Reuters World News Summary

Protests in South Africa's Johannesburg have escalated, with groups forcing undocumented immigrants from their homes and handing them to police, sparking fear and strained international relations.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

South African protesters go door-to-door forcing immigrants from their homes

Groups of anti-immigration South Africans seized foreigners from their homes in Johannesburg on Thursday and handed them to police in a hardening of protests that have sown fear in communities and strained ties with some countries. In Johannesburg's Alexandra township, a Reuters reporter saw protesters breaking down doors ​and entering houses where they believed undocumented immigrants were hiding.

Russian man pleads not guilty in US cyber espionage case

A Russian man whom U.S. prosecutors say previously worked for Russia's FSB intelligence agency pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a charge that ​he participated in a cyber espionage campaign that a technology company conducted against Western organizations. Denis Obrezko, who was extradited last month from Thailand following his arrest there in ‌November, pleaded not guilty during ​a brief virtual hearing before a federal magistrate judge in Boston after being indicted earlier this week for conspiring to commit computer fraud and abuse.

Sudan army says US peace plan must call for full RSF withdrawal from cities, documents show

The Sudanese army has conditioned any broad acceptance of a U.S. proposal for ending the country's three-year-old civil war on the full withdrawal by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces from cities it has occupied, according to documents seen by Reuters. The documents, the contents of which were confirmed by senior Sudanese officials, show that a U.S. proposal last month called for both sides to agree to an immediate 90-day humanitarian truce, allowing for negotiation of a permanent ceasefire and a civilian-led transition to elections.

From threats to praise, Trump keeps allies guessing at NATO summit

As they prepared for this week's NATO ‌summit in Ankara, the leaders of America's allies wondered which Donald Trump would join them - the friendly U.S. president who has praised the dedication of NATO allies or the testy Trump who has threatened to implode the 77-year-old alliance? It turns out they got both.

Slight earthquake hits Czech Republic, not as big as first reported

A slight earthquake of 1.8 magnitude hit the Czech Republic on Thursday, much weaker than initial reports of a 5.5 reading, geophysics agencies and Czech news agency CTK reported. German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) initially reported on its website an earthquake of magnitude 5.5 in the region of Plzen, a city 93 km (60 miles) southwest of Prague.

Spain says Trump softened rhetoric after learning of Madrid's contributions to NATO

Madrid said on Thursday U.S. President Donald Trump had softened his rhetoric on Spain, hours after threatening to halt trade with the NATO ally, because he had been made aware of a surge in Madrid's contributions to the alliance in recent years.

At a NATO summit in Ankara on Wednesday, Trump called Spain a "terrible partner" and ordered an immediate halt to all trade with the country after disputes over defence spending and the Iran war.

UK's likely next PM, ‌Andy Burnham, says he wants to put more pressure on Israel

Andy Burnham, who is expected to be named as Britain's new prime minister later this month, wants to exert more pressure on the Israeli government over its actions in Gaza, the Guardian reported on Thursday. In an interview with the newspaper, Burnham was critical of how current Prime Minister Keir Starmer had initially reacted to Israel's military campaign in Gaza in October 2023, which came after an attack on Israel by Hamas-led gunmen.

Syria says preliminary probe links Damascus bomb cell ‌to Islamic State

Preliminary investigations into the cell responsible for Tuesday's bombings in Damascus have shown it was affiliated with Islamic State, a senior Syrian security official said on Thursday. "We were able to track down one member of the cell responsible for the July 7 Damascus bombings, and by monitoring him we identified the rest of the group's members," Ahmad al-Dalati, head of internal security in the Damascus countryside, told Syrian state-run Ekhbariya TV.

New Mexico says US Justice Dept hindering probe of former Epstein ranch

New Mexico's top law enforcement official on Thursday accused the U.S. Department of Justice of hindering the state's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein by withholding unredacted files on the late sex offender. The Democratic-run state re-opened an investigation in February into activities at Epstein's former ranch south of state capital Santa Fe, where he is accused of abusing women and girls for nearly three decades.

Clashes in Ukraine's Lviv highlight wartime tensions over draft

Authorities in Ukraine launched inquiries on Thursday into violent clashes in the western city of Lviv a day earlier over the country's military draft, the latest sign of wartime tensions over the call-up in the fifth year of the war with Russia. Prosecutors said a group of people blocked on-duty draft officers late on Wednesday, overturning their car, in a fit of unrest that led to broader scuffles with police and service members.

At least 28 killed in shoe factory fire in southeast China, state media says

At ⁠least 28 people were killed in ​a fire at a shoe factory in southeastern China on Thursday, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, after flames engulfed the multi-storey building, trapping workers on the ⁠rooftop. The fire broke out at around noon local time (0400 GMT) in the city of Jinjiang in Fujian province at footwear manufacturer Huiteng.

Russia hit ammunition warehouse in Ukraine's Kyiv region, Zelenskiy says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Russia struck an ammunition warehouse during its attack on Kyiv region earlier this week, adding that a criminal probe was launched. In the small town of Vyshneve on Kyiv's western outskirts, the Russian strike hit the warehouse and set off massive secondary explosions on July 6. Ukrainian officials said 10 people were killed in Vyshneve and hundreds of houses were damaged.

Iran says it hits U.S. military targets in Gulf, buries slain leader Khamenei

Iranian armed forces launched attacks on U.S. ⁠military infrastructure in Gulf states on Thursday following U.S. strikes on Iran's southern coastal and eastern provinces, further eroding a three-week-old ceasefire. Iranian media later reported multiple explosions across southern Iran, including Bushehr, where one of the country's nuclear plants is located, along with Konarak, Choghadak and Bandar Abbas.

North Korea decides on measures to expand nuclear forces, KCNA reports

North Korea has decided on measures to strengthen its nuclear forces "quantitatively and qualitatively" as leader Kim Jong Un called for modernising its military, state media KCNA reported on Friday. The measures and Kim's remarks came during an enlarged meeting of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Military Commission on Thursday, KCNA said.

Congo Ebola response ​workers protest over pay

Ebola response workers in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo staged protests outside three treatment centres on Thursday, saying they had not been paid all they were owed for their work. The outbreak has infected 1,759 people and resulted in 600 confirmed deaths since it was declared almost two months ago, according to the latest government data released on Wednesday.

Zelenskiy says Patriot missile licences agreed with US at political level

Ukraine and the U.S. have reached a political agreement on licences for production of ⁠PAC-3 Patriot interceptors, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday, adding that key supplies of the missiles were to arrive in the next few days. The Patriot is a U.S.-made air defense system. Its PAC-3 interceptor - short for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 - is one of the few Western weapons capable of shooting down the ballistic missiles Russia has increasingly fired at Ukrainian cities.

Mexico to file criminal complaints in US over deaths of Mexicans in immigration enforcement

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday that her government plans to file criminal complaints in the U.S. regarding Mexican citizens who have died in immigration custody or while being targeted in anti-immigration operations. Fourteen Mexican nationals have died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ⁠and three ​more died in arrest operations conducted by the agency, the Mexican government said.

Exclusive-Putin likely to escalate Ukraine war, despite Trump peace push, sources say

President Vladimir Putin is rejecting calls to negotiate peace with Kyiv, three sources close to the Kremlin told Reuters, with Ukraine's recent drone strikes on Russia's oil refineries and ports strengthening his resolve to keep fighting for now. Two of the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Putin was instead likely to escalate the conflict, now well into its fifth year. One of them, who meets regularly with the president, described a “high probability" of escalation in the coming months.

UN agency says Russian strikes killed at least 265 civilians in Ukraine in June

Russian strikes killed at least 265 civilians in Ukraine and injured 1,816 in June, the highest combined casualty count since the first months after Moscow's full-scale invasion in February 2022, a top U.N. official told the Security Council on Thursday.

U.N. political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo said the number of civilians killed and injured in Ukraine in May had been the highest since April 2022, but data from the U.N.'s Office of the High Commissioner ⁠for Human Rights (OHCHR) pointed to an even higher toll in June, and possibly July.

Costa Rica's new president clashes with judiciary over tackling drug violence

A fierce standoff between Costa Rica's recently elected President Laura Fernandez and the country's judiciary is stalling a coordinated state response to violent drug-related crime in the once-peaceful Central American nation. The turmoil reflects a broader crisis across Central America, a major cocaine transit corridor to the United States, where violence and corruption have destabilized governments as criminal groups exploit institutional weaknesses, experts say.

Brazil police target executive ⁠linked to Banco Master's communication efforts

Brazil's Federal Police launched an operation targeting executive Thiago Miranda, who had been hired by banker Daniel Vorcaro to run a communications ⁠campaign in defense of the now-defunct lender Banco Master, a court ruling showed on Thursday. The latest phase of the Master probe added to a widening scandal. Vorcaro was arrested in March after Brazil's central bank liquidated the lender last year due to a liquidity crisis. His downfall has exposed a network of influence and undercut trust in public officials.

NATO weathers another Trump storm but braces for more after Ankara summit

NATO has weathered another storm from Donald Trump but European members of the military alliance are bracing for more turbulence ahead in relations with the U.S. president. It says much about the state of U.S.-European ties when a NATO summit that began with a U.S. leader ordering a cutoff in trade with one member, Spain, and rebuking others was widely hailed as a success after he re-committed to the alliance hours ‌later.

Skeptical US Democrats in Congress urge debate on Israel plans

A group of U.S. lawmakers is urging fellow ‌Democrats to block military spending legislation until the Senate debates proposals to deepen ties with Israel, highlighting growing unease within the party over support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. In a letter seen by Reuters and led by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, they urged senators to ​oppose advancing the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, until lawmakers can debate measures that would strengthen U.S.-Israel military and intelligence cooperation.