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Russia fired over 500 drones and two dozen missiles at Ukraine overnight, hitting civilian infrastructure and energy facilities in central and western regions, authorities said Wednesday. At least five people were wounded, Ukrainian officials reported. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the strikes as “demonstrative,” accusing Vladimir Putin of showing “impunity” and calling for tougher sanctions on Russia’s war economy. The attacks come as Kyiv engages with European leaders to strengthen defenses and revive stalled U.S.-led peace efforts. Zelenskyy visited Denmark and was due in Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on postwar security guarantees, while British Defense Secretary John Healey met Ukrainian officials on military aid. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said clarity is expected after the Paris talks on what each country can contribute without overstretching alliance resources. Meanwhile, Putin met in China with Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, countries Washington says are indirectly aiding Russia’s war effort through troops, weapons, and oil purchases.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Wednesday urged India to use its ties with Russia to push for peace negotiations on the Ukraine war, days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Vladimir Putin at a regional summit in China. Speaking in New Delhi, Wadephul said Europe and the U.S. had made “enormous efforts” but Russia has refused talks, adding that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shown willingness for peace. He stressed that “weapons must fall silent.” The appeal comes as Europe looks to India to play a bigger diplomatic role while balancing its close defense partnership with Moscow. India has avoided condemning Russia outright, instead calling for an end to hostilities, while also buying discounted Russian oil to protect its economy. Tensions with Washington have grown after U.S. President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50%, hitting exports worth $48.2 billion. Seeking alternatives, India is pushing for a free trade deal with the EU, with Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar urging Germany to help conclude the pact this year.

A 26-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh in India allegedly murdered his 52-year-old Instagram acquaintance after she pressured him to marry her and asked him to return a loan he had taken from her. The man told police that the woman, a mother of four, also used an Instagram filter to appear younger, which contributed to his reluctance to marry her despite their relationship. Mainpuri Superintendent of Police Arun Kumar Singh said on Tuesday that authorities discovered the body of an unidentified woman near Karpari village in the district on August 11. Strangulation marks on her neck indicated she had been murdered, which was confirmed by a post-mortem. After checking with multiple police stations, the woman was identified as a resident of Farrukhabad based on a missing person complaint, reports NDTV. Singh said that when police identified the accused, Arun Rajput, and questioned him, he admitted to knowing the woman via Instagram and having been friends for a year and a half. "Two months ago, they exchanged numbers and began speaking to each other regularly on the phone. They also met several times. On August 11, the woman travelled from Farrukhabad to Mainpuri to meet Rajput. He told us the woman had been pressuring him to marry her for some time and she brought up the topic again that day. She had also loaned about Rs 1.5 lakh to him and asked him to return the money," the police officer said. "He said he had been angry for some time about the pressure being exerted on him and strangled the woman with the 'dupatta' she was wearing. He then took her phone after getting rid of the SIM card. We have recovered the phones and accessed the messages exchanged between them. Rajput has been arrested for the woman's murder," he added. Asked whether the woman's age played any role in the murder, Mr. Singh said, "The accused has said that the woman used a filter on Instagram that made her appear younger. When he met her for the first time, he found out her actual age. The woman was also married and had children. These factors made him not want to marry her."

Overnight, Russia launched more than 500 drones and around two dozen missiles targeting Ukraine, officials reported Wednesday. Amidst this, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders continued efforts to boost Ukraine’s defenses and revive momentum in stalled U.S.-led peace initiatives. Zelenskyy said Russian attacks mainly focused on civilian infrastructure, especially energy facilities, as Ukraine braces for another winter three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion. The strikes concentrated on western and central regions of Ukraine and caused injuries to at least five people, according to the Ukrainian air force. Despite ongoing Russian air attacks on civilian zones and harsh ground offensives along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, the fighting has not diminished in recent months, despite attempts by former U.S. President Donald Trump to halt the conflict. Although Zelenskyy has shown openness to Trump’s ceasefire proposals and direct peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has expressed reservations. In the context of recent diplomatic developments, Putin held meetings in China with Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. These nations, according to Washington, support Russia’s military campaign, with North Korea reportedly sending troops and ammunition, while China and India continue purchasing Russian oil, indirectly aiding Russia’s war economy. Zelenskyy described the recent attacks as a show of impunity by Putin. Writing on Telegram, he called for stronger sanctions, especially targeting Russia’s war economy, urging increased pressure to halt Russia’s aggression. In his daily address on Tuesday evening, Zelenskyy noted a rise in Russian drone assaults, including attacks during daylight, and signaled a buildup of Russian forces in certain front-line sectors. Zelenskyy arrived in Denmark on Tuesday for discussions with Northern European and Baltic nations regarding new military support and diplomatic backing for Ukraine. Simultaneously, British Defense Secretary John Healey traveled to Kyiv to discuss ways to strengthen Ukraine’s military capabilities. Later on Wednesday, Zelenskyy was scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, ahead of a European summit the following day to evaluate possible postwar security assurances in coordination with the United States.

Sudan appealed for international aid on Tuesday after a landslide wiped out an entire village in western region of Darfur, killing an estimated 1,000 people in one of the deadliest natural disasters in the African country’s recent history. The village of Tarasin was “completely leveled to the ground,” the Sudan Liberation Movement-Army said as it appealed to the U.N. and international aid groups for help to recover the bodies. The tragedy happened Sunday in the village, located in Central Darfur’s Marrah Mountains, after days of heavy rainfall. “Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated to be more than 1,000 people," the rebel group said in a statement. ”Only one person survived,” it added. Abdel-Wahid Nour, the group’s leader, made an appeal on Tuesday for international help. “The scale and magnitude of the disaster are immense and defy description,” he said. The ruling Sovereign Council in Khartoum said it mourned “the death of hundreds of innocent residents” in the Marrah Mountains' landslide. In a statement, it said “all possible capabilities” have been mobilized to support the area. Footage shared by the Marrah Mountains news outlet showed a flattened area between mountain ranges with a group of people searching the area. Luca Renda, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said he was “deeply saddened” by the reported landslide, adding that local sources indicated that “between 300 and 1,000 people may have lost their lives.” He said the U.N. and its partners were mobilizing to support the impacted communities at the scene. A local emergency network, which has been providing support to communities across Sudan during the war, said its teams recovered the bodies of at nine people on Tuesday. Search teams were facing challenges to reach the area because of bad weather and lack of resources, it added. ‘Unprecedented tragedy’ Al-Amin Abdallah Abbas, a farmer from Ammo — a cluster of villages that includes Tarasin — said the area has seen weeks of heavy rainfall, with Tarasin among the worst hit. He said tribal and community leaders in nearby areas have moblized efforts to recover and bury the victims. “The village and its people disappeared," he said. “It's an unprecedented tragedy.” Mohamed Abdel-Rahman al-Nair, a spokesman for the Sudan Liberation Movement-Army, told The Associated Press that the village where the landslide took place is remote and accessible only by foot or donkeys. Tarasin is located in the central Marrah Mountains, a volcanic area with a height of more than 3,000 meters (9,840 feet) at its summit. A world heritage site, the mountain chain is known for its lower temperature and higher rainfall than surrounding areas, according to UNICEF. It’s located more than 900 kilometers (560 miles) west of the capital city, Khartoum. Sunday’s landslide was one of the deadliest natural disasters in Sudan’s recent history. Hundreds of people die every year in seasonal rains that run from July to October. Last year’s heavy rainfall caused the collapse of a dam in the eastern Red Sea Province, killing at least 30 people, according to the U.N. The tragedy came as a devastating civil war has engulfed Sudan after tensions between the country’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, exploded into open fighting in April 2023 in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere in the country. ‘Deprived of adequate assistance’ Most of the conflict-stricken Darfur region has become mostly inaccessible for the U.N. and aid groups, given crippling restrictions and fighting between Sudan's military and the RSF. Aid group Doctors Without Borders has warned that multiple communities in Darfur, including the Marrah Mountains, have been cut off after more than two years of war and isolation, describing these areas as “a black hole" in Sudan’s humanitarian response. It said in a July report that people in these communities have been “deprived of adequate assistance and neglected by aid actors for over two years.” The International Organization for Migration on Tuesday called for safe access and scaling-up support to the area, saying in a statement: “The people of Sudan cannot bear this never-ending suffering alone.” The Sudan Liberation Movement-Army, centered in the Marrah Mountains area, is one of multiple rebel groups active in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. It hasn’t taken sides in the war. The Marrah Mountains are a rugged volcanic chain extending for 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of el-Fasher, an epicenter of fighting between the military and the RSF. The area has turned into a hub for displaced families fleeing fighting in and around the besieged city. On Monday, the RSF shelled el-Fasher, the military’s last stronghold in Darfur, killing at least 18 people and injuring over 100 others, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, a group of professionals tracking the war. The RSF didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Alleged war crimes The conflict in Sudan has killed more than 40,000 people, forced more than 14 million to flee their homes and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive as famine swept parts of the country. It has been marked by gross atrocities including ethnically motivated killing and rape, according to the United Nations and rights groups. The International Criminal Court said it was investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The conflict created the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, with more than 30 million of the country’s 50 million population needing assistance. Of those, over 630,000 live in famine-stricken areas in Darfur and Kordofan regions, according to the international hunger experts.

India warned Pakistan about possible cross-border flooding for the second time in as many weeks as monsoon deluges cause death and widespread destruction in both countries. The disaster management authority in eastern Pakistan announced the warning Tuesday. New Delhi shared the warning with Pakistan on "humanitarian grounds” through New Delhi’s high commission in Islamabad rather than the water-sharing Indus Waters Treaty, which remains suspended, an Indian government official said. Pakistan conducted mass evacuations late last month after India released water from overflowing dams and swollen rivers into low-lying border regions. The countries came close to war in May and tensions frequently escalate between the two nuclear-armed rivals, making diplomatic contact uncommon. The latest warning concerns a surge in the Sutlej River, with floodwaters expected to enter Pakistan on Wednesday. Raging torrents already have devastated border communities in Kasur, Okara, Vehari and Bahawalnagar. Punjab’s Disaster Management Authority said the Indian High Commission conveyed the warning to Pakistan through the Ministry of Water Resources. Downpours lashed several parts of northern India and killed at least 10 people over the past 24 hours. Authorities were forced to close some schools and offices on Tuesday. Landslides, flooding and gushing rivers in India’s Punjab state, home to more than 30 million people, killed at least 29 people last month. Rescue teams, backed by the army and disaster response services, have evacuated thousands from homes impacted by floods. In New Delhi, water levels of the Yamuna River, which originates in the Himalayas, crossed the danger mark Tuesday, posing a threat of flooding in low-lying areas of the city. Heavy rains also flooded parts of Gurugram city on the outskirts of the capital, causing severe traffic disruptions while waterlogging roads and apartments. Officials in Pakistan’s Punjab province said Tuesday that more than 1 million people have been evacuated and 2.45 million people have been affected by monsoon flooding in recent months.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping, speaking before a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, said Wednesday that humanity today must choose between peace and war and between dialogue and confrontation. Xi started a brief address by remembering the victims of the war and called for eradication of the roots of war to prevent history from repeating itself. The parade began after he spoke with troops marching in rhythmic lockstep, their boots echoing off the pavement, for a review by Xi, who is also head of China's military as chairman of the Central Military Commission. The parade will showcase missiles, modern fighter jets and other military might as China seeks to wield greater influence on the global stage. Some of the military hardware is on public view for the first time. Before they started marching, Xi rode by the entire length of the formations along Beijing’s central Chang’an Avenue in a classic-style black limousine. He stood up through an opening in a roof with four microphones lined in front of him and greeted flanks of troops as he passed them and rows of missiles and military vehicles. They shouted back mottos in unison such as “We serve the people.” Before Xi spoke, the ceremony began with an 80-gun artillery salute to mark the 80 years since the end of the war, followed by the national anthem, the “March of the Volunteers,” a song composed in 1935 during the early years of resistance against invading Japanese forces.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized deploying up to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department to serve as temporary immigration judges, a memo reviewed by AP shows. The lawyers — both military and civilian — will be sent in groups of 150, with the first round to be identified next week. The move, requested by the Justice Department, aims to ease a massive immigration court backlog of about 3.5 million cases amid the Trump administration’s intensified immigration crackdown. The appointments, initially set for up to 179 days but renewable, could nearly double the current pool of about 600 immigration judges, following recent dismissals and resignations. The Pentagon and DOJ declined to comment, while the White House said the plan reflects efforts to address the backlog, calling it “a priority that everyone — including those waiting for adjudication — can rally around.”

Argentine prosecutors on Tuesday placed Patricia Kadgien, the daughter of a fugitive Nazi officer, and her husband under house arrest over a stolen 18th-century Italian painting. Police conducted raids late Monday on homes linked to Patricia and her husband, Juan Carlos Cortegoso, in the coastal city of Mar del Plata. Patricia Kadgien is the daughter of Friedrich Kadgien, a financial adviser to Hermann Göring, who looted Jewish-owned art galleries during World War II. Kadgien fled to Argentina after the war and died in Buenos Aires in 1978. The stolen painting, a Baroque work called Portrait of a Lady by Italian painter Giuseppe Ghislandi, had been missing for 80 years. It was recently spotted in a real estate listing hanging above a green couch in Kadgien’s living room. The painting had been part of over 1,000 pieces stolen from Dutch-Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker. When police entered Kadgien’s house last week, the painting was gone and replaced by a tapestry. Additional raids on Monday seized several prints and two paintings possibly from the 1800s, but the stolen artwork was not found. Prosecutor Carlos Martínez said the couple obstructed the investigation, leading to their home detention for at least 72 hours. He added that the Kadgien family had offered to return the painting but has not done so yet.

A 5.2-magnitude earthquake jolted Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. According to the USGS, the tremor struck Jalalabad City, the provincial capital, at 4:59 p.m. local time. The epicentre was located at 34.67 degrees north latitude and 70.68 degrees east longitude, at a depth of 10 kilometres. This quake comes just a day after a devastating 6.0-magnitude earthquake late Sunday killed over 1,400 people and injured more than 3,000 across Kunar, Nangarhar, and Laghman provinces. Authorities are currently assessing the impact of the latest tremor in the already-stricken region.