A paramilitary group fighting against Sudan's military shelled a besieged city in the western region of Darfur, killing at least 24 people, a medical group said Thursday.

The Rapid Support Forces shelled the densely populated areas of the central market and Awlad al-Reef neighborhood in el-Fasher, the provincial capital of North Darfur province, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, which tracks the country's civil war. The attack wounded 55 people, including five women, it said.

Iran's rial currency fell to near-record lows Thursday as concerns grew in Tehran that European nations will start a process to reimpose United Nations sanctions on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program, further squeezing the country's ailing economy.

The move, termed the "snapback" mechanism by the diplomats who negotiated it into Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, was designed to be veto-proof before the world body and would be likely to go into effect after a 30-day window.

The Security Council scheduled a vote Thursday on a resolution that would end the more than four-decade operation of the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon on Dec. 31, 2026.

Two council diplomats said late Wednesday that the United States, which had been demanding that the force known as UNIFIL be terminated in a year, did not object to a French draft resolution with that end date in 16 months.

Russia bombarded the Ukrainian capital with drones and missiles early Thursday, including a rare strike in the city center, killing at least 15 people and wounding 48, local authorities said.

It was the first major Russian attack on Kyiv in weeks as U.S.-led peace efforts to end the three-year war struggled to gain traction. Russia launched 598 strike drones and decoys and 31 missiles of different types across the country, according to Ukraine's Air Force, making it one of the war's biggest air attacks.

At the start of a news conference at the Baabda Palace on Tuesday, U.S. envoy Tom Barrack warned raucous journalists to be quiet, telling them to “act civilized, act kind, act tolerant.”

He threatened to end the conference early otherwise.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are ready to invest in an economic zone in south Lebanon near the border with Israel that would create jobs for members of Hezbollah and its supporters once they lay down their weapons, President Donald Trump's envoy to the Middle East said Tuesday.

Tom Barrack made his comments in Beirut after trips to Israel and Syria where he discussed with officials there the ongoing situation in Lebanon following this month's decision by the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah by the end of the year. Hezbollah's leader Sheikh Naim Qassem rejected the government's plan, vowing to keep the weapons.

Stocks slipped in early trading on Wall Street Monday, after a big jump last week on hopes for more interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.

The S&P 500 fell 0.2% and is just below its all-time high. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 110 points, or 0.3% as of 9:57 a.m. Eastern time, pulling back from the record it set on Friday. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.1%.

Tropical Storm Juliette formed Monday in the Pacific Ocean hundreds of miles from Mexico's Baja California peninsula as Tropical Storm Fernand churned in the Atlantic Ocean.

No coastal watches or warnings were in effect for either storm, the Miami-based U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

A misstep by the referee might have contributed to Bruno Fernandes missing a penalty for Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

Fernandes was walking backward away from the ball in readiness to take the spot kick against Fulham when he stumbled into referee Chris Kavanagh, who was trying to get round the United captain.

Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso started with Vinícius Júnior on the bench for the Spanish league game at Oviedo on Sunday but the Brazil star still played a decisive role after coming on in the second half, creating one goal and scoring another in a 3-0 win for Madrid.

France striker Kylian Mbappé got a brace for Madrid.