SOCHI, October 5. /TASS/: Russia has to respond to constantly mounting geopolitical pressure, President Vladimir Putin said at a plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club on Thursday.

"It has to respond to constantly mounting military and political pressure [against Russia]," he said.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia targeted Ukraine with drones in another massive attack early Thursday as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Spain to rally support from Western allies at a summit of some 50 European leaders.

Ukraine’s air force said that the country’s air defenses intercepted 24 out of 29 Iranian-made drones that Russia launched at the southern Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kirovohrad regions.

GAZA, Oct 5 (NNN-WAFA) – The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) movement, revealed yesterday that, it has acquired “a large number” of homemade drones and integrated them into its military operations.

The PIJ made the announcement during a military parade, marking the 36th anniversary of its foundation. Thousands of masked militants from the al-Quds Brigades, the PIJ’s armed wing, marched through Gaza streets while carrying weapons, including missiles.

BRUSSELS, Oct 4 (Reuters) - European Union leaders will discuss how to reform the 27-nation bloc to take in new members at a summit in Granada on Oct. 5-6, launching a long process to prepare the EU for enlargement by a tentative deadline of 2030.

Below is a list of countries that want to join the EU.

MOGADISHU, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- More than 30 al-Shabab militants were killed and several others injured in heavy fighting between al-Shabab and Somali National Army (SNA) backed by forces from Galmudug State near Wisil town in central Somalia Wednesday, an official said Thursday.

Deputy Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, Abdirahman Yusuf Al-Adala, said that the joint forces defeated al-Shabab militants who were regrouping in areas east of the Mudug region by flushing them out of their strongholds.

VIENNA, October 5. /TASS/: The experience of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project in Bangladesh is a shining example of how countries that do not have nuclear facilities can start developing nuclear power, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said.

04 October 2023; MEMO: France has agreed to deliver military equipment to Armenia, following Azerbaijan’s recapture of the Nagorno-Karabakh region last month.

HAVANA (AP) — A building in the historic center of Havana that housed 13 families partially collapsed, leaving three people dead and at least two injured, Cuban authorities said Wednesday.

Authorities in Havana said that among the three fatalities were one resident and two firefighters who got trapped in the building when they were helping evacuate people.

A part of the three-story building collapsed Tuesday’s night, and other sections crumbled early Wednesday.

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 (NNN-Bernama) — Malaysia is still awaiting Indonesia’s response concerning cooperation under the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution.

Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said Malaysia has yet to receive any response after sending a letter to the country and hoped to hear from them soon.

“We have not received a response yet.  We have sent the letter directly and also to their embassy…we will wait for their response,” he told a press conference here, Thursday.

ROME, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Italian authorities have impounded a vessel operated by a Spanish charity, the group said on Thursday, after it carried out multiple rescues of migrants stranded in the Mediterranean.

The Open Arms group said in a statement it had completed three rescues on Saturday picking up 176 people at sea, which included more than 90 unaccompanied minors. The boat docked on Wednesday in the central Italian port of Carrara to disembark the migrants.

ISTANBUL, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Over 100 people were arrested in a major operation against drug traffickers in Istanbul, Türkiye's largest city, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on Thursday.

Police carried out overnight raids in 25 out of 39 districts of the city, arresting 104 suspects, Yerlikaya said on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Police also seized 3.5 kilograms of bonsai and various amounts of methamphetamine, cannabis, skunk, drug pills, weapons, and money, he said.

BAKU, October 5. /TASS/: Baku is ready for talks with Yerevan on a trilateral Azerbaijan-Armenia-EU platform in Brussels, the Azerbaijani leader's aide, Hikmet Hajiyev, has said.

"Azerbaijan is ready for trilateral meetings on the Azerbaijan-Armenia-EU platform in Brussels soon," Hajiyev wrote on his page on the social media X (formerly Twitter).

Hajiyev explained that Azerbaijan had refused to go to the meeting scheduled for October 5 in Granada because of France's biased position and objections to Turkey's participation in these talks.