Global News Round-Up: Pandemics, Protests, and Political Shifts

This report provides a concise summary of key global news stories, including pro-Palestinian protests in New York, U.S. strategic focus on China, WHO pandemic treaty negotiations, Boeing's Starliner test flight delay, and major political developments in Russia, India, and South Africa.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Police say they detained 29 people in pro-Palestinian protests at Brooklyn Museum on Friday

New York City police said on Saturday they had taken into custody more than two dozen people in connection with Friday's pro-Palestinian protests at the Brooklyn Museum. Six of the 29 individuals were arrested and charged with offenses including assault and criminal trespassing, while 16 people were released with orders to appear in court and another seven were issued summonses and released, a New York City Police Department spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

US shifts focus to China risks, Zelenskiy arrives at Asia defence meeting

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tried to refocus attention on China's threat in the Asia-Pacific on Saturday, seeking to alleviate concerns that conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have distracted from America's security commitments in the region. Just hours after Austin spoke at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy arrived in Singapore, where he will address delegates at the security forum on Sunday.

Global pandemic treaty to be concluded by 2025, WHO says

Talks aimed at reaching a global agreement on how to better fight pandemics will be concluded by 2025 or earlier if possible, the World Health Organization said on Saturday. The WHO's 194 member states have been negotiating for two years on an agreement that could increase collaboration before and during pandemics after the acknowledged failures during COVID-19.

Boeing Starliner capsule's first crewed test flight postponed minutes before launch

A second attempt at launching Boeing's new Starliner space capsule on its inaugural test flight with NASA astronauts on board was automatically halted with minutes to go before liftoff by a computer-abort system, mission officials said. The scrubbed launch, capping a string of 11th-hour technical issues that ground teams worked through and resolved earlier in the countdown, adds another indefinite delay for the highly anticipated and much-delayed test flight.

Boeing executives unlikely to be charged over 737 MAX crashes, source says

Boeing executives are unlikely to be criminally charged over fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people as the statute of limitations has likely passed, U.S. Justice Department officials told victims' family members in a meeting. Details were corroborated by a person familiar with the gathering on Friday and correspondence reviewed by Reuters.

Artur Chilingarov, Russian polar scientist and member of parliament, dies at 84

Artur Chilingarov, a Russian polar scientist and explorer and veteran member of parliament, died on Saturday, the speaker of the state Duma lower house said. He was 84. Chilingarov was born in the city then known as Leningrad to Russian and Armenian parents and spent much of his childhood in Russia's North Caucasus region.

TV exit poll summary projects victory for Indian PM Modi in general election

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance is projected to win a majority in the general election that concluded on Saturday, an exit poll summary by the NDTV news channel said. The summary of two exit polls projected the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could win more than 350 seats in the 543-member lower house of parliament, where 272 is needed for a simple majority.

Mediators urge Israel and Hamas to finalise Biden's Gaza peace plan

Gaza conflict mediators on Saturday urged Israel and Hamas to finalise a ceasefire and hostage release deal outlined by U.S. President Joe Biden that they said would bring immediate relief to people in Gaza and to the hostages and their families.

Israel has said there will be no formal end to the war as long as Hamas retains power, raising questions of timing and interpretation over the truce offer, which has been provisionally welcomed by the Palestinian faction.

Modi's alliance set to break India's southern ceiling

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's alliance could double its parliamentary seats in the prosperous south of the country, in a sign that he can widen his appeal even after 10 years in office. Results of the six-week national election will be out on June 4 and the alliance led by Modi's Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is expected to win easily, exit polls showed after voting ended on Saturday.

South Africa's ANC facing coalition as election ends decades of dominance

South Africans angry at joblessness, inequality and power shortages slashed support for the African National Congress (ANC) to 40% in this week's election, ending three decades of dominance by the party that freed the country from apartheid. A dramatically weakened mandate for the legacy party of Nelson Mandela, down from the 57.5% it garnered in the 2019 parliamentary election, means the ANC must share power with a rival in order to keep it - an unprecedented prospect.

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