NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Friday downplayed the threat of escalation from Moscow, after the United States authorised Kyiv to use American weapons to hit targets inside Russia.

"This is part of efforts by President (Vladimir) Putin and Moscow to prevent NATO allies from supporting Ukraine to defend themselves, and, again, Ukraine has the right for self defence and we have the right to help Ukraine," Stoltenberg told journalists at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers.

Police dismantled a pro-Palestinian encampment Thursday at Wayne State University in Detroit, two days after the school suspended in-person classes and encouraged staff to work remotely to avoid any problems with the protesters' encampment.

Television footage showed campus police and Detroit police officers in riot gear tearing down fencing before they removed the protesters and started breaking down tents erected last week on green space near Wayne State's undergraduate library.

More than six years since Catalonia's separatist movement took Spain to the brink of rupture, the nation's Parliament gave its final approval Thursday to a controversial amnesty for hundreds of secessionists in hopes of putting a definitive end to the traumatic episode.

The legislation was backed by Spain's left-wing coalition government, two Catalan separatist parties and other smaller parties. It passed by a vote of 177-172 in the lower house with the conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox opposing it.

Deep divisions especially among the world's most powerful nations have significantly undermined what the United Nations can do to help nations move from conflict to peace, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix told The Associated Press in an interview that these divisions – most notably between the U.S. and the West on one side and Russia and often China on the other -- don't only affect peacekeeping but everything the United Nations does in trying to promote peace and security.

Very early counts in South Africa's national election put the long-ruling African National Congress at just over 42% of the vote, raising the possibility that it might lose its majority for the first time since it swept to power under Nelson Mandela at the end of apartheid in 1994.

With only just over 16% of votes counted and declared, it was only a partial picture after Wednesday's election. The final results of a vote that could bring the biggest political shift in South Africa's young democracy were expected to take days, with the independent electoral commission saying they would be delivered by Sunday.

A nurse was fired by a New York City hospital after she referred to Israel's war in Gaza as a "genocide" during a speech accepting an award.

Labor and delivery nurse Hesen Jabr, who is Palestinian American, was being honored by NYU Langone Health for her compassion in caring for mothers who had lost babies when she drew a link between her work and the suffering of mothers in Gaza.

Iran opened a five-day registration period Thursday for hopefuls wanting to run in the June 28 presidential election to replace the late Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash earlier this month with seven others.

The election comes as Iran grapples with the aftermath of the May 19 crash, as well as heightened tensions between Tehran and the United States, and protests including those over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini that have swept the country.

A senior U.S. Treasury official is in Kyiv this week to talk with government officials about U.S. financial support for Ukraine, efforts to tighten sanctions on Russia and plans to use immobilized Russian sovereign assets for the benefit of Ukraine as it fends off Russian forces.

Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo's trip comes as Russia gains territory on the battlefield after an especially lengthy delay in U.S. military aid left Ukraine at the mercy of Russia's bigger army and as the outlook for Ukraine's state finances is on shakier ground.

The Swedish government said Wednesday that it will donate 13 billion kronor ($1.23 billion) in military aid to Ukraine, in the largest package of assistance Sweden has so far donated.

"It consists of equipment that is at the top of Ukraine's priority list," Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said. It includes air defense, artillery ammunition and armored vehicles.

North Korea flew hundreds of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea in one of its most bizarre provocations against its rival in years, prompting the South's military to mobilize chemical and explosive response teams to recover objects and debris in different parts of the country.

The ballooning campaign came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged his military scientists to overcome a failed satellite launch and continue developing space-based reconnaissance capabilities, which he described as crucial for countering U.S. and South Korean military activities, state media said Wednesday.