Two Civilians Dead as Russia Pounds Frontline Kherson Region

 A Ukrainian serviceman jumps out of the boat onto the shore of Dnipro at the frontline near Kherson, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. (AP)
A Ukrainian serviceman jumps out of the boat onto the shore of Dnipro at the frontline near Kherson, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. (AP)
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Two Civilians Dead as Russia Pounds Frontline Kherson Region

 A Ukrainian serviceman jumps out of the boat onto the shore of Dnipro at the frontline near Kherson, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. (AP)
A Ukrainian serviceman jumps out of the boat onto the shore of Dnipro at the frontline near Kherson, Ukraine, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. (AP)

Russian shelling pounded the frontline region of Kherson in southern Ukraine on Monday, killing two civilians, hurting at least eight others and hitting a bus, a critical infrastructure facility and cemetery, local authorities said.

"As of now, we know about seven victims as a result of the shelling of a (bus) in Kherson. Two men and five women," regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram messenger, adding that some of them had sustained severe injuries.

The bus had been at a crossroads when a shell exploded nearby, local prosecutors said. Images published by local officials online showed the floor of a badly-damaged bus covered in shards of glass and blood.

"Residential buildings, power lines, and vehicles were also damaged," the prosecutors said on Telegram.

Prokudin said Russia also attacked an unspecified critical infrastructure facility in the region, leaving the residents of four small settlements without electricity.

The vast Dnipro river runs through Kherson region and Russian troops control the territory on the eastern bank of it. The city of Kherson and Ukrainian-held areas on the western bank come under regular Russian shelling.

A cemetery in the region's village of Kindiyka also came under fire, killing one person and injuring a 62-year-old man, Prokudin said.

The city of Kherson also came under heavy overnight shelling, which killed an 85-year-old woman, Roman Mrochko, head of the city's military administration, said on Telegram.

"In the central district of the city, high-rise buildings and one of the social institutions were hit," Mrochko added.

He said the attack caused a fire and injured a resident, posting a video showing scorched rooms with collapsed walls and ceilings, shattered windows and piles of construction waste.

In a separate morning missile strike, an administrative building and equipment in a shipyard in the Black Sea region of Odesa were also hit, local prosecutors said, adding that four workers had been injured.

Images showed a blast crater, buildings with shattered windows and two destroyed vehicles.

The attacks followed attempted Russian drone strikes on southern, central, and northern Ukraine. Kyiv's military said air defenses destroyed all 12 drones and two missiles launched against the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Kirovohrad, Cherkasy, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytskyi and Dnipro regions.

There was no immediate comment on the strikes from Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and controls about 20% of Ukrainian territory in the east and south.



US Military Conducts Rapid Response Exercise at Embassy in Venezuela

US Embassy holds emergency and air evacuation drill in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
US Embassy holds emergency and air evacuation drill in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
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US Military Conducts Rapid Response Exercise at Embassy in Venezuela

US Embassy holds emergency and air evacuation drill in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)
US Embassy holds emergency and air evacuation drill in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Pedro Mattey)

The US military conducted a rapid response exercise involving Marines and military aircraft in Venezuela’s capital Saturday, over four months after the ouster of then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Two Marine Corps Osprey aircraft, which have characteristics of both a helicopter and a fixed-wing airplane, flew over the recently reopened US Embassy in Caracas. They landed in the parking lot with the downdraft blowing tree branches. Forces then descended from the aircraft.

“Ensuring the military’s rapid response capability is a key component of mission readiness, both here in Venezuela and around the world,” The Associated Press quoted the embassy as saying on Instagram.

Venezuela’s government had announced the drill earlier this week. Foreign Minister Yván Gil said the US would conduct the exercise to prepare “in the event of medical emergencies or catastrophic emergencies.”

The drill comes almost two months after the US formally reopened its embassy in Caracas. The reopening followed the restoration of full diplomatic relations with the South American country after Maduro 's ouster in early January.

Some Caracas residents Saturday gathered near the embassy to watch the aircraft, while a few dozen others gathered elsewhere in the city to protest the exercise. Protesters held a Venezuelan flag with the message “No to the Yankee drill” written over it.

US military aircraft last flew over Caracas on Jan. 3, when elite forces rappelled down from helicopters and captured Maduro and his wife. Both were taken to New York to face drug trafficking charges. They have pleaded not guilty.


Trump Says Negotiators Are Getting Closer to Iran Deal

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump leaves Marine One to board Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, as he departs Morristown Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, US, May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump leaves Marine One to board Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, as he departs Morristown Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, US, May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo
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Trump Says Negotiators Are Getting Closer to Iran Deal

FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump leaves Marine One to board Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, as he departs Morristown Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, US, May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: US President Donald Trump leaves Marine One to board Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, as he departs Morristown Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, US, May 22, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper/File Photo

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that negotiators for the United States and Iran were "getting a lot closer" to finalizing an agreement to end the war, according to an interview with CBS News.

He said a final agreement would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and would ensure that Iran's enriched ⁠uranium would be "satisfactorily handled," ⁠according to CBS.

"I will only sign a deal where we get everything we want," Trump was quoted as saying.

But in the interview with the TV network, Trump also warned that if the US and Iran do not come to an agreement, "we're going to have a situation where no country will ever be hit as hard as they're about to be hit."

Iran, the United States and mediator Pakistan all said on Saturday that ⁠progress had been made in talks on ending almost three months of war.

Trump said he would discuss the latest Iran draft agreement with advisers on Saturday and might make a decision on whether to resume the war by Sunday, he told Axios in a separate interview.

"Either we reach a good deal or I'll ⁠blow ⁠them to a thousand hells," Trump said, according to Axios.

Trump has vacillated between the two poles of diplomacy and military strike since a ceasefire was declared six weeks ago to allow the sides to come to agreement on Iran's nuclear program and on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil and gas supply route now controlled by Tehran.

Iran signaled on Saturday “narrowing differences” in negotiations with the US after Pakistan’s army chief held more talks in Tehran, and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told journalists in India that “there’s been some progress made" and “there may be news later today.”


Rubio Says Progress Made on Iran

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
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Rubio Says Progress Made on Iran

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he speaks with reporters during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers, in Helsingborg, Sweden May 22, 2026. Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via REUTERS

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that some progress has been made on Washington's dispute with Iran and that the US might have "something to say" on the issue in the coming days.

"There's been some progress done, some progress made, even as I speak to you now, there's some work being done. There is a chance that, whether it's later today, tomorrow, in a couple days, we may have something to say," Rubio told reporters during his visit to New Delhi.

Meanwhile, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Saturday that Tehran was in the final stages of drafting a framework for a deal to end the war with the United States.

"Within a reasonable period of 30 to 60 days, the details of these points will be discussed and a final agreement will ultimately be concluded. We are currently in the process of finalizing these memoranda of understanding," he told state broadcaster IRIB.