CHEONGSONG, South Korea (AP) — Helicopters dumped water over a burning forest in South Korea on Thursday as fire crews struggled to contain the country's worst-ever wildfires, which have killed 27 people, forced at least 37,000 others to flee their homes, and destroyed more than 300 structures.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — NATO on Wednesday clarified comments that Secretary-General Mark Rutte made earlier in the day, when he suggested that four U.S. soldiers who went missing while training in Lithuania had died, even though the U.S. Army said their fate was not yet confirmed.

CAIRO (AP) — Six people died and nine others were injured after a tourist submarine sank in the popular Egyptian Red Sea destination of Hurghada, two municipal officials said Thursday. They were speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

PARIS (AP) — Ukraine’s allies from across Europe gathered for talks in Paris on Thursday about how to strengthen Kyiv’s hand and its military as it pushes for a ceasefire with Russia, and to consider proposals to deploy European troops in the country in tandem with any peace deal.

CAIRO (AP) — Palestinians chanted against Hamas during anti-war protests in the Gaza Strip, witnesses said Wednesday, in a rare show of public anger against the terrorist group that has long repressed dissent and still rules the territory 17 months into the war with Israel.

Russia on Wednesday convicted 23 captured Ukrainians on terrorism charges stemming from the war in Ukraine in a military court trial that Kyiv denounced as a sham and a violation of international law.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Wind-driven wildfires that were among South Korea's worst ever were ravaging the country's southern regions, killing 18 people, destroying more than 200 structures, and forcing 27,000 people to evacuate, officials said Wednesday.

SMARDEN, England (AP) — One malnourished lioness had spent her life confined to an apartment. Another was so shell-shocked she could barely walk. They are among five traumatized lions rescued from the war zone in Ukraine who are settling into a new home in England after an international effort to bring them to safety.

TOKYO (AP) — The Unification Church in Japan was ordered dissolved by a court Tuesday after a government request spurred by the investigation into the 2022 assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The leader of the rebels who captured two key cities in eastern Congo tells The Associated Press that international sanctions and Congo’s proposed minerals deal with the United States in search of peace will not stop the fighting.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. negotiators worked on a proposed partial ceasefire in the 3-year-old war in Ukraine on Monday, meeting representatives from Russia one day after holding separate talks with a team from Kyiv.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia launched a barrage of drones across Ukraine overnight Sunday that killed at least seven people, according to local Ukrainian officials and emergency services.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Freed Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi, who was beaten, chained, and starved while held for 491 days by Hamas terrorists, expressed his anger during an appearance at the U.N. Security Council on Thursday for having to suffer for so long and worry every day about being killed. “Where was the United Nations? Where was the Red Cross? Where was the world?” Sharabi asked.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's defense minister said Friday he has ordered ground forces to advance deeper into the Gaza Strip, vowing to hold more land until the terrorist group Hamas releases the remaining hostages it holds.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian drones pummeled the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa, injuring three people and sparking massive fires, officials said Friday, an attack that underlined Moscow's intention to pursue aerial strikes even as it agreed to temporarily halt strikes on energy facilities.

CAIRO (AP) — Sudan’s military said Friday it retook the Republican Palace in Khartoum, the last heavily guarded bastion of rival paramilitary forces in the capital, after nearly two years of fighting.

LONDON (AP) — A large fire near London's Heathrow Airport knocked out power Friday to Europe’s busiest flight hub, forcing it to shut all day and disrupting global travel for hundreds of thousands of passengers.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A top Russian security official met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang on Friday and thanked him for the country’s support of Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine, according to Russian state media. The meeting came after reports that North Korea recently sent additional troops to Russia to aid its war efforts.

WASHINGTON (AP) — An American man who was abducted more than two years ago while traveling through Afghanistan as a tourist has been released by the Taliban in a deal with the Trump administration that Qatari negotiators helped broker, the State Department said Thursday.

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Rwanda-backed M23 rebels entered the strategic town of Walikale in eastern Congo late Wednesday, according to residents and civil society leaders, a day after the Congolese and Rwandan presidents called for an immediate ceasefire.

TORONTO (AP) — New Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will trigger a snap election on Sunday, a government official familiar with the matter said Thursday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly said the vote is expected to take place on April 28.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Senior officers from countries across Europe and beyond will meet Thursday at a military headquarters on the outskirts of London to flesh out plans for an international peacekeeping force for Ukraine as details of a partial ceasefire are worked out.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle to a limited ceasefire after President Donald Trump spoke with the countries' leaders this week, though it remains to be seen when it might take effect and what possible targets would be off limits to attack.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during a lengthy call Tuesday to an immediate pause in strikes against energy infrastructure in the Ukraine war, but the Russian leader stopped short of backing a broader 30-day pause in fighting that the U.S. administration is pressing for.

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The presidents of Congo and neighboring Rwanda met Tuesday in Qatar for their first direct talks since Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized two major cities in mineral-rich eastern Congo earlier this year.