World News Roundup: North Korea's Kim shows off banned missiles to Russian minister; At least eight dead after silo explosion in southern Brazil and more

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Car carrier still burning off Dutch coast as hunt for cause begins

A burning car carrier was drifting off the Dutch coast on Thursday, the coastguard said, a day after the Panamanian-registered ship caught alight, causing the death of an Indian crew member and injuring several others. The 199-metre (653 ft) Fremantle Highway caught fire overnight Tuesday and several of the 23 crew jumped overboard to escape the flames and were rescued by the Dutch coastguard.

Wegovy weight-loss injection factory plagued by sterile-safety failures

The factory that fills the self-injection pens for booming weight-loss drug Wegovy has repeatedly breached U.S. sterile-safety rules in recent years and staff have failed to perform required quality checks, a Reuters review of regulatory documents shows. The breaches at Catalent, the Wegovy pen filler, were found by inspectors from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration who visited the plant in Brussels in October 2021 and August 2022 to check on its compliance with manufacturing regulations, according to detailed FDA reports on the inspections, obtained by Reuters under freedom of information laws.

Explainer-Russia and North Korea forge closer ties amid shared isolation

Russia's defence minister was photographed this week viewing banned North Korean ballistic missiles with leader Kim Jong Un at a military expo in Pyongyang, signalling deeper ties between the two countries as they face off with the United States. As Russia's isolation over its war in Ukraine has grown, it has seen increasing value in North Korea. For North Korea's part, relations with Russia haven't always been as warm as they were during the heady days of the Soviet Union, but now the country is reaping clear benefits from Moscow's need for friends.

North Korea's Kim shows off banned missiles to Russian minister

Russia's defence minister accompanied North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to a defence exhibition that featured the North's banned ballistic missiles as the neighbours pledged to boost ties, North Korean state media reported on Thursday. The Russian minister, Sergei Shoigu, and a Chinese delegation led by a Communist Party politburo member arrived in North Korea this week for the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War celebrated in North Korea as "Victory Day".

The Swedish state does not condone Koran burnings, foreign minister says

The Swedish state does not sanction or condone Koran burnings but they are permitted by Swedish freedom of speech laws, Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said on Thursday. "In some countries there is a perception that the Swedish state is behind or condone this. We don't," Billstrom told reporters.

At least eight dead after silo explosion in southern Brazil

At least eight people have died and another is still missing after a silo exploded on Wednesday at an agricultural co-operative in southern Brazil, the government of Parana state said in a statement on Thursday. The explosion happened at the C.Vale co-operative in the small town of Palotina, about 600 kilometers (373 miles) away from the state's capital Curitiba. Parana is one of Brazil's top grain producing states.

Russia hits port infrastructure in Ukraine's Odesa region - governor

Russian forces struck port infrastructure in Ukraine's Odesa region in an overnight missile attack, killing a security guard and damaging a cargo terminal, the region's governor said on Thursday. Odesa's ports have been regular targets for Russian attacks since Moscow withdrew on July 17 from a U.N.-brokered deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be exported via the Black Sea.

Niger's army command declares support for military coup

Niger's army command on Thursday declared its support for a coup carried out the previous day by soldiers of the presidential guard, saying its priority was to avoid destabilising the country. Hundreds of supporters of the coup gathered in front of the National Assembly in the capital Niamey, playing pro-army music under an overcast sky left by heavy morning showers.

Israel president urges calm amid plans for further protest at judicial overhaul

Israel's president urged both sides of a dispute over moves to overhaul the judiciary to refrain from any violence, using the occasion of a Jewish fast on Thursday to appeal for reconciliation as protesters planned more demonstrations. The plans being pursued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government have prompted months of unprecedented protests, opened up a deep divide in Israeli society, and strained the loyalties of some army reservists.

Prince Harry’s trial against Murdoch tabloids to go ahead, but hacking claims too old

Prince Harry can take some of his lawsuit against media magnate Rupert Murdoch's tabloids to trial, London's High Court ruled on Thursday, but claims of decades-old phone hacking were thrown out for being filed too late. The court also rejected one of Harry's central arguments, that there had been a "secret deal" struck between Buckingham Palace and Murdoch's newspaper group to keep quiet the illegal hacking into voicemails of royals' mobile phones.

 

(With inputs from agencies.)