Ukraine ready for direct talks with Russia only after ceasefire: Zelensky

Ukraine ready for direct talks with Russia only after ceasefire: Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference in Kyiv, Apr. 22, 2025. (AP)
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Updated 22 April 2025
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Ukraine ready for direct talks with Russia only after ceasefire: Zelensky

Ukraine ready for direct talks with Russia only after ceasefire: Zelensky
  • “After the ceasefire, we are ready to sit down in any format,” Zelensky told journalists
  • Kyiv and its allies dismissed the truce as a public relations exercise from Putin

KYIV: Ukraine will only hold direct talks with Russia once a ceasefire is in place, its President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday, as his US counterpart Donald Trump pushed for a speedy deal to end the three-year Ukraine conflict.
“After the ceasefire, we are ready to sit down in any format,” Zelensky told journalists at a briefing a day before key talks in London on a potential Ukraine settlement.
Trump, who promised on the campaign trail to strike a deal between Moscow and Kyiv in 24 hours, has failed since his return to office three months ago to wrangle concessions from Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt his troops’ offensive in Ukraine.
Trump said over the weekend that he hoped a peace deal could be struck “this week” despite no signs the two sides were anywhere close to agreeing even a ceasefire, let alone a wider long-term settlement.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned Tuesday against rushing into a speedy ceasefire, telling a state TV reporter that the issue was too “complex” for a quick fix.
“It is not worth setting any rigid time frames and trying to get a settlement, a viable settlement, in a short time frame,” he said.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov meanwhile told state media that US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff was expected this week in Moscow, his fourth visit to Russia since Trump took office.
Moscow’s forces occupy around a fifth of Ukrainian territory and tens of thousands of people have been killed since the war started in February 2022.
After rejecting a US-Ukrainian offer for a full and unconditional ceasefire last month, Putin announced a surprise Easter truce over the weekend.
Fighting dipped during the 30-hour period but Russia launched fresh attacks on residential areas on Monday and Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said.
Kyiv and its allies dismissed the truce as a public relations exercise from Putin.
“The Easter truce that he announced somewhat unexpectedly was a marketing operation, a charm operation aimed at preventing President Trump from becoming impatient and angry,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told FranceInfo radio.
Ukraine’s allies will meet in London on Wednesday, a senior Kyiv official told AFP.
They are expected to discuss the contours of a possible deal they could all get behind.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will not attend the London talks due to scheduling issues, a State Department spokeswoman said, adding that US envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg would take part.
European leaders are scrambling to work out how to support Ukraine should Trump pull Washington’s vital military and financial backing.
Zelensky said his team’s “first priority” at the London talks would be “an unconditional ceasefire.”
He proposed to Russia on Sunday a halt of missile and drones strikes against civilian facilities for at least 30 days.
While saying he would “analyze” the idea, Putin threw doubt on it 24 hours later by accusing Kyiv of using civilian facilities for military purposes.
He held open the prospect of bilateral talks on the topic, though the Kremlin said there were no fixed plans to engage with Kyiv.
“There are no concrete plans (to talk), there is readiness from Putin to discuss this question,” Peskov said Tuesday.
“If we are talking about civilian infrastructure, then we need to understand, when is it civilian infrastructure and when is it a military target,” he added.
Russia hit a residential area in the eastern Ukrainian city of Myrnograd with drones Tuesday, killing three people and wounding two, local authorities said.
One person was reported dead and 23 wounded after two guided aerial bombs pounded the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, the region’s governor said.
Photos from Ukraine’s emergency services showed the outer walls of an apartment block blown open and a bloodied man tended to by medics on a stretcher, with bandages around his head and arms.
“One guided aerial bomb hit an infrastructure facility, another one hit a densely populated neighborhood, a residential building directly,” Zaporizhzhia Governor Ivan Fedorov said on Telegram.
Russian strikes wounded another six in the southern city of Kherson and seven in Kharkiv in the northeast, officials said.
The Russian army meanwhile claimed to have captured a village in the eastern Donetsk region, where its troops are advancing.
Russia has pressed on with a grinding advance in recent months in southern and eastern Ukraine and recaptured much of Russia’s Kursk region, parts of which Kyiv seized last year and was hoping to use as a bargaining chip.
There were no ongoing discussions on any new US aid packages with the Trump administration, Zelensky said.
In Paris last week, Rubio presented Washington’s plan for ending the conflict, though both he and Trump warned that Washington’s patience was wearing thin and could lead it to withdraw.
Many in Ukraine fear any US-brokered settlement would benefit Russia.


EU to propose more flexible climate goal in July, sources say

EU to propose more flexible climate goal in July, sources say
Updated 7 sec ago
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EU to propose more flexible climate goal in July, sources say

EU to propose more flexible climate goal in July, sources say
  • The proposal will set an EU goal to cut net greenhouse gas emissions 90 percent by 2040, compared with 1990 levels, the diplomats saiD
BRUSSELS: The European Commission will propose a new EU climate target in July that includes flexibilities for how countries meet it, as Brussels attempts to fend off mounting criticism of Europe’s environmental aims, EU diplomats told Reuters.
The European Union’s climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, confirmed plans to present an EU climate target for 2040 on July 2, during a meeting with EU countries’ representatives on Wednesday, diplomats familiar with the closed-door talks told Reuters.
The proposal will set an EU goal to cut net greenhouse gas emissions 90 percent by 2040, compared with 1990 levels, the diplomats said. However, the EU executive plans to add flexibilities to that target, which could reduce what it demands from domestic industries.
The flexibilities include setting an emissions-cutting target for domestic industries that is lower than 90 percent and letting countries buy international carbon credits to make up the rest, to reach 90 percent, the diplomats said.
A European Commission spokesperson declined to comment on the plans.
The Commission has promised not to weaken Europe’s ambitious climate aims, despite mounting criticism from governments and lawmakers concerned about the cost for European businesses, which are struggling with high energy prices and looming US tariffs.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent. The Commission has delayed its 2040 climate proposal for months, and has weakened other green laws in recent months to try to calm the political pushback.
EU countries are split over the 2040 goal, which they and EU lawmakers must approve. Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark are among those backing a 90 percent emissions cut. Opponents include Italy and the Czech Republic.
Germany has backed a 90 percent target if countries can use international carbon credits to meet three percentage points of the goal.
The Commission is also considering softening requirements for countries to cut emissions in specific sectors — giving them more choice over which industries do the heavy lifting to meet the goal, the diplomats said.
The 2040 goal will aim to keep EU countries on track between their 2030 emissions target — which they are nearly on track to meet — and the EU’s aim to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Death toll in central Nigeria floods rises to 36: rescuers

Death toll in central Nigeria floods rises to 36: rescuers
Updated 23 min 41 sec ago
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Death toll in central Nigeria floods rises to 36: rescuers

Death toll in central Nigeria floods rises to 36: rescuers

KANO: The death toll in central Nigeria flash floods has risen to 36 after rescuers recovered more bodies, an emergency services spokesman told AFP Friday.
Flooding after torrential rains late on Wednesday washed away more than 50 homes in the city of Mokwa in central Niger state, drowning residents with many missing, according to the Niger state emergency management agency (SEMA).
“As at this morning, 11 more bodies were recovered in addition to the 25 found earlier, which brings the number of fatalities to 36 so far,” Ibrahim Audu Husseini, SEMA spokesman said.
Teams of rescuers continued to search for missing residents into Friday.
“We expect the toll to rise considerably because there are different rescuers at different locations,” Husseini said.
Nigeria’s rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year. Scientists warn that climate change is already fueling more extreme weather patterns.
Flooding, usually caused by heavy rains and poor infrastructure, wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the west African country.
In Nigeria, the floods are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways, and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria’s 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday.
In 2024, more than 1,200 people were killed and 1.2 million displaced in at least 31 out of Nigeria’s 36 states, making it one of the country’s worst floods in decades, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.


New Zealand defense minister pledges more deployments, co-operation

New Zealand defense minister pledges more deployments, co-operation
Updated 30 May 2025
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New Zealand defense minister pledges more deployments, co-operation

New Zealand defense minister pledges more deployments, co-operation
  • Judith Collins raises the prospect of welcoming increased warship visits to the country, deepening joint training and other cooperative efforts

SINGAPORE: New Zealand is seeking to expand Asia-Pacific military deployments in its quest to show it was now “pulling our weight” with increased spending on its armed forces, the South Pacific nation’s defense minister said in Singapore on Friday.

Defense minister Judith Collins raised the prospect of welcoming increased warship visits to the country, deepening joint training and other cooperative efforts with its traditional defense partners including ally Australia, the United States, Singapore, Japan, Britain and the Philippines.

“So we’re open for business, we’re back in the world and we’re pulling our weight,” Collins said on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue defense meeting in Singapore.

The New Zealand government announced in April that it would boost defense spending by NZ$9 billion ($5 billion) over the next four years, with the aim of nearly doubling spending to 2 percent as a share of gross domestic product in the next eight years amid growing international tensions.

The new spending is a significant boost to the defense budget of just under NZ$5 billion in 2024/25, and follows its first national security review in 2023.

The review called for more military spending and stronger ties with Indo-Pacific nations to tackle issues of climate change and strategic competition between the West, and China and Russia.

The USS Blue Ridge, the command ship of the US Pacific Fleet, visited Wellington earlier this month and further visits from partners could be expected, Collins said. The ship was just the third US warship to visit in 40 years.

When asked about Chinese concerns at New Zealand’s more assertive military posture, she said Beijing realized Wellington had “actually got a spine,” but “I don’t think China stays awake at night worrying about us.”

“I don’t think we’re any threat to China, or anyone else really,” Collins said, describing relations with China, an important trading partner, as “very mature.”

Regional military attaches and analysts say that after years of relative neglect, New Zealand still had to improve its ability to sustainably project power given its small, aging navy and air force but supporting its traditional relationships were key.

Nuclear-free since the 1980s, New Zealand maintains an independent foreign policy but remains part of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network with the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada.

Deployments of its four new Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft are being closely watched, given how they can help other countries plug gaps in the hunt for Chinese submarines, analysts say.

Collins said New Zealand and Australian pilots now had the ability to fly each other’s P-8 and transport planes — a sign of growing “interoperability” in action.

Collins said the P-8s had already flown up toward Canada and she expected further patrols in the South China Sea and Indian Ocean. “I think you’ll see quite a lot of that,” she said. “We go everywhere. Everywhere where we’re wanted we go, if we can.”


Ukraine, Russia ‘want ceasefire,’ Turkiye FM says en route to Kyiv

Ukraine, Russia ‘want ceasefire,’ Turkiye FM says en route to Kyiv
Updated 30 May 2025
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Ukraine, Russia ‘want ceasefire,’ Turkiye FM says en route to Kyiv

Ukraine, Russia ‘want ceasefire,’ Turkiye FM says en route to Kyiv
  • Hakan Fidan: ‘I observe that the issue is beginning to take a more optimistic turn as negotiations start’

ANKARA: Russia and Ukraine both want a ceasefire to halt three years of war, Turkiye’s top diplomat said on Friday as he headed to Kyiv after holding talks in Moscow.

“I observe that the issue is beginning to take a more optimistic turn as negotiations start. Both parties want a ceasefire. No one says they don’t want it,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on the train taking him to Kyiv, reported news agency Anadolu.


Half the world faced an extra month of extreme heat due to climate change: study

Half the world faced an extra month of extreme heat due to climate change: study
Updated 30 May 2025
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Half the world faced an extra month of extreme heat due to climate change: study

Half the world faced an extra month of extreme heat due to climate change: study
  • About 49 percent of the global population experienced at least 30 more days of extreme heat according to a study done by scientists at the World Weather Attribution, Climate Central, and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center

WASHINGTON: Half the global population endured an additional month of extreme heat over the past year because of manmade climate change, a new study found Friday.
The findings underscore how the continued burning of fossil fuels is harming health and well-being on every continent, with the effects especially under-recognized in developing countries, the authors said.
“With every barrel of oil burned, every ton of carbon dioxide released, and every fraction of a degree of warming, heat waves will affect more people,” said Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at Imperial College London and co-author of the report.
The analysis — conducted by scientists at World Weather Attribution, Climate Central, and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center — was released ahead of global Heat Action Day on June 2, which this year spotlights the dangers of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
To assess the influence of global warming, researchers analyzed the period from May 1, 2024 to May 1, 2025.
They defined “extreme heat days” as those hotter than 90 percent of temperatures recorded at a given location between 1991 and 2020.
Using a peer-reviewed modeling approach, they then compared the number of such days to a simulated world without human-caused warming.
The results were stark: roughly four billion people — 49 percent of the global population — experienced at least 30 more days of extreme heat than they would have otherwise.
The team identified 67 extreme heat events during the year and found the fingerprint of climate change on all of them.
The Caribbean island of Aruba was the worst affected, recording 187 extreme heat days — 45 more than expected in a world without climate change.
The study follows a year of unprecedented global temperatures. 2024 was the hottest year on record, surpassing 2023, while January 2025 marked the hottest January ever.
On a five-year average, global temperatures are now 1.3 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels — and in 2024 alone, they exceeded 1.5C, the symbolic ceiling set by the Paris climate accord.
The report also highlights a critical lack of data on heat-related health impacts in lower-income regions.
While Europe recorded more than 61,000 heat-related deaths in the summer of 2022, comparable figures are sparse elsewhere, with many heat-related fatalities mizattributed to underlying conditions such as heart or lung disease.
The authors emphasized the need for early warning systems, public education, and heat action plans tailored to cities.
Better building design — including shading and ventilation — and behavioral adjustments like avoiding strenuous activity during peak heat are also essential.
Still, adaptation alone will not be enough. The only way to halt the rising severity and frequency of extreme heat, the authors warned, is to rapidly phase out fossil fuels.