AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — A gunman killed two people at a construction site in Auckland, New Zealand, on Thursday as the nation prepared to host games in the FIFA Women’s World Cup tournament. The shooter was also dead, and authorities said a police officer and four civilians were injured.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea stayed silent Wednesday about the detention of an American soldier who sprinted across the Koreas’ heavily fortified border as members of his tour group looked on in shock. Some observers said heightened tensions between the two countries make it unlikely that he will return any time soon.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Sarah Leslie thought she was witnessing a stunt when she saw an American soldier start sprinting toward North Korea. Leslie and her father, tourists from New Zealand, were part of a group that left Tuesday morning from Seoul to visit the Demilitarized Zone that divides South and North Korea.

EAST PRAIRIE METIS SETTLEMENT, Alberta (AP) — Carrol Johnston counted her blessings as she stood on the barren site where her home was destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire that forced her to flee her northern Alberta community two months ago. Her family escaped unharmed, though her beloved cat, Missy, didn't make it out before a “fireball” dropped on the house in early May.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Fire planes and ground crews from several European countries are heading to Greece where wildfires have intensified as relentless heat wave conditions are keeping much of southern Europe above 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Three firefighting teams from Poland, Romania and Slovakia are due in Greece on Thursday, while Israel has pledged two firefighting aircraft, adding to the four planes from Italy and France already operating outside Athens.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia unleashed intense drone and missile attacks overnight Wednesday, damaging critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine, including grain and oil terminals, and wounding at least 12 people, officials said. The bombardment targeted the port city of Odesa, days after President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for an attack on the crucial Kerch Bridge linking Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin illegally annexed from Kyiv in 2014.

MANZANILLO, Mexico (AP) — An Australian sailor who was rescued by a Mexican tuna boat after being adrift at sea with his dog for three months said Tuesday that he is grateful to be alive after setting foot on dry land for the first time since their ordeal began. Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock, 54, disembarked in the Mexican city of Manzanillo after being examined on board the boat that rescued him, the Maria Delia.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An American soldier who had served nearly two months in a South Korean prison, fled across the heavily armed border into North Korea, U.S. officials said Tuesday, becoming the first American detained in the North in nearly five years. Private 2nd Class Travis King had been held on assault charges and was released on July 10 after serving his time.

MANZANILLO, Mexico (AP) — An Australian sailor who had been adrift at sea with his dog for three months has been rescued by a Mexican tuna boat in international waters, the fishing vessel's owner said Monday.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine said its forces shot down Russian drones and cruise missiles targeting the Black Sea port of Odesa before dawn Tuesday in what Moscow called “retribution” for an attack that damaged a crucial bridge to the Crimean Peninsula.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — An American soldier crossed the heavily armed border from South Korea into North Korea, U.S. officials said Tuesday. He went “willfully and without authorization,” the U.S. military said, becoming the first American detained in the North in nearly five years at a time of heightened tensions over its nuclear program.

MILAN (AP) — Officials warned residents and tourists packing Mediterranean destinations on Tuesday to stay indoors during the hottest hours as the second heat wave in as many weeks hits the region and Greece, Spain and Switzerland battled wildfires.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Heavy downpours lashed South Korea for a ninth day on Monday as rescue workers struggled to search for survivors in landslides, buckled homes and swamped vehicles in the most destructive storm to hit the country this year.

MONTREAL (AP) — One person died and another was critically injured when they were knocked out of a sightseeing gondola Sunday at the popular Mont-Tremblant resort, authorities said. Quebec provincial police said the crash occurred shortly before noon when a piece of construction equipment struck the gondola at the mountain resort around 65 miles northwest of Montreal.

LONDON (AP) — Russia halted a breakthrough wartime deal on Monday that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.

An attack before dawn Monday damaged part of a bridge linking Russia to Moscow-annexed Crimea that is a key supply route for Kremlin forces in the war with Ukraine, forcing the span’s temporary closure for a second time in less than a year. Two people were killed and their daughter was injured.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean rescuers on Sunday pulled nine bodies from a flooded tunnel where around 15 vehicles were trapped in muddy water, as days of heavy rain triggered flash floods and landslides and destroyed homes across the country, officials said. A total of 37 people have died and thousands have been evacuated since July 9, when heavy rain started pounding South Korea's central regions.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was discharged on Sunday after an overnight hospital stay for check-ups and monitoring following a dizzy spell. Netanyahu, 73, was rushed to Sheba Medical Center on Saturday after feeling mild dizziness. His office said he had left the hospital around midday after stating earlier that his test results were normal and that he was feeling “very good.”

Two days of heavy rain in South Korea have killed at least seven people and left two others missing in landslides and floods. Additionally, landslides left eight people trapped in central areas …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he offered mercenaries from the Wagner private military company the option of continuing to serve as a single unit under their same commander when he met with them after the group's brief revolt last month that posed the most serious threat to his 23-year rule.

CAIRO (AP) — The bodies of dozens of people allegedly killed by Sudanese paramilitary and allied militia have been uncovered in a mass grave in West Darfur, the United Nations said Thursday.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Schools and colleges were closed after record monsoon rains led to massive waterlogging, road caves-in, collapsed homes and gridlocked traffic in large parts of northern India this week, killing more than 100 people, officials said Thursday.

MOSCOW (AP) — Mercenaries of the Wagner Group are completing the handover of their weapons to the Russian military, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday, a move that follows the private army's brief rebellion last month that challenged the Kremlin's authority. The disarming of Wagner reflects efforts by authorities to defuse the threat it posed and also appears to herald an end to the mercenary group's operations on the battlefield in Ukraine.

LONDON (AP) — Concerns are growing that Russia will not extend a United Nations-brokered deal that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to parts of the world struggling with hunger, with ships no longer heading to the war-torn country's Black Sea ports and food exports dwindling. Turkey and the U.N. negotiated the breakthrough accord last summer to ease a global food crisis, along with a separate agreement with Russia to facilitate shipments of its food and fertilizer. 

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — NATO leaders gathered Wednesday to launch a highly symbolic new forum for ties with Ukraine, after committing to provide the country with more military assistance for fighting Russia but only vague assurances of future membership. U.S. President Joe Biden and his NATO counterparts sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the new NATO-Ukraine Council, a permanent body where the 31 allies and Ukraine can hold consultations and call for meetings in emergency situations.