Even through a year of nonstop news about elections, climate change, protests and the price of eggs, Americans still found time to read.

A Palestinian priest described the horrors of war in Gaza and begged for a ceasefire as hospitals are running out of water, fuel and electricity, during an interview with News4JAX Wednesday.

The number of Americans killed is up to 27. At least 14 more Americans are believed to be held hostage by Hamas.

A local Sudanese American pediatrician is asking the community he serves to donate to children in the middle of war in his home country.

Shohei Ohtani vs.

The head of the Jacksonville Sister Cities Association told News4JAX Tuesday that even though the partnership between the cities of Jacksonville, Florida and Murmansk, Russia has been ‘dormant’ since 2017, the preservation of their ‘sister city’ should be upheld.

Oil companies are making huge amounts of cash right now and not spending a lot, Joe Krier, a Financial Analyst for IIWII Trading, told News4JAX.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is aiming to lead the international bloc opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine into a broader coalition to counter what it sees as a more serious, long-term threat to global order from China.

As the war between Russia and Ukraine shows no signs of slowing down, Ukrainians across their country to to heal as the bury the dead and salvage what is left of villages, towns and cities that have been destroyed by Russians.

Russian forces pounded targets across Ukraine, taking aim at supply lines for foreign weapons in the west and intensifying an offensive in the east, as the European Union moved Wednesday to further punish Moscow for the war with a proposed ban on oil imports.

Heavy fighting has taken place in the regions of Donetsk and Lukansk, with attacks taking place in cities such as Avdiivka, Popasna, Krasnohorivka and Mariinka.

The war in Ukraine is far from over after Russian has been sending over more reinforcements.

Russia’s Defense Ministry promised Friday to ramp up missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital in response to Ukraine’s alleged aggression on Russian territory, an ominous warning that followed Moscow’s stinging symbolic loss of its navy’s flagship in the Black Sea.

Refugees continue to pour into other countries such as Poland and England, with an estimated four million Ukrainian refugees leaving the country.

While there are many efforts to have the war in Ukraine to end, there is still violence happening every day.

After weeks of buildup, Russia began a full-scale invasion of Ukraine earlier this week, invading the country from the north, east and south, launching airstrikes on cities and military bases.

Russian attacks on Ukraine began at 9:30 p.m. our time Wednesday night.

President Biden delivers remarks on ending the war in Afghanistan.

Another deadly day in Afghanistan as a U.S. drone strike hits an Islamic State transport killing several suspected suicide bombers.

DUBAI Kuwait's 91-year-old ruler underwent a surgery that required the oil-rich nation's crown prince to be temporarily empowered to serve in his place, according to a ministerial decree seen Sunday. Kuwait has yet to elaborate what required Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah to seek a previously unannounced medical treatment on Saturday. However, Sheikh Sabah's sudden surgery could inspire a renewed power struggle within Kuwait's ruling family. The state-run KUNA news agency had described Sheikh Sabah's hospitalization Saturday as medical checks, citing a statement from the country's royal court. Sheikh Sabah, a widely beloved ruler in this OPEC-member nation, took power in 2006 just nine days into the rule of the ailing Sheikh Saad Al Abdullah Al Sabah.

New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom throws during a simulated game at a baseball workout at Citi Field, Sunday, July 5, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

New York Mets starting pitcher Jacob deGrom throws during a simulated game at a baseball workout at Citi Field, Sunday, July 5, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)NEW YORK The New York Mets will host the crosstown Yankees on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 next season, according to a person familiar with the decision. The clubs will play at Citi Field in a game sure to be full of emotions for the city that's also reported over 18,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths this year. I cant imagine how powerful and how emotional of an event that could be," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. It'll be a homecoming of sorts for former Yankees manager Joe Girardi, who was hired as Phillies manager over the offseason.

But activists have begun circulating more detailed photos again online after the U.S. imposed its new sanctions, named the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, after the photographer. The sanctions bar anyone around the world from doing business with Assads government or officials, and among its provisions it demands Syria release detainees and allow inspections of its prisons. Between 30 to 50 prisoners died every day at the facility where he was held, known as Branch 15, he said. Alshogres testimony about Lebanese prisoners still alive further fueled their families demands for information. Ali Aboudehn, who spent years imprisoned in Syria and now heads the Association of Lebanese Prisoners in Syrian Jails, said his group and other activists have documented 622 Lebanese prisoners held in Syria.

PARIS The Paris appeals court on Friday upheld a decision to end a years-long investigation into the plane crash that sparked Rwandas 1994 genocide, citing lack of sufficient evidence. Lawyers for the families can further appeal the ruling to Frances highest court, the Court of Cassation. The 1994 plane crash killed Rwandas then-President Juvenal Habyarimana, an ethnic Hutu. The plane had a French crew, and Rwanda has long accused France of complicity in the genocide, which France denies. Fridays ruling came as one of the most wanted fugitives in Rwandas genocide, who was arrested in May outside Paris, is awaiting a decision on extradition.