Russia blasts Kyiv with another missile and drone barrage, killing at least 2

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials say that Russia pounded the capital with yet another major missile and drone attack. At least two people were killed in the attack overnight into Thursday. The strikes caused fires across Kyiv a day after the heaviest aerial attack of the war so far. An official in Kyiv said at least 22 people were wounded in the latest barrage. Russia has recently sought to overwhelm Ukraine’s air defenses with major attacks that include increasing numbers of decoy drones. The pressure has caused alarm among Ukrainian officials who are uncertain about continuing vital military aid from the United States and U.S. President Donald Trump’s policy toward Russia.

Kurdish separatist fighters in Iraq begin laying down weapons

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq (AP) — Fighters with a Kurdish separatist militant group that has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey have begun laying down their weapons. About 30 fighters took place in a symbolic ceremony Friday in northern Iraq. The move was the first concrete step toward a promised disarmament as part of a peace process. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK announced in May it would disband and renounce armed conflict to end four decades of hostilities. The move came after PKK leader Abdullah Ã-calan urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm. Ã-calan has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999.

At least 4 presumed dead, 11 missing after Houthi rebels sink ship in Red Sea

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Four people are presumed dead and 11 others are still missing after a Liberian-flagged cargo ship sank in the Red Sea following an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, a European Union naval mission said Friday. The update from the EU’s Operation Aspides came as private security forces continue to search for survivors from the Eternity C, a Greek-owned bulk carrier that sank on Wednesday. Ten people were recovered alive from the attack, including eight Filipino crew members and a Greek and Indian from the vessel’s three-man security team, the EU operation said. Fifteen people remain unaccounted for, including the four presumed dead, the mission said.

At least 23 dead after airstrike on Buddhist monastery in Myanmar

BANGKOK (AP) — An airstrike on a Buddhist monastery in Myanmar’s central Sagaing region has killed at least 23 people who were taking shelter in the compound, sources said. The night time aerial attack on Friday on the monastery in Lin Ta Lu village, in Sagaing region’s Sagaing township, wounded about 30 other people, according to a member of a resistance group, a villager and media reports. The military did not comment. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering widespread popular opposition.