World News Roundup: Nobel Peace Prize could honour Indigenous, women or green activists; Romania bolsters defences to stop Ukraine war crossing NATO threshold and more

A pact might fall short of the cast-iron, NATO-style defence guarantees the kingdom initially sought when the issue was first discussed between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Joe Biden during the U.S. president's visit to Saudi Arabia in July 2022. Putin discusses Ukraine war with top Wagner commander Troshev Russian President Vladimir Putin was on Friday shown meeting one of the most senior former commanders of the Wagner mercenary group and discussing how best to use "volunteer units" in the Ukraine war.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Nobel Peace Prize could honour Indigenous, women or green activists

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian dissident Alexei Navalny are among favourites for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, but experts say campaigners for women, Indigenous peoples or the environment could well steal the stage. Given past form, the Norwegian Nobel Committee is also capable of a complete surprise in the Oct. 6 announcement.

Romania bolsters defences to stop Ukraine war crossing NATO threshold

Romania is moving air defences closer to its Danube villages across the river from Ukraine where Russian drones have been attacking grain facilities, and is adding more military observation posts and patrols to the area, two senior defence sources said. The measures, along with the deployment of four additional U.S. F-16 fighter jets and an expanded no-fly zone, are a sign of growing concern in Romania and the broader NATO alliance that the Ukraine war could spill over into its territory.

Suicide bombings rip through two mosques in Pakistan, killing at least 57

Suicide bombings ripped through two mosques in Pakistan on Friday, killing at least 57 people and injuring more than 60 amid events marking the birthday of the Prophet Mohammed, police and health officials said. No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts, one of which trapped dozens of people under rubble, media said. A surge in militant attacks has raised the stakes for security forces ahead of general elections set for January.

NATO says it has authorized additional forces for Kosovo

NATO said in a statement on Friday that it had "authorized additional forces to address the current situation" in Kosovo. NATO did not immediately specify how many additional forces or from which countries.

Migrants are being raped at Mexico border as they await entry to US

REYNOSA, Mexico Sept 29 (Reuters) - When Carolina's captors arrived at dawn to pull her out of the stash house in the Mexican border city of Reynosa in late May, she thought they were going to force her to call her family in Venezuela again to beg them to pay $2,000 ransom. Instead, one of the men shoved her onto a broken-down bus parked outside and raped her, she told Reuters. "It's the saddest, most horrible thing that can happen to a person," Carolina said.

Azerbaijan will allow UN experts to visit Karabakh 'in matter of days' - presidential office

Azerbaijan intends to allow a group of experts from the United Nations to visit the Karabakh region "in a matter of days", the office of a presidential adviser said on Friday. Media will also have a chance to visit Karabakh, it said, as the number of ethnic Armenians fleeing the region following Azerbaijan's lightning military offensive there reached nearly 90,000, out of an estimated population of 120,000.

Hardline Republican holdouts push U.S. government closer to shutdown

The U.S. federal government was two days from a partial shutdown on Friday, as a handful of hardline House Republicans refused to support a bipartisan stopgap spending bill meant to give lawmakers more time to negotiate a full-year deal. The National Park Service will close, the Securities and Exchange Commission will suspend most of its regulatory activities and hundreds of thousands of federal workers will be furloughed beginning at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday (0401 GMT) if Congress does not pass a spending package that can be signed into law by President Joe Biden before then.

Suspect in Rotterdam shootings had troubled past, targeted victims

A medical student suspected of shooting three people dead in Rotterdam had a history of psychotic behaviour and a conviction for animal abuse, and he likely targeted his victims intentionally, police and prosecutors said. Prosecutors said they are still investigating the suspect's motive in the shooting that took place on Thursday, but confirmed on Friday they had previously notified the Erasmus University Medical Centre (EMC) of his problematic behaviour.

Exclusive-US-Saudi defence pact tied to Israel deal, Palestinian demands put aside

Saudi Arabia is determined to secure a military pact requiring the United States to defend the kingdom in return for opening ties with Israel and will not hold up a deal even if Israel does not offer major concessions to Palestinians in their bid for statehood, three regional sources familiar with the talks said. A pact might fall short of the cast-iron, NATO-style defence guarantees the kingdom initially sought when the issue was first discussed between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Joe Biden during the U.S. president's visit to Saudi Arabia in July 2022.

Putin discusses Ukraine war with top Wagner commander Troshev

Russian President Vladimir Putin was on Friday shown meeting one of the most senior former commanders of the Wagner mercenary group and discussing how best to use "volunteer units" in the Ukraine war. The meeting underscored the Kremlin's attempt to show that the state had now gained control over the mercenary group after a failed June mutiny by its boss Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was then killed with other senior commanders in a plane crash in August.