VIENNA (AP) — Top negotiators in renewed talks to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal say they're optimistic about the possibility of an agreement. Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov said Sunday they “stand 5 minutes or 5 seconds from the finish line.” Enrique Mora, the European Union’s top negotiator, also said he is “absolutely” optimistic about the talks’ progress so far.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s first leftist president has been sworn into office, promising to fight inequality and bring peace to a country long haunted by bloody feuds between the government, drug traffickers, and rebel groups. Gustavo Petro, a former member of Colombia’s M-19 guerrilla group, won the presidential election in June by beating conservative parties that offered moderate changes to the market-friendly economy but failed to connect with voters frustrated by rising poverty and violence.

MOSCOW (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is visiting Russia for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They're expected to focus on a grain deal brokered by Turkey, prospects for talks on ending hostilities in Ukraine, and the situation in Syria.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have killed at least eight people, including a senior militant, and wounded 40 others. The strikes come after days of tensions following the arrest of a senior militant in the occupied West Bank.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Three more ships carrying thousands of tons of corn have left Ukrainian ports. The movement Friday is the latest sign that a negotiated deal to export grain trapped since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly six months ago is slowly moving forward. But major hurdles lie ahead to get food to the countries that need it most.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — South Korea is on its way to the moon. SpaceX launched the Asian nation's first lunar explorer Thursday evening from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The satellite is taking a long, roundabout path and will arrive in December. It's designed to orbit the moon for at least a year, collecting scientific data.

KEELUNG, Taiwan (AP) — China says it has conducted “precision missile strikes" in the Taiwan Strait as part of military exercises by its navy, air force, and other departments in six zones surrounding the island. Japan says it protested to China after five of the missiles landed at sea inside its Exclusive Economic Zone. The drills were prompted by a visit to the island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi this week.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Senators delivered an overwhelming bipartisan vote ratifying NATO membership for Finland and Sweden. Lawmakers call Wednesday's 95-1 vote to expand the Western defensive bloc a “slam-dunk” for U.S. national security and a day of reckoning for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has left Taiwan after a visit that drew threats from China. China claims Taiwan as its territory and opposes any engagement by Taiwanese officials with foreign governments. Pelosi met with Taiwanese leaders on Wednesday.

LONDON (AP) — The family of a comatose British boy at the center of a life-support battle says it has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in a last-ditch bid to stop a hospital from ending his treatment. Archie Battersbee was found unconscious at home on April 7. Doctors believe he is brain-stem dead and say continued life-support treatment is not in his best interests.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey’s defense ministry says the first Ukrainian grain ship traveling under a wartime deal is preparing to pass through Istanbul’s Bosporus Strait on its way to Lebanon. The ministry said an inspection team finished its review aboard the Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni on Wednesday. The team included officials from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and the United Nations. The four are parties to an agreement struck last month to create safe shipping corridors for exporting agricultural products as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The U.S. drone strike that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri is intensifying global scrutiny of Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers. They had pledged not to harbor members of the extremist group as they seek desperately needed international aid after overthrowing Kabul’s Western-backed government. Al-Zawahri’s killing raises questions about whether the Taliban leadership knew one of America’s most-wanted fugitives lived among their elite.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The seeds of the U.S. counterterrorism operation that killed al-Qaida's leader were planted over many months. Years of efforts by U.S. intelligence operatives under four presidents to track Ayman al-Zawahri paid dividends earlier this year, when they located him at a safe house in Kabul, Afghanistan.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The first cargo ship to leave Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor more than five months ago is sailing off the coast of Bulgaria as it heads toward Istanbul. The voyage puts to the test an agreement signed last month between Moscow and Kyiv that aims to help alleviate a global food crisis. Officials say the Sierra Leone-flagged Razoni is expected to reach Istanbul early Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. drone strike has killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Afghanistan, according to five people familiar with the matter. Current and former officials began hearing Sunday afternoon that al-Zawahri had been killed in a drone strike, but the administration delayed releasing the information until his death could be confirmed, according to one person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.

BEIRUT (AP) — A section of Beirut’s massive port grain silos, shredded in the 2020 explosion, has collapsed after a weekslong fire. The silos' northern block toppled in a huge cloud of dust on Sunday after what sounded like an explosion. The recent fire was triggered by grains that had fermented and ignited in the summer heat.

Even as the Russian war machine crawls across Ukraine’s east, trying to achieve the Kremlin’s goal of securing full control over the country’s industrial heartland of the Donbas, Ukrainian forces are scaling up attacks to reclaim territory in the south. The Ukrainian troops have made inroads into the Russian defenses and used U.S.-supplied rocket launchers to strike bridges and military infrastructure in the south, forcing Moscow to divert its forces from the Donbas to counter the new threat.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain has set out from the port of Odesa. The departure of the ship laden with corn follows an internationally brokered deal that is expected to finally allow large stores of Ukrainian crops to reach foreign markets and ease a growing hunger crisis.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Authorities say a small explosive device carried by a makeshift drone blew up Sunday at the headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet on the Crimean Peninsula, wounding six people. The attack prompted the cancellation of ceremonies honoring Russia’s navy there. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — China has responded in kind to a top U.S. Navy official who criticized Beijing’s increasingly aggressive actions in the South China Sea. China says it's America’s military deployments in the disputed waters, which it called “navigation bullying,” that can spark confrontations. The Chinese Embassy in Manila said Friday that U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro’s remarks were unfounded, "maliciously smeared China” and inflated the “China threat.”

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of shelling a prison in a separatist region of eastern Ukraine. Separatist authorities in the Donetsk region said an attack on Friday killed at least 53 Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured after the fall of Mariupol in May. The Russian Defense Ministry said Ukraine’s military used U.S.-supplied multiple rocket launchers to strike the prison in Olenivka, a settlement controlled by the Moscow-backed Donetsk People’s Republic.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s leaders have effectively acknowledged the struggling economy won’t hit its official 5.5% growth target this year. They said they will try to prop up sagging consumer demand but will stick to strict anti-COVID-19 tactics that have disrupted manufacturing and trade.

ODESA, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited a Black Sea port as crews prepare terminals to export grain trapped by Russia’s five-month-old war. Zelenskyy said Friday that the first ship was loaded since the war but that others that have been stuck with their cargos of grain would be the first to leave.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke for more than two hours on Thursday amid rising tensions between their two nations. The call began at 8:33 a.m. and ended at 10:50 a.m. It's the fifth talk of their presidencies and the first since March, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has warned he’s ready to use his nuclear weapons in potential military conflicts with the United States and South Korea. State media reported Kim made such a warning in a Wednesday speech marking the 69th anniversary of the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.