BRUSSELS — Leaders from the European Union (EU) on Thursday agreed to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“The European Council has just decided to open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina,” European Council President Charles Michel said on the social media platform X as EU leaders are convening a summit in Brussels. (EU-Bosnia and Herzegovina)

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PARIS — French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal promised on Thursday to hunt down and severely punish the perpetrators who sent threatening messages to dozens of schools in the Paris region this week.

The schools, mostly secondary schools in Ile-de-France where the capital Paris is located, received messages on Wednesday threatening to blow up schools, accompanied by footage of beheadings, local media reported. (France-School-Terrorist threats)

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GAZA — An average of at least 37 mothers are killed per day due to the ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Thursday, when the Arab world celebrates its Mother’s Day that falls on March 21 annually.

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs in Palestine Liberation Organization, along with the Palestinian Prisoners Club Association, said in a joint statement on the occasion of Mother’s Day that the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza has resulted in massive deaths of Palestinian mothers and children. (Gaza-Mothers Day-Female Palestinian Prisoners)

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LOS ANGELES — NASA and SpaceX launched the 30th commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station on Thursday.

SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft lifted off at 4:55 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the U.S. state of Florida. (US-SpaceX-Dragon)

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KIEV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Robert Bauer, chair of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Military Committee, discussed support for Kiev during a bilateral meeting, the presidential press service reported Thursday.

Zelensky thanked Bauer for his visit, describing it as a strong signal of support for Ukraine. (Ukraine-NATO cooperation)