French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin accused Azerbaijan on Thursday of "interference" in the politics of Pacific territory New Caledonia, hit by deadly pro-independence riots in recent days.

"This isn't a fantasy... I regret that some of the separatists have made a deal with Azerbaijan," Darmanin told broadcaster France 2, while adding that "even if there are attempts at interference... France is sovereign on its own territory, and so much the better".

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his regime is prepared to negotiate over the conflict in Ukraine in an interview with Chinese media on the eve of visit to partner Beijing that has backed Moscow in its full-scale invasion of its neighbor.

"We are open to a dialogue on Ukraine, but such negotiations must take into account the interests of all countries involved in the conflict, including ours," Putin was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday.

Protesters against the war between Israel and Hamas were voluntarily taking down their tents in Harvard Yard after university officials agreed to discuss their questions about the endowment, bringing a peaceful end to the kinds of demonstrations that were broken up by police on other campuses.

The student protest group Harvard Out of Occupied Palestine said in a statement that the encampment "outlasted its utility with respect to our demands." Meanwhile, Harvard University interim President Alan Garber agreed to pursue a meeting between protesters and university officials regarding the students' questions.

Ukrainian forces withdrew from some areas of the country's east and battled Russian troops in others on Wednesday, as President Volodymyr Zelensky postponed all his upcoming foreign trips, underscoring the seriousness of the threat his soldiers are facing.

Against that grim backdrop, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to reassure the ally of continuing American support, visiting a drone manufacturing facility in Kyiv on the second day of his trip.

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor is facing demands for speedy action against Israeli leaders and a blistering Russian attack over the ICC's arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin stemming from Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Karim Khan responded by telling the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that he will not be swayed or intimidated as his team investigates possible war crimes or crimes against humanity in Gaza and the Palestinian territories as well as in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday convened a defense and national security council meeting to discuss riots that have killed two and injured hundreds in New Caledonia, his office said.

Macron has cancelled a trip to a French region planned for early Wednesday to handle the crisis in the Pacific territory, and the regular weekly cabinet meeting has been moved to the afternoon, officials said.

European Union nations endorsed sweeping reforms to the bloc's failed asylum system on Tuesday as campaigning for Europe-wide elections next month gathers pace, with migration expected to be an important issue.

EU government ministers approved 10 legislative parts of The New Pact on Migration and Asylum. It lays out rules for the 27 member countries to handle people trying to enter without authorization, from how to screen them to establish whether they qualify for protection to deporting them if they're not allowed to stay.

Georgia's parliament on Tuesday began the third and final reading of a divisive bill that sparked weeks of mass protests, with critics seeing it as a threat to democratic freedoms and the country's aspirations to join the European Union.

The bill would require media and nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofits to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will make a two-day state visit to China this week, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, in the latest show of unity between the two authoritarian allies against the U.S.-led Western liberal global order.

Putin will meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping during his visit starting on Thursday, the ministry said, saying the two leaders would discuss "cooperation in various fields of bilateral relations ... as well as international and regional issues of common concern." No details were mentioned.

Russia said Tuesday its forces had captured another village in the Kharkiv region and advanced far behind Ukrainian defensive lines in the border territory.

"Units of the North group of troops liberated the village of Bugruvatka in the Kharkiv region and advanced deep into the enemy defence," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.