Turkey's top diplomat has affirmed his country's resolve to join the European Union and urged the 27-member bloc to take courageous steps to advance its bid.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made the comments in a news conference with the EU's top official for enlargement. Their meeting in Ankara came as Turkey tries to put its strained relations with the EU back on track.

Over a thousand Syrian refugees each week fleeing to Lebanon from their country's worsening economic and financial conditions "could create harsh imbalances" in the small Mediterranean nation, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati warned Thursday.

Over the past months, thousands of Syrian citizens made it to Lebanon through illegal crossing points seeking a better life. But Lebanon is going through its own four-year meltdown, with a drowning economy pinning its hopes on tourism and crumbling infrastructure where electricity and water cuts are widespread.

The U.S. has announced it was sending depleted uranium anti-tank rounds to Ukraine, following Britain's lead in sending the controversial munitions to help Kyiv push through Russian lines in its grueling counteroffensive.

The 120 mm rounds will be used to arm the 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks the U.S. plans to deliver to Ukraine in the fall.

A Palestinian youth has stabbed two people, moderately wounding one of them, in an attack outside a main entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem, authorities said.

Israeli police said the teen carried out the attack near Jaffa Gate after getting off a bus. The suspect, a 17-year-old Palestinian from east Jerusalem, was caught and arrested after a short chase. His name was not immediately released.

Seven-time Ballon d'Or winner Lionel Messi is back in contention for the prestigious award a year after being omitted from the nomination list, which this time doesn't include longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Messi, the Inter Miami star who led Argentina to the World Cup title in December, was named on Wednesday to the 30-man list of nominees along with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé.

A Greek shipping company has pleaded guilty to smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a $2.4 million fine, newly unsealed U.S. court documents seen Thursday by The Associated Press show.

The now-public case against Empire Navigation, which faces three years of probation under the plea agreement, marks the first public acknowledgement by U.S. prosecutors that America seized some 1 million barrels of oil from the tanker Suez Rajan.

Flooding from a cyclone in southern Brazil washed away houses, trapped motorists in vehicles and swamped streets in several cities, killing at least 31 people and leaving 2,300 homeless, authorities said Wednesday.

More than 60 cities have been battered since Monday night by the storm, which has been Rio Grande do Sul state's deadliest, Gov. Eduardo Leite said.

Morocco's senate president has postponed a historic visit to Israel due to a medical emergency, the Israeli parliament announced.

The announcement came just a day before Enaam Mayara was scheduled to visit Israel's Knesset, or parliament, on a trip aimed at cementing the fledgling ties between the two countries.

The death toll from severe rainstorms that lashed parts of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria has increased to 14 after rescue teams in the three neighboring countries recovered seven more bodies.

A flash flood at a campsite in northwestern Turkey near the border with Bulgaria killed at least five people — with three found dead on Wednesday — and carried away bungalow homes. Rescuers were still searching for one person reported missing at the campsite.

A two-day summit in Romania began on Wednesday that brings together 12 European Union member states situated between the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Seas, as the grouping of mostly formerly communist countries aim to boost ties and connectivity amid Russia's war in Ukraine.

The Three Seas Initiative, which is being held in the capital, Bucharest, brings together high-ranking officials from EU countries as well as representatives from partner countries and aims to improve interconnectivity in the transportation, energy, and the digital fields.