The Ukrainian military has claimed it pushed back an attempted Russian incursion amid fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin will make renewed efforts to capture the city of Kharkiv.  "Russia has launched a new wave of counteroffensive operations in the Kharkiv sector," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Friday, claiming the Russians fought against his forces and that a fierce battle continued throughout the day.  White House spokesperson John Kirby on Friday told reporters that Russia had commenced its offensive in Kharkiv, saying, "In the coming weeks, Russia wi ..read more

At least 90 people were injured in Argentina's capital when a passenger train struck an empty boxcar on the tracks and derailed Friday, authorities said, a rare collision that fueled questions about basic safety. The train was on its way from Buenos Aires to the northern suburbs when it derailed around 10:30 a.m. on a bridge in the trendy neighborhood of Palermo, safety officials said. Authorities said it was not immediately clear why the empty boxcar had been on the rails but that they were investigating. "There is not enough information about the mechanics of this accident," Buenos Aires May ..read more

Malta’s deputy prime minister resigned Friday, and ended his European Commission bid, after he was charged with fraud in a hospital scandal roiling the Mediterranean island nation. In his resignation letter, Chris Fearne denied wrongdoing but said he must put Malta before everything else. 5 MIGRANTS DEAD AFTER BOAT CAPSIZES OFF MALTA DURING RESCUE OPERATIONS In the letter, he asked Prime Minister Robert Abela to withdraw his candidacy to be Malta’s candidate for the European Commission. "I want to be clear, I am taking this step not because I have any doubts on my innocence, but because it is ..read more

Flash floods from seasonal rains in Baghlan province in northern Afghanistan killed at least 50 people on Friday, a Taliban official said. The floods also caused losses to homes and property in several districts, according to Edayatullah Hamdard, the provincial director of Natural Disaster Management in Baghlan. He said that the death toll was preliminary and that it "might rise as many people are missing." KENYA PRESIDENT DECLARES PUBLIC HOLIDAY TO MOURN HUNDREDS OF FLOOD VICTIMS The flash floods also hit the capital, Kabul, said Abdullah Janan Saiq, the Taliban’s spokesman for the State Mini ..read more

The U.S. has promised to vote against any resolution that would seek to grant the Palestinians full membership in the United Nations after a General Assembly resolution passed with significant support from member states.  "Our vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood," U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood said after the vote. "We have been very clear that we support it and seek to advance it meaningfully: Instead, it is an acknowledgment that statehood will only come from a process that involves direct negotiations between the parties." "This resolution does not ..read more

At least nine students have been abducted by gunmen during a late-night raid on their school in northern Nigeria’s Kogi state, authorities said Friday, the third such abduction amid rampant kidnappings targeting schools in the conflict-hit region this year. The assailants invaded the Confluence University of Science and Technology in Kogi state, which neighbors the nation’s capital, Abuja, and whisked away the students from their classrooms before security forces could arrive, according to Kogi Commissioner for Information Kingsley Femi Fanwo. The state has "activated the security architecture ..read more

A 75-year-old man will spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced Friday for the murder of a British police officer who was shot dead during an armed robbery in northern England nearly two decades ago. Piran Ditta Khan was convicted in April, as he had fled the country to Pakistan soon after the murder of Sharon Beshenivsky. He was extradited to the U.K. last year. Judge Nicholas Hilliard sentenced him in Leeds Crown Court to life imprisonment. He must serve a minimum term of 40 years in prison. 17-YEAR-OLD BOY CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER AFTER ASSAULT INVOLVING 'SHARP OBJECT ..read more

The Scottish government on Friday confirmed a case of classical bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), known as mad cow disease, at a farm in the southwest of the country, the first British case of the disease in over two years. The government has imposed precautionary movement restrictions at impacted premises and on animals that have been in contact with the case in Ayrshire, it said in a statement. Further investigations to identify the origin of the disease at the farm are ongoing, the Scottish government statement said, adding there was no risk to human health. TEXAS CATS DIE ON DAIRY FA ..read more

An Australian judge on Friday extended a ban on X allowing videos of the stabbing of a Sydney bishop in his church last month after government lawyers condemned the social media company's free speech argument for keeping the graphic images circulating. Australian Federal Court Justice Geoffrey Kennett extended his order that X Corp., the company rebranded by billionaire Elon Musk when he bought Twitter last year, block users from sharing videos of the April 15 attack. The attack led to terrorism-related charges for the alleged attacker, a teenager, and triggered a riot outside the church. AUST ..read more

Two environmental activists targeted the original Magna Carta in the United Kingdom during a protest seeking to raise awareness of climate change. Rev. Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, 85, a retired biology teacher, were both arrested after they attacked a glass case containing the historical document at the British Library in London on Friday, London's Metropolitan Police said. A video of the incident showed the pair of protesters from Just Stop Oil, an environmental group based in Britain, using a hammer and a chisel to hit the case, causing minor damage. The Magna Carta was unscathed. "The ..read more