The inaugural dialogue -- announced during Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit last month to Beijing but without a confirmed date -- will take place in Geneva.

Putin will be in Beijing from Thursday to Friday, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement, the Russian leader's first trip abroad since his March re-election and his second in just over six months to China.

"Shots were fired at the gendarmes using high calibre weapons and hunting rifles. There have been no deaths," High Commissioner of the Republic Louis Le Franc told reporters.

Outgoing President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is also scheduled to attend the forum in Qatar,  though the President will likely depart for the Middle East separately following his Monday trip to Southeast Sulawesi.

Figures in robes and caps, some waving Palestinian flags, were seen filing out of crowds of graduates assembled on the grass in the North Carolina University's football stadium in the video posted on X. Reuters was able to verify the video's date and location.

Indonesia said it was “hopeful” that the historic United Nations General Assembly vote last week that gives Palestine additional rights in the world body would pave the way for Palestine to be accepted as a full-fledged member of the UN.

The US move "seriously infringed on China's sovereignty and security," the military said.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNWRA, said in a post on the social media platform X that he had decided to close the compound until proper security was restored. He said Thursday's incident was the second in less than a week.

China's embassy in Manila had orchestrated "repeated acts of engaging and dissemination of disinformation, misinformation and malinformation", with the objective of sowing discord, division and disunity, Eduardo Ano said in a statement.

AFP journalists in the Gaza Strip early Friday witnessed artillery strikes on Rafah on the territory's southern border with Egypt, while witnesses reported air strikes and fighting in Gaza City further north.

People and governments around the world have deplored Israel's military operation on Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where around 1.4 million refugees from across the territory are sheltering, with Indonesia issuing strong condemnation against the move as well as a warning that further escalation would "amount to an ultimate crime against humanity".

Indonesia reiterated its commitment to strengthening ties with Papua New Guinea on Wednesday in a “historic” meeting in Jayapura that emphasized defense cooperation with the Pacific Island nation amid unabating geopolitical tensions in the region.

As ceasefire talks continued in Cairo, Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters struck Israeli forces on the eastern outskirts of Rafah, firing anti-tank rockets and mortars at Israeli positions.

Biden, a self-described Zionist, had long resisted stopping any of the $3 billion in weapons the United States sends each year to Israel -- and pushed Congress for an increase in the wake of the October 7 attack by Hamas that triggered the major Israeli retaliation.

A senior US treasury official said this week the United States saw Iran's capacity to move its oil as being reliant on service providers based in Malaysia. 

"The pilot successfully ejected and the plane crashed thereafter within Tengah Air Base," it said in a statement.

Indonesia, through the Foreign Ministry, reiterated its call for a permanent cease-fire and urged the United Nations Security Council to “stop Israel’s brutal atrocities immediately”.

Johari Abdul Ghani said the "orangutan diplomacy" strategy would gift the endangered great apes to palm oil trading nations, especially major importing territories like the EU and India.

Xi began his trip earlier this week in France, a visit that was cordial but also highlighted tensions between Beijing and the EU over the war in Ukraine and global trade.

The company also said it would proceed to withdraw the vaccine Vaxzevria's marketing authorizations within Europe.

Each month since June 2023 has ranked as the planet's hottest on record, compared with the corresponding month in previous years, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a monthly bulletin.

Biden has been trying to head off a full-scale assault by the Israelis against Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian have sought refuge from combat elsewhere in Gaza. 

Brian Nelson, Treasury's undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, was speaking during a four-day visit to Singapore and Malaysia. 

Asked for confirmation, the Israeli military said it will be "publishing a statement shortly".

In early January, China said it had launched an anti-dumping investigation into brandy imported from the European Union, in a move seen as targeting France. 

A Chinese fighter jet endangered an Australian military helicopter during an unsafe and unacceptable confrontation over the Yellow Sea, Australia said on Monday.

Another Hamas spokesman said that the Palestinian militant group would continue negotiations towards a truce in Gaza, despite Israel's order to begin evacuating people from Rafah in the south.