China's military is criticizing the U.S. as hyping its warship's passage through the Taiwan Strait. The guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey passed through the waterway between mainland China and Taiwan on Wednesday, less than two weeks before the island's new president takes office. China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and sees other nations' transits of the strait as challenges to its claim. A Chinese naval captain said Chinese naval and air forces were organized to monitor the U.S. ship's passage ”in accordance with laws and regulations.” The U.S. Navy said the Halsey conducted a routine transit through the waters where "freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law.”

A transitional council tasked with choosing new leaders for Haiti is changing the way it operates in a move that is surprising  many as gang violence consumes the country. Two members who were not authorized to publicly share the changes because they had not yet been announced told The Associated Press late Wednesday that instead of a single council president, four politicians will take turns leading the council every five months. The members said the council also will now consider five members a majority, instead of four. The council is composed of nine members, seven of which have voting powers.

Armenia’s prime minister has talked with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as tensions are spiraling between the estranged allies. Putin hosted Nikol Pashinyan for talks following a summit of the Eurasian Economic Union, a Moscow-dominated economic alliance they both attended earlier in the day. In brief remarks at the start of Wednesday's talks, Putin said that bilateral trade was growing, but acknowledged “issues concerning security in the region.” Armenia’s ties with its longtime ally Russia grew increasingly strained after Azerbaijan waged a military campaign in September to reclaim the Karabakh region, ending three decades of ethnic Armenian separatists’ rule there. Armenian authorities accused Russian peacekeepers of failing to stop the onslaught.

The U.N. World Health Organization says it has only three days of fuel for its medical operations in southern Gaza, and shortages have already forced one of three hospitals in the city of Rafah to shut down.The Rafah border crossing with Egypt has been closed since Israel’s military took control of the Palestinian side early Tuesday, blocking the entry of vital humanitarian aid.Israel said it reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing, the other main aid entry point, early Wednesday. However, the U.N. World Food Program says no aid has entered, and there is no one to receive it on the Palestinian side.  The U.N. says northern Gaza is already in a state of “full-blown famine.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has confirmed the U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns the country was approaching a decision to launch a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S. Confirmed Wednesday, the shipment was supposed to consist of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, with the focus of U.S. concern being the larger explosives and how they could be used in a dense urban setting. More than 1 million civilians are sheltering in Rafah after evacuating other parts of Gaza amid Israel’s war on Hamas, which came after the militant group’s deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7.