Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Russia breached global chemical weapons ban in Ukraine war, US says

The United States on Wednesday accused Russia of violating the international chemical weapons ban by deploying the choking agent chloropicrin against Ukrainian troops and using riot control agents "as a method of warfare" in Ukraine. "The use of such chemicals is not an isolated incident and is probably driven by Russian forces' desire to dislodge Ukrainian forces from fortified positions and achieve tactical gains on the battlefield," the State Department said in a statement.

Harvey Weinstein will be retried in New York after rape conviction overturned

Former Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein will be retried in New York, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said in court on Wednesday, a week after the state's highest court threw out his 2020 rape conviction. Weinstein appeared in court before Judge Curtis Farber in a wheelchair and a black suit, more than four years after his conviction was hailed as a milestone for the #MeToo movement, in which women accused hundreds of men in entertainment, media, politics and other fields of sexual misconduct.

Israel state watchdog calls on Netanyahu, military chief to cooperate in Oct. 7 probe

Israel's state auditor on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of the armed forces to cooperate with an official investigation into how Hamas was able to stage the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that sparked the Gaza war. State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said in the early days of the war that he intended to investigate the events around the Oct. 7 attack, the deadliest single day in the country's 75-year history.

Venezuelan public employees to receive $130 per month in bonuses

Public employees in Venezuela will receive $130 per month in bonuses, President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday, amid demands by workers for salary increases and months ahead of presidential elections in which Maduro is seeking a third term. Maduro gave scant details in his announcement, but ruling party lawmaker Francisco Torrealba later said on social media that bonuses will be paid out in local bolivars equivalent to set amounts in U.S. dollars.

Georgian police disperse protesters as parliament approves 'foreign bill' second reading

Georgia's parliament on Wednesday approved the second reading of a bill on "foreign agents" that has been criticised as Kremlin-inspired, as police fired tear gas and stun grenades to clear a large crowd of protesters opposed to the draft law. The bill, which would require organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence, has sparked a rolling political crisis in the South Caucasus country.

US Democrats press Biden to prevent Israeli assault on Rafah

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration faced renewed pressure on Wednesday from his fellow Democrats to influence Israel not to launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah, the city where almost half of the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million people have taken refuge. Fifty-seven of the 212 Democrats in the House of Representatives signed a letter calling on the administration to take every possible measure to dissuade Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government from an all-out assault on the city near the Egyptian border.

Violence flares at UCLA as police end protests at New York's Columbia

Mounting tensions on U.S. campuses boiled over on Wednesday when pro-Israel supporters attacked an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters at UCLA, hours after police arrested activists who occupied a building at Columbia University and cleared a tent city from its campus. Eyewitness videos from the University of California at Los Angeles, verified by Reuters, showed people wielding sticks or poles to hammer on wooden boards being used as makeshift barricades to protect the pro-Palestinian protesters before police were called to the campus.

Tens of thousands of Colombians march in support of Petro's reforms

Tens of thousands of people marched in Colombia's biggest cities on Wednesday to support reforms proposed by President Gustavo Petro which he says will tackle inequality, but which have struggled to win congressional approval. The demonstrations mark the latest in a series of tit-for-tat rallies convened by the opposition against the reforms, which they argue are economically damaging, and also by Petro, the country's first leftist leader, in favor of them.

Kenya flood toll rises to 181 as homes and roads are destroyed

Floods and landslides across Kenya have killed 181 people since March, with hundreds of thousands forced to leave their homes, the government and Red Cross said on Wednesday, as dozens more were killed in neighbouring Tanzania and Burundi. Torrential rain and floods have destroyed homes, roads, bridges and other infrastructure across the region. The death toll in Kenya exceeds that from floods triggered by the El Nino weather phenomenon late last year.

US judge blocks some North Carolina restrictions on abortion pill

A federal judge has struck down parts of a North Carolina law restricting patients' access to the abortion pill mifepristone, which has become the subject of legal battles nationwide. Chief U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles on Tuesday struck down the state's requirements that mifepristone be prescribed only by doctors and only in person, as well as a requirement that patients have an in-person follow-up appointment. She said the requirements conflicted with federal law because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously considered and rejected them.

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