A U.S. warship sailed through the narrow Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, less than two weeks before Taiwan's new president takes office, prompting an angry denunciation from Beijing. China claims sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.
Oil prices rose in early trade on Thursday as shrinking U.S. crude inventories signalled tighter supply, and amid rising hopes that the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates by the end of the year. Crude inventories dropped last week by 1.4 million barrels to 459.5 million barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration, more than analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 1.1 million-barrel draw as refinery activity increased. Increasing expectations that the U.S. central bank will cut interest rates by year end after weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data also boosted oil prices.
Pro-Palestine encampments have been set up by students at more than a dozen universities across the UK against the war in Gaza.