May 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the bribery conviction of Joseph Percoco, an ex-aide to Democratic former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, in a ruling that further limits the ability of federal prosecutors to pursue corruption cases.

The justices ruled 9-0 in favor of Joseph Percoco, Cuomo's former executive deputy secretary who was charged in 2016 as part of a corruption crackdown by federal prosecutors in Manhattan centered on the halls of the state capital of Albany.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country’s military needs more time to prepare an anticipated counteroffensive aimed at pushing back Russian occupying forces and opening a new chapter in the war more than 14 months after the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion.

Zelenskyy said in an interview broadcast Thursday by the BBC that it would be “unacceptable” to launch the assault now because too many lives would be lost.

“With (what we have) we can go forward and be successful,” Zelenskyy said in the interview, according to the BBC.

GAZA, May 11 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of a militant group in Gaza was killed early on Thursday when the Israeli army's unmanned suicide drones attacked his apartment in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

Palestinian security officials confirmed that Ali Hassan Ghali, a military council member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), was killed after two Israeli suicide drones attacked his apartment in a building north of the city.

MOSCOW, May 11. /TASS/: The Russian Defense Ministry on Thursday denied reports that its defenses were breeched in some spots of the engagement line.

"The statements circulating on some Telegram channels and alleging breaches of defense in various sections of the engagement line are not true," the ministry said.

It said the situation in the area of the special military operation is generally under control.

10 May 2023; MEMO: A major state-run Israeli defence company has purchased a Greek defence company, expanding Israel's arms sector reach further into Europe.

According to Greece's AMNA news agency, the Greek company, Intracom Defence (IDE) signed a deal with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) yesterday for 90.91 per cent of its shares for around €60 million ($65.75 million).

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — The Ukrainian government is seeking to extend a wartime deal that allowed the country’s grain to get to nations in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat, a top Ukrainian official said Thursday after the latest talks on prolonging the agreement.

The two-talks in Istanbul involved Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian and United Nations officials but yielded no decisions for an extension. The deal is due to expire next Wednesday.

MOSCOW, May 11 (NNN-TASS) – Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, met with his counterparts from Iran, Syria, and Türkiye in Moscow, where they proposed to assemble a roadmap, normalising relations between Türkiye and Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The four sides agreed to appoint their deputy foreign ministers, to prepare the roadmap, aiming to advance relations between Türkiye and Syria. The diplomats would be working with the defence ministries and special services of the four countries.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — With former Prime Minister Imran Khan in custody, Pakistani authorities on Thursday cracked down on his supporters, arresting hundreds in overnight raids and sending troops across the country to rein in the wave of violence that followed his arrest earlier this week.

BEIJING (AP) — Australian Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell visited China on Thursday as part of a joint effort to repair ties scarred by political rifts over the past decade.

In a statement issued by his office, Farrell said he would be “advocating strongly for the full resumption of unimpeded Australian exports to China.”

China is Australia’s biggest trading partner, with two-way exchanges totaling $287 billion in 2022. China recently resumed imports of coal, cotton and copper from Australia after a lengthy unannounced trade embargo.

LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - Britain on Thursday became the first country to start supplying Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles, which will allow Ukrainian forces to hit Russian troops and supply dumps deep behind the front lines.

Ukraine has been asking for months for long-range missiles, but support provided by Britain and other allies such as the United States has previously been limited to shorter range weapons.

11 May 2023; MEMO: Four more Palestinians were killed and seven others were wounded as Israel's air strikes against the besieged Gaza Strip continued for the third consecutive night, Palestinian medical sources confirmed on Thursday morning.

The latest attack was on a six-storey residential building in the city of Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. is sending Ukraine long-range cruise missiles to help push back Russian forces, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said Thursday. It’s the first known shipment of the weaponry that Kyiv has long sought from its allies.

Wallace told lawmakers in the House of Commons that Britain is donating Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of more than 250 kilometers (155 miles). He didn’t say how many are being sent.

Wallace said the missiles “are now going into or are in the country itself.”