Reuters World News Summary

Announcing the move, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that while it was for the World Court to decide whether genocide is being committed, he wanted to be clear that Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and what is happening in Gaza now "represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale." Russian delegation visits Pyongyang to discuss cooperation against spying, KCNA says A delegation of Russia's External Intelligence Bureau visited the North Korean capital of Pyongyang between Monday and Wednesday and discussed boosting cooperation against spying, state media KCNA reported on Thursday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Putin tells pilots: F16s can carry nuclear weapons but they won't change things in Ukraine

If Western countries supply Ukraine with F-16 fighters, the aircraft will not alter the situation on the battlefield, Russian news agencies quoted President Vladimir Putin as telling military pilots on Wednesday. But the fighters, he was quoted as saying, can carry nuclear weapons and Moscow would have to take account of that in its military planning.

Forest fires spread in Mexico, at least four dead

A wave of wildfires in Mexico has claimed at least four lives, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador told reporters on Wednesday. The reported deaths all come from Mexico state, the country's most populous which rings the capital, the president said. There are currently 116 forest fires burning across the nation.

Nearly 100 people still missing after Moscow attack, Russian news site says

As many as 95 people are still missing after last week's attack near Moscow when gunmen sprayed concertgoers with automatic weapons and set the venue on fire, a Russian news outlet reported on Wednesday. The official toll from the attack on Crocus City Hall now stands at 140 dead and 182 wounded. But the Baza news service, which has good contacts in Russian security and law enforcement, said 95 more people appeared in lists compiled by the emergency services based on appeals from people about missing relatives.

Israel asks US to reschedule scrapped meeting on Rafah military plans

Israel has asked the White House to reschedule a high-level meeting on military plans for Gaza's southern city of Rafah that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had abruptly canceled, officials said on Wednesday, in an apparent bid to ease tensions between the two allies. Netanyahu called off a planned visit to Washington by a senior Israeli delegation after the U.S. allowed passage of a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations on Monday, marking a new war-time low in his relations with President Joe Biden.

Russia may have used new guided bomb to attack Ukraine's Kharkiv, local officials say

Russia may have used a new type of guided bomb in airstrikes on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv that killed at least one person on Wednesday, local officials said. The officials said four children including a three-month-old baby were among 19 people wounded in Kharkiv in the latest strikes since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, some of which have caused blackouts, including in Kharkiv.

Ireland to intervene in South Africa genocide case against Israel

Ireland said on Wednesday it would intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel, in the strongest signal to date of Dublin's concern about Israeli operations in Gaza since Oct. 7. Announcing the move, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said that while it was for the World Court to decide whether genocide is being committed, he wanted to be clear that Hamas' Oct. 7 attack and what is happening in Gaza now "represents the blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale."

Russian delegation visits Pyongyang to discuss cooperation against spying, KCNA says

A delegation of Russia's External Intelligence Bureau visited the North Korean capital of Pyongyang between Monday and Wednesday and discussed boosting cooperation against spying, state media KCNA reported on Thursday. The bureau's director, Sergei E. Naryshkin, and North Koreaan Minister of State Security Ri Chang Dae briefed each other on the international and regional situation regarding the Korean peninsula and Russia, according to KCNA.

Israeli strikes on Rafah raise fear ground assault could begin

Israel bombed at least four homes in Rafah on Wednesday, raising new fear among the more than a million Palestinians sheltering in the last refuge on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip that a long-threatened ground assault could be coming. One of the airstrikes killed 11 people from a single family, health officials said.

Divers recover two bodies from harbor after Baltimore bridge collapse

Divers on Wednesday recovered the remains of two of the six workers missing since they were tossed into Baltimore Harbor from a highway bridge that collapsed into shipping lanes when a faltering cargo freighter rammed into the structure, officials said on Wednesday. The bodies were pulled from the mouth of the Patapsco River a day after the massive container ship lost power and its ability to maneuver before plowing into a support pylon of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, knocking most it into the water below.

New US sanctions target North Korean military finances

The United States on Wednesday announced sanctions on six individuals and two entities based in Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates, accusing them of channeling funds to North Korea's weapons programs. South Korea, a U.S. ally, also imposed sanctions on four of the same six individuals and the two entities.

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