TOKYO, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Japan's nuclear regulator on Friday finished inspecting a newly completed system to release radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea, local media reported.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) checked for leaks and other abnormalities by passing water through the system and inspected the emergency shut-off valves to make sure they function properly, public broadcaster NHK reported.

LONDON (AP) — Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey got a thrill preying on other men and escalated his behavior from touchy-feely advances to hostile fondling and worse, a prosecutor told jurors Friday during Spacey’s sexual assault trial in London.

Spacey is “a man who does not respect personal boundaries or space, a man who it would seem delights in making others feel powerless and uncomfortable — a sexual bully,” prosecutor Christine Agnew said in her opening statement. “His preferred method of assault is, it appears, to grab aggressively other men in the crotch.”

MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/: Russian air defense forces intercepted seven rockets of the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system and shot down ten Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday.

"Air defense capabilities intercepted seven rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system," the spokesman said.

HAVANA (AP) — Elián González has the same big, expressive eyes he did 23 years ago when an international custody battle transformed him into the face of the long-strained relations between Cuba and the United States.

Now 29, González is stepping into Cuban politics. He recently entered his country’s congress with hopes of helping his people at a time of record emigration and heightened tension between the two seaside neighbors.

TEHRAN, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday condemned the Quran-burning in Sweden, according to the official news agency IRNA.

In an address to worshippers in the southeastern Iranian province of Kerman, he said the desecration insulted the "most valuable divine book" and hurt the feelings of 2 billion Muslims, which global Muslim community will not condone.

MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/: Iran's full-scale admission to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the signing of a memorandum of commitment by Belarus to join the SCO is scheduled for July 4 at the Council of Heads of State of the organization, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis met Friday with imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s wife Stella, who said the pope’s gesture in receiving her was evidence of his “ongoing show of support for our family’s plight” and concern over her husband’s suffering.

In an interview with The Associated Press after the audience, Stella Assange recalled that Francis had sent a letter to her husband in March 2021, during a particularly difficult period.

KYIV, June 30 (Reuters) - Russia is gradually reducing the number of personnel at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in southern Ukraine, Ukraine's military intelligence agency said on Friday.

It did not say why some people had left and Reuters could not independently verify the information. Russia, which has occupied the plant since March 2022, did not immediately comment on the assertion.

Kyiv accused Russia this month of planning a "terrorist" attack at the nuclear plant involving the release of radiation. Moscow denied the accusation.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The ambush had been postponed three times before Ukrainian commanders decided one recent night that conditions were finally right. Cloaked in darkness, a battalion of Kyiv’s 129th brigade pressed ahead, advancing stealthily on unsuspecting Russian soldiers.

By the time the Russians situated along the front line realized they were under attack, it was too late.

MOSCOW, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Defense Ministry will continue studying U.S. biological activities in Ukraine, and has data confirming Washington's work aimed at developing biological weapons, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.

"Our defense ministry is continuing to provide the global community with evidence ... proving that the Pentagon was developing biological weapons in Ukraine," Lavrov said at an online briefing.

MALAKASA/KALAMATA, Greece, June 30 (Reuters) - Survivors of a boat disaster that likely killed hundreds of migrants near Greece have given accounts of traffickers in North Africa cramming them into a clapped-out fishing trawler. They recounted hellish conditions above and below deck, with no food or water.

Some also said the tragic end, when it came, was precipitated by the actions of the Greek coastguard. They have told judicial authorities of a doomed attempt to tow the overloaded trawler that caused the vessel to capsize in the early hours of June 14.

BRASILIA, June 30 (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's political career was in tatters on Friday as Brazil's federal electoral court (TSE) barred the far-right nationalist from public office until 2030 for his conduct during last year's fraught election.

Five out of seven justices voted to convict the 68-year-old Bolsonaro for abuse of power and misuse of the media when, in July, before the 2022 election, he summoned ambassadors to vent unfounded claims about Brazil's electronic voting system.