Reuters World News Summary

The award of the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize marked the pinnacle of world acclaim for the role that Gorbachev, then Soviet president, had played in ending the Cold War without bloodshed. U.S., Japanese and South Korean national security counterparts to meet this week U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts on Wednesday and Thursday in Hawaii, the White House said, amid heightened tensions in the region between China and Taiwan.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War, dies aged 91

Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War without bloodshed but failed to prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union, died on Tuesday at the age of 91, hospital officials in Moscow said. Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, forged arms reduction deals with the United States and partnerships with Western powers to remove the Iron Curtain that had divided Europe since World War Two and bring about the reunification of Germany.

Gorbachev's tragedy - a flawed reformer on an impossible mission

For all the adulation he inspired in the West, Mikhail Gorbachev was a tragic figure who failed in the historic mission he had defined for his own country. The award of the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize marked the pinnacle of world acclaim for the role that Gorbachev, then Soviet president, had played in ending the Cold War without bloodshed.

U.S., Japanese and South Korean national security counterparts to meet this week

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan will meet with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts on Wednesday and Thursday in Hawaii, the White House said, amid heightened tensions in the region between China and Taiwan. "After the trilateral meeting, Mr. Sullivan will visit the United States Indo-Pacific Command to discuss our alliances in defense of the free and open Indo-Pacific," National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

Iraqi cleric Sadr calls off protests after worst Baghdad violence in years

Powerful cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers to end their protests in central Baghdad on Tuesday, easing a confrontation which led to the deadliest violence in the Iraqi capital in years. Apologising to Iraqis after 22 people were killed in clashes between an armed group loyal to him and rival Shi'ite Muslim factions backed by Iran, Sadr condemned the fighting and gave his own followers one hour to disperse.

Zelenskiy urges Russians to 'go home' as Ukraine presses offensive in south

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged Russian troops to flee for their lives as his forces launched an offensive near the city of Kherson, saying Ukraine's military were taking back their territory though Russia said the assault had failed. Ukraine's offensive in the south comes after weeks of a stalemate in a war that has killed thousands, displaced millions, destroyed cities and caused a global energy and food crisis amid unprecedented economic sanctions.

Taiwan shoots at Chinese drone after president warns of 'strong countermeasures'

Taiwan fired warning shots at a Chinese drone which buzzed an offshore islet on Tuesday shortly after President Tsai Ing-wen said she had ordered Taiwan's military to take "strong countermeasures" against what she termed Chinese provocations. It was the first time such warning shots have been fired during a period of heightened tensions between China and Taiwan. Beijing views the island as its own territory, while Taiwan strongly disputes China's sovereignty claims.

Cataclysmic floods in Pakistan kill 1,100, including 380 children

Torrential rains and flooding have submerged a third of Pakistan and killed more than 1,100 people, including 380 children as the United Nations appealed for aid on Tuesday for what it described as an "unprecedented climate catastrophe." Army helicopters plucked stranded families and dropped food packages to inaccessible areas as the historic deluge, triggered by unusually heavy monsoon rains, destroyed homes, businesses, infrastructure and crops, impacting 33 million people, 15% of the 220 million-strong South Asian nation.

A time of hope, now dashed – former Reuters reporter recalls the Gorbachev years

Euphoria. There is no better word to describe my feelings, the feelings of many in the Soviet intelligentsia, when Mikhail Gorbachev came to power and started the reforms that the world came to know as perestroika and glasnost. It was the euphoria of liberation, freedom, hope. Changes that had seemed unthinkable were suddenly a reality, prompting a torrent of disbelieving questions. Did you know? Have you heard? Have you read...?

Saudi woman gets 45-year prison term for social media posts -rights group

A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a woman to 45 years in prison for social media posts, a rights group said, in the latest example of a crackdown on women activists that followed a visit by U.S. President Joe Biden to the kingdom. Nourah bint Saeed al-Qahtani was convicted "likely within last week" by the Saudi Specialized Criminal Court on charges of "using the internet to tear the (Saudi) social fabric" and "violating public order by using social media", Washington-based DAWN organisation said in a statement, citing court documents.

Gorbachev ended Cold War but presided over Soviet collapse

Lauded in the West as the man who helped bring down the Berlin Wall and end the Cold War without bloodshed, Mikhail Gorbachev was widely despised at home as the gravedigger of the communist Soviet Union. The former Soviet president, who died on Tuesday aged 91, set out to revitalise the sclerotic Communist system through democratic and economic reform; it was never his intention to abolish it.

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