Reuters World News Summary

The official newspaper of the governing Communist Party also issued a seven-point rebuttal after top U.S. negotiators suggested Beijing could avert President Donald Trump's threat to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods by scrapping the measures set to take effect on November 8. Mourners briefly storm Kenyan airport to receive Odinga's body Thousands of mourners briefly stormed Nairobi's international airport on Thursday, interrupting a ceremony for the body of veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, with crowds also flooding nearby roads and trying to breach parliament.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Israel says preparations to open Rafah crossing underway with Egypt, date to be announced later

Israel's military aid agency COGAT said on Thursday preparations are ongoing with Egypt to open the major Rafah border crossing with Gaza for the movement of people, with the date to be announced at a later stage. Israel had earlier warned it could keep Rafah shut and reduce aid into the Palestinian enclave as Hamas, it said, was returning the bodies of dead hostages too slowly, underlining the risks to a ceasefire that halted two years of devastating war and saw all living hostages held by Hamas released.

Greece adopts law extending working hours despite protests

Greece's parliament approved a bill on Thursday allowing private sector employers to extend working hours despite protests from workers already struggling from a cost-of-living crisis. The bill, which allows employers to enforce 13-hour work days, up from the current eight hours, aims to make the labour market more flexible and effective, the conservative government says.

China poses daily threat to UK security, MI5 chief says

The head of Britain's MI5 security service said on Thursday he was frustrated by the collapse of a China spying case which has led to intense scrutiny of whether the government was to blame, saying China posed a daily national security threat. Britain's Crown Prosecution Service unexpectedly dropped charges last month against two British men, former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and academic Christopher Berry, who were accused of spying for Beijing between 2021 and 2023.

Gemfields says illegal miners killed two police guards at Mozambique mine

Gemfields Group said on Thursday a group of illegal miners had invaded its Montepuez ruby mine in northern Mozambique on Monday and killed two police officers guarding the site. "A group of approximately 40 illegal miners marched on the mine gate at Montepuez Ruby Mining," Gemfields said in a statement.

Some Indian refiners to move away from Russian oil, sources say

Some Indian refiners are preparing to cut Russian oil imports, three sources told Reuters on Thursday, after U.S. President Donald Trump said India had given an assurance it would stop its buying to help end the war in Ukraine. India and China are the biggest buyers of Russian sea-borne crude, taking advantage of discounted prices Russia was forced to offer after losing sales to Europe following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

French PM survives no-confidence votes after making pension concession

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu survived two no-confidence votes in parliament on Thursday, winning crucial backing from the Socialist Party thanks to his pledge to suspend President Emmanuel Macron's contested pension reform. The two motions presented by the hard-left France Unbowed and the far-right National Rally (RN) secured just 271 and 144 votes respectively -- well short of the 289 votes needed to bring down Lecornu's days-old government.

China blames US for global panic over rare earths controls

China on Thursday accused the U.S. of stoking panic over its rare earth controls and said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had made "grossly distorted" remarks about a top Chinese trade negotiator, rejecting a White House call to roll back the curbs. The official newspaper of the governing Communist Party also issued a seven-point rebuttal after top U.S. negotiators suggested Beijing could avert President Donald Trump's threat to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese goods by scrapping the measures set to take effect on November 8.

Mourners briefly storm Kenyan airport to receive Odinga's body

Thousands of mourners briefly stormed Nairobi's international airport on Thursday, interrupting a ceremony for the body of veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, with crowds also flooding nearby roads and trying to breach parliament. Odinga, a major figure for decades in Kenyan politics who was once a political prisoner and ran unsuccessfully for president five times, died on Wednesday aged 80 in India, where he had been receiving medical treatment.

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