Reuters World News Summary

In a joint statement sent via their FUTPRO union, all 23 of the cup-winning squad including Hermoso, as well as 32 other squad members, said they would not play internationals while Rubiales remains head of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). Kremlin calls accusations it killed Wagner boss Prigozhin an 'absolute lie' The Kremlin said that Western suggestions Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had been killed on its orders were an "absolute lie" while declining to definitively confirm his death, citing the need to wait for test results.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Taiwan reports renewed Chinese military activity, planes in 'response' zone

Taiwan's defence ministry reported renewed Chinese military activity around the island on Friday, including 13 aircraft entering Taiwan's "response" zone and five ships carrying out combat readiness patrols. China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has complained for the past three years of increased military pressure from Beijing.

Niger junta expels French ambassador

Niger's junta, which seized power in a coup on July 26, said on Friday it had ordered French ambassador Sylvain Itte to leave the country within 48 hours, as relations between the West African country and its former colonial ruler deteriorated further. Like recent coups in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, the military takeover in Niger came amid a growing wave of anti-French sentiment, with some locals accusing the European country of interfering in their affairs.

Stampede at Madagascar's national stadium kills 12, injures around 80 -PM

A stampede of sports fans trying to enter Madagascar's national stadium for the opening ceremony of the Indian Ocean Island Games has killed 12 and injured around 80, the prime minister said on Friday. Videos shared on social media showed Red Cross workers caring for dozens of injured people next to the athletics track.

Soccer-Spain team quits as federation boss refuses to resign in kiss scandal

Spanish soccer boss Luis Rubiales on Friday refused to resign for grabbing star player Jenni Hermoso's head and kissing her on the lips after Spain's Women's World Cup victory, leading the national team to mutiny and the government to denounce his "macho actions". In a joint statement sent via their FUTPRO union, all 23 of the cup-winning squad including Hermoso, as well as 32 other squad members, said they would not play internationals while Rubiales remains head of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF).

Kremlin calls accusations it killed Wagner boss Prigozhin an 'absolute lie'

The Kremlin said that Western suggestions Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin had been killed on its orders were an "absolute lie" while declining to definitively confirm his death, citing the need to wait for test results. Russia's aviation authority has said that Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, was on board a private jet which crashed on Wednesday evening northwest of Moscow with no survivors.

No DeSantis debate bounce, but some Republicans more open to him -Reuters/Ipsos

Donald Trump leads Ron DeSantis by nearly 40 percentage points in the race for the Republican presidential nomination even after declining to debate the Florida governor and other rivals, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that closed on Friday.

The survey found that half of Republican respondents who followed the party's first debate on Wednesday were more open to DeSantis' bid - good news for a campaign banking on the event boosting his profile after a summer slide in opinion polls.

Boko Haram frees 49 women kidnapped in Nigeria's Borno state

Forty-nine women kidnapped by Boko Haram earlier in the week near Maiduguri, in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state, regained their freedom early on Friday after a state official paid a ransom for their release, two of the victims and a local leader said. The women were abducted on their farms on Tuesday morning in Shuwaei Kawuri village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, two victims who did not want to be identified told Reuters.

Israel far-right minister spars with supermodel Bella Hadid over Palestinian rights

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday defended comments by his far-right national security minister that had sparked a row with U.S. supermodel Bella Hadid and drawn condemnation as racist from the Palestinians and Washington. In an television interview on Wednesday, Itamar Ben-Gvir said that the right to life and safe travel of Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank trumped the right to freedom of movement for Palestinians.

Russia to resume offensive in east Ukraine after regrouping, Kyiv says

Russia is regrouping in the Moscow-controlled eastern part of Ukraine in order to resume an offensive, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian military's ground forces, said on Friday. "After a month of fierce fighting and significant losses in the Kupiansk and Lyman directions, the enemy is regrouping its forces and means, simultaneously throwing newly formed brigades and divisions from the territory of the Russian Federation," Syrskyi said in his Telegram channel.

Zimbabwe ruling party's vote lead grows as observers decry 'climate of fear'

Partial results from Zimbabwe's parliamentary election suggested the ruling party's lead was growing on Friday, but election observers said the vote did not meet international standards and was conducted in a "climate of fear". President Emmerson Mnangagwa's ZANU-PF party was widely expected to maintain its 43-year grip on power after Zimbabweans voted in a parliamentary and presidential poll on Wednesday.

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