A spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday Iran had maintained its negotiating stance in talks with U.S. officials, demanding the United States end its blockade on Iranian ports and release Iran's frozen assets.

Esmail Baghaei said the indirect talks took place via Qatari mediators on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Russia hammered Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, with drones in daylight attacks on Wednesday, hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was due to address world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly.

Two people were killed and 23 were wounded in Kyiv, and palls of black smoke floated above the city following the latest in what have been daily Russian attacks that torment Ukrainian civilians. The drones set off fires and damaged buildings in Kyiv and elsewhere in Ukraine overnight, authorities said.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an agreement with Denmark and Greenland aimed at strengthening Arctic and North Atlantic security, paving the way for more U.S. bases in Greenland and easing tensions over his repeated calls for the vast island to become part of the United States.

The signing on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York comes days after Trump announced the deal to bolster the U.S. military presence on Greenland but keep it under Danish control. The agreement would still apply if Greenland eventually chooses independence.

Cole Palmer was among five players to withdraw from the England squad on Monday because of injuries, denying the Chelsea playmaker an opportunity to prove his worth again to coach Thomas Tuchel after a World Cup snub.

Marcus Rashford, Declan Rice, Tino Livramento and Kobbie Mainoo also were ruled out of upcoming Nations League games against world champion Spain, Croatia and Czech Republic (two) because of unspecified injury issues, the national team said.

Pope Leo XIV will retrace his steps as a missionary priest when he returns home to Peru in November in his longest trip to date that will also take him to Uruguay and Argentina, where his Argentine predecessor Pope Francis never returned.

The Vatican on Monday published the detailed itinerary for Leo's first visit to Latin America as pope. The Nov. 6-17 trip will be a homecoming for the U.S.-born pontiff who also has Peruvian citizenship and spent two decades there as a priest and bishop.

Tropical Storm Polo will rapidly intensify in the Pacific Ocean and become a major hurricane later this week, forecasters said Monday.

Polo could bring heavy rain, rough surf and tropical-storm-force wind to parts of Mexico late Tuesday into early Wednesday, according to an advisory from the Miami-based National Hurricane Center.

Just as Europe's top football leagues are really hitting their stride, here comes a longer-than-usual break — three weeks! — for international matches.

A few early-season, post-World Cup themes are already developing, however, around the continent.

Spain has agreed to extend the contract of World Cup-winning coach Luis de la Fuente until 2032.

The Spanish soccer federation's board of directors unanimously approved the contract extension on Monday, the federation said.

France coach Zinedine Zidane has called up attacking midfielder Maghnes Akliouche as a replacement for the injured Warren Zaïre-Emery for upcoming Nations League matches.

The French soccer federation said in a statement on Monday that Zaïre-Emery suffers from an adductor injury that ruled him out of France's training camp.

China and the United States are divided on many issues, from tariffs and technology to Taiwan. But there is one thing tying them together: fast food.

American restaurant and beverage chains are expanding rapidly in China, drawn by the potential customer pool in a country with four times the U.S. population. China's languishing economy and cutthroat industry competition, meanwhile, have Chinese chains trying their luck in the U.S., turning crumbs and straws into a two-way cultural bridge between the two superpowers.