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Russian Drones Strike Ukraine’s Odesa Port, Kill Railway Worker in South, Deputy PM Says

Rescuers work at the site of a Russian drone strike as port infrastructure was hit, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine April 22, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via Reuters)
Rescuers work at the site of a Russian drone strike as port infrastructure was hit, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine April 22, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via Reuters)
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Russian Drones Strike Ukraine’s Odesa Port, Kill Railway Worker in South, Deputy PM Says

Rescuers work at the site of a Russian drone strike as port infrastructure was hit, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine April 22, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via Reuters)
Rescuers work at the site of a Russian drone strike as port infrastructure was hit, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine April 22, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa region/Handout via Reuters)

Russian drones attacked infrastructure in Ukraine's Black Sea Odesa port overnight, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said on Wednesday.

Berths, warehouses, railway infrastructure and port operators' facilities were damaged in the assault, Kuleba ‌wrote on Telegram.

The ‌hold of a ‌cargo ⁠ship was also ⁠hit, causing a fire Ukraine's seaports authority said.

According to preliminary information no one was hurt in the attack, and the port was still ⁠operating, the authority said ‌on Telegram.

Russia has ‌repeatedly targeted maritime export routes ‌more than four years after its ‌invasion of Ukraine, striking ports vital to foreign trade and the wartime economy.

Kuleba said a Russian ‌drone attack at a sorting yard at the Zaporizhzhia-Live ⁠station ⁠in the southern Zaporizhzhia region killed an assistant train driver. The train driver was hospitalized, he added.

The Ukrainian air force said Russia had launched 215 drones at the country since 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Tuesday, and 189 had been downed or neutralized.

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World

Pakistan: Five Soldiers, Seven Militants Killed in Clashes

Vehicles drive on a road during heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, 13 May 2026. EPA/A. HUSSAIN
Vehicles drive on a road during heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, 13 May 2026. EPA/A. HUSSAIN
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Pakistan: Five Soldiers, Seven Militants Killed in Clashes

Vehicles drive on a road during heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, 13 May 2026. EPA/A. HUSSAIN
Vehicles drive on a road during heavy rain in Lahore, Pakistan, 13 May 2026. EPA/A. HUSSAIN

At least five soldiers and seven militants were killed in clashes in Pakistan's turbulent south-western province of Balochistan, officials said on Thursday.

An improvised explosive device detonated near a convoy of paramilitary Frontier Corps troops and was followed by a clash with militants, they said.

"Five soldiers were killed and another was critically wounded," a senior official told AFP.

"During the operation, a group of terrorists was located and engaged by troops. During fire exchange seven terrorists were killed," the army's media wing said in a statement.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the province's most active militant separatist group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to AFP.

The group, which the United States has designated a terrorist organization, said it had targeted military installations as well as police and civil administration officials in gun attacks and suicide bombings.

The BLA has intensified attacks on Pakistanis from other provinces working in the region in recent years, as well as foreign energy firms.

Last year the separatists attacked a train with 450 passengers on board, sparking a deadly two-day siege.

World

US Court Suspends Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese was slapped with US sanctions for her work. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP/File
United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese was slapped with US sanctions for her work. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP/File
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US Court Suspends Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians

United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese was slapped with US sanctions for her work. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP/File
United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese was slapped with US sanctions for her work. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP/File

A US judge on Wednesday imposed a temporary injunction on sanctions imposed last year by Washington on a United Nations expert on the occupied Palestinian territories.

UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese was sanctioned in July 2025 after she publicly criticized Washington's policy on Gaza.

In announcing the sanctions, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed the UN expert's criticism of the United States and said she recommended to the International Criminal Court that arrest warrants be issued against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, AFP reported.

The Italian-born expert, who assumed her mandate in 2022, has faced harsh criticism by Israel and some of its allies over her relentless criticism and long-standing accusations that Israel is committing "genocide" in Gaza.

In his court order Wednesday, US District Judge Richard Leon granted a preliminary injunction against the sanctions, according to a court filing seen by AFP.

"Protecting the freedom of speech is 'always' in the public interest," Leon wrote in an opinion accompanying the order.

Albanese, who said the US sanctions were "calculated to weaken my mission" when they were first imposed, and celebrated the ruling on social media.

"Thanks to my daughter and my husband for stepping up to defend me, and everyone who has helped so far," Albanese said in a statement on X. "Together we are One."

UN special rapporteurs like Albanese are independent experts who are appointed by the UN rights council but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.

World

Six Hantavirus Cruise Passengers Head to Australia

Six passengers who sailed on a hantavirus-affected cruise are set to fly to Australia in protective gear. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP/File
Six passengers who sailed on a hantavirus-affected cruise are set to fly to Australia in protective gear. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP/File
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Six Hantavirus Cruise Passengers Head to Australia

Six passengers who sailed on a hantavirus-affected cruise are set to fly to Australia in protective gear. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP/File
Six passengers who sailed on a hantavirus-affected cruise are set to fly to Australia in protective gear. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP/File

Six passengers who sailed on a hantavirus-affected cruise will fly to Australia from the Netherlands on Thursday while dressed in full protective gear, the Australian government said.

The six -- four Australians, a Briton who lives in Australia, and a New Zealander -- were in "good health", showed no symptoms, and recently tested negative for the virus, Health Minister Mark Butler told a news conference in Canberra.

The Australian government has secured a plane and crew, due to leave the Netherlands at 0730 GMT on Thursday, with all aboard required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE), said AFP.

The plane is expected to arrive on Friday at an air force base in the Western Australian capital, Perth, located next to a 500-bed quarantine facility where the six will be required to stay for at least three weeks, Butler said.

"This is one of the strongest quarantine arrangements in response to this hantavirus outbreak you will find anywhere in the world," Butler said.

"They will be subject to testing when they arrive in Australia, and they will be in full PPE during the duration of the flight, so there is no risk of transmission."

He did not provide further details about the passengers or say where the plane would refuel -- a question that had reportedly complicated flight arrangements.

The government has yet to determine how to handle the passengers' isolation after the initial three-week quarantine, given the virus' potential incubation period of 42 days, the minister said.