Reuters World News Summary

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Syria says UN can deliver aid through shuttered Turkish crossing for six months

The Syrian government on Thursday said the United Nations could use a border crossing from Turkey to continue delivering aid to northwest Syria for another six months after the Security Council failed to renew its authorization for the operation. The U.N. aid deliveries would have to be "in full cooperation and coordination with the Syrian Government", Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bassam Sabbagh wrote in a letter on Thursday to the Security Council, seen by Reuters.

Chinese hackers breached US Commerce chief's emails; Blinken warns Chinese counterpart

U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Gina Raimondo was among a group of senior U.S. officials whose emails were hacked earlier this year by a group Microsoft says is based in China, according to a person briefed on the matter, as fallout from the digital theft continues to spread. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made clear to China's top diplomat Wang Yi in a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday that any action that targets the U.S. government, U.S. companies or American citizens "is of deep concern to us, and that we will take appropriate action to hold those responsible accountable," said another source, a senior State Department official.

Biden 'guarantees' US backs NATO in Finland, but Trump shadow lingers

President Joe Biden on Thursday gave his assurance that the United States would stay committed to NATO despite "extreme elements" of the Republican Party, in remarks during a visit to Finland to welcome it as the alliance's latest member. "I absolutely guarantee it," Biden told a press conference when pressed by a Finnish reporter about the U.S. commitment to NATO given political instability in the United States. Biden's predecessor, Republican former President Donald Trump, threatened to take the United States out of the alliance.

US bans former Panama president for 'significant corruption,' Blinken says

The United States has banned former Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez from entering the U.S. for his "involvement in significant corruption," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday. "Today, I am announcing the designation of former Panamanian President, Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez as generally ineligible for entry into the United States, due to his involvement in significant corruption," Blinken said in a statement released by the State Department. "While serving as Panama's vice president and then president, Varela accepted bribes in exchange for improperly awarding government contracts."

UN scrambles to save Black Sea grain deal, with EU help, ahead of Monday deadline

The European Commission is helping the United Nations and Turkey try to extend a deal allowing the Black Sea export of Ukraine grain and is open to "explore all solutions," a European Union spokesperson said on Thursday, ahead of the deal's possible expiration on Monday. The U.N. and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Russia and Ukraine in July 2022 to help alleviate a global food crisis worsened by Moscow's invasion and blockade of Ukrainian ports. Ukraine and Russia are among the world's leading grain exporters.

Egypt launches new Sudan mediation bid at neighbours' summit

Egypt on Thursday embarked on a fresh bid to halt fighting between Sudan's warring factions and contain the humanitarian crisis it has unleashed, using a summit of neighbouring states to try to revive international efforts to contain the war. The leaders of Sudan's seven neighbours in a joint statement called on the warring parties to commit to a ceasefire, appealed to regional states not to interfere in the conflict, and agreed to facilitate delivery of aid.

WHO cancer arm deems aspartame "possible carcinogen"; consumption limits unchanged

The sweetener aspartame is a "possible carcinogen" but it remains safe to consume at already agreed levels, two groups linked to the World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Friday. The rulings are the outcome of two separate WHO expert panels, one of which flags whether there is any evidence that a substance is a potential hazard, and the other which assesses how much of a real-life risk that substance actually poses.

Guatemala top court reverses ban on anti-graft presidential candidate

Guatemala's top court on Thursday suspended an order barring the party of anti-graft candidate Bernardo Arevalo from running for the presidency, after a flood of international criticism that the country's democracy was in jeopardy. The Constitutional Court said it had granted a provisional injunction filed by the Semilla party against a judge's order to suspend the party and seemingly kick Arevalo out of the race.

Exclusive-Canada unfreezes talks with Turkey on export controls after NATO move-source

Canada has unfrozen talks with Turkey on lifting export controls on drone parts after Ankara gave its nod for Sweden to join NATO, a person familiar with the talks said, a move seen as one of several concessions won in exchange for the Turkish blessing. President Tayyip Erdogan's greenlight, which ended more than a year of opposition to Sweden's membership bid, came as a surprise even to allies at home who had supported him in demanding Stockholm first take steps against groups deemed terrorists by Ankara.

Blinken, Wang meet again for talks aimed at managing U.S.-China competition

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held "candid and constructive" talks with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi on Thursday in Indonesia's capital, an official said, the latest in a series of interactions Washington says are aimed at managing competition between the rival superpowers. In their second meeting in less than a month, Blinken raised alleged Chinese involvement in computer hacking a day after Microsoft said Chinese state-backed hackers had breached email accounts of U.S. government agencies, while Wang pushed back on what he called U.S. "interference" in China's affairs.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)