NATO member Turkey has applied for membership in the BRICS bloc of developing economies, a senior Kremlin official said Wednesday, as Russia and China seek to counter the West's global influence.

Yuri Ushakov, President Vladimir Putin's foreign affairs aide, told reporters that Turkey has submitted an application "for full membership" in the bloc that Russia this year chairs, and it will be considered.

Top U.S. military leaders will be in Germany to discuss Ukraine's wartime needs as Russia has conducted one of its deadliest airstrikes in the conflict and Ukraine presses its offensive in Russia's Kursk region.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will host a meeting Friday at Ramstein Air Force Base of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, made up of military leaders from more than 50 nations that have regularly provided funds and weapon systems to bolster Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel must keep open-ended control of Gaza's border with Egypt, digging in on his stance on an issue that has threatened to derail cease-fire efforts.

Netanyahu's comments came as the United States is developing a new proposal for a cease-fire and hostage release, hoping to break a long deadlock and bring an end to the nearly 11-month-old war.

French President Emmanuel Macron named the EU's Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, as France's new prime minister on Thursday after more than 50 days of caretaker government.

The appointment of the 73-year-old Barnier follows weeks of intense efforts by Macron and his aides to find a candidate who might be able to build loose groupings of backers in parliament and survive possible attempts by Macron's opponents to quickly topple the new government that Barnier will now put together and lead.

Police in Munich exchanged fire with a gunman near the Israeli Consulate in Munich on Thursday, fatally wounding him. Authorities said he may have been planning to attack the consulate on the anniversary of the attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics.

No one else was hurt in the shootout shortly after 9 a.m.. in an an area near the consulate and a museum on the city's Nazi-era history. Officers had been alerted to a person carrying a "long gun" in the Karolinenplatz area, near downtown Munich, at around 9 a.m. and returned fire when he shot at them. The suspect died at the scene.

Fadi Aldeeb got the competing out of the way early at the Paralympic Games. He's been using the rest of the time to talk.

The only Paralympian in the Palestinian delegation in Paris, Aldeeb feels he bears special responsibility to represent all Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere. He tries not to think about his own situation.

Palestinian health officials said Israeli strikes in the occupied West Bank killed five people, including the son of a prominent jailed militant.

Israel has been carrying out large-scale raids in the territory over the past week that it says are aimed at dismantling militant groups and preventing attacks. The Palestinians fear a widening of the war in Gaza.

Palestinian health officials said an Israeli strike on a tent camp killed four men and wounded two children.

The strike early Thursday hit an encampment near the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah. Hospital officials confirmed the toll and an Associated Press reporter saw the bodies.

Bolivia has always been a difficult place to play.

Now the challenge is even higher. Literally.

Cristiano Ronaldo has extended his record-setting Portugal career so long he's seeing a new generation of Spain players grow up to rule international football.

"When I will feel like I'm not adding anymore, I'll be the first to leave," the 39-year-old Ronaldo said late Monday ahead of national team football resuming in Europe this week. "(My motivation) is to come to the national team and to win the Nations League."