KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian Orthodox leaders have approved the creation of a unified Church independent of the Moscow Patriarchate .

MOSCOW (AP) — Ukraine's military says a Ukrainian air force pilot has died when his Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet crashed while attempting to land at a base in the northern region of Zhytomyr.

MADRID (AP) — Spain's maritime rescue service says it has saved two underage migrants who were trying to cross the Strait of Gibraltar on a truck tire.

BEIRUT (AP) — A U.S. military official says fighting against the Islamic State group in its last enclave in eastern Syria "is going very well."

MOSCOW (AP) — Moscow police say an off-duty Russian police lieutenant has been hospitalized after a World War II-era land mine exploded on the side of a highway.

LONDON (AP) — A British zoo says a fire has broken out at one of its enclosures and that visitors are being evacuated.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The U.S. military says it has killed eight members of the al-Shabab extremist group with an airstrike south of Somalia's capital.

SANT JOAN DE VILATORRADA, Spain (AP) — Jailed Catalan separatist politicians on hunger strike for the past two weeks say their upcoming trial will be a platform to foster their cause for independence.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's rail operator says it has reached a new wage agreement with workers, averting the possibility of more strikes during the Christmas travel crunch.

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — At least seven civilians were killed and nearly two dozens injured when government forces fired at anti-India protesters in disputed Kashmir following a gunbattle that left three rebels and a soldier dead on Saturday, police and residents said.