Voters cast ballots across France on Sunday in the first round of a presidential election where far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is posing an unexpected threat to President Emmanuel Macron's re-election hopes.

Ukraine is ready for a tough battle with Russian forces amassing in the east of the country, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered fresh financial and military support during a surprise visit.

France yesterday prepared for the first round of presidential elections projected to produce a run-off rematch between President Emmanuel Macron and far-right leader Marine Le Pen that will be far tighter than their duel five years ago.

Ukraine is ready for a tough battle with Russian forces amassing in the east of the country, President Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday, a day after a missile attack in the east that officials said killed more than 50 civilians trying to evacuate.

Fresh fighting erupted Friday between government and opposition forces in South Sudan just days after both sides pledged to uphold a ceasefire and try to save a teetering peace deal.

Iran yesterday said that it had imposed sanctions on 15 more US officials, including former Army Chief of Staff George Casey and former President Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani, as months of talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal have stalled.

Russia said it was shutting down the local offices of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that have been working in the country for the past 30 years.

Israeli security forces raided the flashpoint West Bank district of Jenin yesterday killing a Palestinian and wounding 12 others, after vowing there will “not be limits” to curb surging violence.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon set a new quarterly record in the first three months of 2022 compared to a year earlier, official data showed yesterday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday that Russian forces appeared to have committed war crimes by targeting civilians in Ukraine, but she said lawyers must investigate the alleged incidents.

Sri Lanka will need about $3 billion in external assistance within the next six months to help restore supplies of essential items, including fuel and medicines, to manage a severe economic crisis, its finance minister told Reuters on Saturday.

Saudi Arabia said Saturday it will permit one million Muslims from inside and outside the country to participate in this year's hajj, a sharp uptick after pandemic restrictions forced two years of drastically pared-down pilgrimages.

EU governments have frozen about 30 billion euros ($32.6 billion) of assets linked to oligarchs and other sanctioned people with ties to the Kremlin, the European Commission said yesterday.

World food prices hit an all-time high in March following Russia’s invasion of agricultural powerhouse Ukraine, UN food agency said yesterday, adding to concerns about the risk of hunger around the world.

A rocket attack on a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed dozens yesterday, as civilians raced to leave the Donbas region in the crosshairs of the Russian army.

More than a thousand book titles, most addressing racism and LGBTQ issues, have been banned from US classrooms and school libraries in the last nine months, many under pressure from conservative parents and officials, the writers’ organization PEN America said on Thursday.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives, has tested positive for Covid-19, her spokesman said Thursday, making her the latest Washington power player to catch the virus.

Global levels of the potent greenhouse gas methane rose to a record high for a second consecutive year in 2021, according to data released by NOAA on Thursday, hitting the highest levels since scientists began measuring these emissions nearly four decades ago.

Pink Floyd have written their first new song in almost 30 years to support Ukrainians, the band announced on Thursday.

A World War II era bomb went off early yesterday in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava during excavation work, killing a man and injuring another, police and media reports said.