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Norway and France to Boost Defense Cooperation

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu attends a joint press statement after talks about strengthening security and defense in Europe, at Ministry of Defense in Berlin, Germany November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu attends a joint press statement after talks about strengthening security and defense in Europe, at Ministry of Defense in Berlin, Germany November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
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Norway and France to Boost Defense Cooperation

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu attends a joint press statement after talks about strengthening security and defense in Europe, at Ministry of Defense in Berlin, Germany November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu attends a joint press statement after talks about strengthening security and defense in Europe, at Ministry of Defense in Berlin, Germany November 25, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo

Norway and France have signed a letter of intent to expand and strengthen their defense and security policy cooperation, the Norwegian defense ministry said on Thursday.

Norway's Defense Minister Bjoern Arild Gram and French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu met in Oslo to sign the agreement, Reuters reported.

The two countries plan enhanced cooperation on exercises and training in Norway and will work together to counter hybrid threats to critical infrastructure such as undersea cables and energy supply lines, the Norwegian ministry said in a statement.

The two ministers also discussed enhanced defense materiel cooperation, Norway said.

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World

Russia Says Four Killed, 35 Children Wounded in Ukrainian Attack on Luhansk Region

A damaged building of the Starobilsk College of Luhansk Pedagogical University following an overnight attack, what Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian drone strike, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Starobilsk (Starobelsk) in the Luhansk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, May 22, 2026. Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Russian-controlled parts of the Luhansk Region/Handout via REUTERS
A damaged building of the Starobilsk College of Luhansk Pedagogical University following an overnight attack, what Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian drone strike, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Starobilsk (Starobelsk) in the Luhansk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, May 22, 2026. Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Russian-controlled parts of the Luhansk Region/Handout via REUTERS
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Russia Says Four Killed, 35 Children Wounded in Ukrainian Attack on Luhansk Region

A damaged building of the Starobilsk College of Luhansk Pedagogical University following an overnight attack, what Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian drone strike, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Starobilsk (Starobelsk) in the Luhansk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, May 22, 2026. Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Russian-controlled parts of the Luhansk Region/Handout via REUTERS
A damaged building of the Starobilsk College of Luhansk Pedagogical University following an overnight attack, what Russian-installed authorities called a Ukrainian drone strike, in the course of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the town of Starobilsk (Starobelsk) in the Luhansk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, May 22, 2026. Leonid Pasechnik, head of the Russian-controlled parts of the Luhansk Region/Handout via REUTERS

Russian officials said at least four people had been killed and 35 children wounded in an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine.

Reuters was not able to verify what happened independently and there was no immediate comment on Friday from Ukraine, which wants to recapture Luhansk, one of four eastern regions ‌that Moscow unilaterally ‌claimed as its own in ‌2022 ⁠in what Kyiv denounced ⁠as an illegal land grab.

Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.

Yana Lantratova, Russia's Human Rights Commissioner, said that 86 teenagers aged 14 to 18 had been asleep inside the hostel belonging to Luhansk Pedagogical University's Starobilsk college when Ukrainian drones attacked it ⁠during the night.

Leonid Pasechnik, the top ‌Russian-installed official in Luhansk, ‌said two people had been pulled from the rubble ‌and that rescue workers were still looking for ‌children trapped beneath the debris.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called for those responsible to be punished.

"This is a monstrous crime. An attack on an educational institution where children and ‌young people are present," Peskov told reporters.

"The most important thing now is to ⁠take ⁠measures to clear the rubble and provide assistance to those who are still trapped beneath it."

Photographs and video released by the Russian authorities showed rescue workers stretchering one man out of the rubble, severely damaged buildings - one of which appeared to have partially collapsed - and fires still burning.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week promised retribution after laying red roses at the rubble of a Kyiv apartment building where a Russian missile strike had killed 24 people, including three children.

World

Trump Pledges Extra Troops for Poland

President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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Trump Pledges Extra Troops for Poland

President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump speaks during an event in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

US President Donald Trump surprised NATO allies by pledging to send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, only hours before Secretary of State Marco Rubio was to meet alliance ministers in Sweden on Friday amid deep divisions over the Iran war.

Trump, in a Truth Social post, cited his relationship with Poland's conservative nationalist president, Karol Nawrocki, as the reason behind his decision to send additional troops.

"Based on the successful Election of the now President of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, who I was proud to Endorse, and our relationship with him, I am pleased to announce that the United States will be sending an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland," Trump said in the post.

It was a surprising turnabout after weeks in which Trump fiercely criticized NATO members ⁠for not doing ⁠more to help the US-Israeli military campaign.

He has said he is considering withdrawing from the alliance and questioned whether Washington was bound to honor its mutual defense pact.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Trump's decision regarding the presence of ⁠American troops in Poland ⁠is "good news for Poland and the ⁠USA."

"I thank everyone involved in this matter, President (of Poland) Nawrocki, ministers, congressmen, and friends of Poland in the USA ⁠for ⁠their effectiveness and unity of action," he wrote on the X platform.

Poland will certainly not lose any US troops, and could gain either in terms ⁠of having more troops ⁠or a permanent US presence ⁠in the country, Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Friday.

"One thing is certain, Poland is certainly ⁠not ⁠losing what it had - around 10,000 soldiers," he told reporters.

World

Explosion at Hungary Petrochemical Plant Kills 1, Injures 7

The police force on the front lines as Hungary prepares to enact new rules the government says will bring a halt to the illegal flow of migrants. (Reuters)
The police force on the front lines as Hungary prepares to enact new rules the government says will bring a halt to the illegal flow of migrants. (Reuters)
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Explosion at Hungary Petrochemical Plant Kills 1, Injures 7

The police force on the front lines as Hungary prepares to enact new rules the government says will bring a halt to the illegal flow of migrants. (Reuters)
The police force on the front lines as Hungary prepares to enact new rules the government says will bring a halt to the illegal flow of migrants. (Reuters)

An explosion at a petrochemical plant in Hungary on Friday killed one person and injured several others, according to a statement by Hungarian energy company Mol Group, which owns the plant.

The explosion in Tiszaújváros, in eastern Hungary, occurred during a restart of the plant following maintenance, Prime Minister Péter Magyar said in a post on social media. He added that seven people had suffered burn injuries during the blast.

Five helicopters transported the injured to hospitals in the cities of Miskolc and Debrecen, according to Minister of Economy and Energy István Kapitány. In a social media post, Kapitány wrote that a disaster response mobile laboratory did not detect any concentrations of hazardous materials above the threshold limit.

Both Kapitány and Mol CEO Zsolt Hernádi are en route to the site of the explosion, Magyar said.

“We express our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased and wish the injured a speedy recovery,” Magyar wrote on Facebook.

A spokesperson for the regional disaster management authority told state news agency MTI that the fire caused by the explosion at the plant had been extinguished. Dávid Dojcsák said that cleanup operations were still underway and emergency units were securing the site.