Reuters World News Summary

Immigration agents heard yells and banging coming from inside the vehicle when it was stopped at a checkpoint in Chiapas, INM said in a statement. US rebukes Kosovo for escalating tensions, Serbia puts army on alert The United States and allies rebuked Kosovo for escalating tensions with Serbia on Friday, saying the use of force to install mayors in ethnic Serb areas undermined efforts to improve troubled relations with neighbouring Serbia.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Erdogan defies predictions of political demise ahead of Turkey election runoff

President Tayyip Erdogan has defied forecasts of his political demise in Turkey's elections, rallying voters with a potent mix of religious conservatism and nationalism that looks set to propel his rule into a third decade on Sunday. Though he has yet to clinch victory - Erdogan must first beat Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday's runoff - his momentum has only grown since he emerged with a solid lead in the first round on May 14, and analysts fully expect him to win.

Russia's Medvedev: Ukraine conflict may last for decades, no talks with Zelenskiy

A senior ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Friday the conflict in Ukraine could last for decades and that negotiations with Ukraine were impossible as long as Ukraine's Western-backed President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was in power. Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine has triggered the deadliest European conflict since World War Two and the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Ukraine says Russia plans to simulate accident at nuclear power plant

Ukraine's defence ministry on Friday said Russia was planning to simulate a major accident at a nuclear power station controlled by pro-Moscow forces to try to thwart a long-planned Ukrainian counteroffensive to retake territory occupied by Russia. The Zaporizhzhia plant, which lies in an area of Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, is Europe's biggest nuclear power station and the area has been repeatedly hit by shelling that both sides blame each other for.

Rwanda suspect denies killings but 'sorry' over genocide

One of the Rwanda genocide's most wanted remaining suspects, accused of ordering the death of 2,000 people hiding in a church, denied on Friday any involvement though said he was "sorry" for the 1994 killings. On the run for two decades, Fulgence Kayishema was arrested on Wednesday under a false name on a grape farm in South Africa where, according to a prosecutor, fellow refugees gave him up.

US charges two in Beijing-directed targeting of Falun Gong

Two Los Angeles residents have been charged with acting in a Beijing-directed scheme targeting U.S.-based practitioners of the Falun Gong group that is outlawed in China, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday. John Chen, also known as Chen Jun, and Lin Feng were arrested in California over allegations they supported Chinese efforts to strip the tax-exempt status of a U.S. entity run by Falun Gong practitioners, the department said in a statement.

Analysis-NATO struggles in the shadows to find new leader

The race to be the next NATO boss is heating up. But it is a race run largely in the dark, with no sign of a winner yet.

Jens Stoltenberg, the transatlantic military alliance's Norwegian secretary-general, is due to step down at the end of September after nine years in post.

US says Mexico failed to stop illegal wildlife trade threatening vaquita

The U.S. interior secretary on Friday declared that Mexico has failed to halt the illegal wildlife trade threatening the world's smallest porpoise, the critically endangered vaquita, a move that opens the path for a possible trade embargo. The vaquita, native to Mexico's Gulf of California, is imperiled by black market fishing for an endangered fish called the totoaba, whose bladder is highly valued in Asia for use in traditional medicine. Mexico's government has been under pressure to crack down on this illicit fishing.

Sudan war spells more disaster for Darfur city on Chad border

When war engulfed Sudan's capital last month, it quickly spread to the western Darfur region, reigniting an old conflict and sending a wave of refugees over the border into Chad. Nasr Abdullahi sent his wife, sister and five children to Chad last week, staying behind to wait for news of a 17-year-old son in the capital Khartoum. But when his neighbour's house was burned down and gangs took over the streets, he fled too.

Mexican officials find 175 migrants in truck near southern border

Mexican authorities found 175 migrants, mostly from Guatemala, crowded into a truck trailer in the southern state of Chiapas, the National Migration Institute (INM) said on Friday, in the latest mass human smuggling incident to be detected in the country. Immigration agents heard yells and banging coming from inside the vehicle when it was stopped at a checkpoint in Chiapas, INM said in a statement.

US rebukes Kosovo for escalating tensions, Serbia puts army on alert

The United States and allies rebuked Kosovo for escalating tensions with Serbia on Friday, saying the use of force to install mayors in ethnic Serb areas undermined efforts to improve troubled relations with neighbouring Serbia. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic placed the army on full combat alert and ordered units to move closer to the border following clashes on Friday between Kosovan police and protesters opposed to the ethnic Albanian mayors.

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