Turkey has sent a proposal to Russia and Ukraine that would end attacks on civilian ships in the Black Sea, a Turkish diplomat told AFP on Thursday.

The move follows a sharp uptick in attacks in the Black Sea, which has seen at least 25 Turkish-owned vessels hit since late June, industry figures show.

Russia's parliamentary election features the Kremlin's main party, United Russia, and nine others that all support President Vladimir Putin's policies. The only party that dared to oppose the war in Ukraine has been barred from the ballot.

The absence of genuine opposition all but assures the Kremlin will keep tight control of the Russian political scene amid mounting economic costs and increasing Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries and online retailers. Those drone strikes have made Russians feel the pain from the war more than 4½ years after its start.

Human rights experts commissioned by the U.N.'s top human rights body say they have found "reasonable grounds" to believe the United States committed war crimes in two strikes in Iran, including on a school in the southern city of Minab.

The international fact-finding mission on Iran says the findings center on a pair of airstrikes that killed at least 178 civilians, including women and children.

A Russian barrage of missiles and drones targeting Ukraine's capital and the surrounding region injured at least 19 people overnight and into Thursday morning, authorities said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian forces carried out overnight strikes against targets in Russia, including an oil refinery in Yaroslavl and a military airfield in the Rostov region.

Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has turned to regional and Western allies for assistance as its standoff with Houthi rebels in Yemen drags on, two regional officials said Wednesday.

The officials said the Saudis have asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air-defense support to the region to help defend against missiles and drones fired by Houthis and other Iran-backed groups.

Ed Sheeran's tour of North and South America has been roiled by the decision this week to drop Macklemore as an opener because of the rapper's onstage pro-Palestinian comments. Since then, all of Sheeran's other supporting acts have dropped out, including a group that plays with Sheeran during part of the show.

Sheeran, who is scheduled to perform Saturday in Philadelphia, said the decision to cut Macklemore from the Loop Tour was the promoter's, not his own. The "Thrift Shop" rapper exclaimed "Free Palestine" during the Sept. 5 date in New Jersey.

As Houthi rebels closed in, Eshraq Abdel Gelil and her husband fled their home, walking through the mountains before catching a ride to a nearby city. Four months pregnant, she feared another miscarriage.

They are among more than 125,000 people who have fled as the Iran-backed rebels have advanced down the Red Sea coast to a key maritime chokepoint. The offensive, linked to the wider Iran war, has threatened Saudi oil exports, pushed up global fuel prices and rattled markets.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen's proposal to make Canada an "associate member" of the bloc is not aimed against the United States, the European Commission said Thursday after President Donald Trump threatened trade ties over the plan.

"As our president made clear yesterday, the proposed strengthening of our partnership with Canada is not against anyone else, but for our common strength," the commission's trade spokesperson Olof Gill said when asked about Trump's threat.

The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee said Wednesday that he's going to block a proposed sale of $2.8 billion in heavy weaponry to Israel over concerns that the powerful bombs may not be used in line with U.S. and international law.

Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York said he would withhold approval for the sale because of "grave, unresolved concerns" about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

The heads of state of Lebanon, France and Jordan will meet Thursday in Paris as part of an effort to drum up support for the struggling Lebanese military.

A donor conference for Lebanon's cash-strapped army was initially set to take place in February, led by France, Saudi Arabia and the United States. However, it was postponed following the eruption of the Iran war and the latest round of the Israel-Hezbollah war.