A senior Ukrainian diplomat announced on Thursday he had arrived in Beijing, a close ally of Russia, where he was expected to hold talks with Chinese diplomats.

"Busy day ahead in Beijing," Ukraine's First Deputy Foreign Minister Sergiy Kyslytsya wrote on social media.

Israeli strikes targeted Thursday heights in Jouroud al-Hermel in eastern Lebanon and several other regions in the south.

In the east, the strikes targeted Zaghrine. In the south, the Israeli military struck Iqlim al-Tuffah, al-Jabbour and al-Rihan heights, and Zawtar near the Litani river.

Belgium insisted on Thursday that its European Union partners must provide ironclad guarantees that it will be protected from Russian retaliation before it would back a massive loan for Ukraine.

At a high-stakes EU summit in Brussels, the 27-nation bloc's leaders are set to decide on whether to use tens of billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to underwrite a loan to meet Ukraine's military and financial needs over the next two years.

China told the United States on Thursday to "immediately stop" arming Taiwan, after Taipei said Washington had approved the sale of $11 billion of weapons to the island.

"China urges the United States to abide by the one-China principle... and immediately stop the dangerous actions of arming Taiwan," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a press conference.

Ukrainian drone attacks overnight Thursday killed three people in Russia's Rostov region, the regional governor said, as the conflict rages on despite US efforts to stop the fighting.

An attack caused a fire on a cargo ship in the port of the regional capital, killing two crew members and injuring three, acting regional governor Yuri Sliusar said on Telegram. The blaze was later extinguished.

Major cities in Sudan including capital Khartoum and Port Sudan were plunged into darkness on Thursday, several witnesses told AFP, after deadly drone strikes targeted a key power plant in the east of the country.

Witnesses reported seeing flames and smoke rising in the town of Atbara in River Nile State, which is controlled by the army in its ongoing war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

A restored statue honoring late martial arts legend Bruce Lee was returned to its rightful place Wednesday in a Bosnian town, more than a year after it was stolen, local media reported.

The Trump administration intends to dismantle one of the world's leading climate research institutions over what it said on Tuesday were concerns of "climate alarmism," despite opposition to the plan.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), established in 1960 as a federally funded research and education hub in Boulder, Colorado, will be broken up, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said on social media platform X.

Former Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has signed a contract with Inter Miami for the upcoming season, the Major League Soccer side said on Wednesday.

Oil prices surged on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of "sanctioned" oil tankers heading to and leaving Venezuela.