By Jayde N. Hirniak, Arizona State University

(THE CONVERSATION) If you were lucky 74,000 years ago, you would have survived the Toba supereruption, one of the largest catastrophic events that Earth has seen in the past 2.5 million years.

Italy has told Israel to respect the rights of Italians taking part in an activist flotilla that is seeking to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, after the latest boat was attacked with incendiary devices in Tunisian waters.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told parliament on Thursday that Italy would be monitoring the flotilla and providing consular and diplomatic assistance to the 58 Italians taking part, including some lawmakers.

A second group of Syrian refugees returned home from Lebanon on Thursday under a plan the United Nations developed with the Lebanese government following the downfall of Bashar Assad’s rule in December.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that over 300 Syrian individuals returned home with transportation provided from Beirut, crossing through Masnaa border, to drop-off points in Hama, Homs and Idlib governorates in Syria.

Israel's attack on Hamas' top leaders as they weighed a new ceasefire proposal in Qatar was the latest in a series of shocking and unprecedented measures it has taken to vanquish the militant group — all of which have so far failed.

Hamas says its top leaders survived Tuesday's strike, but it has offered no proof and has been tight-lipped after past assassinations. But even if the strike did succeed, it wouldn't spell the end of Hamas, which has survived two years of war and still holds around 20 living hostages in the Gaza Strip.

The battle among billionaires for bragging rights as the world's richest person got heated Wednesday with the surprising surge of an old contender: Larry Ellison.

In a stunning few minutes after markets opened, stock in Ellison's Oracle Corp. rocketed more than a third, enough for him to temporarily wrest the title from its longtime holder Elon Musk and hand it to the software giant's co-founder.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk pledged Thursday to push ahead with a "great modernization program" for his country's military, a day after Russian drones crossed into Poland and forced the NATO alliance to confront a potential threat in its airspace for the first time.

European officials described Wednesday's incursion, which occurred during a wave of unrelenting Russian strikes on Ukraine, as a deliberate provocation. It deepened longstanding fears that the three-year war between Poland's neighbors could precipitate a wider conflict. U.S.-led efforts to steer Moscow and Kyiv toward a peace settlement have so far failed to get traction.

Qatar's prime minister said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "killed any hope" of releasing hostages still held in the Gaza Strip after Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.

The comments from Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, ahead of appearing at the United Nations on Thursday, underscored the wider anger among Gulf Arab countries over Israel's strike that killed at least six people.

The head of Russia's state-owned gas company Gazprom says it has a deal to build a pipeline to China, but there are many unanswered questions about the details of the agreement.

South Korea's president said Thursday that Korean companies will likely hesitate to make further investments in the United States unless Washington improves its visa system for their employees, as U.S. authorities released hundreds of workers who were detained from a Georgia factory site last week.

In a news conference marking 100 days in office, Lee Jae Myung called for improvements in the U.S. visa system as he spoke about the Sept. 4 immigration raid that resulted in the arrest of more than 300 South Korean workers at a battery factory under construction at Hyundai's sprawling auto plant west of Savannah.

France's finances and politics are in turmoil. President Emmanuel Macron has just appointed a new prime minister — the fourth person to hold the job in the past 12 months. The deficit is out of control. Borrowing costs are rising. And parliament can't muster a majority to tackle spending.

It's a serious comedown for a major industrial power that has the second-largest economy in Europe.