WASHINGTON -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his unsubstantiated claim that he thinks the deadly explosions in the Lebanese capital of Beirut could be "an attack," dismissing his own Pentagon chief's assessment.

"I mean, somebody left some terrible explosive type of devices and things around, perhaps it was that, perhaps it was on attack. I don't think anybody can say right now," Trump said at a press conference. "You have some people think it was an attack and some people think it wasn't." (US-Trump-Beirut)

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PYONGYANG -- Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), presided over a meeting of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) on Wednesday to establish a new division and improve the party's functions, official media reported Thursday.

The Fourth Meeting of the Executive Policy Council of the Seventh WPK Central Committee discussed the issue of setting up a new department within the Central Committee and the ways to improve the party's personnel affairs system, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. It did not give further details about the new department. (DPRK-WPK-Meeting)

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SAO PAULO -- Brazil on Wednesday recorded 1,437 new deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the national death toll to 97,256.

Tests also detected 57,152 new infections, bringing the total caseload to 2,859,073, said the health ministry. (Brazil-Coronavirus-Deaths)

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ABUJA -- Nigeria's defense authorities on Wednesday confirmed that six gunmen have been killed in a raid by troops in the country's delta region.

Defense spokesman John Enenche said during the "Delta Safe" operation on Tuesday, the troops smoked out suspected pirates, militants, and kidnappers from their notorious hideouts in the oil-rich Bayelsa State. (Nigeria-Delta Region-Raid)