North Korea’s leader has grown more assertive since their last efforts at diplomacy ended in failure — and now has Russia at his side.

Riad Sattouf’s saga of his parents’ failed bicultural marriage, with its harsh depiction of life in rural Syria, has become a literary sensation.

Russia says Ukraine shot down a military transport carrying 65 captured Ukrainians. Ukraine has not confirmed its role, identified the bodies it received, or said how it happened.

Russia has lost about twice as many men to death and serious injury as Ukraine. But the trends favor the Kremlin.

The contractors have been enlisted to do weapons checks on vehicles carrying displaced Palestinians back to their homes in the north under the terms of the new cease-fire.

But not all of the leading conservative populist parties in the world are the same — in rhetoric or on policy.

The last two towns before Goma, a provincial capital in Congo’s east, have just fallen to M23 rebels. They last captured the city in 2012.

Following the deadly Jeju Air accident, the government ordered low cost carriers to reduce flight times, boost pilot training and expand maintenance crews.

The high popularity that the Ukrainian president had in the early days of the Russian invasion, with an approval rating of about 90 percent, has dipped badly.

The plan, called “Mexico Embraces You,” seeks to reassure undocumented migrants facing expulsion. Some experts question if the government is really ready to reabsorb them.