World News

By Sergio Queiroz, Fernando Cardoso and Isabel Teles

SAO PAULO, May 11 (Reuters) – A fire set off by a potential gas explosion killed one person in Brazil’s biggest city Sao Paulo on Monday, while also damaging around 10 homes and leaving three people injured, the local fire department said.

Images from local media showed destroyed rooftops and smoke in the Jaguare neighborhood, about 16 km (10 miles) from Sao Paulo’s city center.

The Sao Paulo state fire department said in a post on X that it had deployed 12 fire engines to fight the fire, adding that a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) blast likely caused the incident.

A spokeswoman for the fire department told local media that officials had found a fatal male victim under the rubble. Two men and a woman were rescued with minor injuries, she added.

“Several buildings were hit. We don’t have the exact number, but we believe that around 10 were directly hit,” she said.

Firefighters at the scene were looking for any other victims.

“I couldn’t find my dog,” one resident said. “I was thrown out. It was me, my son, and my dog. My house exploded.”

(Reporting by Sergio Queiroz, Isabel Teles and Fernando Cardoso, additional reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Rosalba O’Brien)

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By Harold Isaac

PORT-AU-PRINCE, May 11 (Reuters) – Hospitals in Haiti’s Cite Soleil evacuated their patients and aid group MSF suspended its activities there on Monday as fighting between armed groups operating in the area that began a fortnight ago deteriorated over the weekend.

MSF, or Doctors Without Borders, said hundreds of residents sought refuge in its hospital in the neighborhood – an impoverished part of the capital Port-au-Prince – where one of its security guards was shot by a stray bullet while inside the compound.

Another hospital in the area, Hopital Fontaine, told Reuters it evacuated newborns from its intensive care unit. MSF said it treated some patients who transferred from Fontaine, including pregnant women who gave birth overnight.

“Currently, not a single hospital is open in the area where the fighting is taking place,” it said in a statement, adding that while local medical needs were growing exponentially it could not protect its staff or patients in the midst of gunfire. 

MSF said it had taken in more than 800 people who sought refuge, but as the situation worsened, it decided to suspend operations at the hospital until further notice.

“The gunfire has not stopped” since Sunday morning, it said.

Local business leaders had warned earlier that fighting in the area, near the capital’s port and just a few miles from its international airport, broke out between the Chen Mechen gang and its partners and other gangs that were until recently allies.

The groups had all been part of a broad alliance of hundreds of armed gangs across the capital known as Viv Ansanm.

MASS DISPLACEMENTS

At the end of April, the U.N. estimated that fresh attacks by armed gangs had forced around 5,000 people to flee their homes in just two weeks around Cite Soleil and the Croix-des-Bouquets neighborhood to the north.

The U.N. also reported that some 4,400 were forced to leave their homes in Haiti’s breadbasket, the Artibonite region, during the first few days of May.

Its last nationwide report estimated 1.45 million Haitians were internally displaced at the end of last year – many in makeshift camps or in the homes of friends or family. That represents about 12% of the Caribbean nation’s population.

The renewed violence comes after the last members of a Kenyan-led mission in Haiti left the country as part of a restructuring of a U.N.-backed force mandated to help restore security, one beset by delays, lack of funds and lack of personnel. The mission also faced sexual abuse accusations.

The new plan aims to deploy some 5,500 new troops in Haiti by the end of summer, but it is unclear where those troops will come from or who will fund their operations. Haiti’s government has meanwhile hired a U.S. private military company.

In an interview on Monday, Haiti’s Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime said it was clear Haiti’s insecurity would not allow for elections in August as planned. Haiti’s last president was murdered in 2021 and it has not held elections since 2016.

(Reporting by Harold Isaac; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Brendan O’Boyle and Deepa Babington)

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May 11 (Reuters) – The United Arab Emirates has carried out military strikes on Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The strikes, which the UAE has not publicly acknowledged, included an attack on a refinery on Iran’s Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf, WSJ said, adding that the attack took place in early April.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

(Reporting by Carlos Méndez in Mexico City; Editing by Nia Williams)

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Hundreds of climbers are attempting to scale Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, despite an unstable ice block dangerously hanging over the key trail, high travel costs and increased permit fees.

Around 492 climbers and an equal number of Nepali climbing guides are gearing up for the ascent to the nearly 8,850-meter (around 29,000-foot) high peak this month during the much anticipated window of good weather on the mountain.

Climbers began gathering in April at the base camp, which is at an altitude of 5,300 meters (17,340 feet.) But for more than two weeks a massive and unstable block of ice, or serac, stalled them from moving further up the peak.

The serac is part of the Khumbu Icefall, a constantly shifting glacier with deep crevasses and huge pieces of overhanging ice that can be as big as a 10-story building. The section is considered one of the most difficult and trickiest to climb.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, a mountaineering expert in Nepal, said there are a good number of climbers on Mount Everest this season despite the Iran war and increased travel costs. The number of climbers from the U.S. and European countries has decreased, but there has been a rise in the number of Asian climbers.

Mount Everest straddles the Nepal-China border, although China has closed its route this year, leaving climbers to make their attempts from Nepal on the south side.

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ANKARA, May 11 (Reuters) – Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Qatar on Tuesday for talks on the Iran war, its impact on the Gulf and efforts to ensure navigational safety in the Strait of Hormuz, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Monday.

NATO member Turkey, which neighbours Iran, has been in close contact with the United States, Iran and mediator Pakistan since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. It has called for an end to the conflict, while condemning attacks on Iran and criticising Tehran’s strikes on Gulf states as unacceptable.

Fidan, who last visited Doha in March and held two separate calls with Iran’s foreign minister at the weekend, will repeat Turkey’s support for its ally Qatar against attacks from Iran, the source said.

He will voice Ankara’s expectation for navigational safety to be ensured on the Strait of Hormuz and point to the critical need of doing so for regional security and economic stability, the source said.

Fidan is expected to “state that permanently resolving the conflict in the Gulf is the most urgent priority and exchange views on diplomatic initiatives to achieve this,” the source added.

Ankara and Doha have strong ties and cooperate on a wide range of issues, from energy to defence. Turkey has a military base in Qatar and has been in negotiations with Doha about the procurement of Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, as part of an agreement with Britain.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Daren Butler and Timothy Heritage)

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — An overwhelming majority of the Philippine House of Representatives voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte on Monday over alleged unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds and threats to have the president assassinated.

The House, which is dominated by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s allies, voted 255-26 with nine abstentions. The two impeachment complaints against Duterte now move to the Senate, which will convene into a tribunal for her trial.

The vice president, daughter of former President Rodrigo Duterte, has generally denied any wrongdoing without answering the criminal allegations against her in detail.

Last year, she was also impeached by the House but survived the attempt and was not tried on orders of the Supreme Court due to a constitutional technicality.

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NAIROI, Kenya (AP) — France is pitching what it says is a new model of partnership with African countries at a summit that begins Monday in Kenya as it completes a military withdrawal from West African countries that has been widely seen as marking declining influence on the continent.

But Paris is expected to use the two-day Africa Forward Summit, which it is co-hosting, to push a new Africa policy that focuses more on English-speaking countries and offers what it calls a “partnership of equals.” Its new defense agreement with Kenya marks the direction it hopes to go.

France has long maintained a policy of economic, political and military sway over its former colonies dubbed Françafrique, which included keeping thousands of troops in the region. But after years of criticism from leaders and opposition parties in those countries over what they described as a demeaning and heavy-handed approach, France has been forced to withdraw most of those troops.

The summit — France’s first in an English-speaking African country — will be attended by more than 30 heads of state and government, including from Francophone countries. On his arrival Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron said France may disagree with West African governments but “never disagrees with the people.”

Kenya’s newly ratified defense agreement with France has been criticized by civil society groups for granting too much immunity local law to French troops, a sensitive issue in a country where a similar agreement with the United Kingdom has left a trail of hard-to-prosecute crimes against locals.

At a time when many African nations, particularly in the Sahel region, are reducing or expelling foreign military presences in what they say is a quest to reclaim their sovereignty, Kenya is hosting a growing international military presence.

The Kenya-France Defense Cooperation Agreement was signed on Oct. 29, 2025, by Kenya’s Defense Minister Soipan Tuya and French Ambassador to Kenya Arnaud Suquet and ratified by parliament on April 8. The same month, it also ratified defense agreements with countries including the Czech Republic, China and Italy.

While defending the defense agreements, parliament defense committee chair Nelson Koech said Kenya’s treaties with advanced militaries provide training and intelligence-sharing opportunities that will make its defense stronger.

Koech said the agreements were not a “surrender of sovereignty,” adding that newer agreements guarantee that foreign troops will be tried in Kenya in the event of serious crimes such as murder.

A month ahead of the summit, a contingent of around 800 French troops arrived in Kenya aboard a navy ship.

The agreement grants visiting French forces primary jurisdiction over their personnel for on-duty offenses, echoing broad legal protections in past UK pacts that shielded British soldiers from Kenyan courts amid scandals like the 2012 murder of a young woman named Agnes Wanjiru and the deadly 2021 Lolldaiga ranch fire.

A British soldier is due to be extradited after Kenyan courts found him answerable for the 2012 death of Wanjiru, who was last seen alive in his company near the British troops’ training grounds in Nanyuki, central Kenya.

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LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is fighting for his job after devastating local election results for his Labour Party spurred dozens of lawmakers to call for his resignation.

Starmer plans to use a speech on Monday to argue that he can change tack and revive his government’s fortunes. But his position is fragile as rivals weigh their options. One lawmaker, Catherine West, said she will try to trigger a leadership contest if she doesn’t like what she hears in the speech.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, often seen as a potential challenger, said the party “needs to change,” though she did not explicitly call for Starmer to go.

She said “the prime minister must now meet the moment and set out the change our country needs.”

Starmer is trying to regain momentum after heavy losses for his center-left party in local elections across England and legislative votes in Scotland and Wales. Last week’s elections were widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he swept to power in a landslide less than two years ago.

His government has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and been hamstrung by repeated missteps and policy U-turns on issues including welfare reform. He has been further hurt by his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.

Last week’s elections saw Labour squeezed from both right and left, losing votes to both the anti-immigration Reform UK and the “eco-populist” Green Party. It reflects the increasing fragmentation of British politics, long dominated by Labour and the Conservatives.

Still, Starmer told The Observer newspaper on Sunday that he wants to remain in office for a decade. He’s pinning his hopes on Monday’s speech and an ambitious set of legislative plans to be set out in a speech Wednesday by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.

A key policy is closer ties with the European Union, which the United Kingdom left in 2020, four years after the “leave” side narrowly won a membership referendum. Starmer’s government has already moved to ease some of the trade restrictions that have burdened British businesses since Brexit, and he says he will secure a youth mobility deal so young people can spend a few years working across the continent.

“Brexit has held back our young people,” Starmer told The Observer, adding that “we have to be closer to Europe.”

Labour campaigned to stay in the EU during the 2016 referendum campaign, but has been reluctant to reopen a debate that bitterly divided the country. Starmer has ruled out seeking to reenter the EU, or to rejoin the EU’s customs union or single market, two things that would make a big difference to U.K. businesses.

None of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers to Starmer — including Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham — has called for him to resign.

But a growing number of Labour lawmakers urged the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure. British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.

Josh Simons, a formerly loyal Labour lawmaker, wrote in the Times of London that Starmer “has lost the country” and “should take control of the situation by overseeing an orderly transition to a new prime minister.”

West, a former junior minister, is trying to hurry the process along, vowing to try to trigger a leadership contest unless Starmer delivers a barnstorming speech on Monday. West acknowledged she does not have the support of 81 colleagues, needed to force a contest, and her move appeared to be an attempt to force more high-profile contenders to make a move.

“Working people sent us a message,” West said. “We have to listen to that, and we have to change and we have to do it quickly.”

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By Trevor Hunnicutt and Nandita Bose

May 10 (Reuters) – A rare earths deal between the United States and China is still in effect and an extension will be announced at the appropriate time, a senior U.S. official told reporters on Sunday.

U.S. President Donald Trump ‌and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in Beijing on May 14 and 15.

“It’s still in effect. It doesn’t expire yet,” the official told reporters, adding conversations are ongoing but it wasn’t clear yet if the deal will be extended. “I’m confident we’ll announce any potential extension at the appropriate time.”

Trump and Xi are expected to discuss the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, trade, Taiwan and other flashpoints when their two-day summit begins Thursday.

Their last meeting was in October in South Korea, where they agreed to pause a bruising trade war that had seen the U.S. impose triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods and Beijing threaten to restrict the global supply of rare earths.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Nandita Bose and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Edmund Klamann and Aurora Ellis)

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BEIRUT (AP) — Nobel Peace laureate and activist Narges Mohammadi has been transferred to a Tehran hospital more than a week after collapsing in prison, her foundation said Sunday.

Her transfer comes after days of pleading by her family and others who described her condition as critical. Her foundation said she has been granted a prison sentence suspension on bail. It was not clear for how long her sentence is suspended, the foundation said.

Mohammadi had been imprisoned since December in Zanjan prison. She lost consciousness twice and was transferred to a local hospital on May 1.

A statement from her foundation, shared with The Associated Press, said the suspended sentence is not enough and that Mohammadi needs “permanent, specialized care.”

The statement added that “we must ensure she never returns to prison to face the 18 years remaining on her sentence. Now is the time to demand her unconditional freedom and the dismissal of all charges.”

Mohammadi’s Iran-based lawyer Mostafa Nili said on social media the transfer order was issued following the decision of the Legal Medicine Organization — government-appointed medical examiners — “which stated that, due to her multiple illnesses, she needs to continue treatment outside prison and under the supervision of her own medical team.”

There was no immediate comment from Iranian authorities.

Mohammadi’s brother Hamidreza Mohammadi, who is based in Oslo, Norway, had said medical examiners previously recommended her transfer to Tehran but the decision was blocked. He blamed Iran’s intelligence agency.

“I’m relieved now. I can breathe lightly,” her brother told the AP in a message.

The 53-year-old rights activist and champion of women’s rights was awarded the Nobel in 2023 while in prison and has been jailed repeatedly throughout her career. Her current imprisonment began when she was arrested in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad.

Mohammadi’s family said her health had been deteriorating in prison, in part because she was heavily beaten during her arrest. She had a heart attack in March and has a blood clot in her lung since before her imprisonment that needs blood thinners and monitoring to manage it.

Since being taken to the Zanjan hospital’s cardiac care unit, Mohammadi’s blood pressure had been swinging between extremely low and extremely high, and she was receiving oxygen to breathe and can’t talk, according to her brother.

The Nobel committee had called on Iranian authorities to immediately transfer Mohammadi to her dedicated medical team in Tehran, saying that “without such treatment, her life remains at risk.”

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