World News Roundup: PM May battles to save Brexit deal; Trump team plans sideshow on coal

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

British PM May battles to save Brexit deal as ministers quit

Prime Minister Theresa May battled on Thursday to save a draft divorce deal with the European Union after her Brexit secretary and other ministers quit in protest at an agreement they say will trap Britain in the bloc's orbit for years. Just over 12 hours after May announced that her team of top ministers had agreed to the terms of the draft agreement, Brexit minister Dominic Raab and work and pensions minister Esther McVey quit, saying they could not support it.

European court says Kremlin critic Navalny was a political prisoner

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Thursday that Russia's repeated arrests and detention of opposition leader Alexei Navalny were politically-motivated and breached his human rights, a decision certain to displease the Kremlin. The court, based in Strasbourg, said Navalny had been subject to seven such arrests in 2012 and in 2014 and that at least two of those arrests had been designed to suppress political pluralism.

Explainer: How does a leadership challenge to a Conservative UK prime minister work?

Prime Minister Theresa May's position as leader of the Conservative Party - and consequently her premiership - is under threat after Brexit minister Dominic Raab resigned in protest at her proposed exit deal with the European Union. Below is an explanation of how May could face a leadership challenge under Conservative Party rules:

Saudi public prosecutor seeks death penalty in Khashoggi murder case

Saudi Arabia's public prosecutor is seeking the death penalty for five out of 11 suspects charged in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, in a case that has strained the kingdom's ties with key Western allies, his office said on Thursday. Khashoggi, a prominent critic of Saudi policy, was killed in the country's Istanbul consulate on Oct. 2, after a struggle, by a lethal injection dose and his body was dismembered and taken out of the building, deputy public prosecutor and spokesman Shaalan al-Shaalan told reporters.

Exclusive: At U.N. climate talks, Trump team plans sideshow on coal

The Trump administration plans to set up side-event promoting fossil fuels at the annual U.N. climate talks next month, repeating a strategy that infuriated global-warming activists during last year's talks, according to three people with knowledge of the matter. As with the 2017 gathering in Bonn, Germany, the administration plans to highlight the benefits of technologies that more efficiently burn fuels including coal, the sources said.

Exclusive: U.S. troop levels at Mexico border likely at peak - commander

The number of U.S. troops at the border with Mexico may have peaked at about 5,800, the U.S. commander of the mission told Reuters, noting he would start looking next week at whether to begin sending forces home or perhaps shifting some to new border positions. The outlook by Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan, while not definitive, suggests that the high-profile military mission could soon achieve its goal of helping harden the border ahead of the expected arrival of caravans of Central American migrants in the coming weeks.

Exclusive: In rare coordinated move, Western envoys seek meeting on Xinjiang concerns

A group of 15 Western ambassadors in Beijing, spearheaded by Canada, are seeking a meeting with the top official in China's restive, heavily Muslim Xinjiang region for an explanation of alleged rights abuses against ethnic Uighurs. The envoys are making their request in a letter to Chen Quanguo, Xinjiang's Communist Party boss, according to a copy of a draft letter seen by Reuters.

Exclusive: German prosecutors charge Chinese-born engineer in industrial espionage case

German prosecutors are pressing criminal charges against a former employee of chemicals maker Lanxess for allegedly stealing trade secrets to set up a Chinese copycat chemical reactor. The case underscores fears among German officials and executives about industrial espionage in Europe's largest manufacturing nation.

After 2,000 miles they crossed the U.S. border; then tragedy struck

The 911 emergency call came into the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson station around midnight. Joselino Gomez Esteban's voice crackled through an older cell phone from somewhere in Arizona's Sonoran Desert, the final stretch of a 2,000-mile (3,218 km) migration from Guatemala.

U.S. envoy for Iran warns EU banks, firms against non-dollar Iran trade

European banks and firms who engage in a special European Union initiative to protect trade with Iran will be at risk from newly reimposed U.S. sanctions, U.S. Special Representative Brian Hook warned on Thursday. "European banks and European companies know that we will vigorously enforce sanctions against this brutal and violent regime," Hook said in a telephone briefing.