KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine traded drone attacks early Wednesday, officials said, with Kyiv apparently targeting Moscow again and the Kremlin’s forces launching another bombardment of Ukrainian grain storage depots in what have recently become signature tactics in the almost 18-month war.

BELGRADE, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Serbia on Wednesday joined a Ukraine-led platform on the reintegration of Crimea, signalling a swing away from Russia, a historical ally and its sole supplier of natural gas.

The move comes a day after a meeting of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic in Athens, described by both leaders as good and open.

In an online address to the forum, Serbia's Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said Serbia "sincerely regrets the suffering of Ukraine and Ukrainian people."

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Thursday that its second attempt to launch a spy satellite failed again but vowed to make another attempt in October, demonstrating willingness to endure flops to acquire a key military asset coveted by leader Kim Jong Un.

The failed launch prompted neighboring Japan to issue brief a “J-alert” ordering some residents to evacuate to safe places as the North Korean rocket flew over its southernmost islands of Okinawa to the Pacific Ocean.

TOKYO, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Japan started releasing treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, a polarising move that prompted China to announce an immediate blanket ban on all aquatic products from Japan.

China is "highly concerned about the risk of radioactive contamination brought by... Japan's food and agricultural products," the customs bureau said in a statement.

MINSK, August 24. /TASS/: Belarus is set to play host to the Combat Brotherhood-2023 joint strategic military exercise on September 1-6, as participating military contingents from Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states will start redeploying to Belarusian soil on August 25, the Belarusian Defense Ministry’s press service said.

"Joint and special drills are planned in the general concept of the Combat Brotherhood-2023 exercise, bringing together the training of various combat parts of the CSTO (Collective Forces)," the Defense Ministry statement said.

OKUMA, Japan (AP) — The operator of the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it has begun releasing its first batch of treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean — a controversial step, but a milestone for Japan’s battle with the growing radioactive water stockpile.

In a live video from a control room at the plant Thursday, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings showed a staff member turn on a seawater pump, marking the beginning of the controversial project that is expected to last for decades.

TOKYO, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- Japan started releasing nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, despite raging opposition from both at home and abroad.

22 August 2023; MEMO: According to international law, all of Israel’s Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal and pose a major obstacle to peace, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, told the Security Council on Monday.

TEHRAN, Aug 24 (NNN-IRNA) – A senior Iranian military commander, said yesterday that, Tehran and Moscow were determined to expand their cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

Commander of the Iranian Army’s Ground Force, Kioumars Heidari, made the remarks in Moscow, at the end of his official visit to the Russian capital, commenting on the agreements reached between the two countries during the trip.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin took multiple shots at the West on the opening day of an economic summit in South Africa, using a prerecorded speech that was aired on giant screens Tuesday to rail at what he called “illegitimate sanctions” on his country and threaten to cut off Ukraine’s grain exports permanently.

MADRID, Aug 24 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — Europol has supported the Spanish Civil Guard (Guardia Civil) in dismantling a criminal organization smuggling large quantities of cocaine from South America to the European Union via the Canary Islands.

The operation also involved law enforcement authorities from Croatia, Italy and Serbia.

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Election officials extended the voting in Zimbabwe’s presidential election until Thursday after delays of up to 10 hours in mostly opposition strongholds as President Emmerson Mnangagwa seeks a second and final term in a country with a history of violent and disputed elections.

Chaotic scenes characterized some polling stations in Zimbabwe as ballot papers that had been delivered up to 10 hours late ran out, forcing officials to suspend voting Wednesday night in many stations, especially in large urban areas including the capital Harare.