Thailand's suspended prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra testified on Thursday in a case seeking her removal from office over her handling of the kingdom's border row with Cambodia.

Markets were varied during cautious trading sessions on Thursday, one day before a key speech expected to offer signals about future interest rate cuts in the United States.

Israel hammered Gaza City and its outskirts overnight, residents said Thursday, after the defence ministry approved an expanded offensive to target the remaining Hamas strongholds in the strip.