Reuters World News Summary

Labour force participation among working-age Britons is its lowest since 2015, due to a rise in long-term illness and a greater number of students, in contrast to other large, rich nations which have seen increased participation since 2020. Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem wins 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem won the prestigious 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award on Thursday for his image of a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her five-year-old niece in the Gaza Strip.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

US stops UN from recognizing a Palestinian state through membership

The United States on Thursday effectively stopped the United Nations from recognizing a Palestinian state by casting a veto in the Security Council to deny Palestinians full membership of the world body. It vetoed a draft resolution that recommended to the 193-member U.N. General Assembly that "the State of Palestine be admitted to membership" of the U.N. Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the remaining 12 council members voted yes.

Gaza children yearn for their school days before conflict

Traumatised 10-year-old students stare at their destroyed schools in Gaza, a grim reminder of the education and time with friends in the playground lost since the war erupted over six months ago. "We would go out during recess. We would go to the classroom and walk around. The principle would come to the classrooms," said fifth grader Abed al-Qara, who was inspecting the damage with his friend Muhammed al-Fajem in Bani Suhaila, located in the east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

Lawyers select 12 jurors to serve in Trump hush-money case

Lawyers in Donald Trump's historic criminal trial on Thursday selected 12 jurors who will assess his guilt or innocence over the coming weeks in a case stemming from a hush-money payment to a porn star. Lawyers for the defense and the prosecution still must select alternate jurors for the trial, the first ever in which a former U.S. president is the defendant.

India votes in gigantic election as Modi seeks historic third term

India votes on Friday in the world's largest election as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a historic third term in office on the back of growth, welfare, his personal popularity and Hindu nationalism. The vote pits Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against an alliance of two dozen opposition parties which is challenging him with promises of increased affirmative action, more handouts and what they say is the need to save democratic institutions from Modi's dictatorial rule.

Teenager charged with terrorism over Sydney bishop stabbing

A 16-year-old boy has been charged with a terrorism offence for allegedly stabbing an Assyrian church bishop in Sydney during a church service, Australian police said on Friday, as investigations continued into a riot after the knife attack. Police from the joint counter terrorism team questioned the boy, who is in a hospital under police guard recovering from injuries, on Thursday and charged him with committing a terrorist act. If convicted, he could get a maximum penalty of imprisonment for life.

Dubai faces massive clean up after deluge swamps glitzy desert city

Dubai, a city in the desert proud of its modern gloss, faced the towering task on Thursday of clearing its waterclogged roads and drying out flooded homes two days after a record storm saw a year's rain fall in a day. Dubai International Airport, a major travel hub, struggled to clear a backlog of flights and many roads were still flooded in the aftermath of Tuesday's deluge.

UK PM Sunak to consult on tougher rules to combat 'sick note culture'

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will look at tightening the rules for long-term sick leave in a bid to reverse a rise in the number of Britons who have permanently dropped out of the workforce. Labour force participation among working-age Britons is its lowest since 2015, due to a rise in long-term illness and a greater number of students, in contrast to other large, rich nations which have seen increased participation since 2020.

Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem wins 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award

Reuters photographer Mohammed Salem won the prestigious 2024 World Press Photo of the Year award on Thursday for his image of a Palestinian woman cradling the body of her five-year-old niece in the Gaza Strip. The picture was taken on Oct. 17, 2023, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where families were searching for relatives killed during Israeli bombing of the Palestinian enclave.

UN chief: limited, 'sometimes nil' improvement from Israel action on Gaza aid

Israel's commitments to improve aid access in the Gaza Strip have had "limited and sometimes nil" impact, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Thursday as he pushed for urgent, meaningful and measurable progress to avert famine. The United Nations has long complained of obstacles to getting aid in and distributing it throughout Gaza during the six-month-old war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the enclave of 2.3 million people.

In any air war, Israel's defences would trump Iran's, but at a high cost

Ageing air defences have left Iran vulnerable to an Israeli attack if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decides to ignore global pressure not to retaliate directly for the unprecedented drone and missile salvoes of Saturday night. Setting aside the wider diplomatic and strategic costs that are likely to be the strongest deterrent to any counter-strike, experts say Israel would have little trouble hitting targets inside Iran, which has an obsolete air force and indigenous air defence systems based on ageing Russian models.

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