Belarusian authorities have opened a criminal case against more than 30 Russian private military contractors detained earlier this week, on the charges of plotting terrorist acts, Security Council secretary Andrei Ravkov said Thursday.

A longtime chief of the violent Basque separatist group ETA was freed Thursday from a French prison, swapping a jail cell for house arrest in France with an electronic monitoring bracelet.

Complaints by at least 20 former Australian gymnasts about physical and mental abuse during their careers has prompted Gymnastics Australia to ask a human rights group to investigate.

At least 12 Hong Kong pro-democracy nominees including Joshua Wong were disqualified for a September legislative election, with authorities saying Thursday they failed to uphold the city’s mini-constitution and pledge allegiance to Hong Kong and Beijing.

Carmaker Volkswagen recorded an after-tax loss of 1.54 billion euros ($1.81 billion) in the second quarter as the pandemic shut down auto plants and closed dealerships.

Philippine troops clashed with Muslim guerrillas allied with the Islamic State group in the country's south, leaving two soldiers and about 10 militants dead, military officials said Thursday.

Bangladeshi police said they arrested three suspects in the bombing of a Dhaka police station and denied a claim of responsibility by the Islamic State group, saying the attackers were motivated by criminal intent.

Australia's coronavirus hot spot, Victoria state, will make wearing masks compulsory after reporting a record 723 new cases on Thursday, mostly among the vulnerable residents of aged care homes.

Germany's economy, Europe’s largest, took a massive hit during the pandemic shutdowns, shrinking by 10.1% percent during the April-June period from the previous quarter, the official statistics agency said Thursday.

Masked pilgrims arrived Thursday at Mount Arafat, a desert hill near Islam's holiest site, to pray and repent on the most important day of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage in Mecca in Saudi Arabia.