Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a series of deals with his Vietnamese counterpart To Lam on Thursday, during a state visit that comes as Moscow is seeking to bolster ties in Asia to offset growing international isolation over its military actions in Ukraine.

The two signed agreements to further cooperation on education, science and technology, oil and gas exploration and health. They also agreed to work on a roadmap for a nuclear science and technology center in Vietnam.

South Korea on Thursday condemned an agreement reached by Russia and North Korea that pledged mutual defense assistance in the event of war and said it will reconsider its policy of limiting its support to Ukraine to non-lethal supplies.

The comments by a senior presidential official came hours after North Korea's state media released the details of the agreement reached between its leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit on Wednesday in Pyongyang.

Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un say a new strategic partnership is a breakthrough, but what it means for their relationship is still uncertain.

The pact requires both countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance in the event of war, according to North Korean state media. While the agreement, inked Wednesday at a summit in Pyongyang, could represent the countries' strongest deal signed after the Cold War, there are differing opinions on how strong the security commitment is.

A Swedish court on Thursday acquitted a former Syrian army general accused of playing a role in war crimes in his home country more than a decade ago.

As rocket fire from Lebanon streaked over the northern Israeli settlement of Kiryat Shmona Wednesday, the settlement’s remaining inhabitants said life there was growing intolerable after eight months of near-daily fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Booms rang out overhead and residents ran for safety. Cars lining the streets bore cracked windshields from past attacks and windows were blown out.

Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides has responded to unusual remarks by Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who has hinted that Cyprus would be targeted if it allowed Israel to use its air bases to attack Lebanon in the event of war.

Christodoulides said his island nation “is in no way involved” in any military operations in the region, adding that Nasrallah’s remarks “don’t in any way reflect what’s being attempted, which is to present a picture that Cyprus is involved in military operations.”

Scores of Greek firefighters and water-bombing aircraft succeeded late Wednesday in taming a large wildfire on the fringes of Athens that forced authorities to evacuate two nearby settlements.

Summer wildfires also plagued Greece's Mediterranean neighbor Turkey, where two villages were evacuated but no injuries were reported.

Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, has visited Israeli air defense soldiers near the border with Lebanon, saying Israel was aware of Hezbollah's capabilities demonstrated in a video released by the group and has solutions for such threats.

“We of course have infinitely greater capabilities," he said.

Hundreds of people died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom, officials said Wednesday as people tried to claim their loved ones' bodies.

Saudi Arabia has not commented on the death toll amid the heat during the pilgrimage, required of every able Muslim once in their life, nor offered any causes for those who died. However, hundreds of people had lined up at the Emergency Complex in Al-Muaisem neighborhood in Mecca, trying to get information about their missing family members.

The Israeli army's chief spokesman has appeared to question the stated goal of destroying the Hamas militant group in Gaza in a rare public rift between the country's political and military leadership.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted Israel will pursue the fight against Hamas, the group running the besieged Gaza Strip, until its military and governing capabilities in the Palestinian territory are eliminated. But with the war now in its ninth month, frustration has been mounting with no clear end or postwar plan in sight.