Reuters World News Summary

The two countries said the aid would leave Qatar for Egypt on Wednesday before being taken across the Rafah border crossing. Iran strike sparks dispute with Iraq as fears of regional upheaval grow An Iranian missile strike on targets in northern Iraq set off an unusual dispute between the neighbouring allies on Tuesday, with Baghdad recalling its ambassador in protest and Tehran insisting the attack was intended to deter threats from Israeli spies.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Gaza combat resurges as Israeli tanks storm back into areas they left

Israeli tanks stormed back into parts of the northern Gaza Strip they had left last week, residents said on Tuesday, reigniting some of the most intense combat since the New Year when Israel announced it was scaling back its operations there. Massive explosions could be seen over northern areas of Gaza from across the border with Israel - a rarity over the past two weeks after Israel announced a drawdown of forces in the north as part of a transition to smaller, targeted operations.

UK PM Sunak loses two vocal supporters to asylum rebellion

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defeated an initial right-wing rebellion in his party on Tuesday over legislation to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, refusing to cede ground in a battle that prompted two of his vocal supporters to resign. The resignations of two Conservative vice-chairmen underlined the deep divisions in Sunak's governing party over legislation he believes is crucial in turning round his party's popularity before an election this year.

Macron on Trump: 'I take the leaders that people give me'

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that he would deal with whoever wins the U.S. election, a day after former president Donald Trump secured a resounding victory in the first 2024 Republican presidential contest in Iowa. Trump, who faces a battery of federal and state criminal charges related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden, is leading the field of Republican presidential candidates for the November 2024 ballot.

Trump back in court for second defamation trial after Iowa victory

Fresh off a campaign victory in Iowa, Donald Trump sat in a New York courtroom on Tuesday to defend himself for a second time against charges that he defamed writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of raping her decades ago. Trump watched from the defendant's table as Carroll's lawyer told a jury that the then-U.S. president made her life miserable when she went public in 2019 with her story that he had attacked her in a department store dressing room in Manhattan.

Woman accused of killing Russian war blogger says handler lied about bomb

A Russian woman accused of assassinating a prominent pro-war blogger told a court on Tuesday she had thought the package she handed to him in a St Petersburg cafe contained a listening device, not a bomb. Darya Trepova said she was acting under orders from a man in Ukraine whom she knew as "Gestalt" (German for "Shape"), who had been sending her money and instructions for several months before the killing of blogger Vladlen Tatarsky on April 2 last year.

Qatar, France broker deal to get aid, medication to civilians, hostages in Gaza

Qatar and France have brokered a deal with Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas to deliver urgent medication to some 45 Israeli hostages held by the group in Gaza in return for humanitarian and medical aid for the most vulnerable civilians. The two countries said the aid would leave Qatar for Egypt on Wednesday before being taken across the Rafah border crossing.

Iran strike sparks dispute with Iraq as fears of regional upheaval grow

An Iranian missile strike on targets in northern Iraq set off an unusual dispute between the neighbouring allies on Tuesday, with Baghdad recalling its ambassador in protest and Tehran insisting the attack was intended to deter threats from Israeli spies. Iran's Revolutionary Guards hit what they called an Israeli espionage centre in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, Iranian media reported late on Monday, while the elite force said they also struck in Syria against the Islamic State.

Ukraine's Zelenskiy urges West to keep up pressure on Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the West on Tuesday to tighten sanctions pressure on Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and to step up its support for Kyiv to ensure that Moscow did not succeed in its war. Western hesitation in its backing for Kyiv and fears of an escalation in the war with Russia were costing time and lives, and could prolong the fighting by years, he told the World Economic Forum in Davos in an emotional speech.

Biden admin to relist Houthi rebels as specially designated global terrorists-source

The Biden administration was expected to announce plans to relist Houthi rebels as specially designated global terrorists, a U.S. official told Reuters. The U.S. military has carried out a series of strikes in Yemen against anti-ship ballistic missiles in a Houthi-controlled part of the country in response to attacks by the rebel group that have disrupted Red Sea shipping.

Exclusive-US targets Houthi anti-ship missiles in new strike on Yemen, officials say

The U.S. military on Tuesday carried out a new strike in Yemen against four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles, two U.S. officials told Reuters, the latest move against the Iran-aligned group over its targeting of Red Sea shipping. One of the officials said the missiles were struck because they were being prepared to target ships in the region. The U.S. strike came a day after Houthi forces hit the U.S.-owned and operated dry bulk ship Gibraltar Eagle with an anti-ship ballistic missile.

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