World News Highlights: Election Scandals, Assange's Plea, and Global Tensions

This world news update covers key events including UK's main parties withdrawing candidates over a betting probe, Julian Assange's US plea deal hearing, a call between US and Russian defense chiefs, a failed North Korean missile launch, and more crucial international developments.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

UK's main parties ditch candidates over election betting probe

Britain's two main political parties on Tuesday each withdrew support for candidates who are being investigated over bets relating to the upcoming general election, as a scandal that had been limited to the governing Conservatives spread further. The allegations against Conservative candidates, the first of which came two weeks ago, have overshadowed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's efforts to persuade the public to back him at a July 4 election which polls show he is on course to lose.

WikiLeaks founder Assange's US plea deal hearing begins in Saipan

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's plea deal hearing for violating U.S. espionage law began on Wednesday in a courtroom on the U.S. Pacific island territory of Saipan where he is expected to walk free after a deal with U.S. prosecutors. Assange, 52, arrived at the court house in a white SUV. He was wearing a black suit and smiled as he walked past security with his team and Australia's ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd.

Pentagon chief speaks with Russian defense minister

The U.S. and Russian defense chiefs spoke by telephone on Tuesday for the first time in more than a year and the two sides gave widely divergent accounts of the conversation. The Pentagon said U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov discussed the importance of open lines of communication.

North Korea missile launch appears to have failed, South Korean military says

North Korea's launch of an unknown ballistic missile toward the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula appears to have failed, South Korean military said on Wednesday.

North Korea earlier this week criticised the deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier to join joint drills with South Korea and Japan, and warned of "overwhelming, new demonstration of deterrence".

French PM refuses to 'promise the moon', clashes with far-right in debate

French prime minister Gabriel Attal accused his far-right and leftwing political opponents of "promising the moon" in a three-way televised debate on Tuesday ahead of next Sunday's first round of early parliamentary elections. In a muddled, confusing TV debate between leaders of the three top-polling blocs, Attal came under pressure from his far-right opponent, Jordan Bardella, who repeatedly interrupted him and accused him of "lecturing" and lacking credibility.

Blinken welcomes Maldives counterpart, says US seeks deeper ties

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with his counterpart from the Maldives on Tuesday and said Washington sought a deeper partnership with the Indian Ocean island state and stood with it in ensuring a free-and-open Indo-Pacific region and in dealing with climate change. Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer's Washington visit comes two months after the party of President Mohamed Muizzu won a landslide in parliamentary elections. Muizzu has pivoted ties towards China and away from India, a key U.S. regional partner in standing up to China in the Indo-Pacific.

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 Nov. 5 presidential election - that involves telling Ukraine it will only get more U.S. weapons if it enters 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.

Kenya's president says tax protests 'hijacked' after they turn violent

Kenyan President William Ruto said on Tuesday security was his "utmost priority" after protests against a bill to raise taxes descended into violence, with police firing on demonstrators trying to storm the legislature, killing at least five. In chaotic scenes in the capital Nairobi, protesters overwhelmed police and chased them away in an attempt to enter the parliament compound, with Citizen TV later showing damage from inside the building, which had been partially set ablaze.

High risk of famine persists across Gaza, global hunger monitor says

Gaza remains at high risk of famine as war between Israel and Hamas continues and access to aid is restricted, though delivery of supplies had limited the projected spread of extreme hunger in northern areas, a global monitor said on Tuesday. More than 495,000 people across the Gaza Strip are facing the most severe, or "catastrophic", level of food insecurity, according to an update from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC).

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

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

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