The last time Russia invaded Ukraine, in 2014, outraged world leaders booted Russia out of the Group of Eight industrialized nations, which quickly rebranded itself the Group of Seven.

Eight years later, the G-7 is still holding at seven — a collection of countries that meet to talk through big issues like trade, economics and security.

Hopes for a weekend truce in Ukraine to celebrate the Orthodox Easter faded with talks between Moscow and Kyiv stalled as Russia said it aimed to take full control over the east and south of its neighbor.

The war enters its third month on Sunday but a senior Russian military officer said "the second phase of the special operation" -- as Moscow terms its invasion of Ukraine -- had just begun.

Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying a general of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Saturday morning, killing a bodyguard, state media reported.

The report said Gen. Hossein Almasi survived the ambush — in Zahedan city of the southeastern Sistan and Baluchistan Province — without any injury. It identified the fallen bodyguard as Mahmoud Absalan.

Israel said Saturday that it would close its crossing to thousands of Gaza workers after a series of rockets were fired from the territory ruled by the militant Hamas group in recent days.

The rocket fire came amid near-daily clashes at a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site over the past week, with Palestinians hurling stones and fireworks and Israeli police entering the compound and firing rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades.

Israeli police in full riot gear stormed a sensitive Jerusalem holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims on Friday after Palestinian youths hurled stones at a gate where they were stationed.

The renewed violence at the site, which is sacred to Jews and Muslims, came despite Israel temporarily halting Jewish visits, which are seen by the Palestinians as a provocation. Medics said more than two dozen Palestinians were wounded before the clashes subsided hours later.

Just days before France's crucial presidential runoff vote, the center-left leaders of Germany, Spain and Portugal urged French voters Thursday to choose centrist President Emmanuel Macron over far-right nationalist rival Marine Le Pen.

And in another sign of the wide international influence the result of Sunday's French presidential vote will have, imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny also spoke up a day earlier, urging French voters to back Macron and alleging that Le Pen is too closely linked to Russian authorities.

Fire managers across the US Southwest are reckoning with strong winds that forecasters say could lead to explosive growth in wildfires this week. Hundreds of people were evacuated in numerous blazes that have scorched structures and signaled an early start to the fire season.

A wildfire on the outskirts of Flagstaff continued its run Wednesday though dry grass and scattered Ponderosa pines around homes into volcanic cinder fields, where roots underground can combust and send small rocks flying into the air, fire officials said. Aircraft was grounded for a second day due to high winds, and a major northern Arizona highway remained closed as smoke shrouded the air.

At least 14 people were killed by bomb blasts in Afghan cities Thursday -- including 10 at a mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, the second attack against a Shiite target this week.

The number of bombings in Afghanistan has dwindled since the Taliban returned to power in August, but the jihadist Islamic State group has claimed several since then.

Queen Elizabeth II is marking her 96th birthday privately on Thursday, retreating to the Sandringham estate in eastern England that has offered the monarch and her late husband, Prince Philip, a refuge from the affairs of state.

Elizabeth is expected to spend the day at the estate's Wood Farm cottage, a personal sanctuary where she also spent her first Christmas since Philip's death in April 2021. Philip loved the cottage, in part because it is close to the sea, she said in February when hosting a rare public event at Sandringham.

Not even an off-day for Karim Benzema was enough to keep Real Madrid from moving closer to clinching the Spanish league title.

Benzema missed two penalty kicks seven minutes apart in the second half but Madrid went on to earn a 3-1 win at Osasuna Wednesday to open a 17-point lead over second-place Atletico Madrid, which can no longer catch its rival as both teams have five games left to play. Barcelona is 18 points back but has seven games left to play, meaning it still has a theoretical chance to catch Madrid.