World News Roundup: From Factory Fires to Espionage Trials

This roundup covers current world news, including a fire at a South Korean battery factory, far-right anger in France, Evan Gershkovich's trial in Russia, rising Islamist threats for Putin, Trump's Ukraine plan, U.S. anti-vax propaganda, Julian Assange's plea deal, Kenyan parliamentary riots, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, and ICC arrest warrants for Russian officials.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

S.Korea battery maker apologises for deadly fire but says it complied with safety rules

The CEO of a South Korean lithium battery manufacturer apologised on Tuesday following a massive factory fire that killed 23 workers, but said the company had complied with all required safety precautions and training. The fire on Monday, which began at a factory with 35,000 lithium batteries, produced thick smoke that spread quickly and the workers inside the second-floor location likely lost consciousness and succumbed within seconds, fire officials said.

Anger at Macron fuels far-right support in France's leftist bastions

Florent de Kersauson, a French far-right parliamentary candidate, was leafleting in Brittany when his deputy called to say reporters had found an old, antisemitic tweet by a fellow National Rally (RN) contender in a neighbouring constituency. De Kersauson, one of 27 candidates hoping to win the RN's first seat in the historically left-leaning region, was furious, mindful of the damage Joseph Martin's comments could cause his party's pursuit of power.

Behind closed doors, US reporter Gershkovich to go on trial in Russia

U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich will stand trial for espionage in Russia on Wednesday in a court whose proceedings are classified as a state secret. No reporters, friends, family members or U.S. embassy staff will be allowed into the courtroom in the city of Yekaterinburg where Gershkovich, 32, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Analysis-Dagestan shootings spotlight rising Islamist threat for Putin

President Vladimir Putin says Russia's war in Ukraine is part of an existential struggle with the West that demands total focus - but deadly shootings in Dagestan show that militant Islam is a rising threat that may force him to redirect resources. The latest violence, in which at least 20 people were killed on Sunday evening in a series of apparently coordinated shootings in Russia's far south, raises awkward questions for its intelligence and security services.

Exclusive-Trump handed plan to halt US military aid to Kyiv unless it talks peace with Moscow

Two key advisers to Donald Trump have presented him with a plan to end Russia's war in Ukraine - if he wins the presidential election - that involves telling Ukraine it will only get more U.S. weapons if it enters into peace talks. The United States would at the same time warn Moscow that any refusal to negotiate would result in increased U.S. support for Ukraine, retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg, one of Trump's national security advisers, said in an interview.

Philippines seeking U.S. clarification on anti-vax propaganda operation

The Philippines is still seeking clarification from the Pentagon about a secret U.S. propaganda operation that aimed to cast doubt among Filipinos about Chinese vaccines at the height of the COVID pandemic, a foreign ministry official said on Tuesday. A Reuters investigation on June 14 detailed how the Pentagon ran a clandestine influence campaign in 2020 and 2021 to denigrate the Sinovac vaccine and other pandemic aid from China across the developing world.

WikiLeaks' Assange set to be freed after US espionage charge plea deal

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is due to plead guilty on Wednesday to violating U.S. espionage law, in a deal that will set him free after a 14-year British legal odyssey and allow his return home to Australia. Assange, 52, has agreed to plead guilty to a single criminal count of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. national defence documents, according to filings in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.

Police open fire on demonstrators attempting to storm Kenya parliament

Police opened fire on demonstrators trying to storm Kenya's legislature on Tuesday, with at least five protesters killed and sections of the parliament building set ablaze as lawmakers inside passed legislation to raise taxes. In chaotic scenes, protesters overwhelmed police and chased them away in an attempt to storm the parliament compound. Flames could be seen coming from inside.

Israeli airstrikes kill at least 24 in Gaza City, say Gaza officials

Israeli forces killed at least 24 Palestinians in three separate airstrikes early on Tuesday on Gaza City and the dead included a sister of Ismail Haniyeh, the chief of the militant Islamist group Hamas, Gaza health officials and medics said. Israeli tanks also pressed deeper into western areas of Rafah in the south of the enclave overnight, blowing up homes, residents said.

International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Russia's Shoigu and Gerasimov

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Sergei Shoigu, the former Russian defence minister, and leading Russian general Valery Gerasimov on Tuesday for alleged crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Shoigu was removed from his post of defence minister last month, and appointed Secretary of Russia's powerful Security Council, in the most significant changes Russian President Vladimir Putin made to his military command since the start of the war in 2022.

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