World News Roundup: Blinken heads to Middle East a sixth time in Gaza diplomacy push; Unidentified gunmen open fire at Pakistan's Gwadar port, two attackers killed and more

"I am resigning as president and leader of Fine Gael effective today and will resign as the Taoiseach (prime minister) as soon as my successor is able to take up that office," Varadkar told reporters gathered outside government buildings in Dublin. Blinken begins new Middle East trip as U.S. strains with Israel show U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarked on a Middle East mission on Wednesday as strain showed in the relationship between President Joe Biden's administration and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Nuclear fusion backers meet in US capital as competition with China looms

Leaders in the emerging Western nuclear fusion industry are convening in Washington, D.C. this week seeking ways to attract more money for research to avoid falling far behind China in the race to develop and build commercially viable reactors. A funding bill signed by President Joe Biden this month contained $790 million for fusion science programs for 2024, below the more than $1 billion backers say is needed.

Unidentified gunmen open fire at Pakistan's Gwadar port, two attackers killed

Unidentified gunmen opened fire at Pakistan's Gwadar port authority complex in its restive Balochistan province, Geo News reported on Wednesday. Two attackers were killed in retaliatory firing by security personnel, the TV channel said, adding that a blast preceded the firing.

Blinken heads to Middle East a sixth time in Gaza diplomacy push

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returns to the Middle East on Wednesday for his sixth visit since the start of Israel's war with Hamas to push for a deal to secure a temporary pause in fighting and the release of hostages held by Hamas. Blinken will meet Saudi leaders in Jeddah and Egyptian leaders in Cairo to discuss talks brokered by Egypt and Qatar on an agreement as well as efforts to get more aid into Gaza, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

India to prosecute 35 pirates who hijacked ship off Somalia, navy official says

India will bring in and prosecute 35 Somali pirates its navy captured on a hijacked ship off Somalia, a navy official said, in a departure from its recent practice of rescuing vessels and crew but leaving the disarmed pirates at sea. The captured pirates are due to arrive in India on Saturday and will be handed over to the law enforcement agencies, the official said. He declined to be identified as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Ireland's Varadkar unexpectedly quits as PM

Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday he would step down as Ireland's prime minister and the leader of the governing Fine Gael party, in a surprise move which he said was for both personal and political reasons. "I am resigning as president and leader of Fine Gael effective today and will resign as the Taoiseach (prime minister) as soon as my successor can take up that office," Varadkar told reporters gathered outside government buildings in Dublin.

New fish invade the Adriatic Sea, threatening local species

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarked on a Middle East mission on Wednesday as strain showed in the relationship between President Joe Biden's administration and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Gaza, where hopes were dashed for a ceasefire in the nearly six-month-old war in time for Ramadan last week, residents of Gaza City in the north described the most intense fighting for months around the Al Shifa hospital.

New fish invade the Adriatic Sea, threatening local species

In the Jabalia refugee camp, hungry Gazans hold out pots to receive soup during the holy month of Ramadan. As other Muslims around the world consume traditional Ramadan meals and desserts to break their fast after sunset, residents of the besieged strip are lucky to find a few scraps of food, or sips of water, after more than five months of Israeli bombardment in its war with Hamas.

China tells US to not take sides on South China Sea issue

China said the United States must refrain from "stirring up trouble" or taking sides on the South China Sea issue, after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a security deal with the Manila extended to attacks on the Philippine coast guard. Blinken called the U.S. security commitment with the Philippines "ironclad", and said China's actions in the South China Sea had triggered a wider international reaction.

UN says Russia consolidates control of occupied Ukraine with ‘climate of fear’

Russia is illegally consolidating its control over occupied Ukrainian territory by creating a "climate of fear" with practices such as arbitrary detention, killings and torture, the head of a U.N. reporting mission in Ukraine told Reuters. Speaking before the release of a comprehensive UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) report on the territories Russia occupied in its full-scale invasion since 2022, the mission's head, Danielle Bell, said Russia's breaches of rights there were used to terrify local residents into co-operating.

Analysis-The Kremlin saw off Navalny - what now for Russia's opposition?

On the night he celebrated extending his rule to at least 2030, Russian President Vladimir Putin did something very unusual: for the first time in memory, he spoke the name of Alexei Navalny in public. Answering a U.S. broadcaster's question after official results from Russia's election gave him a landslide victory on Sunday, Putin described Navalny's death in an Arctic penal colony last month as a "sad event".

(With inputs from agencies.)