Moscow said Friday it had repelled all attempts by pro-Ukrainian fighters to capture territory in Russian border regions, following an increase in attacks this week ahead of Russia's presidential elections.

"Over the past three days, from March 12 to 14, troops of the Russian Armed Forces ... foiled all attempts by Ukrainian militants to break through into the territory of the Belgorod and Kursk regions of the Russian Federation," the defense ministry said.

German lawmakers on Thursday rejected a new call by the opposition for the government to send Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine, a day after Chancellor Olaf Scholz defended his refusal to supply the weapons.

The main center-right opposition bloc has sought to keep up pressure on the issue and exploit divisions in Scholz's unpopular three-party coalition, even as the German leader tries to put a lid on the debate. On Wednesday, he told lawmakers that prudence is a virtue and rejected suggestions that he doesn't trust Kyiv.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un joined troops training on a new model of tank and drove one himself, state media reported Thursday, as his rivals South Korea and the U.S. wrapped up their annual military exercises.

It's the third time Kim was reported to have observed military exercises since the start of the 11-day South Korean-U.S. exercises, which he views as rehearsals for an invasion. That's a less provocative option than missile tests. North Korea has intensified launches since 2022 and ramped up belligerent rhetoric this year.

One person has been killed and another three have been injured following fresh aerial attacks on Russia's border region of Belgorod, the regional governor said Thursday.

"As a result of an explosion, a car driven by a female civilian overturned into a ditch. The woman died on the spot from her injuries," Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on social media, adding three more people had been wounded by shrapnel.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday urged Russians to vote in elections this weekend that come at a "difficult" time for the country, as the long-serving leader seeks to yet again cement his hold on power.

Putin is set to secure another six-year term this weekend in a vote the Kremlin says will show society is fully behind his assault on Ukraine.

The leaders of France, Germany and Poland will hold urgent talks on Ukraine in Berlin on Friday, Warsaw and Berlin said, as they seek to scrape together additional support for Kyiv.

The talks come on the heels of a meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Polish leaders in Washington, shortly after the U.S. leader announced an emergency stopgap package for Ukraine.

Ukraine's army chief said Wednesday the situation on the battlefield was "difficult" and that Russian forces could be poised to strike deep into Ukrainian lines in the eastern Donetsk region.

Ukrainian long-range drones smashed into two oil facilities deep inside Russia on Tuesday, officials said, while an armed incursion claimed by Ukraine-based Russian opponents of the Kremlin unnerved a border region just days before Russia's presidential election.

One person was killed and 22 were injured in a suspected gas explosion in northern China's Hebei province Wednesday, state media reported.

The explosion was suspected to have been caused by a gas leak at a fried chicken shop in the city of Sanhe just before 8 am (0000 GMT), state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Joe Biden and rival Donald Trump have won enough delegates to clinch their party nominations in the 2024 presidential race, networks projected, all but assuring a rematch and setting up one of the longest general election campaigns in U.S. history.

The results in Georgia, Mississippi, and Washington state were essentially a foregone conclusion as President Biden and opponent Trump had already disposed of all primary challengers, and winning the Tuesday votes pushed them both over the threshold of delegates needed to become their parties' nominees in the November election.