"In May, 33 vessels departed Ukrainian ports, half of the number compared to April. Only three of those departed from the port of Yuzhny/Pivdennyi, one of the three Ukrainian ports covered in the Initiative," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General said. He linked the slowdown at port of of Yuzhny/Pivdennyi...

Following the shipment suspension and "as a result of the economic outlook, Nintendo of Europe has decided to wind down operations of its Russian subsidiary", the company said. Nintendo's eShop was already "under maintenance" in Russia because its payment provider had stopped ruble transactions.

Russia has for years been issuing passports to people living in the eastern Donbas areas held by pro-Moscow separatists since 2014 as well as in annexed Crimea.

As drones struck in and around Moscow, Russian drones targeted Kyiv for a third straight day while Ukraine gears up for a major offensive against Russian forces. Officials said no one was seriously injured in Moscow, but some ordinary people said they never thought the Russian capital could be hit...

Turkey's longest-serving leader surmounted a powerful opposition coalition, an economic crisis and anger following a devastating February earthquake to beat secular challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday's vote. But his four-point victory margin was Erdogan's narrowest of any past election, highlighting the country's sharp polarisation that the Islamic-rooted conservative will contend...

With Europe off limits, Gazprom has turned toward Asia.

Doha, Qatar - Qatar's energy minister warned on Tuesday the "worst is yet to come" for Europe's oil and gas shortages, saying a warm winter had prevented greater difficulties in recent months."The only thing that saved humanity and Europe this year was a warm winter, and the slowdown in the economy,"...

The two countries have in recent years ramped up economic cooperation and diplomatic contacts, with their strategic partnership having only grown closer since the invasion of Ukraine. Last year China became the top energy customer for Russia, whose gas exports had otherwise plummeted after a flurry of Western sanctions over...

Beirut, Lebanon -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has returned to the Arab fold after more than a decade of isolation, eyeing reconstruction and aid from formers foes as the conflict grinds on.Since the brutal civil war broke out in 2011, it has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and devastated...

Bakhmut, which once had a population of 70,000 people, has been the scene of the bloodiest battle in Moscow's more than year-long Ukraine offensive. The fall of Bakhmut, where both Moscow and Kyiv are believed to have suffered huge losses, would allow Moscow to bring home a key victory after...

President Joe Biden may be on the other side of the world but his political fight back home over the debt ceiling has followed him. Bruce Reed is the White House deputy chief of staff and he has trailed president, "updating POTUS on the status of the talks", as a...

Dubai, UAE-- The UAE is keen to strengthen economic ties with the Central Asian states, which offer many investment opportunities.This was stated by Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade, who is leading a UAE delegation of government officials to Kazan, the capital of the...

G7 leaders, including the heads of nuclear-armed Britain, France and the United States, arrived at the city's Peace Park to a sodden red carpet welcome from Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is from Hiroshima. The leaders were also scheduled to speak with survivors of the bomb, which killed some 140,000...

Japanese PM Fumio Kishida is hosting leaders from six other wealthy democracies in his hometown -- a city synonymous with nuclear destruction and now peppered with peace monuments. Leaders including US President Joe Biden will try over three days to forge a united front on Russia and China, where the...

Tehran, Iran-- Continuing with their program to deepen the relationship between the two countries, Iran and Russia have signed a new customs agreement to facilitate trade.The agreement was made in a meeting between Mohammad Rezvani-Far, Deputy Minister of Economy and Head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA), and...

Erdogan made the announcement one day before it had been due to expire, scoring a diplomatic coup ahead of a May 28 runoff election in which he will try to extend his two-decade rule until 2028. He thanked "my precious friend", Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and...

Tehran, Iran - Iran and Russia on Wednesday signed an agreement to construct the final part in the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) that connects Russia to the Gulf and India.The INSTC, a freight network of ship, rail and road routes, covers some 7,200 kilometers (4,475 miles) between Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran...

Tehran, Iran-- Iran is looking to deepen energy ties with Russia as the latter is keen to explore and develop oil and gas projects in the Islamic Republic.This was stated by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak during talks with Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji in Tehran. He is on...

PARIS, FRANCE -  Russia's oil exports rose in April to the highest level since its invasion of Ukraine, boosting revenues by US$1.7 billion despite Western sanctions, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday.The Paris-based organization said Russian exports increased by 50,000 barrels per day to 8.3 million bpd last month, estimating that...

The EBRD forecasts Turkish GDP will expand 2.5 percent this year, cutting prior guidance of 3.0 percent and citing the impact of "unorthodox" loose monetary policy alongside one of the world's highest inflation rates. The death toll of Turkey's worst disaster of modern times stands at more than 50,000 and...

The United Arab Emirates has invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to attend the UN climate summit in Dubai later this year, Syrian state media said. Assad's first invitation to a global summit since the start of Syria's war in 2011 comes as the Arab world warms to Damascus after a...

In a visit to various European capitals to hold consultations with his allies, Zelensky dined with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace on Sunday night and held discussions that included building up Ukraine's arsenal. The leaders reviewed the military situation and the need for an ad hoc tribunal...

Muscat, Oman--Qatar Chamber (QC) Chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al-Thani has called for a unified policy for purchase of food and medicine at a meeting in Muscat.This came during his participation in the consultative meeting between GCC ministers of commerce and heads of unions and chambers of commerce and industry...

Tehran, Iran--Iran will begin to receive the first batch of Russian SU-35 fighter jets next week, according to Mehr News Agency.Tehran and Moscow have embarked on deepening cooperation amid massive Western sanctions. Iran and Russia have signed major deals in recent months to boost economic, trade, energy and military cooperation.The...

The Black Sea Grain Initiative, in place since July after diplomacy by the United Nations and Turkey, allows Ukraine grain exports via port, helping ease shortages and resulting price spikes triggered by Russia's invasion of the breadbasket nation. More than 30 million tonnes of grain and agricultural products have been...

CUACOS, SPAIN -  UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said peace negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine were "not possible at this moment," in an interview published by Spanish daily El Pais on Tuesday.His statement came as the leaders of Russia and Ukraine called for victory during events commemorating the end of...

The sides will "exchange views on the normalization of relations between Turkey and Syria, discuss humanitarian issues... and the voluntary, safe and dignified return of asylum seekers," the Turkish foreign ministry said.

Tehran, Iran – Iran’s trade with BRICS member states reached 47.99 million tons worth $38.43 billion in fiscal 2022-23.In fiscal 2022–23, Iran's trade with the BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—amounted to 47.99 million tonnes worth $38.43 billion, up 14 percent in value and 0.81 percent in weight,...

Russian troops have battled since last summer to capture Bakhmut, the political importance of which has come to surpass any strategic value. As the counteroffensive looms, Moscow has ordered families with children and elderly members to temporarily evacuate a slew of Russian-held areas in southern Ukraine.

Vlad Marinescu, the IJF director general said that the IJF executive committee voted unanimously to reinstate Russians and Belarusians. The decision to end the ban followed a recommendation of the International Olympic Committee.

Adjusted earnings rose six percent to $10.6 billion.

Terming it as a "planned terrorist act and an attempt on the life of the President of the Russian Federation," Moscow said that two unmanned vehicles were aimed at the Kremlin and the devices were "put out of action." The statement said that Russia reserves the right to take retaliatory...

Tehran, Iran - Russia and Iran are set to sign a bilateral agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara section in Iran, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. "We just discussed the signing of a bilateral agreement between the two countries on extension of the Rasht-Astara railroad with [Iranian]...

AMMAN, JORDAN  - Jordan's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi on Wednesday briefed his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the outcome of a consultative meeting held here on Syria.In addition to Jordan, the meeting on Tuesday also brought together the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt and...

Diplomatic efforts have intensified to end more than two weeks of war in Africa's third-largest country as warnings multiply about a "catastrophic" humanitarian crisis. Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), "have agreed in principle...

Consumer prices edged up from 6.9 percent in March, which could further encourage the European Central Bank (ECB) to raise interest rates on Thursday. Analysts for FactSet and Bloomberg had predicted the rate would remain stable. The ECB has hiked rates repeatedly since July last year to rein in inflation.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he was not giving estimates of Ukrainian casualties because "they are the victims here. Russia is the aggressor." The White House will not put "information in the public domain that makes it any harder" for the close Western ally, whose army is being...

The US is "showing that one cannot engage in this sort of awful behavior of using human beings as pawns, as bargaining chips, without paying consequences," said a senior US official. Both agencies have already been hit with punitive measures by the US State and Treasury Departments in the past.

The firm had sold its oil sands activities in Canada to SunCor Energy.

On Wednesday, after a harrowing overland journey and overnight boat trip across the Red Sea, Sudan evacuees who have fled to Saudi Arabia, grateful to have survived but wracked with guilt and worry for those the left behind. The fighting in Sudan pits forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah...

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu hosted four-way talks aimed at normalizing ties between Ankara and Damascus, which were severed at the start of Syria's civil war in 2011. "Practical steps were discussed in the field of strengthening security in the Syrian Arab Republic and normalizing Syrian-Turkish relations," the Russian defense...

The veteran Democrat would be 86 by the end of a second term. Even if a medical exam in February found him "fit" to execute the duties of the presidency, many including in his own voter base believe he is too old. An NBC News poll released over the weekend...

The UK and the Netherlands have announced LionLink, a subsea energy link project that will connect offshore wind farms in the North Sea to the two countries. The largest of its kind project in the world is will be operational by the early 2030s and was announced during the North...

Australia launched its biggest defense overhaul in decades, vowing to turn a military that is "no longer fit for purpose" into a fighting force that could deter China or any would-be foe. Defense Minister Richard Marles unveiled a strategic review that called for using missiles, submarines and cyber tools to...

The state company said in a statement on its website that it was "launching its own version" of a chatbot, which will be called GigaChat -- a first for Russia. The Russian-language app is now only available by invitation in test mode.

"German business's worries are abating, but the economy is still lacking dynamism," said Ifo president Clemens Fuest.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - The Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman on Saturday announced the expulsion of "more than 20" German diplomats as a retaliatory measure for "mass expulsion" of Russian embassy staff from Berlin.Maria Zakharova told state-run television Zvezda that Moscow had decided to expel "more than 20" diplomats.Her statement came shortly after...

After two days of talks in the bucolic Japanese mountain resort town Karuizawa, the top diplomats from leading economies unveiled no new sanctions on Moscow over its invasion but pledged to crack down on those helping Russia evade the measures and acquire weapons.

In February this year, the Iraqi foreign minister reiterated Baghdad's support for a ceasefire and negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, during a visit to Baghdad by his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

They also announced a series of deals, including one for the UAE-controlled Mataripe refinery in northeastern Brazil to invest up to $2.5 billion in a biodiesel project in the region, and another on cooperating against climate change. The UAE is due to host the COP28 UN climate talks later this...