Reuters World News Summary

Bhatia, who works in the plywood business, said that just before the trains crashed, leaving nearly 300 dead, some people were getting ready to sleep. Fresh protests rock Senegal as death toll climbs New clashes broke out on Saturday between Senegalese opposition supporters and police in parts of the capital Dakar, the third day of protests in the West African nation sparked by the prosecution of an opposition leader.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Turkey's Erdogan signals economic U-turn in picking orthodox Simsek

President Tayyip Erdogan signalled on Saturday his newly-elected government would return to more orthodox economic policies when he named Mehmet Simsek to his cabinet to tackle Turkey's cost-of-living crisis and other strains. Simsek's appointment as treasury and finance minister could set the stage for interest rate hikes in coming months, analysts said - a marked turnaround from Erdogan's longstanding policy of slashing rates despite soaring inflation.

Uganda says 54 soldiers killed by al Shabaab in Somalia

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni said on Saturday that 54 Ugandan peacekeepers were killed in an attack last week by militant group al Shabaab on a military base in Somalia. Museveni said the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) had since recaptured the base from the Islamist group.

Prigozhin says Kremlin factions are destroying the Russian state

Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin said on Saturday that Kremlin factions were destroying the state by trying to sow discord between him and Chechen fighters. That row had now been settled but infighting in the Kremlin had opened a Pandora's Box of rifts, he said.

India's worst train crash in decades kills at least 288

At least 288 people have died in India's worst rail crash in over two decades, officials said on Saturday, after a passenger train went off the tracks and hit another one in an accident a preliminary report blamed on signal failure. One train in Friday's accident also hit a freight train parked nearby in the district of Balasore in Odisha state in the east of the country, leaving a tangled mess of smashed rail cars and injuring 803.

India train crash survivor recounts: 'We thought we were dead'

Ompal Bhatia, a survivor of the three-train crash in India on Friday, had first thought he was dead. When the train he was traveling in went off-track, Bhatia was with three friends on his way to Chennai for work. The 25-year-old had spent most of the four-hour journey on the Coromandel Express standing. Bhatia, who works in the plywood business, said that just before the trains crashed, leaving nearly 300 dead, some people were getting ready to sleep.

Fresh protests rock Senegal as death toll climbs

New clashes broke out on Saturday between Senegalese opposition supporters and police in parts of the capital Dakar, the third day of protests in the West African nation sparked by the prosecution of an opposition leader. Police said the death toll since Thursday had risen to 15, making the protests among the deadliest in recent decades. Two members of the security forces were among those killed, according to the presidency.

Purification rite in St. Peter's after naked man desecrated pope's altar

A special purification rite was held at the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica on Saturday after it was desecrated by a man who stood on it naked to protest against the war in Ukraine.

The prayer service, known as a penitential rite and required by Canon law, was led by the basilica's archpriest, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti.

North Korea slams UN meeting on satellite launch, 'robbery' US demand

North Korea denounced the U.N. Security Council for holding a meeting on its recent satellite launch upon "robbery demands" from the U.S., vowing to continue rejecting sanctions and taking "self-defensive" action, state media KCNA said on Sunday. The U.S. called for a UNSC meeting last week to discuss North Korea's attempt to put its first spy satellite in orbit, which ended in failure with the booster and payload plunging into the sea.

Twenty injured, others trapped in blast near Ukrainian city of Dnipro

An explosion near the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Saturday hit a two-storey dwelling, injuring 20 people including five children, and rescuers pulled residents out from under the rubble, the regional governor said. Serhiy Lysak, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said three of the children were in serious condition. A total of 17 people were being treated in hospital.

UK's Sunak says he wants to build on Biden ties in Washington trip

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Saturday he wanted to foster a "close and candid relationship" with U.S. President Joe Biden during a visit to Washington next week that comes after some signs of strains in bilateral ties. Sunak is due to be in the U.S. capital on Wednesday and Thursday for talks with politicians in Congress and business leaders as well as with the president.

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