Reuters World News Summary

Biden's eight-hour visit took place a day after a hospital bombing in Gaza City that killed hundreds of Palestinians quickly became a lightning rod in the Arab world. Biden mulls $60 billion for Ukraine, $10 billion for Israel in funding request - source U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is considering $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine and $10 billion for Israel in a supplemental spending request he will send to Congress as soon as Friday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

US easing Venezuela oil sanctions after election deal

The Biden administration on Wednesday broadly eased sanctions on Venezuela's oil and gas sector in response to a 2024 election deal reached between the Venezuelan government and the country's opposition. "In response to these democratic developments, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has issued General Licenses authorizing transactions involving Venezuela's oil and gas sector and gold sector, as well as removing the ban on secondary trading," the Treasury Department said in a statement on Wednesday.

Russian foreign minister thanks North Korea for supporting its war in Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov thanked North Korea for supporting the country's war in Ukraine and pledged Moscow's "complete support and solidarity" for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Russia's foreign ministry said. Lavrov arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday for meetings seen as setting the stage for a visit by President Vladimir Putin, who has stepped up cooperation with politically isolated North Korea.

Trip to Israel ties Biden and US to any Gaza offensive

He came to bolster Israel's fight against Hamas and to offer aid to Palestinians suffering under an Israeli siege, but by flying into Tel Aviv when he did, U.S. President Joe Biden inextricably linked himself to any fight to come. Biden's eight-hour visit took place a day after a hospital bombing in Gaza City that killed hundreds of Palestinians quickly became a lightning rod in the Arab world.

Biden mulls $60 billion for Ukraine, $10 billion for Israel in funding request - source

U.S. President Joe Biden's administration is considering $60 billion in assistance for Ukraine and $10 billion for Israel in a supplemental spending request he will send to Congress as soon as Friday, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Biden has been widely expected to ask Congress to pass a supplemental spending bill quickly, as Washington responds to the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants while looking to continue to support Ukraine as it grapples with a Russian invasion.

First U.S. deportation flight lands in Venezuela under new Biden crackdown

The first U.S. deportation flight to Venezuela under a new Biden administration initiative landed in Caracas on Wednesday, as part of a tougher approach to border enforcement as the U.S. struggles with record illegal crossings. At an airport in Harlingen, Texas, on Wednesday morning, buses dropped Venezuelan men and women in shackles on the tarmac where they were patted down and ushered onto a charter plane, Reuters witnesses said. About 130 Venezuelans were deported, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Israel's endgame? No sign of post-war plan for Gaza

Israel is vowing to wipe out Hamas in a relentless onslaught on the Gaza Strip but has no obvious endgame in sight, with no clear plan for how to govern the ravaged Palestinian enclave even if it triumphs on the battlefield. Codenamed "Operation Swords of Iron", the military campaign will be unmatched in its ferocity and unlike anything Israel has carried out in Gaza in the past, according to eight regional and Western officials with knowledge of the conflict who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

US reports deal with Egypt to restart aid to Gaza as protests rock Middle East

Egypt agreed to reopen its border crossing with the Gaza Strip to allow aid to reach Palestinians, the U.S. said, as the humanitarian crisis worsened in the narrow enclave and anti-Israel protests flared across the Middle East. The region remained volatile in the aftermath of an explosion at Gaza's Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital late on Tuesday, which Palestinian officials said killed 471 people and blamed on what they said was an Israeli air strike.

US vetoes UN Security Council action on Israel, Gaza

The United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution on Wednesday that would have called for humanitarian pauses in the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants to allow humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip. The vote on the Brazilian-drafted text was twice delayed in the last couple of days as the United States tries to broker aid access to Gaza. Twelve members voted in favor of the draft text on Wednesday, while Russia and Britain abstained.

Brazil congressional probe calls for Bolsonaro to face criminal charges

A Brazil congressional probe into the Jan. 8 insurrection by thousands of Jair Bolsonaro's supporters on Wednesday recommended that the far-right former president and some of his closest allies be charged with an attempted coup d'état and other crimes. After months of hearing witnesses and probing the events surrounding the invasion of government buildings in Brasilia just days after leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took office, lawmakers approved Senator Eliziane Gama's final report.

Ten civilians killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine, Kyiv reports progress in south

Russian attacks overnight and on Wednesday killed at least 10 civilians in Ukraine, while senior Ukrainian military officials said their troops had made some headway in counteroffensive operations in the southern theatre. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said the death toll had risen to five from four in a morning missile strike on a residential building in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia.

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