Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and Ukrainian peace negotiators suffered symptoms of suspected poisoning earlier this month after a meeting in Kyiv, the Wall Street Journal and the investigative outlet Bellingcat reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a show of unity with Middle East allies at a rare Israeli-hosted summit yesterday, hoping to allay their misgivings about an emerging Iranian nuclear deal and Washington’s commitment to the region.

Turkey yesterday said a second mine which could have come from Ukraine was discovered off its coast near Bulgaria, adding that experts had been sent to defuse it.

Nearly 5,000 people have been killed in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol since Russian forces laid siege to it, a spokesperson for the city mayor said on Monday.

Russia is working out methods for accepting payments for its gas exports in roubles and it will take decisions in due course should European countries refuse to pay in the Russian currency, the Kremlin said on Monday.

Nineteen people were shot and killed in central Mexico on Sunday, the State Attorney General's Office (FGE) said in a statement.

New fires have broken out in the exclusion zone around the defunct Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which is occupied by Russian forces, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Ukraine is willing to become neutral and compromise over the status of the eastern Donbass region as part of a peace deal, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday, even as another top Ukrainian official accused Russia of aiming to carve the country in two.

Two suspected Arab gunmen killed two people in Israel on Sunday and were then shot dead, an ambulance service said, as the U.S. secretary of state and three Arab foreign ministers visited the country for a summit.

Russia's communications watchdog told Russian media on Sunday to refrain from reporting an interview done with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and said it had started a probe into the outlets which had interviewed the Ukrainian leader.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday said President Vladimir Putin’s position is “up to the Russians”, playing down President Joe Biden’s comments that suggested a desire for regime change in Moscow.

The threat of a global conflict spawned by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should convince everyone that the time has come for humanity to abolish war before it abolishes humanity, Pope Francis said yesterday.

Russia wants to split Ukraine into two, as happened with North and South Korea, Ukraine’s military intelligence chief said yesterday, vowing “total” guerrilla warfare to prevent a carve up of the country.

The Taliban’s ban on girls’ education won’t last forever, Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai said on Saturday, emphasising that Afghan women now know what it is to be “empowered”.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have expressed regret at a lack of attention to Middle East conflicts, as the West pushes them to show more solidarity with Ukraine.

The Saudi-led coalition yesterday launched air strikes on Yemen hours after Huthi rebels announced a three-day truce, with the UN chief condemning a surge in violence as the war enters its eighth year.

Nearly half of Ukrainians aged 18-55 are ready to fight to defend their country against Russia, a poll conducted by a Norwegian research centre suggested on Saturday.

Prince William ended a turbulent tour of the Caribbean by starkly admitting this weekend that the region’s former British colonies must decide whether to scrap the monarchy’s role in their countries.

The United Nations human rights office said on Sunday that 1,119 civilians had so far been killed and 1,790 wounded since Russia began its attack on Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has urged the West to give Ukraine tanks, planes and missiles to fend off Russian forces as his government said Moscow's forces were targeting the country's fuel and food depots.