WORLD

US lawmakers attacked the head of a top financial regulator for a second consecutive day on Thursday over his agency's failure to deal with workplace misconduct, including discrimination and sexual harassment.

Richard Krajcik was hoping to get a selfie with Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico in the main square of his hometown of Handlova when shots rang out.

Far-right leader Geert Wilders told AFP Thursday it could take "years" for the Netherlands' new government to fulfil its pledge to opt-out of the EU asylum system, but vowed the nation would enforce its strictest asylum policy ever.

Leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin framed their nations' ties as a stabilizing force in a chaotic world as they met Thursday in Beijing, where the Russian president is seeking greater Chinese support for his war effort in Ukraine and isolated economy.

Baidu is a key player in China's tech industry, which once charted years of ballooning growth until Beijing imposed a regulatory crackdown on the sector starting in 2020.

The Ukrainian army said on Thursday it had partially halted a Russian advance in the northeast, where Moscow has secured its largest territorial gains in 18 months over the last week.

Beijingers praised Vladimir Putin's "charisma" on Thursday and expressed hopes that China would deepen ties with Moscow as the Russian leader paid a two-day visit.

The army said that the five soldiers were killed when two Israeli tanks mistakenly fired shells at the building they were in during clashes in the northern Jabalia refuge camp on Wednesday

The US-built pier, announced in March by President Joe Biden and constructed at a cost of at least $320 million, is part of international efforts to circumvent restrictions on overland access into the Gaza Strip imposed by Israel, Washington's close ally.

Preparing for a state banquet reflecting the self-ruled island's unique history, Taiwanese chef Wes Kuo places delicate vegetable fronds around sauces inspired by the cuisines of its five major ethnic groups.

It's crunch time for Donald Trump's defense team as they take another stab Thursday at Michael Cohen, the key witness in the criminal trial in which the former president is accused of fraudulently covering up his affair with a porn star to influence his first presidential bid.

More than 30,000 children have crossed the perilous Darien Gap jungle in four months on the path to a better life in the United States, a number up 40 percent from the same period last year, the UN children's agency said Wednesday.

Another masterpiece emerging from chaos, or just a chaotic mess?

Arab leaders are gathering Thursday in Bahrain for a summit dominated by the Israel-Hamas war which has been raging in the Gaza Strip without a ceasefire in sight.

South Africa will ask the top UN court on Thursday to order an immediate halt to Israel's incursion in Rafah, describing it as a "genocidal" operation threatening the "very survival of Palestinians".

Thousands of Georgians took to the streets Wednesday in the latest round of a weeks-long mass protest against a "foreign influence" law whose adoption by Georgia has prompted a blizzard of international condemnation.

Hong Kong, once a financial beacon, now faces challenges with a slipping global ranking and stringent Chinese controls on cross-border money flows.