US holding secret peace talks with Russia to end Ukraine war: Axios
The White House and the Kremlin have been secretly working on a proposal to end Russia’s war against Ukraine, Axios reported, citing U.S. and Russian officials.
Europe
Gustav Klimt painting that spared subject from Nazis breaks modern art price record
The only higher public sale remains Salvator Mundi by Leonardo da Vinci, which sold in 2017 for $450.3m (£342.66m) at Christie’s
Russian strikes kill several in west Ukraine as whole country placed on alert
Russian drone strikes killed several people in west Ukraine and injured dozens in the eastern city of Kharkiv, authorities said on Wednesday, as the whole country was placed under air raid alert. Ukraine’s energy ministry said the attacks caused emerg…
Moscow passes laws to boost defences against Ukrainian strikes
Vladimir Putin authorises the guarding of fuel sites by reservists, internet blackouts and tighter sentencing for acts of sabotageRussia has passed sweeping laws to bolster its defences at home against Ukrainian drone strikes and sabotage operations, r…
‘Their rights are being violated’: Ukrainian families call for return of their stolen children
Family members of Ukrainian children deported from Kherson by Russia made a rare public appeal for their return on Monday in Paris. Since the start of its full-scale invasion, Moscow has deported Ukrainian children into Russia, often sending older chi…
‘Dangerous nostalgia’: did Spain’s ‘pact of forgetting’ after Franco leave new generation open to far right?
Events to mark the 50th anniversary of dictator’s death are intended to remind Spaniards, particularly the young, of the dangers of fascismMingorrubio municipal cemetery, which sits where the suburbs of north-west Madrid fade out into the countryside, …
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Romania and Poland scramble jets after Putin’s forces pound western Ukraine
Explosions heard as Russia targets western Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Ternopil
US, Russia in talks over potential prisoner swap: Axios
Washington and Moscow are discussing the possibility of a new prisoner exchange, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing officials from the United States and Russia.
Germany’s Merz under fire in Brazil for his comments on Amazon host city of COP30
Brazilian authorities have raged against comments by Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz in which he appeared to look down on Belem, a city on the edge of the Amazon rainforest
Zelensky visits Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ painting years after making Ukraine bombing comparison
Zelensky referenced the painting in April 2022 while addressing Spain’s parliament