A Russian court on Thursday sentenced U.S. citizen Robert Romanov Woodland to 12-1/2 years in a maximum security penal colony after finding him guilty of attempting to sell drugs, Woodland’s lawyer and Moscow prosecutors said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Joe Biden he has decided to send a delegation to resume stalled negotiations on a hostage release deal with Hamas, their administrations said.

Saudi Arabia’s main humanitarian agency said on Thursday the Israeli closure of Rafah and other crossings into Gaza was hampering its aid efforts to send lifesaving food, some of which was in danger of spoiling.

Hurricane Beryl churned over the Cayman Islands on Thursday as it took aim at some of Mexico’s top tourist resorts, after belting Jamaica with winds that uprooted trees and tore apart buildings.

Labour has won a landslide victory in the UK general election, according to the exit poll.

President Joe Biden faces close scrutiny in public appearances on Thursday and over the U.S. holiday weekend, as he resists pressure to end his reelection bid after a poor debate performance raised concerns about his stamina and mental acuity.

Russians were braving some of the hottest weather seen in more than a century on Thursday with Moscow breaking a 1917 record and cities across the world’s biggest country sizzling in temperatures well above 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).

Britons were voting on Thursday in a parliamentary election that is expected to bring Keir Starmer’s Labour Party to power, sweeping away Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives after 14 often turbulent years.

Pro Palestine protesters climbed the roof of Australia’s Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday and unfurled banners, one saying Palestine will be free, and accused Israel of war crimes, in a serious security breach condemned by lawmakers.

Hurricane Beryl churned menacingly over Jamaica on Wednesday afternoon, after uprooting trees, ripping off roofs and destroying farms as it forged a destructive, water-soaked path across smaller Caribbean islands over the past couple days.

U.S. President Joe Biden vowed to stay in the 2024 presidential race during a call with campaign staff on Wednesday and insisted in meetings with Democratic lawmakers and governors that he is fit for reelection despite his shaky debate performance last week.

More than three times the permitted number of people attended a Hindu religious event in northern India that culminated in a stampede which killed at least 121 people, authorities said on Wednesday, adding that most of the victims were women.