Reuters World News Summary

A working draft lays out principles and proposals aimed at putting back on track a U.S.-led effort to reshape the volatile region that was derailed by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the outbreak of war in Gaza, according to two sources who have seen the document. Dozens arrested after London protest blocking removal of asylum seekers British police arrested 45 people on Thursday during a protest in London against the transfer of asylum seekers staying in a hotel to a barge off southern England.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Syria says Israeli strike outside Damascus injures eight troops

An Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of Damascus injured eight Syrian military personnel late on Thursday, the Syrian defence ministry said, the latest such attack amid the war in Gaza. The Israeli strike, launched from the occupied Golan Heights towards "one of the sites in the vicinity of Damascus", caused some material damage, the Syrian defence ministry said in a statement.

Fresh chaos, arrests on US college campuses as police flatten camp at UCLA

Police forcibly removed scores of defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges on Thursday, including taking down an encampment at UCLA in a jarring scene that underscored the heightened chaos that has erupted at universities this week. In the pre-dawn hours, helmeted police swarmed a tent city set up at the University of California in Los Angeles, using flash bangs and riot gear to push through lines of protesters who linked arms in a futile attempt to halt their advance.

Haiti transition council walks back PM nomination, exposing divide

The majority of Haiti's transition council who had nominated an interim prime minister earlier this week has walked back the decision, exposing the internal turmoil of the group charged with leading the Caribbean nation out of a prolonged crisis. Late on Wednesday, four of the council's seven voting members issued a statement saying they will go back to an original agreement to choose a prime minister from a pool of applicants, after having tapped former official Fritz Belizaire for the job.

Why Palestinians can count on American students but not Arab allies to protest

Palestinians may be gratified to see American university campuses erupt in outrage over Israel's offensive in Gaza, but some in the embattled enclave are also wondering why no similar protests have hit the Arab countries they long viewed as allies.

Demonstrations have rocked U.S. universities this week, with confrontations between students, counter protesters and police, but while there have been some protests in Arab states, they have not been nearly as large or as vociferous.

Turkey halts all trade with Israel, cites worsening Palestinian situation

Turkey stopped all exports and imports to and from Israel as of Thursday, the Turkish trade ministry said, citing "worsening humanitarian tragedy" in the Palestinian territories.

"Export and import transactions related to Israel have been stopped, covering all products," Turkey's trade ministry said in a statement.

Students erect pro-Palestinian encampments across major Canadian universities

Quebec Premier Francois Legault said on Thursday the encampment at Montreal's McGill University should be dismantled as more students erected pro-Palestinian camps across some of Canada's largest universities, demanding they divest from groups with ties to Israel. The Canadian protests come as police have been arresting hundreds on U.S. campuses and the death toll in Gaza has been mounting.

Russian troops enter base housing US military in Niger, US official says

Russian military personnel have entered an air base in Niger that is hosting U.S. troops, a senior U.S. defense official told Reuters, a move that follows a decision by Niger's junta to expel U.S. forces from the country. The military officers ruling the West African nation have told the U.S. to withdraw its nearly 1,000 military personnel from the country, which until a coup last year had been a key partner for Washington's fight against insurgents who have killed thousands of people and displaced millions more.

Trump lawyer suggests hush money payment was extortion

A lawyer for Donald Trump sought on Thursday to portray the hush money payment at the center of his criminal trial as extortion, questioning a lawyer involved in the deal about his cash-for-dirt negotiations with other celebrities. Defense attorney Emil Bove's questioning of the lawyer Keith Davidson hinted at a strategy by Trump's legal team to undermine the credibility of prosecution witnesses in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president.

US and Saudi Arabia nearing agreement on security pact, sources say

The Biden administration and Saudi Arabia are finalizing an agreement for U.S. security guarantees and civilian nuclear assistance, even as an Israel-Saudi normalization deal envisioned as part of a Middle East "grand bargain" remains elusive, according to seven people familiar with the matter. A working draft lays out principles and proposals aimed at putting back on track a U.S.-led effort to reshape the volatile region that was derailed by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the outbreak of war in Gaza, according to two sources who have seen the document.

Dozens arrested after London protest blocking removal of asylum seekers

British police arrested 45 people on Thursday during a protest in London against the transfer of asylum seekers staying in a hotel to a barge off southern England. Dozens of protesters outside the hotel in Peckham, southeast London, attempted to stop a bus carrying the asylum seekers from leaving, reportedly deflating its tyres and obstructing the vehicle by surrounding it, London's Metropolitan Police said.

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