Reuters World News Summary

Multiple deadly incidents have occurred globally, including a blast in Qatar's Ras Laffan complex killing 13 and injuring dozens, and Russian air strikes in Ukraine wounding six.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Thirteen dead, dozens injured, after blast inside Qatar's Ras Laffan complex

Thirteen people were killed and dozens injured in an explosion at a gas processing facility inside Qatar's massive Ras Laffan industrial complex, Qatar's energy minister said on Monday, one of the deadliest gas industry accidents in more than two decades. Liquefied natural gas facilities were not impacted by the explosion, Qatar's ​Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said. State-owned QatarEnergy is working to restart LNG operations at Ras Laffan, which were halted after an Iranian attack in March.

Russian strikes injure six in Ukraine, Kyiv issues air raid alert

Six people were wounded in Russian air strikes on Ukraine overnight, local ​authorities said, and the capital of Kyiv issued an air raid alert asking people to seek shelter in the early hours of Tuesday. Two people sought medical help after Russian forces ‌struck the southeastern region ​of Zaporizhzhia, Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram, and three more people were wounded in Sumy, in the north, late on Monday, emergency services said.

Anger mounts as Sudan's army takes in Darfur paramilitary defectors

Last month, Ali Rizkallah, a commander in the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, was welcomed to Sudan’s capital Khartoum and given a uniform and a rank in the armed forces he had spent about three years fighting. The army-affiliated government hailed his defection — the latest in a series of high-level switches that have been reshaping Sudan's alliances and boosting the military in one of the deadliest conflicts of the century.

Syria has made no progress on Sweida reintegration plan, UN says

A United Nations official warned on Monday that efforts to repair divisions and stabilise southern Syria have stalled nearly a year after deadly sectarian violence in a Druze-majority province shook the country. A U.N. investigation in March found more than 1,700 ‌people, most civilian members of the Druze religious sect and some members of the Bedouin community, were killed in southern Sweida province in July 2025. It said Syrian government forces, tribal fighters and Druze armed groups may have committed war crimes.

How Andy Burnham could try to displace Keir Starmer as UK prime minister

Andy Burnham nL1N42Q0KP, the mayor of Greater Manchester, won a parliamentary seat on Friday, a vital step towards fulfilling his ambition to replace his party colleague Keir Starmer as Labour leader and Britain's prime minister. The scale of the victory, with 54.8% of the vote, will bolster the view of some in the governing Labour Party that only he can lead Labour to defeat Nigel Farage's populist Reform UK party in a future national election.

US waives Iran sanctions after talks; Lebanon fighting abates

The United States waived sanctions on Iran for 60 days from Monday after the first talks under a nascent peace deal, while officials reported a sustained lull in fighting in Lebanon under the agreement aimed at ending hostilities across the region. The developments followed a weekend that had appeared to put the week-old accord in jeopardy, including threats from U.S. President Donald Trump to restart the war if Iran disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after Tehran ‌declared the strategic waterway closed. Tanker traffic through the strait started to pick up on Monday and oil prices resumed their slide.

Five dead after attack on Russia's Voronezh, governor says

Ukrainian missile strike on the Russian city of Voronezh on Monday killed five people and injured several dozen, regional governor Alexander Gusev said. Gusev said that an industrial site on the left bank of the Voronezh River sustained the heaviest damage. The attack sparked a fire that was later extinguished.

Alan Greenspan, US Fed 'maestro' through years of boom and bust, dies at 100

Alan Greenspan, hailed as the greatest ‌Federal Reserve chairman when he retired in 2006 but derided for a severe financial crisis that followed barely two years later, died on Monday aged 100, his wife said. Greenspan, who exerted a powerful influence on the U.S. economy during his tenure at the helm of the Fed from August 1987 to January 2006, died at his home from complications of Parkinson's Disease, Andrea Mitchell said in a statement.

Trump signs orders calling for powerful quantum computer, targeting 2028

U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a push to build a powerful quantum computer for scientific research and speed efforts to protect government systems from related cyber threats, bolstering U.S. efforts in its race with China for a technology that could upend science and cybersecurity. "We believe this can happen by 2028," Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said in a call previewing the moves and referring to the quantum computer.

Trump allies defend him to Israelis anxious over Iran deal

American allies of President Donald Trump this week defended him to an Israeli public anxious about a U.S. interim deal with Iran and White House criticism that together appeared to signal fissures in Israel's decades-old alliance with Washington. The U.S.-Israeli relationship has been on a roller coaster, from the early confidence they shared after their joint attack on Iran to public disagreements between Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how to end the four-month-old war.

Trump: 'I will do what I have to do' if Iran does not stick to deal

U.S. President ⁠Donald Trump said on Monday "I will ​do what I have to do" if Iran does not stick to its agreement with Washington. "If Iran doesn't live up to their agreement, or if they're not behaving, ⁠I will do what I have to do," Trump told reporters.

US authorizes Iranian oil sales amid talks on final peace deal

The United States authorized Iranian oil sales on Monday, easing decades-old sanctions as it pushes toward a final peace deal with Tehran in return for commitments on nuclear inspections and free transit through the Strait of Hormuz. The general license, announced by the Treasury Department, allows the sale of crude oil and petrochemical and petroleum products of Iranian origin through August 21.

UNAIDS chief urges US to reconsider South Africa funding cut

The head of UNAIDS said on Monday she was saddened by U.S. plans to withdraw HIV/AIDS funding for South Africa and urged Washington to reconsider, warning the move could cost lives ⁠in the country with the largest number of people infected with the virus. Winnie Byanyima also told a U.N. news briefing ahead of a high-level U.N. conference on HIV/AIDS that broader global aid cuts risked reversing decades of progress against the disease.

US judge shuts down DOJ immigration probe into Walz, Minnesota officials

A U.S. judge found that the Trump administration unlawfully demanded information from several Minnesota officials at the height of its immigration crackdown in the state earlier this year, ruling that the Justice Department had abused the investigative process. The ruling by Minnesota-based U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz quashed subpoenas to the office of the state's Democratic Governor Tim Walz and five other local and state offices, according to ​an order made public on Monday.

All US passengers from hantavirus-hit ship return to home states

The University of Nebraska Medical Center said on Monday all 18 U.S.-resident passengers from the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius cruise ship have returned to their home states after completing monitoring at its National Quarantine Unit. Sixteen of those passengers arrived on May 11 following their trip on the cruise ship associated with a hantavirus outbreak, it said. Two more former passengers arrived at the National Quarantine Unit on May 15.

North Korea's Kim says country will exercise its ⁠position as nuclear state, KCNA reports

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said exercising the country's position as a nuclear state is the only way to cope with an unpredictable and complicated global security situation, KCNA state news agency reported on Tuesday. "Unimaginable, astonishing incidents and events" are occurring because of the "gangster-like" greed of hegemonic forces, making confrontations around the world more violent, Kim said, blaming the U.S. for worsening bloodshed in Europe and the Middle East.

From sidelines to centre stage, Andy Burnham on course to be UK's next prime minister

Four years ago Andy Burnham complained he was repeatedly denied a main-stage speaking slot at the Labour Party conference under Prime Minister Keir Starmer's leadership, saying it was a sign of disrespect for his then position as Greater Manchester mayor. There was some sympathy ⁠for ​one of Labour's most popular politicians, but now, as he seeks to become Britain's seventh prime minister in a decade, Burnham must prove he can occupy that centre stage, win over restless voters and overcome the economic constraints that hamstrung his predecessors.

US Supreme Court restores conviction in 1979 Etan Patz missing-child case

The U.S. Supreme Court reinstated on Monday the 2017 murder conviction of a man in the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City, one of the most notorious U.S. missing-child cases. The justices in a 6-3 ruling granted a request by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to overturn a lower court's decision that threw out a jury's verdict that former local delicatessen worker Pedro Hernandez kidnapped and murdered Patz.

Ukraine may recalibrate its offer of ceasefire with Russia, envoy tells UN

Ukraine may revise its offer to Russia of a ceasefire along the de facto frontline if the United Nations Security Council fails to pass a resolution urging a full and unconditional end to the hostilities, a top Ukrainian official said on Monday. Ukraine's envoy to the UN, Andrii Melnyk, spoke during a lengthy session of the UN Security Council, the sixth such meeting called to address the war in recent months.

Analysis-De ⁠La Espriella's win in Colombia cements Latin America's rightward shift

Colombia has swung to the right, electing nationalist lawyer and political newcomer Abelardo De La Espriella as president, accelerating a rightward shift rippling across Latin America. In Peru, where authorities have been slowly counting contested ballots from the June 7 presidential runoff, conservative Keiko Fujimori is projected to win by just over 0.2%, securing the presidency after three failed attempts.

Gazans flee scorching tents for a polluted sea

Residents of the Gaza Strip have been flocking from suffocating tents to the territory's polluted Mediterranean shore to bathe and ⁠wash their clothes, as summer temperatures rise and fresh water remains hard to come by. Nearly all Gaza's population was displaced during two years of war between Israel and Hamas, ⁠with Gazans now crammed into a narrow strip along the coast, mainly in tents and damaged buildings.

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS found to be up to 12 billion years old

Scientists studying the comet 3I/ATLAS have determined that this interstellar visitor is remarkably ancient – formed an estimated 10 to 12 billion years ago in a primordial planetary system – and has a composition unlike anything in our solar system. An evaluation of the chemical make-up of 3I/ATLAS – only the third interstellar object ever spotted in the solar system – provided guidance about the physical and chemical conditions in the planetary system where it formed, the researchers said.

At least 18 dead in France, including two children in hot car, as Europe bakes

At least 18 people died in France, including two children left in a hot car, as a heatwave hung over Europe, smashing temperature records in several cities on Monday. As schools in France closed or modified ‌timetables, forecasters in Britain predicted temperatures could break records for June this week.

Ebola infects more than 1,000 ‌in Congo, spreads to kill toddler in new camp

Ebola has now infected more than 1,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in an outbreak that has spread to a third displacement camp and killed an 18-month-old girl, official reports showed. The confirmed death count stood at 254, Congo's government said late ​on Sunday, more than a month after the declaration of the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain that has no approved treatment or vaccine.