Chinese President Xi Jinping called for authorities to "spare no effort" in treating the injured and conducting search and rescue operations, while ordering a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident and strict accountability in accordance with the law.

The fast-warming tropical Pacific is pointing to a major event but a crucial weakening of trade winds -- capable of turbocharging or throttling the phenomenon -- has yet to materialise.

The Philippine government on Thursday ordered police to arrest a senator wanted by the International Criminal Court over his role in ex-president Rodrigo Duterte's deadly drug crackdown.

A programme and menu reported by TASS showed guests would be offered an array of cold "zakuski" hors d'oeuvres, prawn soup, beef in bean sauce, Fuzhou noodles, pumpkin pastries, fruits. 

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.

Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz came to power six months ago, in the midst of the country's worst economic crisis since the 1980s, marked by acute shortages of fuel and foreign currency and runaway inflation.

Bolivians began demonstrating and erecting roadblocks three weeks ago to demand salary increases, stable fuel supplies and measures to mitigate the worst economic crisis in 40 years.

Trump said the move was based on his relationship with Poland's president Karol Nawrocki, a nationalist ally whom he said he was "proud to endorse" in elections that Nawrocki won last year.

"The public health risk has been reassessed with the most current information available, and the global risk remains low," said a WHO statement.

Eight people infected in the hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship have tested positive for the Andes virus, the only strain transmitted between humans, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

Keir Starmer was facing his biggest challenge yet on Wednesday when his health minister was reportedly readying his resignation to try to trigger a contest to replace a British prime minister who had sought some respite to set out his government's agenda.

"The policies and practices of the Israeli government, including a further entrenchment of Israeli control, are undermining stability and prospects for a two-state solution," read a joint statement from several countries, including Britain, France, Germany and Australia.

The WHO raised its risk assessment for the outbreak in Congo to "very high" from "high", with the health body saying late detection, the absence of a vaccine or virus-specific therapeutics, widespread armed violence and high mobility among the population make the country vulnerable.

The disagreements between Iran and the US remained "deep and extensive", according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry.