thorny

But she told reporters that she also raised a number of thorny issues with the Chinese leader, saying that it was "important for us to engage in direct, candid dialogue".

Mr. Schaller spent three years studying lions in Africa, once crawling through thorny thickets to count cubs a lioness had hidden there.

That thorny task has been complicated by a data blackout resulting from the government shutdown.

To be fair, the nature and responsibilities of the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice are among the thorniest domestic policy issues.

The issue of foreign fighters who flocked to Syria during the years of conflict is a thorny one, wish some countries refusing to take fighters back.