US President Donald Trump urged Putin to spare the lives of the Ukrainian troops

Germany’s likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday his conservatives had struck a deal with the Greens on massively boosting defence and infrastructure spending, paving the way for the plan’s approval in parliament.

The Group of Seven powers yesterday warned Russia of new sanctions unless it accepts a ceasefire with Ukraine, in a forceful show of unity after President Donald Trump rattled the club of democracies.

Hamas yesterday said it was ready to free an Israeli-American hostage and the remains of four others after the Palestinian militants and Israel resumed indirect Gaza ceasefire negotiations.

Sri Lanka’s wildlife and railway authorities announced yesterday a series of low-tech measures, including adjusting timetables to reduce night-time train collisions, following the worst wildlife accident that killed seven elephants.

The World Food Programme will be forced to cut off one million people in war-torn Myanmar from its vital food aid because of “critical funding shortfalls”, it said yesterday.

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte failed to show up in person at the International Criminal Court yesterday at the opening of his crimes against humanity hearing over his deadly crackdown on narcotics.

China yesterday urged an end to “illegal” sanctions on Iran as it hosted Iranian and Russian diplomats for talks Beijing hopes will restart long-stalled negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Federal judges in California and Maryland on Thursday ordered US President Donald Trump's administration to reinstate thousands of probationary federal workers who lost their jobs as part of mass firings carried out at 19 agencies.

The Russian president said he agreed in principle with US proposals to halt the fighting but said he wanted to address the “root causes of the conflict”

Cuts to US foreign aid under President Donald Trump have caused a “seismic shock” to global humanitarian work, a UN agency head said, warning that “many will die” as a result.

Azerbaijan and Armenia yesterday said that they had wrapped up peace talks aimed at resolving the Caucasus neighbours’ decades-long conflict, both sides having agreed the text of a possible treaty.

A new graft scandal rocked the European Parliament yesterday after police carried out several raids in Belgium and Portugal, detaining multiple suspects as part of a probe into corruption masqueraded as lobbying.

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa yesterday hailed the start of a “new history” for his country, signing into force a constitutional declaration regulating its five-year transitional period and laying out rights for women and freedom of expression.

Host Canada yesterday called on the Group of Seven powers to back Ukraine against Russia’s “aggression” as a more conciliatory approach toward Moscow by Donald Trump’s United States split the club of wealthy democracies.

Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte said he was prepared to accept responsibility as the International Criminal Court took him into custody Wednesday to face charges over his war on drugs.

China yesterday called for a “diplomatic” resolution to the Iran nuclear issue as it prepared to host diplomats from Tehran and Moscow for talks.

Vladimir Putin has said he has many questions about the proposed US-brokered ceasefire with Ukraine and appeared to set out a series of sweeping conditions that would need to be met before Russia would agree to such a truce.

A United Nations investigation yesterday concluded that Israel carried out “genocidal acts” in Gaza through the destruction of its main IVF clinic, maternity facilities and other reproductive healthcare facilities.

Trump's Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow on Thursday to meet Putin