David Rising, Associated Press

Three well-armed militias launched a surprise joint offensive a year ago, breaking a strategic stalemate with rapid gains of huge swaths of territory that inspired others to attack around the country.

The incident occurred Saturday as the American destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal were conducting a so-called “freedom of navigation” transit of the strait between Taiwan and mainland China.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a wealthy entrepreneur with longtime links to President Vladimir Putin, said he is undersupplied and suffering heavy losses, and will hand over operations to Russia’s regular army on May 10.

Ukraine denied any involvement, saying President Vladimir Putin could use the incident for further escalation of the war.

A man zigzagged an SUV at high speed through a pedestrian zone in Trier on Tuesday, killing five people including a 9-month-old child.

Tests conducted on Alexei Navalny at a German hospital indicate he was poisoned, but doctors said Monday they do not believe his life at immediate risk.

Producers had asked for generic graffiti — they suggested "Muhammad is the greatest" — to give the feel of a Hezbollah-run refugee camp. But the group of three artists hired for the job decided to make a statement.

After spending much of the first day talking about Ukraine, leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies shifted their focus Monday to global issues including climate change, terrorism and the threat from diseases such as Ebola.