Reuters World News Summary

The official death toll of the Aug. 8 fire that left the historic town of Lahaina in charred ruins still stands at 115 people, a number unchanged in more than two weeks. Four killed, scores wounded in Russian air strikes on Ukraine Four people were killed and scores wounded on Friday in Russian air strikes on Ukraine, including a deadly attack in which a missile slammed into a police building in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Brazilians, battered by tropical cyclone, begin to rebuild their lives

For several hours, the floodwaters rose until they swept away Miguel Rutigliano Bieleski's home, his wife and his two children. Bieleski said he only survived by clinging on to the branch of a tree. Bieleski, 35, is one of many Brazilians in the south of the country struggling to rebuild their lives after being battered by a tropical cyclone this week. Around 7,700 people are estimated to have lost their homes, according to government officials.

Johannesburg fire survivors mourn friends and family killed in blaze

Still in the clothes he was wearing when he jumped out of his burning building a week ago, Abdul Witman took a seat in the pews of Johannesburg's Central Methodist Mission church on Friday to mourn the more than 70 people killed in the blaze. The 29-year-old immigrant from Malawi said he was still waiting for the results of DNA tests to know whether the badly burnt bodies that were found in his room were those of his brother and his brother's family, with whom he lived.

Los Angeles City Council acts to spare Marilyn Monroe house from demolition

The Los Angeles City Council voted on Friday to launch a process to designate actress Marilyn Monroe's former home, where she died of a drug overdose in 1962, a historic and cultural landmark, blocking plans to demolish the property. The motion to initiate consideration of the Spanish Colonial-style house in L.A.'s Brentwood section for historic preservation was introduced by Councilwoman Traci Park and approved unanimously the same day, according to her spokesperson Jamie Paige.

Russia protests to Armenia as tensions rise over disputed Caucasus region

Russia summoned the Armenian ambassador on Friday to present a protest about what it deemed "unfriendly steps" as tension in the South Caucasus surged over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Within hours, Armenia's foreign ministry issued a statement expressing willingness to resolve disputes with Azerbaijan over the territory, focal point of two wars in the past 30 years.

Crowds camp in front of Niger French army base to press for troop departure

Hundreds of protesters have been camping outside a French military base in Niger's capital Niamey for the past six days to demand the troops' departure, the latest sign of swelling anti-French sentiment among supporters of a military coup in July. The demonstration started last Saturday, around five weeks after soldiers toppled President Mohamed Bazoum and seized power in a coup that has been widely condemned abroad but celebrated by many at home.

Mark Meadows fails in bid to move Georgia election case to federal court

Charges against Donald Trump's onetime chief of staff Mark Meadows over efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election will not be heard in federal court, a sign that similar bids by the former U.S. president and his co-defendants to move the criminal case to a more favorable venue will fail. Friday's ruling by U.S. District Judge Steve Jones denying Meadows' request to move his case from state to federal court is an early win for Fulton County, Georgia, prosecutors, who in August charged Trump and 18 others with conspiring to overturn Trump's 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.

A month after deadly Maui fire, 66 people still missing

A month after a ferocious fire razed a town in Maui, 66 people remained unaccounted for as workers continued to remove toxic debris from the burn site, a process that could take almost a year, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said on Friday. The official death toll of the Aug. 8 fire that left the historic town of Lahaina in charred ruins still stands at 115 people, a number unchanged in more than two weeks.

Four killed, scores wounded in Russian air strikes on Ukraine

Four people were killed and scores wounded on Friday in Russian air strikes on Ukraine, including a deadly attack in which a missile slammed into a police building in President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's hometown. In the latest wave of aerial attacks since Russia's invasion last year, two women and a 46-year-old man were killed in the village of Odradakamianka in the southern region of Kherson, regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

Hong Kong, Shenzhen deluged by heaviest rain on record

The heaviest rain since records began 140 years ago drenched Asian financial hub Hong Kong on Friday, killing two people and injuring more than 140, state media reported, as unusually wet weather caused by typhoons brought more disruption to southern China. As of 8:15 pm (1215 GMT) on Friday, 144 residents aged between eight and 94 years old were injured amid the heavy rainfall, the Hong Kong government said in a statement.

G20 draft declaration leaves paragraph on Ukraine blank

G20 negotiators were unable to resolve disagreements over the wording of the summit declaration on the war in Ukraine on Friday, according to a draft seen by Reuters, leaving any possible breakthrough to bloc leaders during the two-day meeting. The 38-page draft that was circulated among members left the "geopolitical situation" paragraph blank, while it had agreed on the 75 other paragraphs which included climate change, cryptocurrencies and reforms in multilateral development banks.

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