Reuters: World

WHO asks China for details on outbreaks of respiratory illness The World Health Organization (WHO) has asked China for details on an increase in respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children, which its China office on Thursday called a "routine" check. Chinese authorities from the National Health Commission held a press conference on Nov. 13 to report an increase in incidence of respiratory disease. Authorities attributed the increase to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the circulation of known pathogens such as influenza, mycoplasma pneumoniae, a common bacterial infection that typically affects younger children, respiratory syncytial virus, and the virus that causes COVID-19. read more

Vehicle explodes at Niagara Falls, forcing US-Canada border closings A vehicle exploded on Wednesday on the Rainbow Bridge linking Canada with the United States at Niagara Falls, prompting authorities to close that border crossing and the three others between western New York and southern Ontario, officials said. The vehicle's driver and a passenger were killed in the explosion, and one U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer was injured, a person with knowledge of the situation told Reuters. Investigators ruled out a bomb as the cause, but the possibility of terrorism had yet to be discounted because circumstances of the incident remained undetermined, according to the source, who asked to remain anonymous in order to discuss the matter. read more

Sam Altman restored as OpenAI CEO after his tumultuous ouster Sam Altman is returning as CEO of OpenAI just days after his ouster, capping frenzied discussions about the future of the startup at the center of an artificial intelligence boom. The ChatGPT maker also unveiled a new initial board with former Salesforce co-CEO Bret Taylor as chair and Larry Summers, U.S. former Treasury Secretary, and Adam D'Angelo as directors. D'Angelo was part of the original board that had dismissed Altman. The return of Altman could potentially usher in a new era for the startup which had long juggled concerns among staff about AI's dangers and its potential for commercialization. read more

Israeli government approves deal for release of 50 Gaza hostages, truce Israel's government voted on Wednesday to back a deal for Palestinian Hamas militants to free 50 women and children held as hostages in Gaza in exchange for a four-day pause in fighting, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Officials from Qatar, which has been mediating negotiations, as well as the U.S., Israel and Hamas have for days been saying a deal was imminent. Hamas is believed to be holding more than 200 hostages, taken when its fighters surged into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. read more

Gunfire kills, wounds dozens in Gaza hospital encircled by Israeli tanks - health ministry Israeli tanks surrounded a hospital in north Gaza and at least 12 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded by firing into the complex, health officials said on Monday, as fighting raged on amid indications of a possible pause in hostilities. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military about the situation at the Indonesian Hospital, where health officials in Hamas-ruled Gaza said 700 patients along with staff were under fire from Israeli forces. The Palestinian news agency WAFA said the facility in the northeast Gaza town of Beit Lahia had been hit by artillery fire. Palestinian health officials said there were frantic efforts to evacuate civilians out of harm's way. read more

U.S., Israel and Hamas reach tentative deal to pause conflict and free dozens of hostages- WaPo Israel, the United States and Hamas have reached a tentative agreement to free dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the deal. As part of the detailed, six-page agreement, all parties would freeze combat operations for at least five days while "an initial 50 or more hostages are released in smaller groups every 24 hours", the Post reported. Hamas took about 240 hostages during its Oct. 7 rampage inside Israel that killed 1,200 people. The newspaper said overhead surveillance would monitor ground movement to help police the pause, which also is intended to allow in a significant amount of humanitarian aid. There was no immediate comment from the White House or the Israeli prime minister's office on the Post report. read more

Liberia President George Weah concedes election defeat to Joseph Boakai Liberia President George Weah on Friday conceded election defeat to opposition leader Joseph Boakai after a tight race, ending a presidency marred by graft allegations but helping to ensure a smooth transition of power in the once volatile African nation. Boakai, 78, a former vice president who lost to Weah in the 2017 election, led with 50.9% of the vote over Weah's 49.1%, with nearly all the votes counted, the country's elections commission said on Friday. The result marks a stark turnaround from 2017, when global soccer legend Weah, buoyed by a wave of hope, trounced Boakai with 62 percent of the vote. Many have since grown disillusioned with the lack of progress: Poverty, unemployment, food insecurity and poor electricity supply persist. read more

White House blasts Musk's 'hideous' antisemitic lie, advertisers pause on X The White House on Friday condemned Elon Musk's endorsement of what it called a "hideous" antisemitic conspiracy theory on X, while major U.S. companies including Walt Disney Co (DIS.N), Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) and NBCUniversal parent Comcast (CMCSA.O) paused their advertisements on his social media site. Musk on Wednesday agreed with a post on X that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user who referenced the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory was speaking "the actual truth." That conspiracy theory holds that Jewish people and leftists are engineering the ethnic and cultural replacement of white populations with non-white immigrants that will lead to a "white genocide." read more

After U.S. fentanyl deal, China warns against selling chemicals used in narcotics China's narcotics control agency has warned against the manufacture and sale of substances that can be used to make illegal drugs, a day after President Xi Jinping said China would stem the export of items used to make the opioid fentanyl. In a circular issued on Thursday, the office of the China National Narcotics Control Commission also cautioned against the risk of running into the "long-arm jurisdiction" of foreign law enforcement agencies. The United States has long sought China's cooperation to stop an illicit flow of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl, which is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and is increasingly mixed with other drugs, often with lethal results. read more

Biden calls Xi a dictator after carefully planned summit U.S. President Joe Biden said on Wednesday he had not changed his view that Chinese President Xi Jinping was effectively a dictator, a comment likely to land with a thud in Beijing after the two leaders held straightforward summit talks. Biden held a solo news conference after four hours of talks with Xi on the outskirts of San Francisco. At the end of the news conference, he was asked whether he still held the view that Xi was a dictator, something he said in June. "Look, he is. He's a dictator in the sense that he's a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that's based on a form of government totally different than ours," Biden said. read more

Indian workers remain trapped in collapsed tunnel as rescue hampered Rescue teams were unable on Wednesday to reach 40 workers trapped in a collapsed highway tunnel in India, as huge boulders were blocking efforts to create an evacuation passage, officials said. It has been three days since the tunnel collapsed but the labourers continue to be safe and healthy, one official involved in the rescue operations told Reuters. The trapped men have been given food, water and oxygen through a pipe since Sunday morning, after the tunnel caved in at 5:30 a.m. (0000 GMT). read more

Israel raids Gaza's Al Shifa Hospital, urges Hamas to surrender The Israeli military said it was carrying out a raid on Wednesday against Palestinian Hamas militants in Al Shifa Hospital, the Gaza Strip's biggest hospital, and urged them all to surrender. Less than an hour earlier, around 1 a.m. local time (2300 GMT), a Gaza health ministry spokesman said Israel had told officials in the enclave that it would raid the Shifa hospital complex "in the coming minutes." Dr. Munir al-Bursh, director-general of the Gaza health ministry, told Al Jazeera television that Israeli forces had raided the western side of the medical complex. "There are big explosions and dust entered the areas where we are. We believe an explosion occurred inside the hospital," Bursh said. read more