At least 132 killed in Rio police raid, officials say
The number of people known to have been killed in a deadly police raid in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday has risen to 132, officials say, BBC reported.
This is more than double the figure cited after the police operation in the favelas (poor neighbourhoods) of Alemao and Penha, in the north of Rio de Janeiro, on Tuesday.
The public defender's office, which provides legal assistance to the poor, made the new death toll public after grieving residents lay dozens of bodies in a square early on Wednesday, according to BBC.
China buys US soybean cargoes ahead of Trump-Xi meet, sources say
China's state-owned COFCO bought three U.S. soybean cargoes, two trade sources said, the country's first purchases from this year's U.S. harvest, shortly before a summit of leaders Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, Reuters reported.
As the two nations battle over trade tariffs, the lack of Chinese buying has cost U.S. farmers billions of dollars in lost sales, after they largely supported Trump in his campaigns for president.
Although COFCO's deal for December-January shipment of about 180,000 metric tons of soybeans was China's first such buy in months, traders do not expect a significant resumption in demand for U.S. cargoes after recent large South American purchases, according to Reuters .
COFCO did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Trump touts South Korea, China deals on last Asia tour stop
U.S. President Donald Trump began the final leg of his Asia trip in South Korea on Wednesday, optimistic about advancing an unresolved tariff deal with the country's President Lee Jae Myung and striking a trade war truce with China's Xi Jinping, Reuters reported.
Arriving from Tokyo hours after North Korea test-fired a nuclear-capable cruise missile, Trump was treated to a lavish reception by Lee in Gyeongju, a sleepy town hosting this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, before Thursday's talks with Xi.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to South Korea earlier, Trump dismissed the North Korea missile test and said he was squarely focused on his meeting with the leader of the world's second-largest economy, according to Reuters.
Israeli strikes kill 33 in Gaza, Hamas-run civil defence says, as Trump insists ceasefire remains
At least 33 Palestinians were killed in a wave of Israeli strikes in Gaza on Tuesday night, the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency and hospitals say, BBC reported.
Israel carried out the strikes in response to what it said were violations by Hamas of the US-brokered ceasefire deal.
Israel's defence minister accused Hamas of an attack in southern Gaza that killed an Israeli soldier on Tuesday, and of breaching the terms on returning deceased hostages' bodies. Hamas claimed it had "no connection" to the attack and insisted it was committed to the ceasefire deal.
US President Donald Trump maintained "nothing" would jeopardise the ceasefire, but added that Israel should "hit back" when its soldiers were targeted, according to BBC.



