a bickering alliance of two dozen opposition parties, with surveys suggesting a comfortable win for Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).

Russian war exiles bring banyas and blinis to Buenos Aires

When Ilia Gafarov and Nadia Gafarova host the grand opening of their "banya", a traditional Russian sauna, in April, they hope it will help make a permanent home of their adopted city of Buenos Aires. The couple, a former banker and recruiter from Russia's eastern port city of Vladivostok, moved to Argentina with their two daughters nine months ago, part of a wave of migration from Russia to Latin America since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Iceland volcano erupts again, spewing fountains of lava

A volcano in Iceland erupted on Saturday for the fourth time since December, the country's meteorological office said, spewing smoke and bright orange lava into the air in sharp contrast against the dark night sky. In a video shot from a Coast Guard helicopter and shown on public broadcaster RUV, fountains of molten rock soared from a long fissure in the ground, and lava spread rapidly to each side.

Germany calls for large-scale aid access to Gaza as Scholz heads to Israel

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Israel on Saturday to allow humanitarian aid access to Gaza on a larger scale, ahead of a two-day trip to the Middle East. Scholz will travel to the Jordanian Red Sea port of Aqaba on Saturday to meet on Sunday with Jordan's King Abdullah before flying on to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel prepares return to ceasefire talks; UN says Gaza hunger crisis worsens

The main U.N. aid agency operating in Gaza said on Saturday that acute malnutrition was accelerating in the north of the Palestinian enclave as Israel prepared to send a delegation to Qatar for new ceasefire talks on a hostage deal with Hamas. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said one in three children under the age of two in northern Gaza is now acutely malnourished, putting more pressure on Israel over the looming famine.

Russia accuses Kyiv of election sabotage, Medvedev warns 'traitors'

Russia accused Ukraine on Saturday of using "terrorist activities" to try to disrupt its presidential election and former President Dmitry Medvedev decried as "traitors" the scattered protesters who have tried to set fire to voting booths and pour dye into ballot boxes. The Ukraine war has cast a shadow over voting in the election, which is all but certain to hand President Vladimir Putin six more years in the Kremlin but has been marked by sporadic acts of protest.

Russia will be asked for ceasefire during Olympics, Macron tells Ukraine interviewer

Russia will be asked to observe a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Paris Olympics, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview from Paris shown on Ukrainian television and posted by a Ukrainian journalist on her YouTube channel on Saturday. "The demand for a ceasefire during the Olympics. They (the Russians) must do this. That is what has always happened," the interviewer said, speaking through an interpreter.

Brazilian rightist Bolsonaro says he does not fear being put on trial

Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro said on Saturday he does not fear being put on trial, one day after a police investigation revealed the far-right politician tried to co-op the country's military chiefs in a coup plan to overturn his 2022 election defeat. Bolsonaro did not refer directly to the allegations made by two armed forces commanders that he had summoned them to discuss a possible coup d'etat to prevent leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from returning to power.

Mossad chief expected to resume Gaza ceasefire talks in Doha on Sunday

The head of Israeli intelligence is expected to lead ceasefire talks with mediators which resume in Qatar on Sunday in direct response to a new proposal from Hamas, a source close to the talks told Reuters on Saturday. The talks between Mossad head David Barnea, Qatar’s prime minister and Egyptian officials will focus on remaining gaps between Israel and Hamas including over prisoner releases and humanitarian aid, the source said.