DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of people from all walks of life gathered in Bangladesh’s capital to demand justice for more than 200 students and others killed in a wave of violence last month amid protests against a controversial quota system for government jobs.

In India and China, torrential rains have killed more than 250 people in the past week. Three others died in Pakistan. Widespread flooding has been reported in North Korea near the border with China with no word on whether anyone died.

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — New details emerged Friday on the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War, with the Kremlin acknowledging for the first time that some of the Russians held in the West belonged to its security services. Families of freed dissidents, meanwhile, expressed their joy at the surprise release of their loved ones.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Half a dozen masked assailants ransacked the headquarters of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Friday in an escalation of violence against President Nicolás Maduro's opponents after the disputed presidential election.

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least nine people were killed by security forces as protesters clashed with police during mass demonstrations over the country's economic crisis, a rights group said Friday, while authorities said a police officer was killed and several others injured.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Russia completed their biggest prisoner swap in post-Soviet history on Thursday, with Moscow releasing journalist Evan Gershkovich and fellow American Paul Whelan, along with dissidents including Vladimir Kara-Murza, in a multinational deal that set two dozen people free.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The stakes grew higher for Venezuela's electoral authority to show proof backing its decision to declare President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the country's presidential election after the United States on Thursday recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González as the victor, discrediting the official results of the highly anticipated vote.

WAYANAD, India (AP) — Hopes of finding more than 180 missing people alive waned as rescue workers searched through mud and debris for a third day Thursday after landslides set off by torrential rains killed at least 194 people in southern India.

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Thursday that it has confirmed that the head of Hamas’ military wing, Mohammed Deif, was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in July. The announcement came a day after an apparent Israeli strike in the Iranian capital killed Hamas’ top political leader.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Nicolás Maduro on Wednesday asked Venezuela’s high court to conduct an audit of the presidential election after opposition leaders disputed his claim of victory, drawing criticism from foreign observers who said the court is too close to the government to produce an independent review.

Ukraine has received the first F-16 fighter jets that it has sought for months to fight back against an onslaught of Russian missile strikes, a U.S. official confirmed to the Associated Press.

BEIRUT (AP) — Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Wednesday, Iran and the militant group said, blaming Israel for the assassination that risks escalating the conflict even as the U.S. and other nations were scrambling to prevent an all-out regional war. Iran's supreme leader vowed revenge against Israel.

BEIRUT (AP) — Israel on Tuesday carried out a rare strike on Beirut, which it said killed a top Hezbollah commander who was allegedly behind a weekend rocket attack that killed 12 young people in the Golan Heights. The strike in the Lebanese capital killed at least one woman and two children and wounded dozens of people.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan government leaders ratcheted up their attacks on their opponents Tuesday, with some suggesting the opposition's most influential leader and a presidential candidate be arrested, as foreign countries including key ally Brazil and the U.S. decried a lack of transparency over the disputed presidential election.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Hundreds of rescue workers searched through mud and debris Wednesday from multiple landslides that have killed at least 151 people in southern India, police said.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Washington’s top diplomat and defense chief announced $500 million in new military funding Tuesday to boost the Philippines' external defense and progress on a proposed military intelligence-sharing pact as both allies renewed their concerns over China’s continuing aggressive actions in the region.

LONDON (AP) — A stabbing Monday at a children’s dance class in northwest England killed two children and wounded 11 other people, police said, and officers arrested a 17-year-old boy and seized a knife after the bloody rampage.

SDE TEIMAN BASE, Israel (AP) — The Israeli military said Monday it was holding nine soldiers for questioning following allegations of “substantial abuse” of a detainee at a facility where Israel has held Palestinian prisoners throughout the war in Gaza.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — An eerie calm enveloped Venezuela's capital early Monday, a day after the country's opposition and entrenched incumbent Nicolás Maduro both claimed victory in the presidential election, setting up a high-stakes standoff.

PARIS (AP) — The French government says multiple telecommunications lines have been hit by acts of vandalism, affecting fiber lines and fixed and mobile phone lines as cities around France are hosting events for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainians urged their government to do more to get Russia to release prisoners of war, voicing their anger on Sunday at a ceremony commemorating the second anniversary of an explosion that killed more than 50.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rocket strike Saturday at a soccer field killed at least 12 children and teens, Israeli authorities said, in the deadliest strike on an Israeli target along the country's northern border since the fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah began. It raised fears of a broader regional war.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelans waited anxiously for the results of Sunday’s presidential election that could pave the way to an end to 25 years of single party rule, even as some polls remained open more than an hour after a deadline to close.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Middle East braced for a potential flare-up in violence on Sunday after Israeli authorities said a rocket from Lebanon struck a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, killing 12 children and teens in what the military called the deadliest attack on civilians since Oct. 7. It raised fears of a broader regional war between Israel and Hezbollah, which in a rare move denied it was responsible.

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese and U.S. defense chiefs and top diplomats agreed to further bolster their military cooperation by upgrading the command and control of U.S. forces in the East Asian country and strengthening American-licensed missile production there, describing the rising threat from China as “the greatest strategic challenge.”