Author: Daily Sabah With Reuters

President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran is acting intelligently and reasonably in ongoing negotiations over the country’s nuclear program.

The recent military escalation with arch-rival India won’t have a large fiscal impact on Pakistan and can be managed within the current fiscal space, with no need for a new economic assessment, Pakistan’s Finance Minister said in an interview with Reuters on Monday. He added that trade talks with the United States – which had played a key role mediating a ceasefire between the two countries – would likely have progress in “short order” and that Pakistan could import more high-quality cotton, more soy beans and was also exploring other asset classes, including hydrocarbons.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the possibility of U.S. President Donald Trump’s participation in talks with Russia in Türkiye on Thursday and expressed hope Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not “evade the meeting”. “All of us in Ukraine would appreciate it if President Trump could be there with us at this meeting in Türkiye. This is the right idea. We can change a lot,” Zelenskiy said on X. He added that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “can indeed host highest-level meeting”.

Johann Zarco became the first Frenchman in 71 years to win the French Grand Prix after the LCR Honda rider’s decision to start with wet tires paid off handsomely on Sunday in front of a sellout crowd of more than 120,000 fans at Le Mans. In a chaotic race where riders swapped bikes multiple times due to rain, Zarco won by a huge margin of nearly 20 seconds ahead of Ducati’s Marc Marquez while Gresini Racing’s Fermin Aldeguer came third for his first MotoGP podium. Zarco was 17th on lap one when he narrowly avoided a collision and lost places…

Johann Zarco became the first Frenchman in 71 years to win the French Grand Prix after the LCR Honda rider’s decision to start with wet tires paid off handsomely on Sunday in front of a sellout crowd of more than 120,000 fans at Le Mans. In a chaotic race where riders swapped bikes multiple times due to rain, Zarco won by a huge margin of nearly 20 seconds ahead of Ducati’s Marc Marquez while Gresini Racing’s Fermin Aldeguer came third for his first MotoGP podium. Zarco was 17th on lap one when he narrowly avoided a collision and lost places…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on Russia on Sunday to confirm an unconditional ceasefire beginning on May 12, saying Ukraine would then be ready to meet for talks. On Saturday, Zelenskiy received the backing of Europe’s major powers and U.S. President Donald Trump for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire beginning on Monday. Russian President Vladimir Putin responded early on Sunday with a proposal for direct talks with Kyiv starting on Thursday in Türkiye. “It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war … And the very first step in truly ending any war is…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday it was a positive sign that Russia had begun to consider ending the war, but that the first step towards that was to start a ceasefire on May 12. “It is a positive sign that the Russians have finally begun to consider ending the war … And the very first step in truly ending any war is a ceasefire,” Zelenskiy said on X. “There is no point in continuing the killing even for a single day. We expect Russia to confirm a ceasefire – full, lasting, and reliable – starting tomorrow, May 12th.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday he would be ready to meet Vladimir Putin for talks in Istanbul on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump told him to agree to an offer of talks with Russia immediately. Zelensky, in a post on X, also said that Ukraine expected a full ceasefire to start on Monday in order to provide the necessary basis for diplomacy to end the war. “And I will be waiting for Putin in Türkiye on Thursday,” he said.

The conflict in Gaza cannot be solved by military means and a political solution must be found to end the war permanently, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in Jerusalem on Sunday. “I do not believe that this conflict can be permanently resolved by military means,” Wadephul said. “Nevertheless, it is urgently necessary that Hamas is disarmed and that it can no longer have military control over Gaza.” He said that Germany would do whatever it takes to guarantee Israel’s security, but this does not mean that his country cannot criticise Israel’s course of action, adding that this “must not…

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday that Ukraine had violated a three-day truce concluded on Saturday more than 14,000 times, and Kyiv’s troops had made five attempts to breach Russia’s southern border, the TASS state news agency reported. Both Russia and Ukraine have repeatedly accused the other of violating the May 8-10 ceasefire, which Kyiv did not agree to.