World News

June 12 (Reuters) – The Russian city of Nizhnekamsk in the central region of Tatarstan will cancel all public events on Friday, amid a drone attack threat, its mayor, Radmir Belyayev, said on the Telegram messaging app.

The country marks Russia Day on June 12 with a national holiday.

Several major industrial facilities, including Sibur’s Nizhnekamskneftekhim petrochemical plant and Tatneft’s TANECO oil refinery, are located in the area.

Belyayev did not mention any damage caused by drones. Russia downed down 231 Ukrainian drones overnight, news agencies said, citing the defence ministry.

The city of Togliatti, home to Russia’s biggest carmaker Avtovaz and some industrial facilities, has come under drone attack, Samara region Governor Vyacheslav Fedorishchev said on Telegram, without giving details.

(Reporting by Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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By Cynthia Kim, Joyce Lee and Kyu-seok Shim

SEOUL, June 12 (Reuters) – Arriving to cast her vote in South Korea’s local elections, Yoomi Lee was surprised to find the polling station had run out of ballot papers, turning the quick stop she had planned into an hours-long wait and quarrels with election officials.

“They should have prepared the right amount,” Lee said. “They know the number of the voters (expected).”

Frustration over the shortages at more than 90 polling sites last week unleashed one of South Korea’s most extensive political protests since its martial law crisis in 2024.

Voters scuffled with police, conspiracy theories and accusations of election fraud spread, and the poll authority chief resigned, prompting President Lee Jae Myung Lee to order an investigation and vow to overhaul procedures.

Reuters interviews with six voters at affected ballot stations and more than a dozen protesters show how a straightforward landslide victory expected by Lee’s ruling party erupted in damaging contention instead.

The effort also illustrates how a series of decisions by the independent National Election Commission led it to print fewer ballots than in previous years.

RISK TO PUBLIC CONFIDENCE

Within two days of the debacle, crowds sometimes numbering 40,000 began gathering daily outside a stadium in Seoul to demand an election rerun.

Such an exercise could endanger key election wins for both Lee’s left-leaning ruling Democratic Party (DP) and the conservative opposition People Power Party (PPP), despite the investigation calls.

“If the response is perceived as inadequate or defensive, it could become a source of criticism and weaken public confidence,” said Joan Cho, a professor at Wesleyan University who studies the Korean democracy movement.

However, if the Lee administration responds transparently and provides a clear account of what happened, it could reinforce public confidence, she added.

For now the imbroglio seems to have benefited the opposition, as the first opinion poll by Realmeter after the election showed it nearly erasing the gap in its support to less than 1% versus the DPP’s lead of nearly 25% late in March.

A perception of “administrative responsibility for the ballot shortage” was partly responsible, Realmeter said.

The shortages were especially severe in areas that lean conservative, said opposition leader Jang Dong-hyeok of the PPP.

DEMONSTRATING FOR THE FIRST TIME

Several protesters said they were demonstrating for the first time as the election panel’s explanation failed to convince and they saw it as a trampling on their fundamental right to participate in the political process.

“At first it was concern about the ballot shortage,” said one such first-timer, 41-year-old office worker Cha Ye-rin.

“But after coming here and talking to people, I am more certain about how democracy is under threat by the people in power.”

The protests have run through the week, with the numbers tending to swell in the evenings and far-right Youtube personalities as well as PPP figures joining in.

Democratic rights in South Korea have been hard won, making citizens wary of any perceived threats, such as the attempt to declare martial law in 2024.

Democracy Day on June 10, for example, marks the citizen-led nationwide protests of 1987 that successfully ended decades of military rule and forced the government to hold direct presidential elections.

RESIGNATION FAILED TO DEFUSE PROTEST

Even Thursday’s resignation by Rho Tae-ak, a former Supreme Court justice who had been chief of the NEC since April 2022, before Lee took power last year, failed to assuage protesters.

Tempers flared on election day in Seoul’s southeastern district of Songpa, where the shortage dragged out voting by four hours to 10 p.m., voters at a polling station in a senior citizens’ centre said. Even then, few were able to vote.

Cho Eun-kyung, 67, said she was among those who began protesting before a standoff with polling station staff as more people arrived to block officials from taking away ballot boxes for vote counting.

Human chains around the polling station were dispersed by police on Friday, she said, while videos from other residents showed police pulling away a few dozen protesters blocking entrances.

Seoul police said they had no separate comment on the clashes with protesters around the voting station.

People streamed across the capital to join a crowd outside the stadium where the ballot boxes were gathered for counting, as social media and students from top universities warned of a threat to democracy.

Young couples with small babies in prams, gig workers and university students were among those holding hand-lettered signs demanding “Election Rerun”, a phrase they chanted while pumping their fists in the air.

Some said their frustration grew as votes were being counted from 6 p.m. on election day, even though others had been unable to vote.

The spectre of election manipulation figures in conspiracy theories that spread on social media, with even the conservative mayor of the port city of Incheon questioning some results.

FEWER BALLOT PAPERS PRINTED

Asked how many people were unable to vote, an NEC official said the panel did not have that data, as it was unclear if complete records were kept of those who left without voting when the shortage happened.

The official declined to be identified on grounds that accusations of election fraud, among other issues, were a sensitive topic.

For Wednesday’s election, the NEC set a minimum ballot printing guideline of 50% of eligible voters, the official said.

That contrasts with figures of a minimum of 70% traditionally printed for presidential elections, and 60% for local elections, which draw lower turnout, the official added.

The 50% guideline was backed by a task force set up last year to improve procedures, after a similar study commissioned in 2022 that weighed the number of ballots.

Higher advance voting and accusations of “concealing evidence of election fraud” fed by large numbers of leftover ballots in prior years also contributed, the official added.

“These various factors combined and led to the result we have today.”

GROWING CALLS FOR RERUN

Lee’s Democratic Party swept most of the seats in the elections for mayors, provincial governors, county officers and members of local assemblies, but lost the crucial Seoul mayoral role to the opposition incumbent.

The only solution would be “to hold a nationwide re-election”, the PPP’s Jang said, though some in his party oppose such a step, including Seoul’s re-elected mayor, Oh Se-hoon.

The NEC official said the relevant law, the Public Official Election Act, did not include ballot shortages among the conditions for an election rerun, making it difficult for the commission to hold one of its own volition.

“At the very least, our basic rights must be protected,” said Gu Young-gwang, 33, a protester outside the stadium, who said he was joining a political protest for the first time.

“The goal is not revenge,” said another protester, Lee Hee-won, 25, calling for a fair and transparent rerun. “The goal is to restore trust in democracy.

(Additional reporting by Minwoo Park, Daewoung Kim, Jihoon Lee, Yena Park, Yunji Ha; Writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese paramilitary forces carried out drone strikes overnight in central Sudan, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens, health officials said Thursday, as the use of unmanned aircraft becomes increasingly common in the more than three-year war in the African country.

The attacks, which started late Wednesday, targeted various areas of the city of el-Obeid, including near an army position, according to two health officials at el-Obed Hospital, which received the victims. More than 10 people were also wounded, some critically, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The war in Sudan erupted in April 2023, after long-simmering tensions between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF. The conflict has killed at least 59,000 people, displaced some 13 million, and pushed many parts of the country into famine. More than 30 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.

Dr. Mohamed Elsheikh, a spokesperson with Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks casualty tolls, told The Associated Press that in el-Obeid, RSF drones also hit a funeral gathering at a cemetery, killing four people there, and a gas station. He could not immediately confirm if the casualties were civilians, combatants or both.

An aid worker with Mercy Corps told the AP that drone attacks have intensified across el-Obeid in recent days, targeting gatherings of people in the city. The worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said schools have suspended classes and markets are only partially open because of the attacks.

Emergency Lawyers, a local aid monitoring group, said Thursday the toll is likely to increase as drones were still flying over the city.

The group said homes near military headquarters of the 5th Infantry Division in el-Obeid were hit, as well as a truck carrying food supplies into the city. Its driver was killed, the group said.

“This series of attacks indicates a widespread pattern of targeting civilian gatherings, neighborhoods and infrastructure, including during rescue operations and funerals,” the group also said, expressing concerns about the indiscriminatory nature of the attacks.

The war, now in its fourth year, has left the Sudanese military in control of the north, east and central regions, including Sudan’s Red Sea ports and its oil refineries and pipelines. The RSF and its allies control Darfur and parts of Kordofan along the border with South Sudan — both regions rich in oil fields and gold mines.

Drone warfare has become the deadliest threat to civilians in Sudan ’s conflict and both the military and the RSF are being supplied by a number of countries in the Middle East and beyond, experts have said. A surge in drone attacks in Kordofan has also hampered aid operations there, humanitarian workers say.

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Abdalla reported from Shendi, Sudan.

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SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazilian officials on Thursday announced a sharp drop in deforestation rates, pushing back on one of the arguments that the Trump administration used last week to justify additional tariffs on the South American country.

In May, Amazon deforestation was 61.4% lower than in the same month in 2025, according to officials from the National Institute for Space Research, or INPE, and the Ministry of Environment.

Still, 370 square kilometers (nearly 143 square miles) of the rainforest were cleared. Deforestation over the same period fell 12% in the Cerrado, a savanna in central Brazil that has long been under pressure from the powerful agribusiness sector.

Environment Minister João Paulo Capobianco said that the figure is the lowest ever recorded for May, and that Brazil is on track to reach its lowest annual levels once the data is consolidated next semester.

He said that the month typically sees higher deforestation, because it marks the start of the Amazon’s dry season. In the 10 months from August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation in the Amazon already fell by 37.5%, compared with the same previous period.

On June 2, the Trump administration proposed 25% tariffs on imports from Brazil, saying that the world’s 10th-biggest economy engages in trade practices that are “unreasonable” and that “burden or restrict U.S. commerce.” The announcement came after an investigation by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative that accused Brazil of illegal deforestation and unfair tariffs of its own, among other things.

Capobianco said that the deforestation figures “debunk the unfair and unfounded accusation by the United States, which cited deforestation to justify imposing tariffs.” President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva nodded as he listened to the remarks.

Lula said that the Trump administration lied when they first imposed additional tariffs on Brazil last year, saying that the U.S. had a trade deficit.

“And now they raised questions about deforestation. They don’t understand the work we are doing to bring deforestation down to zero by 2030. This is not a decision by any COP or by the United Nations. It is a decision of our government,” the Brazilian president said, using the acronym for U.N. climate conferences.

“It’s a matter of justice, of Brazil’s contribution to the planet, fulfilling our obligation to avoid deforestation as much as possible. Preventing deforestation benefits Brazil, benefits the Amazon and benefits the world,” he said.

Deforestation is the leading driver of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming.

The Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, also plays a critical role in regulating the climate far beyond South America. Scientists warn that forest loss could accelerate global warming and disrupt agriculture as far away as the U.S. Midwest and parts of Europe.

After reaching record levels in the 1990s and 2000s, deforestation declined until the 2019-2022 term of then President Jair Bolsonaro, whose government was widely criticized for weakening environmental protections. Under Lula’s administration, deforestation has fallen again, reaching its lowest level in a decade last year.

Despite gains in keeping forest standing, however, many other threats, ranging from climate change to potential legislation on the horizon, are putting the forest at risk.

Forest degradation, driven by wildfires, logging and drought, affects about 40% of the Amazon and has outpaced clear-cutting in recent years. All of this could be exacerbated this year with a strong El Niño, a cyclic warming of the equatorial Pacific, which causes higher temperatures and drier weather in the rainforest, conditions that worsen wildfires.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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BERLIN (AP) — More than 200,000 people across Europe died from heat-related causes over the last four years, and most of the fatalities were preventable, the World Health Organization’s Europe office said Thursday.

More above-average temperatures could be on the books this summer, and they are more than an inconvenience: They can cause heat exhaustion and life-threatening heat stroke.

“The impacts of climate change are a clear and present danger, and its most immediate and lethal manifestation is extreme heat,” said Dr. Hans Kluge, director of the WHO’s Europe office, in a statement. “Heatwaves are no longer freak weather anomalies. They are now a recurring crisis inflicting suffering, claiming lives and fracturing our health systems and infrastructure.”

Kluge’s office called for countries and institutions to implement heat plans that range from opening cooling centers to introducing breaks or flexible shifts that enable workers to stay out of the midday sun, the statement said.

“Our goal is clear and our ambition is bold: zero heat-related deaths,” Kluge said.

Also on Thursday, meteorologists announced that El Nino, nature’s chaotic climate agent, has formed in a warmed-up Pacific Ocean and is expected to grow to historic strength. Experts said the natural warming cycle would further heat a globe already warming from fossil fuel pollution and will likely turbocharge extreme weather across the planet.

Here are some of the WHO’s suggestions to avoid heat-related illnesses and stay cool this summer:

Stay out of the sun during the hottest part of the day. If you have to go outside midday, avoid strenuous activity and seek out shaded areas where the perceived temperatures can be lower. If possible, spend two to three hours a day in a cool place. Remember to check official heat warnings in your area.

In the daytime, close windows and cover them with blinds or shutters. Open the windows after dark when the outdoor temperature is cooler than it is indoors. Set your air conditioner to 81 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius) and turn on an electric fan to make the room feel cooler. Urban and rural poor populations are often disproportionately affected by overheating due to low-quality housing and lack of access to cooling amenities like air conditioners.

Drink enough water (1 cup per hour) and take cool showers or baths. When that’s not possible, wet your skin with a damp cloth or spray. Wear lightweight and loose-fitting clothes, and use similar bed linens. If you’re going outside, grab a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses and sunscreen.

Never leave children or animals inside a parked vehicle, where temperatures can quickly skyrocket dangerously high. Use a thin, wet cloth to cover a baby stroller — never use dry fabric because it makes it hotter inside the carriage — and consider adding a portable fan. Check in on people aged 65 and older, and anyone with a disability or a heart, lung or kidney condition. People living alone can also be vulnerable.

Manual and outdoor workers are especially susceptible to heat-related illnesses when they do not have flexibility in their schedules.

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The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

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By Camillus Eboh and Ben Ezeamalu

ABUJA, NIGERIA, June 11 (Reuters) – Nigeria’s parliament passed a constitutional bill on Thursday paving the way for each of its 36 states to establish and run its own police force alongside the federal Nigeria Police Force, a long-debated reform aimed at tackling worsening insecurity.

The move brings decentralised policing closer to reality, as authorities seek to address diverse security crises that have stretched the centrally controlled system beyond its limits.

A decentralised model is seen by supporters, including President Bola Tinubu, as critical to improving local responses to violence ranging from insurgency to mass kidnappings and communal clashes, which have spread across much of Nigeria.

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted for the constitutional bill while the Senate was also expected to adopt it later on Thursday.

It is a major step toward allowing Nigeria’s 36 state governments to establish and manage police forces alongside the existing federal force.

The bill, which enjoys cross-party support, must still be approved by at least two-thirds of all state assemblies before taking effect.

Policing has for decades been controlled from Abuja, despite sharply differing regional threats: jihadist insurgency in the northeast, banditry and kidnappings in the northwest and north-central regions, farmer-herder clashes, separatist-linked attacks in the southeast, and oil theft in the Niger Delta.

State governors say they are held accountable for security but lack operational control over police in their states. Reform advocates also argue state police could improve response times, strengthen intelligence gathering and deploy officers with better knowledge of local communities.

“Nigeria’s centralised policing model slows emergency responses because states lack direct control,” said Ayomide Akinwale, an analyst at SBM Intelligence.

The push has gained urgency as insecurity spreads.

In May, gunmen abducted dozens of students and teachers in separate attacks in Oyo and Borno states, highlighting the reach of criminal and insurgent groups across regions.

Tinubu has promised to increase federal police recruitment, giving the proposal greater momentum than previous attempts that stalled amid political differences.

Critics, however, warn governors could misuse state police against opponents or minorities. There are also questions on funding, training standards and coordination, with analysts saying poorer states may struggle to sustain effective forces.

(Writing by Ben Ezeamalu, Editing by MacDonald Dzirutwe and William Maclean)

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BELFAST, June 11 (Reuters) – Northern Ireland politician Jeffrey Donaldson denied all charges of historical sex offences against two girls when he took the stand in his trial on Thursday, telling the court there had been no abuse.

Former Democratic Unionist Party leader Donaldson, 63, denied the charges of one count of rape, 13 counts of indecent assault and four counts of gross indecency in a hearing at Newry Crown Court.

Asked by his defence barrister Kieran Vaughan KC if he accepted any of the allegations against him by Complainant A and Complainant B, relating to events that allegedly took place between 1985 and 2008, he said “no” to each.

Donaldson was one of Northern Ireland’s best-known politicians and longest-serving lawmaker in the British parliament when he was arrested and charged in March 2024.

He immediately stepped down as head of the DUP, the region’s largest pro-British unionist party. 

Donaldson denied an allegation from Complainant A that he had kissed her inappropriately as a child.

“Why would I kiss a child using my tongue? That is ridiculous,” Donaldson, who wore a navy suit and red tie, told the court.

Asked about allegations of sexual abuse from complainant B, Donaldson said: 

“There had been no abuse. There was nothing put to me suggesting that. There would have been no reason to put that to me.”

The trial is expected to run through most of June.

(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Ros Russell)

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BEIJING, June 11 (Reuters) – China’s foreign ministry announced sanctions on Thursday against Philippine Defence Secretary ⁠Gilberto Teodoro and his close relatives, saying he had “repeatedly made erroneous remarks concerning China” which had undermined China’s “legitimate interests” and bilateral ties.

The sanctions mean Teodoro and his wife and child are prohibited from entering mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, the ministry said in a statement, and that entities in China “are prohibited from engaging in any transactions, cooperation, or other activities with Teodoro and his spouse and child.”

The measures were imposed to “safeguard China’s national sovereignty, security, and development interests,” the ministry added, without specifying what remarks by Teodoro it particularly objected to.

Teodoro’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

REPEATED STANDOFFS

Last week Beijing accused the Philippine defence chief of having ​no gratitude for China’s supply of important commodities and of using issues about people’s wellbeing for political ​showmanship, after Teodoro’s remarks about China being a threat.

“For countries like the ​Philippines … which is under severe threat territory-wise and politically too by China, ⁠we have no choice but really to be resilient and to stand up against Chinese ​aggression,” he had told Reuters on the sidelines of Singapore’s Shangri-La ‌Dialogue, Asia’s premier defence forum.

After unconfirmed reports had surfaced last week about a China entry ban, he said: “I have no assets in China and I have no plans to go there,” according to local media ABS-CBN.

“Even if I wanted to visit because the food is good and the people are kind, that is overshadowed by the kind of government they have,” he was quoted saying.

China and the Philippines have engaged in repeated maritime standoffs in the South China Sea in recent ​years, as Beijing continues to press expansive claims over waters that overlap with rival claimants that also include Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, despite a 2016 arbitration ruling.

Earlier this week, Manila took diplomatic action against Beijing for what it called the “illegal presence” of a floating structure in a disputed atoll.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by David Holmes)

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BOGOTA, June 10 (Reuters) – Colombian right-wing presidential candidate Abelardo de la Espriella leads leftist rival Ivan Cepeda ahead of the June 21 runoff, according to an AtlasIntel poll published on Wednesday, underscoring the tough challenge facing the ally of President Gustavo Petro.

De la Espriella could win 52.6% of valid votes, compared with 44.8% for Cepeda, the poll showed.

The runoff will pit two sharply different visions for Colombia’s future. Cepeda has pledged to deepen Petro’s social and economic reforms and pursue peace talks with armed groups, while De la Espriella has campaigned on a security crackdown and more business-friendly policies.

(Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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June 10 (Reuters) – No U.S. warships have been struck in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military said on Wednesday, after Iran’s state media said initial reports indicated U.S. ships near the strait were targeted by missile and drones launched by Iranian armed forces.

Commercial ships also continue to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Central Command said in a separate post on X after Iran’s top joint military command said the strait was closed for the passage of any vessels.

(Reporting by Costas Pitas; Editing by Don Durfee)

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