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After 73 years and a long fight with the Army, a Korean War veteran from Minnesota who was wounded in combat is set to finally get his Purple Heart. The U.S. Army notified 96-year-old Earl Meyer last month that it had granted him the medal, which honors service members wounded in combat. He's scheduled to receive it in a ceremony Friday in St. Peter. An Army review board had rejected Meyer’s application several times due to a lack of paperwork. It reversed course after a campaign by his three daughters and attorney, and intervention by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and the service’s top noncommissioned officer.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin is focusing on trade and cultural exchanges on his state visit to China that started with bonhomie in Beijing and a summit with China’s leader Xi Jinping that deepened their “no-limits” partnership as both countries face rising tensions with the West. Putin will attend the China-Russia Expo in the northeastern city of Harbin and meet with students at Harbin Institute of Technology. Harbin was once home to many Russian expatriates and retains some of these historical ties in the city’s architecture, such as the central Saint Sophia Cathedral, a former Russian Orthodox church. While his trip has been short on concrete proposals, Putin and Xi have made clear their ties are strong.

Violence is raging across New Caledonia for the third consecutive day. France has imposed a state of emergency in the French Pacific territory. Authorities boosted security forces’ powers to quell deadly unrest in the archipelago, where some residents have long sought independence from France. French authorities in New Caledonia and the Interior Ministry in Paris reported on Thursday that five people, including two police officers, have been killed in the violence. The unrest came after protests earlier this week over voting reforms pushed by President Emmanuel Macron’s government turned deadly. At least sixty members of the security forces were injured and 214 people were arrested in Thursday's clashes. That's according to the territory's top French official.

Israel’s defense minister says the military will send more troops into Rafah, a city along Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, as fighting also rages in northern Gaza, where Hamas has regrouped. South Africa is seeking emergency measures at the U.N.’s top court to halt Israel’s escalating offensive in Rafah, calling the incursion “the last step in the destruction of Gaza.” Israel has portrayed Rafah as the last Hamas stronghold, brushing off warnings from the United States and other allies that any major operation there would be catastrophic for civilians. The United Nations says around 600,000 Palestinians have been driven out of Rafah since the beginning of last week.