Briefly

UNITED STATES

Storm leaves residents without water supplies

Tens of thousands of North Carolina residents remained without running water on Wednesday, six days after Hurricane Helene slammed into Florida and carved a destructive path through much of the US Southeast, killing more than 180 people. The storm inundated the western part of the state with catastrophic flooding, damaging water plants and cutting off power. One-fifth of the 1 million residents in the western half of North Carolina either had no water at all or low system pressure on Wednesday.

EUROPE

Starmer visits Brussels for UK-EU ties reset

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would work in good faith toward resetting relations with Brussels after talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in which they agreed to work at pace to deepen cooperation. Starmer has said his government will not seek wholesale renegotiation of the Brexit deal that took Britain out of the European Union in 2020. But he is looking to tweak the relationship in a range of areas.

NIGERIA

60 passengers dead as boat capsizes

At least 60 people were killed after a boat carrying mostly women and children returning from a religious festival in Nigeria's northern Niger state capsized, a local official said late on Wednesday. About 160 people have been rescued after the wooden boat ferrying nearly 300 passengers sank on Tuesday night on the River Niger, said Jibril Abdullahi Muregi, chairman of the Mokwa local government area.

Agencies via Xinhua