Reuters World News Summary

The second round of cross-border fire in a week came after Israel launched strikes on Tuesday against three Islamic Jihad commanders it said had planned attacks against Israelis, following months of escalating violence. Analysis-China keeps up campaign to pressure critics abroad despite Western backlash China is facing a growing backlash from the United States and other Western governments over its controversial efforts to pressure dissidents and their advocates abroad, but Beijing has appeared undeterred.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

US envoy hoping for progress in talks with Pacific islands ahead of Biden visit

The U.S. presidential envoy leading negotiations to renew agreements with three Pacific island states said on Wednesday he will visit them next week hoping to make progress ahead of a trip to the region by President Joe Biden later this month. Joseph Yun told Reuters he would be in Micronesia on Monday and would then visit Palau and the Marshall Islands.

Egypt starts mediating end to Israel-Gaza strikes, rockets

Israel hit Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza for a second day on Wednesday and Palestinian militants launched hundreds of rockets across the border, setting off sirens as far away as Tel Aviv, while Egypt began efforts to mediate an end to the fighting. The second round of cross-border fire in a week came after Israel launched strikes on Tuesday against three Islamic Jihad commanders it said had planned attacks against Israelis, following months of escalating violence.

Analysis-China keeps up campaign to pressure critics abroad despite Western backlash

China is facing a growing backlash from the United States and other Western governments over its controversial efforts to pressure dissidents and their advocates abroad, but Beijing has appeared undeterred. Authorities in the U.S., Canada, Britain and elsewhere recently have taken a hard line, including with expulsions, indictments, arrests and probes, against Chinese operations they say are aimed at intimidating critics and pursuing officials accused of corruption living abroad.

Analysis-Thailand's ex-PM Thaksin shakes up election with talk of return

Adored by millions and reviled by many, Thai billionaire ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has towered over his country's turbulent politics for more than two decades - even though he's lived mostly in self-exile since the army overthrew him in 2006. Now, Thaksin's announcement of plans to return to Thailand in July has caused a stir as voters prepare to go to the polls in a general election on Sunday, with implications for the vote and the inevitable horse-trading afterwards to form a government, analysts say.

Battles shake Sudan's capital, ceasefire talks reported to make progress

Fighting in Sudan's capital escalated on Wednesday with fierce clashes and air strikes, but rival military factions were reported to be close to a ceasefire agreement in talks in Saudi Arabia. Residents reported ground battles in several neighbourhoods of Khartoum between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), as well as heavy gunfire in the north of Omdurman and the east of Bahri, two adjacent cities separated from Khartoum by the River Nile.

Pakistan calls in army to stop protest violence after ex-PM Khan's arrest

Pakistan's government called in the army on Wednesday to help end deadly unrest in the wake of the arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan, warning protesters against any further attacks on state installations. At least five people have died in violence that has aggravated instability in the South Asian country of 220 million people as it grapples with a severe economic crisis and a delay to an International Monetary Fund bailout since November.

Australia's trade minister seeks end to trade curbs on visit to Beijing

Australia's Trade Minister will travel to Beijing on Thursday to meet his Chinese counterpart, as Canberra pushes for the removal of all trade impediments and diplomatic relations stabilise. In a statement, Trade Minister Don Farrell said he would meet with China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Beijing and "be advocating strongly for the full resumption of unimpeded Australian exports to China – for all sectors – to the benefit of both countries and in the interests of Australian exporters and producers".

Ukraine says it routs Russia brigade, Kremlin admits campaign 'very difficult'

A Ukrainian unit said on Wednesday it had routed a Russian brigade near the stronghold of Bakhmut in an incident underlining the task facing the Kremlin as it carries out what it calls a "very difficult" military operation. The unit's claim appeared to back up comments by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner private army, who on Tuesday said the Russian brigade had abandoned its positions.

Border crossings top 10,000 daily as migrants seek U.S. entry before Title 42 ends

Thousands of migrants are crossing into the United States this week before a new regulation takes effect that could bar most who cross illegally from seeking asylum, while others gathered on the Mexico side amid confusion about U.S. policy. The U.S. rolled out a regulation on Wednesday that presumes most migrants are ineligible for asylum if they passed through other nations without seeking protection elsewhere first or if they failed to use legal pathways for U.S. entry.

Son of jailed Hong Kong activist, U.S. congressman slam UK, Vatican over rights weakness

The British son of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai and a leading Catholic U.S. congressman criticized Britain and the Vatican on Wednesday for failing to speak out strongly against the crackdown on dissent in the Chinese territory. At a Washington event about the human rights situation in the former British colony, Sebastien Lai said self-censorship in Hong Kong was the anticipated result of the national security crackdown there, but the "hypocrisy" of some governments trying to trade with China was unexpected.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)