1. The US intends to launch further strikes at Iran-backed groups in the Middle East, the White House national security adviser said, after hitting Tehran-aligned factions in Iraq, Syria and Yemen over the last two days. How far will the US go? Listen to correspondent Phil Stewart on the daily Reuters World News podcast.

2. Palestinians huddling under bombardment in Gaza said they hoped a visit to the region by the US secretary of state would finally deliver a truce, in time to head off a threatened new Israeli assault on the last refuge at the enclave's edge.

3. Firefighters in central Chile battled to quell fierce forest fires that have killed 112 people so far and razed entire neighborhoods, while President Gabriel Boric warned the country faces a "tragedy of very great magnitude".

4. President Nayib Bukele secured a thumping victory in El Salvador's elections after voters cast aside concerns about erosion of democracy to reward him for a fierce gang crackdown that transformed security in the Central American country.

5. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was considering a "reset" to replace several senior officials. Speculation has gripped Ukraine for weeks over suggestions that the president was about to dismiss the highly popular commander, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi.

6. A Beijing court handed Australian writer Yang Hengjun a suspended death sentence on espionage charges, threatening a recent rebound in bilateral ties that followed several years of strained relations between Beijing and Canberra.