The move follows a Thai government decision last month to unilaterally terminate a 2001 agreement with Cambodia that provided a framework for negotiations over the disputed area in the Gulf of Thailand where the two countries' maritime claims overlap.

Primary support for One Nation rose four percentage points to 31 percent from a month earlier, according to a closely watched poll by Redbridge Group and Accent Research.

Japan and the Philippines said last week they would begin formal talks on delimiting the maritime boundary of the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf between the two countries "in accordance with international law".

The Justice Department on Tuesday dropped a contentious plan to create a US$1.8 billion compensation program that critics had denounced as a "slush fund" for President Donald Trump's political allies.

US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne ​Mullin said the Trump administration is drawing up plans to stop processing international travelers ‌and cargo at major US airports in "sanctuary cities" that have declined to cooperate with an immigration crackdown.

A gunman opened fire near the White House on Saturday evening, with US Secret Service agents killing the assailant in a shoot-out during which a bystander was also struck, authorities said.

Trump said that Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Aaron Lukas, a former CIA officer and analyst who served on the National Security Council during Trump's first term, would become acting director.

El Nino is a period warming of sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific Ocean, ​which typically lasts between nine and 12 months, according ​to the World Meteorological Organization.

A cruise ship which sparked a global health alert over a deadly outbreak of hantavirus was on Saturday cleared to put to sea again after cleaning and disinfection.

Gulf hostilities flared anew on Wednesday, with the US military saying Iranian missile attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait and other regional targets were either thwarted or failed, as diplomacy between Washington and Tehran showed little progress.

The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations was one of the early investors that helped to develop a vaccine at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us," Trump posted on Truth Social.

UN health chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called Saturday for more international help to combat the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Democratic Republic of Congo as he arrived in the eastern province worst-hit by a severe outbreak.