US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin are expected to speak this week, officials said on Sunday, as Washington and Kyiv's European allies press Moscow to accept a ceasefire in the three-year war.

Russia has mounted a rapid counteroffensive in the western border region of Kursk over the past week, recapturing much of the territory Ukraine seized in a shock incursion last August.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia on Friday welcomed a meeting between the United States and Ukraine due next week in Jeddah, describing it as part of the kingdom's efforts "to end the Ukrainian crisis". Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had announced he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Monday to...

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the "unspeakable" row "underlined that a new age of infamy has begun". Friedrich Merz, likely to become the country's next chancellor, said: "We must never confuse the aggressor and the victim in this terrible war", while outgoing head of state Olaf Scholz also backed...

Washington, United States  - President Donald Trump closed out a packed week at the White House after hosting a string of eager-to-please guests, and generating the usual eye-popping menu of news items. 'Did I say that?' Last week, Trump branded elected Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky a "dictator" -- but things...

During a tense meeting at the White House, Trump and Zelensky argued over the war with Russia, with Trump accusing Zelensky of disrespecting the US and demanding preferential access to Ukraine’s resources.

San Francisco, United States - Microsoft on Friday announced it was retiring Skype, the online voice and video call pioneer that the tech titan acquired in 2011. "Starting in May 2025, Skype will no longer be available," said a post from Skype support on X, directing users to sign into...

Washington noted European nations would have to have a seat at the negotiating table "at some point", following the first high-level official Washington-Moscow talks since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

London, United Kingdom -- Major stock markets mostly rallied and oil prices retreated Thursday on hopes for an end to the war in Ukraine and despite fresh tariff threats.London was a rare faller owing to sharp losses to share prices of big companies, including Unilever, Barclays and British American Tobacco, on...

Rome, Italy -- Pope Francis called Wednesday for "arms to be silenced" around the world in his Christmas address, appealing for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan as he denounced the "extremely grave" humanitarian situation in Gaza.He used his traditional message to the world's 1.4 billion Catholics to call...

In a defiant address to the nation, Russia's president railed at Ukraine's allies granting permission for Kyiv to use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets on Russian territory, warning of retaliation.

G20 leaders in Rio failed to resolve UN climate talks deadlock, merely stating funding for developing countries battling global warming must come "from all sources," leaving trillions of dollars in climate commitments undefined.

As the Russia-Ukraine conflict grinds on, the West's financial commitment grows, while neither Zelenskyy nor Putin shows interest in peace talks. Zelenskyy, backed by Western support, has postponed elections, and the war allows him to stay in power as well as avoid focusing on Ukraine’s struggling economy.

"It is India's strong belief that no problem can be resolved on a battlefield," Modi said in Poland, a staunch ally of neighboring Ukraine

Aliyev and Putin will sign joint documents and make statements to the press, said Russian agency Ria Novosti. On Monday, Putin will also lay a wreath on the tomb of Heydar Aliyev, father of the current leader, who was president from 1993 to 2003.

And the danger for clearance work is restricted not just to unexploded ordnance but includes possible exposure to toxic substances such as asbestos. The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) estimated the amount of debris in Gaza at 37 million tons in mid-April, or 300 kgs per square meter.

NETSCOUT SYSTEMS, INC. released findings from its 2H2023 DDoS Threat Intelligence Report that dissects trends and attack methodologies adversaries use against service providers, enterprises, and end-users. The information cited in the report disseminated data on DDoS attacks from 214 countries and territories.  NETSCOUT observed more than 7 million DDoS attacks...

Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday thanked the US Senate for approving $13 billion in military aid that he said sent a "strong message" to the country's enemies."I thank the US Senate for passing the Israel aid package tonight with an overwhelming bipartisan majority," Israel Katz posted on social media site...

After Paris, Blinken will head to Brussels for NATO foreign ministers' talks ahead of the alliance's 75th anniversary summit in Washington. Blinken will also hold a three-way meeting in Brussels with EU leaders and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who has been seeking to branch out from his country's historic...

Geopolitical tensions sent oil prices climbing and weighed on equities as investors also continued to worry about prospects for interest rate cuts amid stubbornly-high inflation. "Heightened tensions between Ukraine and Russia have brought a halt to the rally in equity markets seen last week," said Russ Mould, investment director at...

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to punish those behind a "barbaric terrorist attack" on a Moscow concert hall that killed at least 133, saying Russia had arrested four gunmen who were trying to flee to Ukraine. Kyiv has denied any connection, and Putin made no reference to the Islamic State...

Meanwhile, the fire at a Moscow concert hall has been "mostly eliminated", the Russian capital's governor said on Saturday. "There are still some pockets of fire, but the fire has been mostly eliminated. Rescuers were able to enter the auditorium," Moscow Governor Andrey Vorobyov said on Telegram.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA – Russia's central bank held interest rates unchanged on Friday as Moscow's military offensive on Ukraine has led to stubbornly high inflation and labor shortages.The central bank raised rates to 16 percent in a series of hikes last year to cool the pace of price rises.Analysts are waiting for...

Israel's hopes of reaching the European Championships for the first time against the background of bloody conflict at home were shattered by a 4-1 defeat to Iceland on Thursday while war-torn Ukraine stayed on course for the finals with a last-gasp comeback. Due to the ongoing conflict with Hamas, Israel's...

Brussels, Belgium - A group of EU countries including Germany on Tuesday pushed for a green light to start membership negotiations with Bosnia, but others such as France seemed reluctant to proceed.The EU's 27 leaders will debate at a summit on Thursday a proposal from the bloc's executive to launch the...

If he completes another full Kremlin term, Putin will have stayed in power longer than any Russian leader since Catherine the Great in the 18th century. Allies of the late Alexei Navalny - Putin's most prominent rival, who died in an Arctic prison last month - had tried to spoil...

Last month French president refused to rule out putting troops on the ground in Ukraine, which prompted a stern response from Berlin and other European partners. But the French president has not recanted from his position, but stressed that Western allies would not take the initiative.

Washington, US - G7 countries warned Iran on Friday that they will impose "significant" new sanctions if Tehran transfers ballistic missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine."We reiterate our call on third parties to immediately cease providing material support to Russia's illegal and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine or face...

Stockholm, Sweden - Swedish gaming group Embracer, which owns the Borderlands franchise and the Tomb Raider license, announced on Thursday that it was ceasing all Russian operations through the sale of subsidiary Saber Interactive.Beacon Interactive, which is controlled by Saber Interactive co-founder Matthew Karch, will pay $247 million for the unit,...

Ballots will also be cast in the four Ukrainian regions Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022, as well as the Crimean peninsula, seized in 2014. Moscow is no longer worried about trying to present the vote as a legitimate democratic exercise to the West, or even Russian society.

The oil giant posted a 24.7% fall in net profit to US$121.25bn.

NATO member Turkey has sought to maintain good relations with Moscow and Kyiv throughout the two-year war, with Erdogan pitching himself as a key go-between and possible peace-maker.

New Delhi, India - India's embassy in Moscow has confirmed the death of a citizen recruited by the Russian army, days after a relative told AFP he had been sent to fight in Ukraine.Two years after Russia's invasion began, tens of thousands of its soldiers have been killed in Ukraine and...

Pointedly declining to endorse the man she has portrayed as chaotic and mentally incompetent, former UN ambassador Haley said Trump would have to earn the support of moderates who backed her longshot campaign. Her withdrawal leaves America facing a battle for the White House between two elderly men that many...

Brazil's Finance Minister Fernando Haddad told a news conference in Sao Paulo that it was "impossible" to reach a final joint statement. The minister said the impasse was over the ongoing conflicts without explicitly mentioning Russia's invasion of Ukraine or Israel's ongoing military campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Despite being the world's third largest oil producer, Russia has suffered sporadic fuel shortages since last summer amid high demand and repair works on refineries. Wholesale gasoline prices have risen since the start of the year, a problem exacerbated by repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries.

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his accompanying delegation arrived here on Tuesday.The Ukrainian President was on a visit to Saudi Arabia. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, who is also the prime minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, received President Zelenskyy in...

French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal told the RTL broadcaster that there was "no consensus" on any "official" deployment of ground troops. "But no dynamic can be ruled out. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war," he said, using the same words as Macron...

New Delhi, India - India's foreign ministry confirmed on Friday that some of the country's citizens had signed up for "support jobs" with the Russian army and said it was working with Moscow to secure their discharge.The Hindu newspaper reported on Wednesday that around 18 Indians were stranded in various...

LONDON, UK – The price of natural gas in Europe fell again on Friday, taking it to its lowest in almost three years as mild winter weather continues and European stockpiles hold up.Mid-morning on Friday, the benchmark Dutch TTF futures contract was down 3.2 percent at US$24.3 (22.45 euros) a megawatt-hour...

The company said lower energy prices cut into its profits.

The invasion of Ukraine by Russia triggered a massive shift by European nations away from Russian natural gas delivered by pipelines, with prices for LNG soaring as they competed on international markets for limited supplies. With a limited number of import terminals, European nations were also forced to undertake measures...

"We as South Africans sense, see, hear and feel to our core the inhumane discriminatory policies and practices of the Israeli regime as an even more extreme form of the apartheid that was institutionalized against black people in my country," said Vusimuzi Madonsela, South Africa's ambassador to the Netherlands, where...

"The immense loss suffered by Palestinian journalists in this war will have long-term impacts for journalism not just in the Palestinian territories but for the region and beyond. Every journalist killed is a further blow to our understanding of the world." CPJ has previously attacked what it calls "persecution" of...

Brussels, Belgium - The European Commission on Tuesday officially extended an exemption from contested rules to leave a share of agricultural lands fallow, which had become a flashpoint for protesting farmers across the bloc.First lifted in 2023 in response to market disruptions caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the rules will...

"The current military-security situation heralds what is likely to be a more dangerous decade, characterized by the brazen application by some of military power to pursue claims," the report said.

During a two-hour long interview with the former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Russia's President Vladimir Putin defended his decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022. The president said the West now realizes that Russia will not be defeated, despite US, European and NATO help to Ukraine.

Republicans in the House of Representatives scheduled the vote after the Democratic-led Senate released a bipartisan bill Sunday pairing billions of dollars for Israel and Ukraine with some of the strictest immigration curbs in decades. But support for that $118bn package has dwindled, with Donald Trump pressuring Republicans to avoid handing President Joe...

Its earnings were US$36.2bn, half of what is was in 2022.

ABU DHABI, UAE - President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke by telephone to President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to discuss bilateral relations and opportunities to further strengthen UAE-Russia ties.During the telephonic conversation on Monday, Putin expressed his gratitude to Sheikh Mohamed for the UAE’s successful mediation...