Taiwan's military fired rockets in China's direction from "shoot-and-scoot" mobile launchers on Wednesday in a demonstration of how it might try to repel a Chinese attack.

While the U.S.-supplied system known as HIMARS has been tested before, the latest live-fire exercise was the first time its rockets were fired into the waters of the narrow Taiwan Strait that separates the self-governing island from China.

Afghanistan said Wednesday that Pakistan launched new airstrikes targeting the country, killing at least 13 people and wounding 14 others, in a further sign of rising tensions between the two neighbors after months of fighting that has killed hundreds.

Though the situation along the border was calm hours after the strikes, Kabul has previously responded to Pakistani strikes by targeting Pakistani posts along the frontier.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said negotiations over a peace deal to end the Middle East war were in their final stages, after Iran and Israel halted attacks that threatened to reignite the months-long conflict.

Iran's football federation on Tuesday said the United States has revoked its allocation of tickets for its World Cup group games, accusing the co-host of obstructing the attendance of Iranian supporters under the shadow of a bitter diplomatic row.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a U.S. military helicopter was shot down by Iran and that the United States "must" respond.

The Apache helicopter is the second crewed aircraft that Washington has confirmed was shot down by Iran during the Middle East war, following the loss of an F-15 fighter plane in April.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Estonia on Tuesday to attend a summit of Nordic and Baltic leaders, a visit that comes amid friction over Ukrainian drones straying into the region in recent months.

The drones have crashed into the chimney of a power plant in Estonia, hit empty fuel tanks in Latvia and been shot down by Romanian fighter jets stationed in Lithuania. Ukrainian officials apologized, saying the drones had been aimed at military targets inside Russia but were sent off course by Russian electronic interference.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un underscored their commitment to deepen cooperation in a closely watched summit on Monday, as Xi made a rare visit to Pyongyang in a likely attempt to reassert Beijing's unique influence over its socialist neighbor.

It's Xi's first visit to North Korea in seven years. Earlier Monday, he was given a lavish welcome upon arrival at Pyongyang's international airport. He and his wife Peng Liyuan were greeted by Kim and his wife Ri Sol Ju, who broadly smiled and clapped.

Ukrainian forces struck oil facilities in Russia and occupied Ukraine, Ukrainian and Russian officials said on Monday, as part of their campaign aimed at making Moscow pay an economic cost for the war.

Separately, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that Roman Abramovich acted as a go-between for messages between Kyiv and Moscow.

At least 17 people were killed in a southern Philippine province Monday mostly due to a landslide set off by a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, bringing the overall death toll wrought by the quake in the region to 32, officials said.

Rene Punzalan, a disaster-mitigation official of Sarangani province told the DZBB radio network that 13 villagers were killed when a landslide set off by the earthquake hit houses in the mountainous town of Glan. Four other villagers died in Sarangani for still-unclear unclear reasons, he said.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he will call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to urge him not to retaliate against Iranian missile strikes on Israel, U.S. news outlet Axios reported.

"I am going to call Bibi right now and tell him not to retaliate," Trump was quoted as saying by Axios journalist Barak Ravid in a phone interview, using the Israeli leader's nickname.