Israel on Tuesday returned 22 ancient artifacts that had been illegally removed from Greece, as Athens steps up an international repatriation campaign ultimately aimed at securing the return of sculptures taken from the Acropolis.

Culture Minister Lina Mendoni received the objects from the Israel Antiquities Authority and Amir Ganor, director of its theft prevention division, at a ceremony held at the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.

China's exports surged 36.3% in September from a year earlier, its customs agency said Wednesday, bringing it on track to exceed last year's record trade surplus as pressure ramped up from its trading partners, including the European Union, to rebalance trade.

The exports data, which was better than what economists had expected, accelerated from the 25% growth in August. High-tech goods such as semiconductors and autos have helped fuel its rising shipments overseas.

Barcelona survived a scare against Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday. But Bayern Munich was stunned by a late equalizer from Viking in a 3-3 draw in Norway.

Arsenal rolled over Lille and it was more misery for Manchester United.

Authorities on Wednesday raided the headquarters of one of Turkey 's few broadcasters not aligned with the government, and appointed a trustee manager to oversee it as part of an investigation into alleged corruption.

Press freedom groups and opposition parties, however, denounced the move against Halk TV — a popular news channel — calling it yet another step by the government to silence opposition voices.

Bulgaria on Wednesday said Russia was likely behind drone attacks that struck four ships in the Black Sea in the past week, sinking two, but there was no way of proving Moscow's culpability.

Rescuers are still searching for 11 crew members missing after drone strikes on Tuesday sank two ships in Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone and adjacent waters, while five other crew members were rescued.

The U.S. and other wealthy nations need to urgently tackle mounting global debt levels that are weighing most heavily on low-income countries and straining the global financial system, the head of the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other U.S. leaders recognize that the federal deficit and national debt are too high. But economic growth alone would not be enough to address the country's more than $40 trillion in national debt, she said.

An Israeli strike on an apartment in Gaza City killed one woman early Wednesday, according to officials at Shifa hospital.

Israel’s military said it struck a Hamas militant but was still assessing the strike's outcome, without elaborating.

Eight endangered orangutans were released into a protected forest weeks after wildfires destroyed large swaths of their habitat in Indonesian Borneo, a conservation group said.

The orangutans, including three mothers with infants and two adolescent males, were rescued from areas in Ketapang and North Kayong regencies that were ravaged by fires between August and September.

The death toll from Hurricane Simon and the remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel rose to six Tuesday after heavy rains triggered flooding and landslides along Mexico's Pacific coast, authorities said.

Simon was a Category 1 storm before strengthening Tuesday night and was nearly a major hurricane again, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. Off Mexico's Pacific coast, Simon was bringing heavy rain to Nayarit and Sinaloa states, where authorities remained on alert for rising rivers and flooding. Over the weekend, the hurricane brought heavy rain to the southern state of Guerrero, killing one person.

Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery Tuesday that confirmed he has lung cancer and doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung, the Vatican said.

Tests confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin after the surgery. It said the diagnosis had been suspected by preoperative tests and was confirmed during surgery.