Reuters World News Summary

The floods that began last week, caused by unusually heavy rains, have destroyed highways and bridges in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which borders Uruguay and Argentina. Biden says US will withhold weapons from Israel if it invades Rafah President Joe Biden on Wednesday publicly warned Israel for the first time that the U.S. would stop supplying it weapons if Israeli forces make a major invasion of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Russia's biggest airstrike in weeks piles pressure on Ukraine power grid

Russian missiles and drones struck nearly a dozen Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities on Wednesday, causing serious damage at three Soviet-era thermal power plants and blackouts in multiple regions, officials said. Ukraine's air force said it shot down 39 of 55 missiles and 20 of 21 attack drones used for the attack, which piles more pressure on the energy system more than two years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

Britain and NATO allies must spend more, be tougher, UK's Cameron to say

Britain's foreign minister, David Cameron, will urge its fellow NATO members to meet their pledge to spend 2% of GDP on defence, and to be tougher and more assertive with adversaries, in a speech to be delivered on Thursday. In what is billed as his first major pronouncement as foreign secretary, Cameron will say NATO must "out-compete, out-cooperate and out-innovate", and that Britain must not only bolster existing alliances but also forge new partnerships around the globe.

UK refuses to sign global vaccine treaty, The Telegraph reports

Britain is refusing to sign the World Health Organization's (WHO) pandemic accord because the country says it would have to give away a fifth of its vaccines, the Telegraph reported on Wednesday. According to a draft of the pandemic accord being negotiated at the WHO, richer countries should be asked to pull their weight in helping the world cope with pandemics, including reserving 20% of tests, treatments and vaccines for the WHO to distribute in poorer countries during emergencies.

Pro-Palestinian protests roil university campuses from Washington to Amsterdam

Dutch riot police clashed with protesters at the University of Amsterdam on Wednesday, while scores of demonstrators at U.S. colleges were arrested overnight as the student-led protests against Israel's war in Gaza roiled more campuses on both sides of the Atlantic. In Amsterdam, protesters atop makeshift barriers of desks, bricks and wooden pallets used fire extinguishers to push back police, local television showed. Reuters video showed officers in riot gear struck protesters on the head with batons and knocked down the barricades, dragging many young students away as hundreds of others shouted "Shame on you!"

Hamas says it will not compromise further with Israel to win Gaza ceasefire

Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Wednesday it was unwilling to make more concessions to Israel in negotiations over a ceasefire for Gaza, although talks were still under way in Cairo aimed at pausing Israel's seven-month-old offensive. Israel continued tank and aerial strikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Wednesday and has threatened a major assault on it. Its forces moved in via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, cutting off a vital aid route and the only exit for the evacuation of wounded patients.

North Macedonia opposition wins big on election night

North Macedonia's right-wing opposition won big in parliamentary and presidential elections on Wednesday, on a night that saw the Balkan country also elect its first female head of state. Hundreds of jubilant supporters of the opposition VMRO-DPMNE party braved the rain outside their party headquarters in downtown Skopje waving national and party flags and dancing to folk music.

Four UK editors named in Prince Harry's phone-hacking lawsuit against Daily Mail

Four current British newspaper editors and a string of other senior press figures have been named in a privacy lawsuit brought by Prince Harry and other public figures against the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday. Harry, the younger son of King Charles, is one of seven claimants suing Associated Newspapers over allegations of voicemail interception – commonly known as phone-hacking – and other serious privacy breaches dating back 30 years.

Explainer-Why the US is stopping some bomb shipments to Israel

The United States has suspended a shipment of weapons to Israel, including heavy bombs the U.S. ally used in its campaign against Hamas militants in Gaza which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians. The suspension comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues a military assault on the Palestinian city of Rafah, over the objections of U.S. President Joe Biden.

Rains return to flooded southern Brazil, interrupting rescues

Authorities interrupted rescue efforts in flood-ravaged southern Brazil on Wednesday amid more rain and the risk of lightning and stiff winds that threaten to exacerbate a catastrophe that has already killed at least 100 people and left over 163,000 seeking shelter. The floods that began last week, caused by unusually heavy rains, have destroyed highways and bridges in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which borders Uruguay and Argentina.

Biden says US will withhold weapons from Israel if it invades Rafah

President Joe Biden on Wednesday publicly warned Israel for the first time that the U.S. would stop supplying it weapons if Israeli forces make a major invasion of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza. "I made it clear that if they go into Rafah..., I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities – that deal with that problem," Biden said in an interview with CNN.

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