India has test-fired a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,000 kilometers (3,125 miles) from an island off its east coast amid rising border tensions with China.

The successful launch on Wednesday was in line with "India's policy to have credible minimum deterrence that underpins the commitment to no first use," said a government statement.

Taiwan's defense minister said Thursday that Taiwan must be prepared to defend itself and could not entirely depend on other countries to help if China were to launch an attack against the island, even as Taiwan's president said she had faith the U.S. would defend it.

"The country must rely on itself, and if any friends or other groups can help us, then it's like I said before, we're happy to have it, but we cannot completely depend on it," the minister, Chiu Kuo-cheng, told reporters after being questioned in the legislature as part of a session on national defense.

The U.K. said Thursday that a threat by France to block British boats from its ports in a dispute over fishing appeared to breach international law, and the government vowed to retaliate if Paris goes ahead with the move.

France announced Wednesday that it will bar British fishing boats from some French ports starting next week if no deal is reached with the U.K. in a dispute over fishing licenses. It also suggested it may restrict energy supplies to the Channel Islands, British Crown dependencies that lie off the coast of France.

The United States has issued its first passport with an "X" gender designation, marking a milestone in the recognition of the rights of people who do not identify as male or female, and expects to be able to offer the option more broadly next year, the State Department said.

The department did not identify the passport recipient, but Dana Zzyym, an intersex activist from Fort Collins, Colorado, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that they received it. Since 2015, Zzyym, who prefers a gender-neutral pronoun, has been in a legal battle with the State Department to obtain a passport that did not require Zzyym to lie about gender by picking either male or female.

The reports of hateful and violent posts on Facebook started pouring in on the night of May 28 last year, soon after then-President Donald Trump sent a warning on social media that looters in Minneapolis would be shot.

It had been three days since Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on the neck of George Floyd for more than eight minutes until the 46-year-old Black man lost consciousness, showing no signs of life. A video taken by a bystander had been viewed millions of times online. Protests had taken over Minnesota's largest city and would soon spread throughout cities across America.

Kosovo has sanctioned seven local businessmen and a company for links with Hizbullah.

The decision was in line with sanctions the U.S. imposed on Hizbullah.

The U.N. special envoy for Syria has said the Syrian government's refusal to negotiate on revisions to the country's constitution is a key reason for the failure of talks last week that left the road map to peace in the conflict-torn country in question..

Geir Pedersen expressed his disappointment to the U.N. Security Council, saying the parties also failed to agree to meet again before the end of the year. But he said he will continue to engage with all "to address the challenges that have arisen," saying it is urgent to produce results.

The White House has responded skeptically after Iran's chief negotiator announced that Tehran was ready to return to nuclear negotiations in Vienna by the end of next month.

Ali Bagheri, Iran's deputy foreign minister and chief negotiator for the talks, in a Twitter posting said Iran has agreed to restart negotiations by the end of November and a date for a resumption of talks "would be announced in the course of the next week."

Climate protesters sought to block two major roads into London on Wednesday, despite court injunctions banning them from disrupting traffic.

Activists from the group Insulate Britain, which wants the government to better insulate homes in the country to cut carbon emissions, targeted two busy roads leading into the capital during the morning rush hour.

Pope Francis has agreed to visit Canada to help ongoing efforts at reconciliation with Indigenous peoples following shocking revelations of the Catholic church's role in the abuse and deaths of thousands of native children, the Vatican said on Wednesday.

In a brief statement, the Holy See's press office said that the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has invited the pope to make an apostolic journey to Canada "also in the context of the long-standing pastoral process of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples." The statement didn't cite why the reconciliation process was needed.