A prolonged summer of extreme heat and drought has pushed vast parts of Europe into a severe wildfire crisis, triggering mass evacuations, claiming lives and inflicting heavy damage on forests, farmland and infrastructure.
?Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday he had reviewed a military plan for seizing Gaza City, signaling preparations for what would be one of the most extensive ground operations in Gaza since the war began in October 2023.
The World War II film Dongji Rescue was screened during a reception hosted by the Chinese consulate general in Melbourne on Wednesday, one day before it officially hit screen in Australia.
?British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday at Downing Street in London, the Prime Minister's Office said.
?European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Thursday urged Israel to drop plans to advance settlement construction in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank.
?This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 88th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II.
?The only subway line serving the venue of the 2025 World Expo in Osaka was suspended late Wednesday due to a power outage, stranding many visitors inside the venue well into the night and causing the opening to be delayed the following day.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that leaders from Europe and the United States agreed on five principles for the talks with Russia, the Ukrinform news agency reported.
?Seventeen areas of Sudan, including parts of Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, Khartoum and Gezira, have been classified as "at risk of famine," a UN spokesman said Wednesday.
?Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Wednesday he has approved the construction of 3,401 housing units for settlers in a particularly controversial area of the occupied West Bank.
?U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will submit a crime bill and ask Congress for approval to extend the federal control of the Metropolitan Police Department to address crime in the nation's capital.
?The inaugural Africa Water Investment Summit kicked off on Wednesday in Cape Town, the legislative capital of South Africa, with a call to secure safe water for all across the continent.
?China signed an agreement on Wednesday to contribute to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and called for continued international support for the body, which says it faces an "existential crisis" from the war in Gaza and a severe funding gap.
?Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir on Wednesday approved the main framework of a government plan to expand the offensive in Gaza to areas not yet under Israeli control.
?Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and visiting Syrian foreign affairs chief Asaad Hassan al-Shibani on Wednesday accused Israel of being one of the main actors behind the recent violence in Sweida, a predominantly Druze province in southern Syria.
?A South Korean court issued a warrant to detain Kim Keon-hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol who has been kept in custody on insurrection and other charges, a special counsel team said Tuesday night.