Reuters

Fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensified after the expiry late on Saturday of a ceasefire deal brokered by Saudi Arabia and the U.S.

Membership of the military alliance would "probably" only be possible for Ukraine after the end of active hostilities, Kuleba said in an interview in Kyiv.

Washington's sharply worded warning followed the U.S. Navy's release on Sunday of a video of what it called an "unsafe interaction" in the Taiwan Strait in which a Chinese warship crossed in front of a U.S. destroyer in the sensitive waterway.

Russia launched a new wave of overnight air strikes on Kyiv, with officials at the Ukrainian capital saying that air defence systems downed more than 20 cruise missiles on their approach.

Washington is working to deepen ties with India and sees stronger military-to-military and technology ties with the world's largest democracy as a key counterweight to China's dominance in the region.

Moscow said on Monday it had thwarted a major Ukrainian offensive in the south of Ukraine's Donetsk region but Russia's main mercenary leader said Russian forces had lost ground around Bakhmut further north.

Khan has hinted previously at the military's hand in a crackdown on his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party but his comments in an interview at his Lahore home on Saturday night were the most blunt yet.

The jet fighters created a sonic boom over the U.S. capital as they pursued the errant Cessna Citation, officials said, causing consternation among people in the Washington area.

He also said officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland would meet later this month for talks to try to overcome objections from Turkey and Hungary that have delayed Sweden's NATO membership bid.

Russia's defence ministry said Ukraine had attacked with six mechanised and two tank battalions in southern Donetsk, where Moscow has long suspected Ukraine would seek to drive a wedge through Russian-controlled territory.

The power losses threaten Bangladesh's crucial apparel sector that accounts for more than 80% of its exports and supplies retailers such as Walmart, Gap Inc, H&M, VF Corp, Zara and American Eagle Outfitters.

Senior officials from over a dozen countries including Saudi Arabia and Iran were in talks on closer links with the BRICS bloc of major emerging economies on Friday as it met to deepen ties and position itself as a counterweight to the West.

The Chinese envoy who toured European capitals last month seeking to promote Ukraine peace talks said on Friday that Beijing is considering another mission, after acknowledging that his trip may not produce immediate results.

After Pakistan's first purchase of discounted Russian oil in April, petroleum minister Musadik Malik told Reuters that Pakistan would only be buying crude, not refined products under the deal.

Ukrainian forces in Kyiv said on Friday they shot down 36 Russian missiles and drones in and around the capital overnight, with two people injured by falling debris before authorities lifted air raid alerts across most of the country.

Prominent Pakistani human rights activist and lawyer Jibran Nasir was abducted late on Thursday night in the southern city of Karachi, his wife said, prompting widespread outcry in the country.

Ahead of an expected Ukrainian counter-offensive in the 15-month war, Russia has come under repeated attack in recent days, including a major cross-border incursion and the biggest ever drone attack on Moscow.

The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement it targeted two companies affiliated with Sudan's army and two companies affiliated with the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), accusing them of generating revenue from the conflict and contributing to the fighting.

The United Nations and Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative between Moscow and Kyiv last July to help tackle a global food crisis aggravated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a leading global grain exporter.

The United States said it will stop providing Russia some notifications required under the New START arms control treaty from Thursday, including updates on its missile and launcher locations, to retaliate for Moscow's "ongoing violations" of the accord.

Nonetheless, the allies appear to have found a workaround to enable the TNT sale amid global shortages of munitions.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Kyiv had not fixed a date for a summit that would set parameters to end the war because Kyiv was working to bring as many nations as possible to the table.

NATO said on Thursday it was ready to send more troops to an ethically divided region of Kosovo where dozens of people were injured in violence this week, while Pristina and Belgrade accused each other of fuelling tensions there.

The 28-year-old Prince Hussein, named as heir by his father King Abdullah in 2009, will tie the knot with Saudi architect Rajwa Al Saif, 29, who hails from a prominent family with links to her country's ruling dynasty.

Ukraine's air force said air defences shot down all 10 ballistic and Iskander cruise missiles fired by Russia in the 18th attack on the capital since the start of May.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday he would soon travel to Turkey to discuss Sweden's NATO membership, in a bid to close a process that has been delayed due to objections from member countries Turkey and Hungary.

There was no immediate comment from Ukraine on the Russian reports, in a week when the two countries accused each other of spreading terror in their capitals with air strikes.

An Iraqi citizen fighting with Russia's Wagner mercenary force was killed in Ukraine in early April, the first confirmed case of a Middle East native dying in the conflict, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin told Reuters on Wednesday.

As the preparatory work starts, the U.N. wants parallel talks to be held on widening the Black Sea deal that was agreed last July to include more Ukrainian ports and other cargoes, said the source, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.