An exchange of hostages for Palestinians jailed by Israel had been thrown into doubt after days of mutual recriminations. Israel has not yet commented.

Hamas says it will release the next group of three Israeli hostages as planned. That would pave the way toward resolving a major dispute over the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to chair a symposium to boost private sector sentiment next week that will be attended by the country's business leaders including Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma, three people with knowledge of the meeting said.