Ukraine’s army retreats from positions as Russia gets closer to seizing strategically important town

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s military says it has retreated from a neighborhood in the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region which has been reduced to rubble under a monthslong Russian assault. Chasiv Yar is west of neighboring Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year after a bitter 10-month battle. For months, Russian forces have focused on capturing the town. It’s highly sought after due to its strategic location and elevated position. Should Chasiv Yar fall, it would put nearby cities in jeopardy, compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region.

US citizen Woodland convicted of drug-related charges by Moscow court

MOSCOW (AP) — Robert Woodland, a Russia-born U.S. citizen, has been convicted of drug-related charges by a Moscow court and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in a maximum security prison. He was found guilty Thursday of attempted trafficking of large amounts of illegal drugs as part of an organized group. Russian media reported that his name matches a U.S. citizen interviewed in 2020 who said he was born in the Perm region in 1991 and adopted by an American couple at age 2. He said he traveled to Russia to find his mother. He is reported to also have Russian citizenship. His lawyers said they will appeal the ruling because Woodland’s guilt hasn’t been proven.

Iranian-born Norwegian man found guilty in 2022 Oslo LGBT+ festival attack

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — An Iranian-born Norwegian man has been found guilty of terrorism in a 2022 attack on an LGBTQ+ festival in Oslo and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Two people were killed and nine were seriously wounded in the shooting at three locations, chiefly outside the London Pub, a popular gay bar, on June 25, 2022. The Oslo District Court ruled Thursday that Zaniar Matapour fired 10 rounds with a machine gun and eight shots with a handgun into the crowd. Prosecutors say Matapour has sworn allegiance to the Islamic State group. The shooting shocked Norway, which has a relatively low crime rate but has experienced a series of attacks by individuals in recent decades.

Hezbollah fires over 200 rockets into Israel after killing of senior commander

BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese Hezbollah group says it has launched over 200 rockets at several military bases in Israel in retaliation for a strike that killed one of its senior commanders. The attack by the Iran-backed militant group on Thursday was one of the largest in the monthslong conflict along the Lebanon-Israel border, with tensions boiling in recent weeks. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the attack. It acknowledged on Wednesday that it killed Mohammad Naameh Nasser, who headed one of Hezbollah’s three regional divisions in southern Lebanon, a day earlier. Hours later, Hezbollah launched scores of Katyusha rockets and Falaq rockets with heavy warheads into northern Israel and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, followed by more rockets on Thursday.