No new direct peace talks are scheduled, Kremlin says

Russia and Ukraine have no direct peace talks scheduled, the Kremlin said Thursday, nearly a week after their first face-to-face session since shortly after Moscow’s invasion in 2022 and days after U.S. President Donald Trump said they would start ceasefire negotiations “immediately.”

“There is no concrete agreement about the next meetings,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “They are yet to be agreed upon.”

During two hours of talks in Istanbul on May 16, Kyiv and Moscow agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, in what would be their biggest such swap. Apart from that step, the meeting delivered no significant breakthrough.

Several months of intensified U.S. and European pressure on the two sides to accept a ceasefire and negotiate a settlement have yielded little progress. Meanwhile, Russia is readying a summer offensive to capture more Ukrainian land, Ukrainian government and military analysts say.

U.S. seeks to end protections for immigrant children

The Trump administration is seeking to end an immigration policy cornerstone that since the 1990s has offered protections to child migrants in federal custody, a move that will be challenged by advocates, according to a court filing Thursday.

The protections in place, known as the Flores Settlement Agreement, largely limit to 72 hours the amount of time that child migrants traveling alone or with family and detained by the U.S. Border Patrol. They also ensure the children are kept in safe and sanitary conditions.

Government attorneys called the Flores agreement an “intrusive regime” that has “ossified” federal immigration policy. In a motion filed Thursday afternoon, they contend that the agreement is no longer necessary after Congress passed legislation and government agencies enforced policies that also implement standards and regulations called for in the agreement.

Groups sue Justice Dept. to reverse grant cancellations

Five organizations that had grants terminated by the Justice Department in April are suing the department and Attorney General Pam Bondi, arguing that the cancellations are unconstitutional and asking that the money be reinstated.

The lawsuit, filed late Wednesday by the Vera Institute of Justice, the Center for Children & Youth Justice, Chinese for Affirmative Action, FORCE Detroit and Health Resources in Action, asks a federal judge in the nation’s capital to “declare unlawful, vacate and set aside” the cancellations that were sent to more than 360 awardees ending grants worth nearly $820 million midstream.

The lawsuit filed by the Democracy Forward Foundation and the Perry Law firm asks for class action status and also names the Office of Justice Programs and Maureen Henneberg, the acting head of that office, as defendants.

Russian hackers target firms shipping aid to Ukraine

Hackers working for Russian military intelligence targeted Western technology and logistics companies involved in shipping assistance to Ukraine, the U.S. National Security Agency said.

The hackers were trying to obtain details about the type of assistance entering Ukraine and, as part of the effort, sought access to the feeds of internet-connected cameras near Ukrainian border crossings, according to the NSA’s report on the cyberattack.

The cyber campaign sought to penetrate defense, transportation and logistics companies in several Western countries, including the U.S., as well as ports, airports and rail systems. The report didn’t specify which types of aid Russia was surveilling, but Ukraine’s allies have contributed significant amounts of military and humanitarian assistance since the war began.

More than 10,000 internet-connected cameras were targeted, including private devices and public traffic cameras near critical transportation points, such as ports, rail hubs or border crossings. Most were in Ukraine, though some were in Romania, Poland and other European countries.

Peru court rules in favor of Kichwa territorial rights

A civil court in Peru has issued a landmark ruling recognizing the territorial rights of the Kichwa people within a protected area in the Amazon — marking a major breakthrough for Indigenous land claims.

The decision affirms that Indigenous stewardship is fully compatible with conservation goals, setting a powerful precedent for rights-based forest protection in Peru, according to the Kichwa people and lawyers involved in the case.

The ruling, issued on May 15 but made public on Wednesday, came after a legal challenge by four Indigenous organizations on behalf of Kichwa communities in the San Martín region. The communities say the state denied their ancestral presence for decades, creating protected areas without consultation or consent.

Record floodwaters in Australia leave 3 dead and 1 missing

Record floodwaters on Australia’s east coast left three people dead and one missing, officials said Thursday, as more heavy rain was forecast in the area.

More than 500 people were rescued in the flooding emergency in New South Wales state north of Sydney. The area has been hit with heavy rain since Tuesday. The flooding exceeds local records set in 1921 and 1929.

News South Wales Premier Christopher Minns said some areas were forecast to receive as much as 30 centimeters (1 foot) of rain in the next 24 hours. He said 50,000 people were warned to prepare to evacuate or be isolated by floodwaters, telling reporters: “We are bracing for more bad news.”

2 dead and 19 trapped in landslides in southwestern China

Landslides struck a rural area in China’s southwestern Guizhou province Thursday morning, killing two people and leaving 19 others trapped in the debris, state media said.

The bodies were found in Changshi township, while 19 other people from eight households were buried in the nearby Qingyang village where rescue operations were ongoing, according to state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Most of Guowa township, where Qingyang is located, has lost power after the landslides, a local newspaper reported.

— Denver Post wire services