Reuters World News Summary

The decision comes a week after the 42-year-old president formally filed paperwork to run for re-election, despite concerns over his constitutional eligibility to seek a consecutive term. US, Arab leaders to meet over Gaza as Palestinian deaths mount Gaza health officials said 15 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on an ambulance that the military said targeted Hamas militants, and Washington's top diplomat was due to hear Arab demands for a ceasefire in a meeting on Saturday in Jordan.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

How Hamas aims to trap Israel in Gaza quagmire

Hamas has prepared for a long, drawn-out war in the Gaza Strip and believes it can hold up Israel's advance long enough to force its arch enemy to agree to a ceasefire, two sources close to the organization's leadership said. Hamas, which rules Gaza, has stockpiled weapons, missiles, food and medical supplies, according to the people, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. The group is confident its thousands of fighters can survive for months in a city of tunnels carved deep beneath the Palestinian enclave and frustrate Israeli forces with urban guerrilla tactics, the people told Reuters.

El Salvador electoral tribunal green lights Bukele's re-election bid

El Salvador's electoral tribunal on Friday approved President Nayib Bukele's candidacy in next year's presidential election, where he will seek a second term that would keep him in office until 2029 if reelected. The decision comes a week after the 42-year-old president formally filed paperwork to run for re-election, despite concerns over his constitutional eligibility to seek a consecutive term.

US, Arab leaders to meet over Gaza as Palestinian deaths mount

Gaza health officials said 15 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on an ambulance that the military said targeted Hamas militants, and Washington's top diplomat was due to hear Arab demands for a ceasefire in a meeting on Saturday in Jordan. The Israeli strike hit an ambulance that was part of a convoy carrying injured Palestinians at Gaza's biggest hospital, al-Shifa, health officials in the Hamas-run enclave said on Friday.

Nepal earthquake kills at least 69

At least 69 people were killed and dozens injured in Nepal on Friday when a strong earthquake struck the western area of Jajarkot, with witnesses saying houses in the area collapsed and buildings as far as New Delhi, India, shook. Nepal's National Seismological Centre said the quake was a magnitude 6.4 but the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) later downgraded the magnitude to 5.7 and the U.S. Geological Survey pegged it as a magnitude 5.6.

US airs concerns to China about 'dangerous and unlawful' South China Sea actions

The United States and China held "candid" talks on maritime issues on Friday, including on the contested South China Sea, and the U.S. side underscored its concerns about "dangerous and unlawful" Chinese actions there, the U.S. State Department said. The talks took place in Beijing between the department's China Coordinator Mark Lambert and China's Director-General for Boundary and Ocean Affairs Hong Liang, the State Department said in a statement.

Eyeing China, Biden and Latam leaders tighten economic bonds

U.S. President Joe Biden and leaders from Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean on Friday pledged to strengthen the Western Hemisphere's supply chains as Washington works to counter China and stem regional migration. Biden hosted leaders from Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay and top officials from Mexico and Panama at the White House.

US making intense effort to get hostages out of Gaza, says official

U.S. officials are making intense efforts to gain the release of hostages being held by Hamas militants in Gaza but there is no guarantee of success or a timeframe, a senior Biden administration official said on Friday. The official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said there was "indirect engagement" aimed at finding a way to get the hostages out, but that the work was extremely difficult.

Brazil's Workers Party slams Israel for holding Brazilians in Gaza

Brazil's ruling Workers Party criticized the Israeli government on Friday for not allowing 34 Brazilians to leave Gaza, saying Israel is playing favorites when deciding who should be allowed to evacuate the besieged Palestinian territory. In three days since the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened to allow nationals of other countries to leave Gaza, Brazilians waiting to leave were not on the list approved by Israel, despite diplomatic efforts to include them.

Blinken to hear call for Gaza ceasefire from regional ministers in Jordan on Saturday

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will hear demands for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza when he meets Middle East foreign ministers in Jordan on Saturday, Jordan's foreign ministry said. Saudi, Qatari, Emirati, Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers as well as Palestinian representatives will stress the "Arab stance calling for an immediate ceasefire, delivering humanitarian aid and ways of ending the dangerous deterioration that threatens the security of the region", the ministry said in a statement on Friday.

South America's Lake Titicaca nears record low water level as El Nino bites

The water level at Lake Titicaca on the Peru-Bolivia border is edging towards a record low, exacerbated by the weather phenomenon known as El Nino that is expected to get still more intense in coming months. The waters of the sprawling freshwater lake nestled in the Andes mountains have fallen an average 4 inches (10 cm) per month since April, said Milagros Quispe, an engineer with Peru's national meteorology and hydrology service Senamhi.

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