Russia’s prosecutor general said yesterday it had banned human rights group Amnesty International Limited as an “undesirable organisation”, accusing it of backing Ukraine against Russia.

The first direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in more than three years lasted well under two hours, with no apparent sign of progress so far in narrowing the gap between the sides, and a Ukrainian source called Moscow’s demands “non-starters”.

More than 295 million people faced acute hunger last year, a new high driven by conflict as well as other crises -- and the outlook is “bleak” for 2025 as humanitarian aid falters, a UN-backed report said yesterday.

Paris has filed a case against Tehran at the top UN court over two French citizens who have been held in Iran for three years, the French foreign minister said yesterday.

A Swedish diplomat arrested over the weekend in Stockholm on charges of spying and released days later has been found dead, media reported yesterday, with the foreign ministry confirming an employee had died.

Russia has deliberately targeted hotels used by journalists covering its war on Ukraine, the NGOs Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Truth Hounds said yesterday, calling the strikes “war crimes”.

The EU accused TikTok on Thursday of breaking digital rules after concluding that the Chinese-owned social media platform was not transparent enough about advertisements

A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck south of the Greek island of Kasos on Wednesday, the United States Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage

The European Union’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said yesterday she didn’t think Russian President Vladimir Putin would turn up for talks in Turkey this week with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

European countries will begin preparing new sanctions on Russia unless the Kremlin starts abiding by a 30-day ceasefire in its war with Ukraine, which was set to expire by the end of yesterday.

France yesterday backed calls for a review of the cooperation agreement between the European Union and Israel over a blockade of aid to Gaza.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday said that Kyiv would meet with Moscow for talks in Istanbul on May 15, but said that Russia must first commit to a 30-day ceasefire starting today.

The leaders of France, Britain, Germany and Poland yesterday agreed to call on Russia to accept a 30-day unconditional ceasefire starting Monday, Kyiv said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday told his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that Moscow wants a “fair” nuclear deal between the United States and Iran and was ready to help advance talks, the Kremlin said.

Germany’s domestic intelligence service on Friday designated the far-right AfD party as an extremist group, setting off a diplomatic spat with the United States.

Ukraine destroyed a Russian Su-30 fighter jet using a missile fired from a seaborne drone, Ukraine’s GUR military intelligence agency announced yesterday, in what it said was the world’s first downing of a combat plane by a maritime drone.

President Vladimir Putin is open to peace in Ukraine and intense work is going on with the United States, but the conflict is so complicated that the rapid progress that Washington wants is difficult to achieve, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

Since December, Belgium's sex workers can access legal protections and labour rights, such as paid leave, like any other profession

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney completed a comeback victory for the governing Liberals in Monday’s election, positioning himself for a global role as a champion of multilateralism against US President Donald Trump’s more protectionist policies.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has branded a three-day truce announced by his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as an “attempt at manipulation”.