Ukraine said Wednesday that its forces entrenched themselves on the outskirts of Urozhaine after recapturing the settlement in the Donetsk region of Russian troops. The announcement came while a merchant ship left the Ukrainian port of Odesa, despite concerns Russia could target vessels in the Black Sea amid attacks that reportedly killed several people.

Questions remained Wednesday after three suspected spies for Russia in Britain were detained and charged in a major national security investigation, several sources said.

Pyongyang has, for the first time, commented on the detention of Travis King, saying the detained U.S. soldier admitted to legally entering North Korea on July 18.

Record numbers of people have been hospitalized with heart attacks in the wake of the pandemic, official figures show.

United Nations experts warned this week that there are still between 5,000 and 7,000 Islamic State terrorists in Syria and Iraq, and that the terror group presents a serious threat in Afghanistan as well, the Associated Press reports.

With days left before new European Union internet legislation is enforced, concerns are growing about freedom of speech protection across the 27-nation bloc.

Ukraine’s president has confirmed that he had fired dozens of conscription officials accused of taking bribes and smuggling people out of the country to avoid being called to serve in the army. The announcement came as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues with attacks and counter-attacks reported by both sides.

Indian Christians have observed an annual “Black Day” to remember suffering Christians and Muslims among Dalits consigned by the Hindu hierarchy to the dirtiest occupations.

Dozens of migrants fleeing war, persecution, and poverty, including several children, have died after a boat carrying them sank off Italy’s Lampedusa Island in the Strait of Sicily, survivors said.

Norway’s prime minister warned his Nordic nation to prepare for more floods after a massive dam on a Norwegian river partly collapsed following heavy rain.

Russia sped up a space race Friday as it tried to reach the moon after nearly half a century ahead of an Indian spacecraft.

Local authorities in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region have declared Monday an official day of mourning after a Russian attack killed seven people, including a 23-day-old baby girl, her 12-year-old brother, and their parents. “Today, the Kherson region shuddered from terrible news,” Governor Oleksandr Prokudin wrote on the social media network Telegram shortly after Sunday’s artillery strike.

The Biden administration has agreed to pay Iran $6 billion for the release of five imprisoned Americans, but experts say this will only encourage Iran to seek more hostages as a “lucrative means of international extortion for Iran’s supreme leader.”

The Islamic Republic of Iran is close to possibly testing a nuclear weapons device and has sought to obtain illicit technology for its active atomic weapons program, according to a series of shocking European intelligence reports released in 2023.

Chief of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, arrived in Beirut on Wednesday for a meeting with Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Lebanese Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group, i24News reports.

Poland, a member of the U.S.-led NATO military alliance, said Thursday it would send an additional 10,000 troops to its border with Belarus after an “incursion” by Belarusian military helicopters.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un sacked his top general while calling for the military to boost weapons production and increase combat drills in preparation for an “offensive” war, state-run media reported Thursday.

A Russian rocket attack near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Ukraine killed two people, while inside Russia, one person died in a blast at a factory providing optical equipment to Russia’s security forces, authorities said.

Brazil’s Amazon Summit concluded Wednesday with a pledge to end the Amazon’s ongoing demise “from reaching a point of no return” but without a regional agreement on ending deforestation.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday his thoughts are with victims and survivors after a massive fire raged through a vacation home for adults with disabilities killed 11 people.