France's highest court on Wednesday upheld a ban on barristers wearing the hijab and other religious symbols in Lille law courts, a judgment which could set a precedent for the rest of the country.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has killed more than 2,000 Ukrainian civilians and destroyed hundreds of structures including transport facilities, hospitals, kindergartens and homes, Ukraine's emergency service said on Wednesday.

Keiichi Kurogi was one of dozens of men in Japan who offered to join an "international legion" to fight Russian invaders after Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called for volunteers, reports Reuters.

China will not join in sanctions on Russia that have been led by the West, the country's banking regulator said on Wednesday, adding that he believed the impact of the measures on China would be limited.

European Union diplomats have approved new sanctions against Belarus for its supporting role in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the French presidency of the EU said on Wednesday.

The United States stands firmly behind its commitments to Taiwan, a visiting US delegation said on Wednesday, as Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen vowed to work more closely with allies in response to what she called China’s growing military threat.

Bangladeshis who live in Ukraine but are currently stuck here due to Russian invasion of the country, staged a human chain in front of the National Press Club today -- demanding end of the war.

At least 21 people were killed and 112 wounded in shelling in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv in the last 24 hours, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said on Wednesday.

China has reacted sharply to calls by Shinzo Abe, Japan’s former prime minister, for Tokyo to consider hosting US nuclear weapons

He was a scientist at Duke-National University of Singapore (Duke-NUS), contributing to research on heart disease since 2016.

US President Joe Biden led a standing ovation on Tuesday in support of Ukrainians facing a Russian siege in a State of the Union speech he rewrote to assail President Vladimir Putin for what he called his "unprovoked and premeditated invasion."

The United States closed its airspace to Russian planes as the Russian military attempted to encircle and subdue Ukrainian cities with intensifying bombardments on Wednesday, almost a week into an invasion that has sparked massive international sanctions.

Meta Platforms (FB.O) is globally demoting content from Russian state-controlled media outlets' Facebook pages and Instagram accounts, as well as posts containing links to those outlets on Facebook, the company's head of global affairs said on Tuesday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday Russia must stop bombing Ukrainian cities before meaningful talks on a ceasefire could start, as a first round of negotiations this week had yielded scant progress.

Russia warned Kyiv residents to flee their homes yesterday and rained rockets down on Kharkiv, as Russian commanders who have failed to achieve a quick victory shifted their tactics to intensify the bombardment of Ukrainian cities.

Western sanctions against Russia are having a huge impact on its economy, Germany’s finance minister said yesterday, as the G7 mulled further punitive measures in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Hong Kongers stripped shop shelves bare yesterday as panic buying set in following mixed messaging from the government over whether it plans a China-style hard lockdown this month.

Turkey is calling on all sides in the Ukraine crisis to respect an international pact on passage through the Turkish straits to the Black Sea, Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was cited as saying yesterday after Ankara closed access.

The Kremlin yesterday said it was too early to draw conclusions from talks held with Ukraine on ending the war after Moscow invaded last week.

The UK government warned yesterday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commanders in Ukraine could face prosecution for war crimes and that Western sanctions would remain “for as long as it takes”.