Joe Biden and Donald Trump won't be alone at Thursday's debate. Moderators Dana Bash and Jake Tapper of CNN will be on camera, too, and there's a lot on the line for their network as it fights for relevance in a changing media environment.

CNN has hosted dozens of town halls and political forums through the years, but never a general election presidential debate, let alone one so early in a campaign. No network has.

News that the U.S. Justice Department has reached a plea deal that will lead to freedom for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange brings a stunning culmination to a long-running saga of international intrigue that spanned multiple continents. Its central character is a quixotic internet publisher with a profound disdain for government secrets.

A look at Assange, the case and the latest developments:

Iran's supreme leader called Tuesday for "maximum" voter turnout in this week's presidential election to "overcome the enemy," denouncing politicians who he described as believing that everything good comes from the United States.

While not naming any particular candidates, the comments by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared to directly undercut the candidacy of the race's sole reformist candidate, 69-year-old heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian. In recent speeches, Pezeshkian has urged Iran to return to the 2015 nuclear deal and increase its outreach to the West.

South Korea is monitoring an expected change in the wind direction on Monday that could allow North Korea to send more trash-carrying balloons across their heavily armed border, in their latest bout of tit-for-tat psychological warfare.

Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a major defense deal that observers worry could embolden Kim to direct more provocations at South Korea.

A fire likely sparked by exploding lithium batteries swept through a manufacturing factory near South Korea's capital on Monday, killing 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers and injuring eight, officials said.

The fire began after batteries exploded while workers were examining and packaging them at the second floor of the factory in Hwaseong city, just south of Seoul, at around 10:30 a.m., fire officials said, citing a witness. They said they would investigate the cause of the blaze.

The Kremlin on Monday warned the U.S. of "consequences", a day after Moscow said a Ukrainian strike with a U.S. missile on Russian-held Crimea killed four people, including two children.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Washington of "killing Russian children" and referred to comments by President Vladimir Putin about arming countries to potentially launch strikes on Western targets.

Russia's southern region of Dagestan held the first of three days of mourning Monday following a rampage by Islamic militants who killed 19 people, most of them police, and attacked houses of worship in apparently coordinated assaults in two cities.

Sunday's violence was the latest that officials blamed on Islamic extremists in the predominantly Muslim region in the North Caucasus, as well as the deadliest in Russia since March, when gunmen opened fire at a concert in suburban Moscow, killing 145 people.

China appears to be keeping its distance as Russia and North Korea move closer to each other with a new defense pact that could tilt the balance of power among the three authoritarian states.

Experts say China's leaders are likely fretting over potential loss of influence over North Korea after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the deal this week, and how that could increase instability on the Korean Peninsula. But Beijing may be struggling to come up with a response to because of its conflicting goals: keeping peace in the Koreas while countering the U.S. and its Western allies on the global stage.

During daytime, entire districts of Ukraine's capital are disconnected from the power grid to save energy. Traffic lights stop, choking traffic, accompanied by the constant rumble of generators installed outside cafes and shops.

Ukraine, including Kyiv, is struggling to cope with a new wave of rolling blackouts after relentless Russian attacks took out half the country's power generation capacity.

President Joe Biden begins an intense period of private preparations Friday at Camp David for what may be the most consequential presidential debate in decades.

The 81-year-old Democrat's team is aware that he cannot afford an underwhelming performance when he faces Republican rival Donald Trump for 90 minutes on live television Thursday night. Biden's team is expecting aggressive attacks on his physical and mental strength, his record on the economy and immigration and even his family.