World News Highlights: Political Tensions, Military Actions, and International Diplomacy

The latest global news covers Trump's promise to free Evan Gershkovich, Macron's stance on New Caledonian riots, conflicts in Gaza and Kharkiv, China's military drills near Taiwan, Biden's investments in Kenya, South Africa's genocide case against Israel, and UK's election campaigns.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Trump says Putin will free jailed U.S. reporter Gershkovich for him

Donald Trump has posted on social media that he will use his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin to get Wall Street reporter Evan Gershkovich freed from a Russian prison. Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that this would happen soon after the November election in the United States, when he is seeking to defeat President Joe Biden and return to the White House.

Macron says extra security to stay in riot-hit New Caledonia as long as needed

Police reinforcements in New Caledonia will stay as long as needed, President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday after viewing areas devastated by deadly riots triggered by a contested electoral reform in the French-ruled Pacific island. Macron's hastily arranged visit comes after six people were killed in riots that have left a trail of looted shops, torched cars and businesses since they began more than a week ago.

Israeli forces kill dozens of Palestinians as they push deeper in Gaza's north and south

Israeli forces killed 35 Palestinians in aerial and ground bombardments across the Gaza Strip on Thursday and battled in close combat with Hamas-led militants in areas of the southern city of Rafah, health officials and Hamas media said. Israeli tanks advanced in Rafah's southeast, edged towards the city's western district of Yibna and continued to operate in three eastern suburbs, residents said.

Seven dead in Russian strikes on Kharkiv as Kyiv pleads for weapons

Russia pounded Kharkiv with missiles on Thursday, killing seven people inside a printing house, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy chided Ukraine's western allies for not providing enough military support to rebuff Russian attacks. Moscow's forces are increasingly hammering the northeastern regional capital, a city of 1.2 million, as they attempt to press a ground assault on the border region and stretch Ukrainian defences on the eastern front.

Furious China launches 'punishment' war games around Taiwan

A furious China launched "punishment" drills around Taiwan on Thursday in what it said was a response to "separatist acts", sending up heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated President Lai Ching-te. The exercises, in the Taiwan Strait and around groups of Taiwan-controlled islands beside the Chinese coast, come just three days after Lai took office, a man Beijing detests as a "separatist".

Biden and Kenya's Ruto to announce new investments as they seek deeper ties

U.S. President Joe Biden and Kenyan President William Ruto will announce on Thursday investments in green energy and health manufacturing in the east African nation and a plan to reduce its debt burden, a senior U.S. administration official said. Ruto arrived in the U.S. on Wednesday as part of three-day state visit that includes bilateral talks with Biden on Thursday followed by a lavish state dinner in the evening. Ruto's trip the sixth state visit hosted by the Biden administration, and the first for an African president since 2008.

Explainer-What is South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the ICJ?

The International Court of Justice on Friday will issue its decision on a request by South Africa for emergency measures sought as part of a broader case accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza war. South Africa has asked the court to order a halt to Israel's Rafah offensive and withdraw from the entire Gaza Strip.

With mock attacks, China sends honed warning to Taiwan's new president

In launching two days of "punishment" drills to protest against what it sees as the separatist instincts of Taiwan's newly inaugurated President Lai Ching-te, Beijing is sending a finely calibrated warning. Analysts, regional diplomats and senior Taiwan officials note that so far the scale of operations around the island that Beijing claims as its own are smaller than the exercises it staged to protest against the August 2022 visit to Taipei of then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Sunak and Starmer hit UK campaign trail after shock election call

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Labour Party rival Keir Starmer kicked off their election campaigns on Thursday, each arguing that only they can snap the country out of its economic and political malaise. Sunak, whose Conservatives have trailed Labour by around 20 percentage points in opinion polls since he became prime minister in October 2022, shocked and angered many in his party when he gambled by calling a July 4 election, months earlier than expected.

Deployment of first Kenyan police to Haiti delayed, sources say

The deployment of the first Kenyan police officers to Haiti to lead an international anti-gang force has been delayed after a planned flight from Nairobi was postponed on Tuesday, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters. U.S. officials had previously indicated that the officers would be in Port-au-Prince by Thursday to coincide with Kenyan President William Ruto's state visit to the White House.

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