Merz also expressed his "grave concern" about developments in the Palestinian territories in a telephone conversation with Netanyahu and demanded that there "must be no de facto partial annexation of the West Bank", the German government spokesman said.

The strait, through which a fifth of global oil and gas flows, has become a key flashpoint as the US and Iran attempt to gain leverage over each other during ceasefire negotiations.

Egypt, a BRICS member, is the largest importer of Russian wheat, while Russia also exports food to China and India, the bloc's two biggest economies.

Meeting Putin for the second time in less than six months, Prabowo said ahead of closed-door talks that he intended to “personally supervise” key strategic cooperation with Moscow, highlighting the urgency of closer ties in an increasingly uncertain global climate. 

US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February sparked a region-wide war and brought to a near standstill traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global oil and gas shipments.

"Europe's heart is beating stronger in Hungary tonight," she posted on X, in English and in Hungarian.

President Prabowo Subianto is set to depart for Russia, the Foreign Ministry confirmed on Sunday, as he seeks to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in search of fuel amid disruptions to global oil supplies caused by the United States-Israeli war on Iran.

The presidency in Jakarta confirmed to AFP that Prabowo would leave Sunday evening.

Police in London said they had arrested more than 500 pro-Palestinian protesters at a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action on Saturday.

Pope Leo has urged world leaders to end what he called the "madness of war," in an impassioned appeal as senior US and Iranian officials met in Pakistan to discuss ending the six-week conflict.

Roscosmos chief said the Soyuz-5 would be the first new launch vehicle developed in Russia since 2014.

"NATO is a defensive alliance, which for decades has kept us much safer than we would otherwise have been," Starmer says.

The Kremlin said earlier this week that there were a huge number of requests for Russian energy from different countries amid a global energy crisis that was shaking the foundations of the oil and gas markets.

Leo, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war, said that mistrust and fear have been allowed to "sever the bonds between us through war, injustice and the isolation of peoples and nations."

Zelenskiy proposed a halt in strikes for Easter holidays, and said Ukraine would reciprocate if Russia stopped attacks on the energy sector, but Moscow rejected the idea.

It is the first time since 2022 that the pope has personally taken part in the Way of the Cross, which has been organized at the Colosseum since 1964.

The US president on Wednesday unleashed his latest broadside against Macron during a private lunch as he lambasted NATO allies for not joining the war against Iran.

A visiting Russian academic has suggested that Global South countries establish a new system of governance and trade, free from Western dominance as the US-Israeli war on Iran shows no signs of ceasing, nearly a week into its second month.

Trump described the alliance as a "paper tiger" and said removing the United States from the defence pact was now "beyond reconsideration," the newspaper reported. He said he had long held doubts about NATO's credibility.

"I think there's no doubt, unfortunately, after this conflict is concluded, we are going to have to reexamine that relationship. We're going to have to reexamine the value of NATO in that alliance for our country," Rubio said to host Sean Hannity on Fox News.

Pope Leo said on Sunday that God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars and have "hands full of blood", in unusually forceful remarks as the Iran war entered its second month.

The Ford, America's newest and the world's largest carrier, was operating in the Red Sea in support of Operation Epic Fury when a non-combat fire broke out in its main laundry room on March 12, injuring three sailors.

Europe is dangerously unprepared to tackle a growing wildfire crisis, and must overhaul its fleets of firefighting aircraft and step up investment, according to a report.

The amount of heat trapped by the Earth reached record levels in 2025, with the consequences of such warming feared to last for thousands of years, the UN has warned.

After years battling the fallout from a pandemic, the Ukraine war and then US tariffs, tumult in the Middle East is ramping up the cost of key raw materials in Europe once again.

The number of meningitis cases reported in a deadly outbreak linked to a nightclub in southeast England rose from 29 to 34, including 23 confirmed cases, UK health officials announced Saturday.

Some Iranian sources have said that they have had little real help from Moscow in the biggest crisis for Iran since the United States-backed Shah was toppled in the 1979 revolution.

The three countries said that together with other unnamed partners they were exploring setting up a new mechanism by 2027 which would speed up investment and boost demand for defense kit, a statement from Britain said on Tuesday.

Britain's media and privacy regulators on Thursday demanded that major social media platforms do more to keep children off their services, warning that companies were failing to enforce their own minimum age rules.

French President Emmanuel Macron will convene a call with leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) on Wednesday to discuss the Iran crisis and rising energy prices, the French president's office said.