KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia says hundreds more fighters have emerged from the Mariupol stronghold and surrendered. The Red Cross is working to register the fighters as prisoners of war, as the end of a key battle in the conflict draws closer.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian soldier facing the first war crimes trial since the start of the war in Ukraine has testified that he shot a civilian on orders from two officers. On Thursday, he pleaded for his victim's widow to forgive him.

Russia says it will be up to the residents of the areas in Ukraine controlled by Russian troops to determine their future status. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that people living in such places must “determine how and with whom they want to live.”

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean propaganda describes an all-out effort to fight a suspected COVID-19 outbreak that has sickened nearly 2 million people. But defectors say fear is palpable among North Korean citizens who lack access to hospital care and struggle to afford even basic medicine.

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO diplomats say national envoys have failed to reach a consensus about whether to start membership talks with Finland and Sweden. Wednesday's development comes just as Turkey renewed its objections to the two Nordic countries joining.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A 21-year-old Russian soldier facing the first war crimes trial since Moscow invaded Ukraine has pleaded guilty to killing an unarmed civilian. Sgt. Vadim Shishimarin could get life in prison for shooting a a 62-year-old Ukrainian man in the head through an open car window on Feb. 28.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Wednesday added hundreds of thousands of infections to its growing pandemic caseload. It also said that a million people have already recovered from suspected COVID-19 just a week after disclosing an outbreak, a public health crisis it appears to be trying to manage in isolation.

Europeans are basking in the warmth of spring, but their governments are in a race against winter. Europe is trying to cut use of Russian natural gas because of the war in Ukraine but still find enough fuel to keep the lights on and homes warm before it gets cold again. It’s a big job because there’s little or no spare gas available in a tight global market.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia says that nearly 1,000 Ukrainian troops who doggedly defended a giant steelworks in Mariupol have surrendered. The plant became a symbol of their country’s resistance. The announcement Wednesday comes as the battle for the strategic port city appeared all but over.

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says that Finland and Sweden have applied for membership amid concerns over Russia’s war on Ukraine. Stoltenberg says NATO allies agree "that this is an historic moment which we must seize.”

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The fall of Mariupol appears at hand as Ukraine is moving to abandon a sprawling steel plant where its soldiers had held out under relentless bombardment for months, which would make it the biggest city to fall into Russian hands.

ZORYA TRUDA, Ukraine (AP) — Iuliia Loseva buried her husband in the village cemetery near her home. There was a military band, and a six-gun salute. His teenage sons, pale and stunned, walked behind their father’s coffin holding framed photographs of him in his camouflage uniform. But this was not a military funeral for a career soldier.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made “self-reliance” his governing lynchpin during his decade in power and shunned international help for his people. But a massive outbreak of suspected COVID-19 has left Kim at a critical crossroads. Does he swallow his pride and accept help or does he go it alone even though a huge number of fatalities could undermine his leadership?

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Turkey's president is objecting to Sweden and Finland's historic bid to join NATO. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he cannot allow them to become members of the alliance because of their perceived inaction against exiled Kurdish militants.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials say the regiment that doggedly defended a steel mill as Ukraine’s last stronghold in the port city of Mariupol has completed its mission. The declaration came Monday after more than 260 fighters, including some badly wounded, were evacuated and taken to areas under Russia’s control.

MADRID (AP) — A cargo train smashed into a rush-hour passenger train in Catalonia, killing an engineer and injuring 85 people.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Monday signed an order to deploy U.S. troops to Somalia amid heightened concerns about the country’s Islamic extremist rebels, known as al-Shabab.

A total lunar eclipse provided a spectacular celestial show as it unfolded Sunday night into early Monday in the Americas. The eastern half of North America and all of Central and South America were prime locations to see the eclipse, while partial stages were visible across Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson has renewed British threats to break a Brexit agreement with the European Union, blaming it for a political crisis that’s blocking the formation of a new government.

BEIRUT (AP) — Early results from the weekend parliament elections in Lebanon show the country's militant Hezbollah group and its allies have apparently suffered losses. Hezbollah's opponents gained more seats while some of its traditional partners lost seats.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s war in Ukraine is hitting new hurdles both on the battleground and internationally. Europe is moving Monday to sharpen and expand its response to Russia’s invasion.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has blasted officials over slow medicine deliveries and ordered his military to respond to the largely undiagnosed COVID-19 crisis that has left 1.2 million people ill with fever and 50 dead in a matter of days.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Nearly three months have passed since Russia invaded Ukraine. The Russian military faces a bogged-down war, the prospect of a bigger NATO and an opponent buoyed by its victories on and off the battlefield.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says Finland and Sweden would be “important additions” to NATO. McConnell spoke to reporters from Stockholm, where he's leading a delegation of GOP senators in a show of support against Russia's aggression.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Haitians are fleeing in greater numbers to the neighboring Dominican Republic, where they step onto rickety wooden boats as they attempt to reach Puerto Rico — a trip in which 11 Haitian women drowned this week, with dozens of other migrants believed missing.