"Russian UN Security Council presidency on April 1 is a bad joke. Russia has usurped its seat; it's waging a colonial war; its leader is a war criminal wanted by the ICC for kidnapping children," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

Moscow failed on Monday to get the UN Security Council to ask for an independent inquiry into explosions in September that ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia and Germany and spewed gas into the Baltic Sea.

Yousaf beat out two SNP rivals Monday to clinch the party's top job, vowing to rejuvenate its signature policy of pursuing independence for Scotland which has stalled in recent months. 

Putin likened his Belarus plan on Saturday to the US stationing its weapons in Europe, insisting Russia would not violate its nuclear non-proliferation promises.

As France frets about an extended drought and prospects for more wildfires in another long summer, one blaze that erupted eight months ago in the southwest of the country still smoulders away underground.

France's National Assembly on Thursday approved the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) video surveillance during the 2024 Paris Olympics, overlooking warnings from civil rights groups that the technology posed a threat to civil liberties.

Most patients admitted to hospitals with acute viral infections are given antibiotics as a precaution against bacterial co-infection, but this practice may not improve survival, new research suggests.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant on Friday, accusing Putin of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. It said there are reasonable grounds to believe that Putin bears individual criminal responsibility.

 Former Turkish economy tsar Mehmet Simsek's refusal to return to politics has left President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party scrambling to rebuild its economic credibility less than two months before landmark elections, insiders and analysts say.

The EU's planned ban on new combustion engines from 2035 is not on the agenda of the upcoming EU summit but talks between the European Commission and Berlin about their differences over the plan are "very constructive", a German government official said.

Washington denounced Xi's visit, saying the timing indicated Beijing was providing Moscow with "diplomatic cover" to commit additional crimes.

Freshly reappointed for a third term in power, Xi is pushing a greater role for China on the global stage, and was crucial in mediating a surprise rapprochement between Middle Eastern rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia this month.

Moscow dismissed the orders as "void." Russia is not a party to the ICC so it was unclear if or how Putin could ever end up in the dock.

Xi will be in Russia from Monday to Wednesday, Beijing's foreign ministry and the Kremlin said on Friday.

"We think it would be a very good thing if the two of them talk," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters when asked about a Wall Street Journal report that the Ukrainian leader is set to talk with Xi for the first time since Chinese-ally Russia invaded.

"The incident with the American MQ-9 Reaper UAV -- provoked by Russia over the Black Sea -- is Putin's way of signalling his readiness to expand the conflict to involve other parties. The purpose of this all-in tactic is to always be raising the stakes," Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council secretary  Oleksiy Danilov said on social media.

Putin has yet to travel beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union since sending his armed forces into Ukraine in February last year, and missed November's G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia.

France faced a seventh day of demonstrations on Saturday against President Emmanuel Macron's unpopular pension reform plans amid ongoing rolling strikes which have affected refineries, public transport and garbage collections.  

The disruption came during a fresh wave of Russian strikes across Ukraine which killed at least nine people and led to power outages across the country.

The US and NATO have called the attacks, which occurred seven months into Russia's invasion of Ukraine and destroyed three of the four pipelines running under the Baltic Sea, "an act of sabotage".

A new pact to facilitate the safe transfer of EU citizens' personal data to the United States might not come into force in time to avoid a suspension of Facebook's transatlantic data flows, the US firm's lead European regulator said on Tuesday.

"In addition to India (procedures simplification) ... is being worked out with Angola, Vietnam, Indonesia, Syria and Philippines," Ivanov said.

Deputy Defense Minister M. Herindra visited the United Kingdom and France this week to follow up on Indonesia’s defense procurement plans from two French giant arms makers Thales and Nexter, insisting it should include transfer of technology.  

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will hold confidential talks on Friday in Washington with US President Joe Biden about Russia's war in Ukraine, China and other matters amid signs of strains between the transatlantic partners.

Rescuers combed through charred and buckled rail carriages for more victims of Greece's deadliest train crash on Thursday, a disaster that killed at least 46 people and has led to a national outpouring of grief and anger.

 Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called it an unspeakable tragedy but questions are being asked whether the fatal collision of passenger and freight trains on Tuesday night could have been prevented.

Senior US officials have said as recently as Sunday that they were "confident" China was considering providing lethal equipment to Moscow, with a diplomatic pressure campaign underway to discourage it from doing so.

Britain and the European Union proclaimed Monday a "new chapter" in relations after years of Brexit tensions as they agreed on a sweeping overhaul of trade rules in Northern Ireland.

Transitioning has always been tough in Ukraine. Trans people often encounter discrimination from doctors and struggle to access gender-affirming healthcare such as hormones and surgery. Updating legal documents can also be a long process.

The magazine said it has seen information indicating that Russia's military is negotiating with Chinese drone manufacturer Xi'an Bingo Intelligent Aviation Technology to produce such drones for Moscow on a large scale.