UKRAINE: Ukraine hit more oil facilities deep inside Russia in night-time attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday.

Ukrainian forces hit a refinery in Bashkortostan in eastern Russia, a refinery in the Yaroslavl region and two Russian military patrol boats in the Black Sea.

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Thursday that its air defences overnight shot down 605 Ukrainian drones over a number of Russian regions.

NIGERIA: At least 308 people abducted in different attacks in the northern part of Nigeria have been rescued, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu said on Wednesday.

Those rescued include 163 people abducted from Woro community in Kaiama area of Kwara state in February, and 145 people kidnapped mostly from Niger state.

President Tinubu described the mission as the “largest rescue operation ever” undertaken in the country on a single day by security forces.

NORTH KOREA: North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea yesterday, South Korea’s military said.

This comes days before the United States and South Korea begin annual military drills.

The launch from North Korea’s eastern coastal Wonsan area was detected around 5pm local time, according to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

ITALY: The Italian government placed all of its major cities under the highest heat alert yesterday as a blistering heatwave gripped Europe, setting a national temperature record in Austria, fuelling wildfires in France and disrupting energy and transport systems across the continent.

The extreme weather has pushed temperatures above 40°C (104°F) in several countries, prompting health warnings for millions of people.