Author: Anadolu Agency

As the US and Russia advance peace talks to end the three-year-long war in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday emphasized Kyiv’s extensive diplomatic outreach aimed at bolstering “support for Ukraine’s sovereignty.” In a statement, Zelenskyy said he held talks on Friday with the leaders from Poland, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Ireland, and Cote d’Ivoire, underscoring the importance of international cooperation for peace and security. “The stronger Ukraine’s sovereignty, the safer Poland is,” Zelenskyy said after speaking with Polish President Andrzej Duda. He highlighted shared security concerns and mutual interests between the neighboring countries. Zelenskyy also…

China called for “complete and effective execution of the ceasefire agreement” and a two-state solution in Palestine, according to an official statement Saturday. Beijing “opposes the forced displacement of the Palestinian people, and hopes for the complete and effective execution of the ceasefire agreement. Gaza is an integral part of Palestinian territory, and its future should be determined by the will of the Palestinian people,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty during a phone call on Saturday. His remarks came as a ceasefire has been in place since last month in the Gaza Strip where Israel’s…

Apple on Friday announced it will remove its highest level of data security, Advanced Data Protection (ADP), for users in the UK following government demands for access to encrypted user data. The decision, described by Apple as “gravely disappointing,” means that UK customers will no longer be able to activate the feature, which provides end-to-end encryption for data stored in iCloud. Existing users who have already enabled the feature will see it disabled at a later date, though Apple has not specified when. The move follows a demand from the UK Home Office earlier this month under the Investigatory Powers…

US President Donald Trump on Friday slammed Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, claiming that he “destroyed” his country. “Justin’s a loser, always has been,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News Radio, arguing that the Canadian prime minister has “done a very bad job for Canada. He’s taking it radical left.” Trump welcomed Trudeau’s decision to not run in the upcoming elections in Canada, and said: “That’s a smart move, because he wouldn’t have a chance of winning.” Asked about US anthem being booed at games with Canada, Trump said “we have a good relationship with Canada, not with…

Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda on Friday supported US President Donald Trump’s criticism of NATO, urging Europe to double their defense spending. “I agree with the US criticism that the burden is not shared fairly at the moment. The US is carrying the lion’s share of the burden related to NATO’s budget. Europe must contribute at least twice as much as it does now,” Nauseda told journalists in Vilnius on Friday, according to the Baltic News Service. During his first term at the Oval Office, Trump had urged the European leaders to increase their defense spending. Following his reelection in 2024,…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met on Thursday on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, to reaffirm their strong bilateral diplomatic and strategic partnership. The ministers praised the high level of dialogue and practical cooperation between their countries, emphasizing ongoing efforts to strengthen ties in various sectors, according to a statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry. They confirmed plans to further advance bilateral cooperation based on agreements made during meetings between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Moscow and Kazan last year.…

US President Donald Trump said Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not need to make a deal with Ukraine. “He doesn’t have to make a deal, because if he wanted, he’d get the whole country,” Trump said during an interview with Fox News Radio. The comments come ahead of an expected second round of negotiations aimed at ending Russia’s three-year war on Ukraine. An initial round of bilateral talks held in Saudi Arabia concluded Tuesday with the Kremlin and Washington agreeing to continue work on efforts to bring the war to an end. Trump said Zelenskyy has been at…

The BBC has removed its documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone from iPlayer after it was revealed that its teenage narrator is the son of a Hamas official. The broadcaster stated that it is conducting “further due diligence” following mounting scrutiny. The film, which aired on BBC Two on Monday, follows 13-year-old Abdullah Al-Yazouri as he describes life in Gaza. However, it later emerged that his father, Ayman Alyazouri, serves as Hamas’s deputy minister of agriculture. In a statement on Friday, the BBC defended the documentary’s value but acknowledged concerns. “There have been continuing questions raised about the programme,…

Israel will release 602 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday, including 50 Palestinians who have been sentenced to life imprisonment and 60 others with lengthy prison terms, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Media Office in Gaza on Friday. The release is a key component of the first phase of the swap deal, which followed the Palestinian factions’ submission of the names of six Israeli hostages set for release on Saturday. In a statement, the media office confirmed that, in addition to the 50 life-sentenced Palestinians and 60 with high-security sentences, 47 Palestinians from the 2011 “Shalit Deal,” who had been rearrested, will…

Germany declared Friday that Ukraine must take part in future peace negotiations while reaffirming its commitment to supporting Kyiv until a just peace is achieved. German and Ukrainian leaders spoke on the phone about the current military and humanitarian situation in Ukraine, as well as potential paths to a just peace there, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s spokesman said in a statement. “The Chancellor and President Zelenskyy agreed that Ukraine must be at the table in future negotiations on peace,” Steffen Hebestreit said, adding that “questions about European security must be discussed together with the Europeans.” He noted that Chancellor Scholz and…