Ukraine on Thursday claimed fresh territorial advances in its cross-border offensive into Russia, where it said it had seized over 1,000 square kilometers, the biggest attack by a foreign army on Russian soil since World War II. Russia said it had recaptured a first village from Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region and announced it was sending "additional forces" to the neighboring Belgorod region to counter more Ukrainian advances. Ukraine said it now controlled dozens of settlements and Sudzha, a town eight kilometers from the border.

WHY UKRAINIAN ADVANCES COULD FORCE RUSSIA TO TABLE

The Democratic Republic of Congo said Thursday an mpox outbreak has killed 548 people there this year, as the first case outside Africa was recorded in a traveler in Sweden. The World Health Organization declared the mpox surge in Africa a global public health emergency, worried by the rise in cases in the DRC and the spread to nearby countries. DRC's Health Minister Samuel-Roger Kamba said in a video message that the country "has recorded 15,664 potential cases and 548 deaths since the beginning of the year", with all provinces affected.

HEALTH OFFICIALS ARE WORRIED ABOUT ANOTHER PANDEMIC

Hong Kong on Thursday announced the birth of a set of giant panda twins, the first cubs to be born in the city. Ying Ying who delivered the male and female cubs on the eve of her 19th birthday, has become the oldest giant panda to successfully give birth for the first time, the park housing the pandas in the Chinese-controlled city said. The cubs were born in the early hours of Thursday after a nearly five-month pregnancy.

WHY THE FIRST CUBS BORN IN HONG KONG IS SO SIGNIFICANT

How much does the U.S. pay China each year to "rent" pandas?

Thursday's answer: If elected, JD Vance, who turned 40 on Aug. 2, would become the second-youngest US vice president behind Richard Nixon, who officially took office at the age of 40 years and 11 days.