Reuters World News Summary

Hurricane Otis pounded Acapulco with winds of 165 miles per hour (266 km per hour) on Wednesday, flooding the city, tearing roofs from homes, stores and hotels, submerging vehicles, and severing communications as well as road and air connections. Maine shooting suspect found dead in cargo trailer, motive still a mystery The U.S. Army reservist who sprayed a bowling alley and bar with gunfire this week in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people, took his own life inside a cargo trailer parked on the lot of a recycling plant where he once worked, police said on Saturday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Home countries of major rainforests agree to work together to save them

Countries that are home to the world's three major rainforests agreed on Saturday to cooperate to overcome deforestation and safeguard biodiversity but fell short of a concrete alliance to protect the vital carbon sinks. The announcement came on the final day of the Congo Republic-hosted Three Basins summit, which brought together presidents, NGOs, technical experts, and finance sector officials to strengthen governance and preservation of the Amazon, the Congo basin, and forests in Southeast Asia.

Mexico hurricane death toll hits 39; president slams critics

The death toll from a devastating hurricane this week in the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco has risen to 39, the government said on Saturday, as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador accused his opponents of overblowing the extent of the disaster. Hurricane Otis pounded Acapulco with winds of 165 miles per hour (266 km per hour) on Wednesday, flooding the city, tearing roofs from homes, stores and hotels, submerging vehicles, and severing communications as well as road and air connections.

Maine shooting suspect found dead in cargo trailer, motive still a mystery

The U.S. Army reservist who sprayed a bowling alley and bar with gunfire this week in Lewiston, Maine, killing 18 people, took his own life inside a cargo trailer parked on the lot of a recycling plant where he once worked, police said on Saturday. Robert R. Card, 40, was found dead on Friday evening from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said late Friday night. The announcement, after a 48-hour search for the suspect in the most lethal act of firearms violence in the state's history, brought a sense of relief to Lewiston and other southern Maine communities plunged into a virtual lockdown during the manhunt.

Bangladesh opposition protest turns violent amid calls for PM to resign

One police officer was killed in Bangladesh on Saturday and over 100 people injured during an opposition party protest demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and calling for a free and fair vote under a caretaker government. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets as clashes erupted when tens of thousands of supporters of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) gathered in the capital Dhaka, chanting slogans against the government.

Qatar-led negotiations between Israel and Hamas continue -source

Qatar-mediated negotiations between Israel and Hamas aimed at de-escalating fighting in Gaza continued on Saturday, a source briefed on the negotiations said, even as Israel intensified its assault on the enclave. Talks have not broken down, but are taking place at a "much slower pace" than before the escalation from Friday evening, the source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of negotiations.

Vatican synod ends without clear stances on women deacons, LGBT

A month-long Vatican meeting on the future of the Roman Catholic Church ended on Saturday without clear stands on hot-button issues such as women deacons and welcoming the LGBT community. The gathering, known as a Synod of Bishops, followed an unprecedented two-year canvassing of rank-and-file Catholics. The 365 synod participants included 300 bishops along with lay men and about 50 women who were mostly lay people.

At least 32 dead, 14 missing after ArcelorMittal mine fire in Kazakhstan

At least 32 people have died and 14 remain missing after a mine fire in Kazakhstan, the Ministry for Emergency Situations said on Saturday. Operator ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the local unit of Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal, said 206 of 252 people at the Kostenko mine had been evacuated after what appeared to be a methane blast.

Israel presses ground campaign against Hamas in 'second stage' of Gaza war

Israeli forces waged ground operations against Hamas in Gaza on Sunday in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the second phase of a three-week-old war aimed at crushing the Palestinian militant group. Gaza's besieged residents faced a near-total communications and Internet blackout as Israel's warplanes dropped bombs and its troops and armour pushed into the Hamas-ruled enclave, with Israeli military chiefs signalling they were gearing up for an expanded ground offensive.

Hepatitis outbreak closes schools, sends scores to hospital in Ukraine's Vinnytsia

Schools will move to an online regime starting Monday in Ukraine's central city of Vinnytsia after a Hepatitis A outbreak sent scores of children and adults to the hospital, the country's chief sanitary official said over the weekend. "The main thing now is to establish the centre of the outbreak and the causes in order to stop the spread of the viral Hepatitis A among the population as soon as possible," Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Ihor Kuzin wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

Musk says Starlink to provide connectivity in Gaza for aid organizations

Elon Musk said on Saturday that SpaceX's Starlink will support communication links in Gaza with "internationally recognized aid organizations", prompting Israel's communication minister to say Israel would fight the move. Musk said in a post on social media platform X that it was not clear who has authority for ground links in Gaza, but we do know that "no terminal has requested a connection in that area".

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