The U.S. military killed five alleged drug smugglers in strikes against two vessels in the eastern Pacific Ocean, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday, in an expansion of the Trump administration’s use of the armed forces in its counter-narcotics campaign.

The Pakistani navy, operating as part of the Saudi-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), has seized nearly $1bn worth of narcotics from two vessels sailing through the Arabian Sea.

The full East Wing of the White House will be torn down to make way for President Donald Trump’s new ballroom, contradicting the former New York real estate magnate’s pledge that the project would not interfere with the existing U.S. landmark.

The United States hit Russia’s major oil companies with sanctions on Wednesday and accused the Russians of a lack of commitment toward ending the war in Ukraine, as Moscow conducted a major training exercise involving nuclear arms.

A bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, a move tantamount to annexation of land which Palestinians want for a state, won preliminary approval from Israel’s parliament on Wednesday.

President Donald Trump’s mass firings of federal workers during the second-longest government shutdown in U.S. history could hamper implementation of two tax incentives made permanent in his massive tax-cut and spending bill meant to boost investment in low-income communities.

Australia and New Zealand both face damaging winds and heat this week, with the New Zealand meteorological agency on Wednesday warning conditions will deteriorate on Thursday.

Ukraine has hit a Russian chemical plant with UK-made Storm Shadow missiles, the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday.

A fuel tanker overturned and exploded in Nigeria’s northern Niger state on Tuesday, killing at least 35 people, the Federal Road Safety Corps said.

China is more interested in expansionism than solving its own pressing economic and social issues, and Taiwan is determined to defend itself from Chinese aggression, the island’s top security official said on Tuesday.

A planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was put on hold on Tuesday, as Moscow’s rejection of an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine cast a cloud over attempts at negotiations.

India has more work to do in halting sales of toxic cough syrup, despite some progress, a World Health Organization official told Reuters, after at least 24 children died following consumption of a domestically-made medicine.