The world is deeply divided and the U.N.'s most powerful body is paralyzed when it comes to ending conflicts. But there's a way forward. So says the United Nations' top official.

On his way out of office at year's end after nearly a decade, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres — known for doom-and-gloom speeches about the state of the planet — said Thursday he finds hope and possibility in the coming years. But that, he says, is only if the world's governments can finally cooperate on curtailing conflict, upending inequality and grappling with the arriving juggernaut of artificial intelligence.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed leaders and representatives from seven regional countries for talks on deepening cooperation on Friday, as overnight Russian strikes in multiple regions sparked fires and caused several deaths and injuries.

The inaugural summit of the so-called "Carpathian Eight" brings together Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary, with the European Union also involved.

Russians on Friday began three days of voting in the country's first wartime parliamentary election, which features virtually no opposition and is all but certain to secure the Kremlin's political dominance.

Authorities spread the election over the weekend in a bid to boost turnout among the 111 million eligible voters and even allowed electronic balloting. Polls opened Friday and will close Sunday.

The Trump administration has approved visas for top Iranian officials, including the president and foreign minister, to attend next week's U.N. General Assembly high-level meeting in New York even as the two countries are locked in a stalemated war.

The State Department said Thursday that it had approved visas for Iran's "core delegation," along with essential staffers to participate in the U.N. meetings. The core delegation includes President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to visa privacy laws.

In-person voting for this year's midterm elections begins Friday, ushering in the final six weeks for Americans to decide who they trust to lead Congress through a cost-of-living crisis, a prolonged war in Iran and other pressing issues.

Election administrators say they're prepared and confident the vote will be accurate and secure. Nevertheless, President Donald Trump has continued with efforts to denigrate certain voting methods and reshape how U.S. elections are run, through court challenges, an expansive federal hunt for noncitizen voters and a pressure campaign to force election officials to share sensitive voter data.

Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reshuffled her Cabinet on Thursday in a bid to turn around her waning popularity, but retained key ministers as she pursues stronger ties with the U.S.

Japan faces President Donald Trump 's tough demands for bigger defense spending, more investment in America and measures to combat a weak yen.

Turkey has sent a proposal to Russia and Ukraine that would end attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea, a Turkish diplomat told AFP on Thursday.

The move follows a sharp uptick in attacks in the Black Sea, which has seen at least 25 Turkish-owned vessels hit since late June, industry figures show.

Russia's parliamentary election features the Kremlin's main party, United Russia, and nine others that all support President Vladimir Putin's policies. The only party that dared to oppose the war in Ukraine has been barred from the ballot.

The absence of genuine opposition all but assures the Kremlin will keep tight control of the Russian political scene amid mounting economic costs and increasing Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries and online retailers. Those drone strikes have made Russians feel the pain from the war more than 4½ years after its start.

A Russian barrage of missiles and drones targeting Ukraine's capital and the surrounding region injured at least 19 people overnight and into Thursday morning, authorities said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces carried out overnight strikes against targets in Russia, including an oil refinery in Yaroslavl and a military airfield in the Rostov region.

A Russian drone struck a passenger bus in southern Ukraine early Wednesday, killing five people and wounding at least seven. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack, the latest in a series of Russian strikes on civilian transportation, as an "atrocity."

The strike occurred in the Nikopol district of Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, near the war's southern front line. Oleksandr Hanzha, head of the regional military administration, said all five were killed at the scene while the seven wounded were receiving medical care.