World News Roundup: Russian strikes kill three in Odesa, hit Poltava air base - Ukraine; Ukraine's army reports new gains against Russian forces near Bakhmut and more

The attacks, in which a 29-year-old was also killed in the northeast Kharkiv region according to officials, were the latest in a spate of overnight strikes that Russia has intensified as Kyiv sets its sights on a major counter-offensive. Ukraine's army reports new gains against Russian forces near Bakhmut Counterattacking Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 1,400 metres at a number of sections of the front line near the eastern city of Bakhmut in the past day, a military spokesman said on Saturday.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Russian strikes kill three in Odesa, hit Poltava air base - Ukraine

Russia fired missiles and drones at targets across Ukraine in the early hours of Saturday, killing three civilians in the Black Sea city of Odesa and striking a military airfield in the central Poltava region, Kyiv authorities said. The attacks, in which a 29-year-old was also killed in the northeast Kharkiv region according to officials, were the latest in a spate of overnight strikes that Russia has intensified as Kyiv sets its sights on a major counter-offensive.

Ukraine's army reports new gains against Russian forces near Bakhmut

Counterattacking Ukrainian forces have advanced up to 1,400 meters at a number of sections of the front line near the eastern city of Bakhmut in the past day, a military spokesman said on Saturday. The advance is the latest in a series of similar gains reported this week by Kyiv near Bakhmut, which Russia said it had fully captured last month after the bloodiest and longest battle since it began its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Analysis-Trump faces difficult odds in classified documents case

Donald Trump faces a formidable task defending against charges that he illegally kept top-secret documents upon leaving the White House in 2021, according to legal experts, who said neither the law nor the facts appear to be on his side. The former U.S. president, who is a candidate to run again in the 2024 election, was charged in an indictment unsealed in Florida federal court on Friday. The 37 counts against him include violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice conspiracy, and false statements.

Four Colombian children found alive in jungle weeks after plane crash

Four children from an Indigenous community in Colombia were found alive in the country's south on Friday more than five weeks after the plane they were traveling in crashed in a thick jungle, Colombia's President Gustavo Petro said. The siblings were rescued by the military near the border between Colombia's Caqueta and Guaviare provinces, close to where the small plane had crashed.

Annecy knife attack suspect placed in detention - prosecutor

The suspect in a knife attack in which four toddlers and two pensioners were wounded in the southeastern French town of Annecy on Thursday has been placed in detention, the local prosecutor said on Saturday. The suspect, a Syrian refugee born in 1991, is under formal investigation for attempted murder and resisting arrest with a weapon, the prosecutor said.

Trump risked national secrets, US prosecutors allege in indictment

U.S. prosecutors unsealed a 37-count indictment against Donald Trump on Friday, accusing the former president of risking some of the country's most sensitive security secrets after leaving the White House in 2021. Trump mishandled classified documents that included information about the secretive U.S. nuclear program and potential domestic vulnerabilities in the event of an attack, the federal indictment said.

U.S. gives Havana embassy a facelift after years of neglect

When the U.S. embassy in Havana reopened last May to Cubans seeking visas after a nearly five-year hiatus, the once proud 1950s vintage building was in shambles. Pieces of its stone facade were crumbling from top floors, threatening passersby. A rusty perimeter fence, decrepit and obsolete, wobbled with the trade winds. Hurricane Irma had damaged lower windows, a guard post, and granite facing. Even the ambassador's dramatic perch - a balcony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico - was deemed unsafe.

Sudanese capital quiet as 24-hour ceasefire takes hold

The Sudanese capital Khartoum was relatively calm on Saturday morning as a U.S. and Saudi-brokered 24-hour ceasefire took effect, providing a window for humanitarian assistance and giving the public a break from the intense fighting. The short ceasefire follows a string of violated truces between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose power struggle erupted into violence eight weeks ago, sparking a humanitarian crisis.

Boris Johnson's shock exit reverberates through British ruling party

Old rifts resurfaced in Britain's ruling Conservative Party on Saturday following former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's abrupt resignation from parliament, while the opposition Labour Party sensed opportunity ahead of a general election next year. Johnson quit late on Friday in protest against an investigation by lawmakers into his conduct as prime minister during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when lockdown-breaking parties were held in Downing Street.

Quebec hopes rain, outside help can be turning point in fight against fires

The Canadian province of Quebec says rain and outside help could help win the fight against more than 100 forest fires producing plumes of smoke that have left cities on the Atlantic seaboard gasping for breath. Officials say that by Monday there will be around 1,200 firefighters, including more than 100 from France, battling blazes across a heavily wooded province of just 8.5 million people that covers more territory than Germany, Spain, and France combined.

(With inputs from agencies.)