International news from Thursday, July 23rd, 2026

Ousted Ukrainian defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov said on Thursday he would accept no other government position besides his former job, escalating a political crisis that has gripped Ukraine at a pivotal point in the war with Russia.

Two earthquakes that rocked Venezuela on June 24 caused $19.6 billion in direct physical damage, but the cost of rebuilding could be twice that much or more, the World Bank said in an early assessment released on Thursday.

A Czech military helicopter crashed in the east of the country on Thursday, killing one of the five soldiers on board, the army said.

A fast-moving wildfire has forced more than 10,000 people from homes and campsites near France's Atlantic coast, as extreme heat and deepening drought fuelled fires across Europe and scientists warned that climate change was worsening the continent's water shortages.

Ebola has now killed more than 1,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo, official figures show, as medics struggle to contain an outbreak amid militant violence, attacks on clinics and widespread shortages.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the United States remains prepared to play a "constructive role" in helping bring an end to the war in Ukraine, following talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of an ASEAN gathering in Manila.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that "fast-track" courts would be set up to prosecute those behind exam paper leaks, his first public response after days of youth protests demanding the resignation of the education minister.

At least seven more bodies were recovered from the tunnel of an under-construction hydroelectric project in India's northeastern state of Sikkim, the state government said on Thursday, bringing the death toll from a blast to 22.

Saudi Arabian state news agency on Thursday confirmed that tanker Encelia was ablaze after an assault while sailing in the Red Sea.

The US House of Representatives narrowly passed its version of a massive defence policy bill, despite Democrats' concerns about its huge price tag, the Iran war and a provision that would boost Pentagon ties to Israel.

The US and Saudi Arabia have reached a landmark agreement on civil nuclear power, the US Energy Department said on Wednesday, a deal that allows the kingdom to build nuclear reactors using American technology and to enrich uranium.