As it targets Hamas' underground tunnels in Gaza, Israel has relied on powerful 2,000-pound bombs provided by the United States. But now those deliveries are on hold.

The U.S. is pausing a shipment of 1,800 of the bombs, as well as 1,700 500-pound bombs, U.S. officials said. The decision comes as Israel is planning an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah in an attempt to root out the final elements of Hamas.

Nissan's profit for the fiscal year through March jumped 92% to 426.6 billion yen ($2.7 billion) as sales grew in all major global markets except China, the Japanese automaker said Thursday.

Annual sales surged nearly 20% to 12.7 trillion yen ($81.5 billion), Nissan Motor Co. said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping received a ceremonial welcome in Hungary's capital on Thursday ahead of a day of talks with Hungarian officials which are expected to result in further Chinese investments in the Central European country.

Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok received Xi in an opulent courtyard of Budapest's Buda Castle, where the two men walked down a red carpet beside a ceremonial honor guard and listened to the Chinese and Hungarian national anthems.

Forecasters warned a wave of dangerous storms in the U.S. could march through parts of the South early Thursday, after storms a day earlier spawned damaging tornadoes and massive hail, leaving two dead in Tennessee and one dead in North Carolina.

The storms continue an outbreak of torrential rain and tornadoes that has cut across the country this week, from the Plains to the Midwest and now the southeastern U.S. At least four people have died in storms since Monday.

Tens of thousands of displaced and exhausted Palestinians have packed up their tents and other belongings from Rafah, dragging families on a new exodus.

The main hospital has shut down, leaving little care for people suffering from malnutrition, illnesses and wounds.

A shipment of humanitarian aid has left a port in Cyprus and is on its way to the U.S-built pier in Gaza, the first delivery to the newly built ramp, Cyprus' foreign minister said Thursday.

The U.S. vessel, loaded with much needed humanitarian assistance, departed from the Larnaca port with the aim of transferring as much aid to Gaza as possible through the maritime corridor, said Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos.

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Thursday claimed responsibility for two missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden on two Panama-flagged container ships that caused no damage. Meanwhile, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader again threatened that Tehran could build a nuclear weapon if it chose to pursue atomic armaments.

The comments by Yemeni military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree and former Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi come as the allies of Hamas continue to pressure Israel over its continuing war on the militant group in the Gaza Strip.

Russia on Thursday wrapped itself in patriotic pageantry for Victory Day, a celebration of its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II that President Vladimir Putin has turned into a pillar of his nearly quarter-century in power and a justification of his military action in Ukraine.

Even though few veterans of what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War are still alive 79 years after Berlin fell to the Red Army, the victory over Nazi Germany remains the most important and widely revered symbol of the country's prowess and a key element of national identity.

If the monthslong conflict playing out on the Lebanese-Israeli border continues to escalate, the United Nations food agency won't be ready for the spike in nutritional needs across crisis-hit Lebanon, its deputy executive director said Wednesday.

Clashes between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israeli forces began on Oct. 8, a day after Israel started bombarding the Gaza Strip following Hamas' deadly rampage in southern Israel, and the tensions between the two sides continue to intensify.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant as warned that a war with Hezbollah would have “a heavy cost for Israel and a catastrophic one for Hezbollah and Lebanon.”

As he toured Israel’s northern border on Wednesday, Gallant said that while Israel was open to a diplomatic solution on the northern border, the army was also preparing for a possible military operation to allow citizens to return to their homes.