FRANKFURT -- The European Central Bank on Thursday decided to hike interest rates by another 50 basis points, citing spiraling inflation in the euro area. (ECB-Interest Rates)

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PARIS -- The French Senate on Thursday adopted the definitive version of the pension reform bill, which will lift the retirement age by two years to 64 from 2027.

A total of 193 French senators voted on Thursday morning in favor of and 114 against the bill that was elaborated on the day before by the joint committee of seven senators and seven members of the National Assembly. (France-Pension Reform)

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Two people were killed on Wednesday in a shooting at a hotel in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon, police said.

Port of Portland Police responded to the shooting at the Embassy Suites hotel near Portland International Airport around 2 a.m. (0900 GMT). A man and a woman were confirmed dead, police said, adding their identities have not been confirmed. (U.S.-Shooting)

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ISLAMABAD -- Eight terrorists and two innocent children were killed in a counter-terror operation in the South Waziristan district of Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said on Thursday.

"Upon the presence of information of terrorists in Zinghara area of the district, security forces carried out an operation," the military's media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, said in a statement. (Pakistan-Terrorist-Death)

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BAGHDAD -- A helicopter crashed in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, killing all passengers onboard, the regional Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) said on Thursday.

The Eurocopter AS350 helicopter crashed near a village in Duhok province at 8:40 p.m. (1740 GMT) on Wednesday, according to a statement released by the Kurdish CTS. (Iraq-Helicopter Crash-Death)