Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Casualties reported in Chad from gunfire celebrating junta leader's victory

Several people were hurt and some may have been killed in gunfire celebrating Chad's interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby's declared election victory on Thursday, an Amnesty International representative said, citing reports from partners.

Overnight, volleys of shots could be heard in the capital N'Djamena in the hours after the state election agency announced Deby had won a hefty 61.3% of the May 6 vote, even as his main challenger rejected the result and called for protests.

UN General Assembly set to back Palestinian bid for membership

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday is set to back a Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member by recognizing it as qualified to join and sending the application back to the U.N. Security Council to "reconsider the matter favorably." The Palestinians are reviving their bid to become a full U.N. member - a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state - after the United States vetoed it in the 15-member U.N. Security Council last month.

Mozambique's president says northern town under Islamist attack

Mozambique's army is fighting Islamist insurgents who launched a major attack on the northern town of Macomia on Friday morning, President Filipe Nyusi said in a televised address. The town is in Cabo Delgado, a gas-rich northern province where Islamic State-linked militants started an insurgency in 2017. Despite a large security response, there has been a surge in attacks since January this year.

Analysis-Ukraine peace summit pushes neutral Swiss toward Western embrace

An upcoming Ukraine peace summit, ostensibly the most ambitious bid in years by neutral Switzerland to mediate a major conflict, is instead showing how Swiss economic and security interests increasingly align with Western Europe over Russia. This is the view of both Swiss advocates of closer cooperation with Western powers and nationalist opponents who say Switzerland is abandoning its neutral tradition and should limit the scope for foreign entanglements.

Israel strikes eastern Rafah as ceasefire talks end with no deal

Israeli forces bombarded areas of Rafah on Thursday, Palestinian residents said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed U.S. President Joe Biden's threat to withhold weapons from Israel if it assaults the southern Gaza city. A senior Israeli official said late on Thursday that the latest round of indirect negotiations in Cairo to halt hostilities in Gaza had ended and Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned.

UN agency closes East Jerusalem compound after arson

The main United Nations aid agency for Palestinians closed its headquarters in East Jerusalem after local Israeli residents set fire to areas at the edge of the sprawling compound on Thursday, the agency said. Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNWRA, said in a post on the social media platform X that he had decided to close the compound until proper security was restored. He said Thursday's incident was the second in less than a week.

Analysis-Why German politicians are facing growing violence

The black-clad attackers beat up Matthias Ecke so badly as he put up posters in Dresden that he needed surgery. In Nordhorn, a man threw eggs at a lawmaker then punched him in the face. In Berlin, a pensioner hit a senator on the head with a bag. Just three of the assaults that German politicians have suffered over the past week as campaigns get underway for European Parliament and district council elections.

India's opposition jubilant as Modi critic Kejriwal gets bail to campaign in elections

India's top court gave temporary bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a graft case on Friday, allowing him to campaign in the ongoing general elections, boosting the opposition alliance of which he is a prominent figure. The Supreme Court said Kejriwal - a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi - would be out on bail until June 1, the last day of the nationwide seven-phase vote, and would have to return to pre-trial detention on June 2.

Turkey reopens ancient church with prized mosaics to Muslim worship

Turkey has opened the ancient Chora church, one of Istanbul's most celebrated Byzantine buildings, to Muslim worshippers after it was used as a museum for more than 70 years, making it the second such major conversion under President Tayyip Erdogan. Erdogan, a champion of pious Muslims in Turkey and head of a party with Islamist roots, turned Istanbul's world-renowned Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque in 2020 in a ceremony attended by tens of thousands of people.

Philippines calls for expelling Chinese diplomats as South China Sea row escalates

The Philippines' national security adviser called on Friday for Chinese diplomats to be expelled over an alleged leak of a phone conversation with a Filipino admiral in a significant escalation of a bitter row over the South China Sea. China's embassy in Manila had orchestrated "repeated acts of engaging and dissemination of disinformation, misinformation and malinformation", with the objective of sowing discord, division and disunity, Eduardo Ano said in a statement.

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