Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Two people injured after United Airlines flight makes emergency landing in Japan, Kyodo says

Two people appeared to have sustained minor injuries after a United Airlines Flight 32 heading to Cebu in the Philippines made an emergency landing at an airport in Japan's western city of Osaka Friday night, Kyodo news agency reported.

The Boeing 737 aircraft from Narita Airport near Tokyo made an emergency landing at Kansai International Airport after 7 p.m. local time (1000 GMT) after a cargo fire indicator activated while flying over the Pacific Ocean, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Merz faces early election test in Germany's most populous state

Friedrich Merz promised to cut the far right down to size. This Sunday, he faces his first big electoral test since becoming German chancellor, and the nativist Alternative for Germany is scoring its best-ever polling results. Local elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, could show whether the AfD can translate its successes in eastern Germany to the urban, more Catholic west, where it has always been weaker.

China pilots village surveillance in Solomon Islands, seeks stability

China has exported its village surveillance model to the Solomon Islands in the Pacific, where Chinese police are piloting fingerprint and data collection to curb social unrest, officials and locals confirmed to Reuters. China's "Fengqiao" monitoring model - started under Mao Zedong in the 1960s to help communities mobilise against reactionary "class enemies" - has been reinvigorated by Chinese President Xi Jinping to ensure stability in local communities.

UK launches new Russia-related sanctions targeting shadow fleet, weapons suppliers

Britain launched a new package of Russia-related sanctions on Friday, targeting ships carrying Russian oil, as well as companies and individuals supplying electronics, chemicals and explosives used to make Russian weapons. The package was a response to recent Russian aggression, the British government said in a statement, referring to the higher numbers of Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukraine in recent months, and the violation of NATO airspace over Poland on Wednesday.

Waters recede in Bali after floods kill 18 people, with two still missing

Two people were still missing on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, officials said on Friday, as flood waters began to recede after killing at least 18 people this week, most of them swept away when rivers burst their banks. Torrential rains on Tuesday and Wednesday caused the fast-rising floods in Denpasar and six of Bali's eight regions, blocking major roads and access to the island's international airport. There were also landslides in some areas.

Exclusive-Long-range 'kamikaze' drones seen near RSF base could worsen conflict in Sudan

More than a dozen long-range kamikaze drones seen near an airport controlled by Sudan's Rapid Support Forces during a major air assault on army territory in May indicate the paramilitaries have new weapons that could alter the course of the war. The conflict between the RSF and Sudan's army has created the world's worst humanitarian crisis over the past two-and-a-half years, drawing in myriad foreign interests, and threatening to fragment the strategic Red Sea country, a major gold producer.

Russia and Belarus start military exercise near NATO border after drone incursion

Russia and Belarus began a major joint military exercise on NATO's doorstep on Friday at a time of heightened tension with the Western alliance, two days after Poland shot down Russian drones that crossed into its airspace. The "Zapad-2025" exercise, a show of force by Russia and its close ally Belarus, is taking place at training grounds in both countries, including close to the Polish border.

Nepal's former chief justice Karki likely to be interim PM, source says

Nepal's former chief justice, Sushila Karki, is likely to be appointed as interim prime minister, a source aware of the talks told Reuters on Friday, after intense anti-graft protests led to the resignation of K.P. Sharma Oli. The Himalayan nation's worst upheaval in years, which killed 51 people this week and injured more than 1,300 as police fought to control crowds, was sparked by a social media ban, now rolled back. The violence subsided only after Oli resigned.

Trump says suspect in Charlie Kirk murder in custody

A suspect in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah university has been taken into custody, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday, ending an intense manhunt that followed what Trump described as a "heinous assassination." Kirk's killer had eluded police and federal agents for more than 24 hours after Wednesday's shooting, in which a sniper fired a single gunshot that killed Kirk, 31, during an appearance at Utah Valley University in Orem.

Exclusive-Trump administration plans push at UN to restrict global asylum rights

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration plans to call for sharply narrowing the right to asylum at the United Nations later this month, documents show, as it seeks to undo the post-World War Two framework around humanitarian protection.

State Department officials sketched out plans for an event later this month on the sidelines of the U.N.'s annual general assembly meeting that would call for reframing the global approach to asylum and immigration to reflect Trump's restrictive stance, according to two internal planning documents reviewed by Reuters and a State Department spokesperson.

Exclusive-EU could quit Russian gas within a year, US energy chief says

The European Union could phase out Russian gas within six to 12 months by replacing it with U.S. liquefied natural gas, and the United States communicated this position to EU officials this week, U.S. energy secretary Chris Wright told Reuters on Friday. Wright was speaking in Brussels, where he met EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen on Thursday to discuss ending Europe's purchases of Russian energy. The EU is negotiating legal proposals to phase out imports of Russian oil and gas by January 2028, with a ban on short-term contracts kicking in from next year.

Prisoners freed by Trump and exiled say they would rather have stayed in Belarus

Belarusian prisoners released from jail on Thursday and exiled to Lithuania in a U.S.-brokered deal told Reuters they were confused over having to leave their home country, especially as many were almost due to be freed anyway. Belarus freed 52 prisoners including an EU employee after an appeal from U.S. President Donald Trump, as Washington and Minsk consider a rapprochement that many European leaders have viewed with scepticism.

Poland says Russian drone incursions could not have been a mistake, contradicting Trump

Poland rejected on Friday a suggestion by Donald Trump that Russian drone incursions into its airspace could have been a mistake, a rare contradiction of the U.S. president from one of Washington's closest European allies. Poland, backed by aircraft from other NATO, shot down drones that had violated its airspace on Wednesday, the first time a member of the Western military alliance is known to have fired during Russia's war in Ukraine.

South Korean workers return home to cheers a week after U.S. immigration raid

Some 300 South Korean workers returned home on Friday to emotional reunions with families, one week after being detained in a major U.S. immigration raid that left some questioning whether they would ever work in the United States again. Wearing face masks, they disembarked a chartered plane at Incheon airport and were greeted with cheers from officials, including the presidential chief of staff, before being taken by bus to meet family members.

Indonesia faces greater flood risk this wet season, says weather agency

Indonesia is expected to experience a longer-than-usual peak period during its wet season this year, bringing a higher risk of floods and extreme rainfall in many areas of the Southeast Asian country, its weather agency forecast on Friday. The wet season in the archipelago of over 17,000 islands starts this month and ends in April 2026, Indonesia Meteorology and Geophysics Agency head Dwikorita Karnawati said in a news conference.

UAE summons deputy Israeli ambassador over attack on Hamas in Qatar

The United Arab Emirates on Friday said it had summoned the deputy Israeli ambassador over Israel's attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's subsequent "hostile and unacceptable" remarks, in another sign of strain between the two countries with close economic and defence ties. The UAE, the most prominent Arab country to normalise ties with Israel under the Abraham Accords, told David Ohad Horsandi "the continuation of such hostile and provocative rhetoric ...solidifies a situation that is unacceptable and cannot be overlooked," the Emirati foreign ministry said in a statement.

EU extends sanctions on individuals linked to Russia's war in Ukraine

The European Union's member states agreed on Friday to extend sanctions on individuals related to Russia's war in Ukraine for another six months, Denmark acting as holder of the bloc's rotating presidency said in a post on X. EU has listed over 2,500 entities and individuals as part of its Russia sanctions, which freezes bank accounts and bans travel into the EU. The rollover has sometimes been a fraught process with Hungary frequently making demands for delistings. In this instance, there were no political delistings, diplomats said.

Kremlin says Russia-Ukraine talks are paused, accuses Europe of hindering them

The Kremlin said on Friday that there was a pause in peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine and accused European countries of hindering a process it said that Moscow remained open to. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have held three rounds of direct talks this year in Istanbul, most recently on July 23, which have yielded several agreements to return prisoners of war and the bodies of the dead. But the two sides remain far apart on what a possible peace deal might look like.

Taliban clampdown on women forces UN to close aid centres for Afghan returnees

The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) has closed eight centres providing support to Afghan refugees forced back to the country because Taliban authorities are preventing female U.N. staff from entering them, an official said on Friday. The United Nations says Pakistan is driving Afghan refugees back home against their will, warning that around 1 million people could be affected. In the first week of September alone, nearly 100,000 people crossed back, UNHCR data showed.

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