Reuters World News Summary

The pledge is the first real promise of F-16's for Ukraine's armed forces and comes a few days after the United States approved the possible delivery of the fighter jets by the two countries. Canada to deploy armed forces in British Columbia to tackle fast-spreading fires Canada is sending armed forces to tackle fast-spreading wildfires in British Columbia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday, as the western province deals with flames that have put more than 35,000 people under evacuation order.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

The doctors, dentists and anthropologists striving to identify Maui's victims

Inside a temporary morgue near the Maui County coroner's office, a team of specialists – including forensic pathologists, X-ray technicians, fingerprint experts and forensic dentists – labor 12 hours a day to identify the charred remains of the victims of this month's cataclysmic wildfire. They are members of the federal Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team program, or DMORT, deployed when a mass fatality incident overwhelms local authorities.

Ukrainians torn by evacuation calls as Russian shells fall in northeast

Ukrainians living in the northeastern Kupiansk district close to Russia's border on Sunday found themselves torn between the will to stay and protect what they have built and the desire to flee from Russian artillery fire. "If you said the evacuation is going well," Dmytro Lozhenko, who runs a volunteer group that helps civilians flee the fighting, said on television, "It would sound like a bit of sarcasm."

Political tensions high as Guatemalans vote in presidential run-off

Guatemalans voted on Sunday in a presidential run-off election that many hope will signal an end to democratic backsliding that took place under previous administrations. Recent polls have predicted that Bernardo Arevalo, a center-left candidate running on an anti-graft message, will trounce establishment figure and former first lady Sandra Torres. That outcome could usher in a new era after widespread allegations of corruption and creeping authoritarianism in recent years.

Netherlands, Denmark commit to delivering F-16s to Ukraine

The Netherlands and Denmark will supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine with first deliveries due around New Year, the prime ministers of the two NATO countries announced on Sunday during visits by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy. The pledge is the first real promise of F-16's for Ukraine's armed forces and comes a few days after the United States approved the possible delivery of the fighter jets by the two countries.

Canada to deploy armed forces in British Columbia to tackle fast-spreading fires

Canada is sending armed forces to tackle fast-spreading wildfires in British Columbia, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday, as the western province deals with flames that have put more than 35,000 people under evacuation order. British Columbia declared a state of emergency and imposed a ban of non-essential travel to free up accommodations for evacuees and firefighters, and urged drone operators and others capturing images of the fires to stay clear of the rescue workers.

Integrity of Ecuador's presidential vote unaffected by cyber attacks, authorities say

Polls closed in Ecuador's presidential and legislative election on Sunday after a campaign darkened by bloodshed, amid voter hopes the winner will bring the country out of a spiral of violence and economic troubles. A webpage set up for some Ecuadoreans living abroad to cast their ballots suffered cyber attacks, the head of the National Electoral Council said, but the integrity of the vote was not affected by the issue.

China investigates citizen accused of spying for the CIA - state media

China has launched an investigation of a Chinese national accused of spying for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday.

Russia's first lunar mission in 47 years smashes into the moon in failure

Russia's first moon mission in 47 years failed when its Luna-25 space craft spun out of control and crashed into the moon after a problem preparing for pre-landing orbit, underscoring the post-Soviet decline of a once mighty space programme. Russia's state space corporation, Roskosmos, said it had lost contact with the craft at 11:57 GMT on Saturday after a problem as the craft was shunted into pre-landing orbit. A soft landing had been planned for Monday.

Pakistan's president refuses to sign new national security laws

Pakistan's President Arif Alvi said on Sunday he had refused to sign into law two bills that would give authorities more power to prosecute people for acts against the state and military, a move the law ministry said was unconstitutional. The bills have already been passed by both houses of Pakistan's parliament but Alvi is a member of former prime minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, which opposes the coalition government that passed the two bills.

North Korea's Kim inspects cruise missile test as South Korea-US military drills begin

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has overseen a test of strategic cruise missiles, state media KCNA said on Monday, as South Korea and the United States kicked off annual military drills which Pyongyang sees as a rehearsal of war. Kim visited a navy fleet stationed on the east coast to inspect the test aboard a warship, KCNA said, without specifying the date of his trip.

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