Ukraine hits two oil refineries deep in Russian territory
In Ukraine, three people were killed in the town of Balakliya, Kharkiv region, in an overnight Russian drone attack, the country's state emergencies service DSNS said.
It said private residential houses were targeted, with fires reported in two buildings.
Kharkiv regional head Oleh Synehubov later said that another two people were killed when drones attacked the train station in Lozova. Another eight people were injured.
Later on Thursday, five people were killed in Russian strikes on the central Dnipropetrovsk region, local officials said.
In the south
Afghan boxer accused of killing Scottish aid worker back in court
An Afghan boxer suspected of killing a Scottish woman in Greece has arrived in court in Athens for a second time.
Sharif Ahmadzai, who is 26 and from Afghanistan, faces charges of homicide with intent, robbery and weapons offences.
He is accused of killing aid worker Elisabeth Ross, 38, who was discovered by a homeless man in a derelict building in the Kypseli area of the Greek capital on July 18.
Ahmadzai arrived back in court in Athens on Thursday morning in an unmarked Grey car. He was
Iranian footballers who defied Tehran become Australian citizens
Two Iranian female footballers who publicly defied their government have become Australian citizens.
Atefeh Ramezanisadeh, 34, and Fatemeh Pasandideh, 22, were naturalised in Brisbane, Queensland, on Wednesday.
Ramezanisadeh said it was a "truly special and unforgettable day", while her teammate said "this moment means more than words can express".
They were among seven members of Iran's national team to be granted humanitarian visas while in Australia for the Women's Asian Cup in March - but the other five changed their
Air India's new CEO faces financial and safety turbulence
Air India has appointed a new chief executive as the airline grapples with mounting challenges, including heavy financial losses and the fallout from last year's crash that killed 260 people.
Tewolde Gebremariam succeeds Campbell Wilson, who stepped down from the role in April .
Gebremariam was earlier CEO at Ethiopian Airlines, where he worked for over a decade, growing the regional carrier into one of Africa's largest airlines.
Air India, which Tata Group bought from the Indian government in 2022, has been dealing
Indian journalist Tarun Tejpal convicted in 2013 rape case
Tehelka, the magazine Tejpal co-founded in 2000, had published a number of scoops, many of them based on sting operations.
Some of these stories - including Operation West End in which some of its journalists posed as arms dealers, secretly filming senior army officials, bureaucrats and even the president of the then ruling BJP taking bribes to push through a fake deal - created national and international ripples.
Tejpal was arrested in 2013 and spent seven months in jail until the Supreme Court granted him
Outrage as Ugandan football captain murdered in street gang attack
Ugandans are mourning the death of one of the country's best-known footballers after he was beaten to death by suspected robbers near his home in the capital, Kampala.
Police said David Owori was fatally assaulted after resisting an attempt to steal his mobile phone and other belongings, prompting an outpouring of grief and renewed public anger over violent crime in Uganda.
The 27-year-old captained Sports Club (SC) Villa, the Uganda Premier League record champions, where he played both as a right-back
In Odesa, no-one is safe from Russia's new Black Sea strikes
Stavnitser says Russia is almost certainly retaliating for Ukraine's recent, highly successful attacks on Russian shipping, including sanctioned vessels carrying oil, as well as other ships involved in ferrying supplies to Russian-occupied Crimea.
Using its own drones, Ukraine's Operation MoLoChKa (which roughly translates as "Moscow will fall through Crimea") has struck around 200 Russian vessels, bringing traffic in the strategic Sea of Azov to a virtual standstill.
Ukrainians bristle at the suggestion that Russia and Ukraine are playing the same game
Moment first rare tiger in 70 years released in Kazakhstan
Umit, a female Amur tiger, has been released to Kazakhstan's Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve as part of a programme to restore the animal's population, which was wiped out in central Asia a century ago.
Umit is one of four Amur tigers transferred from Russia. She will be monitored on how she takes to the new habitat before a decision is made on when to release the other three.
Rihanna is 'in the studio', says partner A$AP Rocky
Rihanna could be set to break a decade-long album hiatus, according to her partner A$AP Rocky.
"She in the studio right now," the rapper said on the The Jason Lee podcast on Wednesday.
Few details about the project were revealed, apart from a denial that the pair would collaborate on a double album. However, in response to questioning about about a potential new album, he added "she cooking."
The singer and beauty mogul from Barbados, whose real name is Robyn Fenty,
Nigerian security forces rescue more than 300 abductees
More than 300 people abducted in separate attacks in Nigeria have been rescued, the country's presidency says, in what it describes as its largest single-day operation by joint security forces.
The victims were rescued from the Kainji Lake National Park in Niger State in an operation involving the military, police, intelligence unit and the National Counter-Terrorism Centre.
Those freed include 163 people abducted during a February attack on the Woro community in Kwara State, where scores were killed. At least 14