Just weeks after failing in a first attempt to lead the ruling Tories, Sunak could cap a stunning reversal in fortunes by winning the leadership as early as Monday afternoon, following ex-premier Johnson's unexpected move late Sunday.

The handover of power from outgoing premier Mario Draghi to Meloni will take place at Rome's Chigi Palace and a first cabinet meeting will follow shortly afterwards.

Asked if Johnson would run, Heaton Harris said: "Yes, I think so."

Former prime minister Johnson, who returned from a Caribbean holiday earlier in the day aiming to launch an audacious political comeback just weeks after leaving office, met ex-finance minister Sunak to discuss the race, the BBC and others reported. 

British Conservative politician Rishi Sunak late Friday reached the minimum threshold to run for party leader, as former prime minister Boris Johnson targeted an audacious comeback.

Now he has to weigh up whether he can convince Britain's governing party he is the man to save it from chaos.

Arriving at an EU summit, Macron said he would not comment on British domestic politics but added: "It is important that Great Britain regains political stability very quickly, and that is all I wish."

"I recognise that given the situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party. I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party," Truss said.

The departure of Suella Braverman, over a "technical" breach of government rules, means Truss has now lost two of her most senior ministers in less than a week, both replaced by politicians who had not backed her for the leadership.

Truss is set to face hostile questions from Tory as well as opposition MPs in a likely febrile House of Commons, less than 48 hours after new finance minister Jeremy Hunt dismembered her flagship tax plans.

Missiles struck power stations in the capital Kyiv where they killed three people, and in Kharkiv in the east, Dnipro and Kryvyi Rih in the south, and Zhytomyr in the west, causing blackouts and knocking out water supplies. One man was killed in his flat that was destroyed in Mykolaiv in the south.

"Those who give orders to attack critical infrastructure to freeze civilians and organize total mobilization to cover the frontline with corpses, cannot sit at the same table with leaders of G20 for sure. Time to put an end to Russian hypocrisy. The Russian Federation must be expelled from all platforms," he wrote on Twitter.

"I believe that these statements show a lack understanding of the course of the conflict," Putin said during a meeting of leaders of Commonwealth of Independent States members in Kazakhstan. 

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the remarks affirming America's commitment to NATO's collective defense following repeated nuclear threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin amid battlefield setbacks in his nearly eight-month-long invasion of Ukraine.

The General Assembly approved the resolution with 143 in favor and five against, but 35 nations abstained including China, India, South Africa and Pakistan despite a major US diplomatic effort to seek clearer condemnation of Moscow.

The suspects include five Russians and "three Ukrainian and Armenian citizens," it said, without providing more details.

In an interview on state television, Lavrov said Russia was willing to engage with the United States or with Turkey on ways to end the war, now in its eight month, but had yet to receive any serious proposal to negotiate.

Speaking on state television, Lavrov said Russia was willing to listen to any suggestions regarding peace talks, but that he could not say in advance what this process will lead to.

"We are gravely concerned that some of the attacks appear to have targeted critical civilian infrastructure ... indicating that these strikes may have violated the principles on the conduct of hostilities under international humanitarian law," Ravina Shamdasani told a news conference on Tuesday.

Bernanke, together with Douglas Diamond and Philip Dybvig, were honoured for having "significantly improved our understanding of the role of banks in the economy, particularly during financial crises, as well as how to regulate financial markets", the jury said.

Biden spoke to President Volodymyr Zelensky and "pledged to continue providing Ukraine with the support needed to defend itself, including advanced air defense systems," the statement said.

Missiles tore into Kyiv, the most intense strikes on the capital since Russia abandoned an attempt to captured it in the early weeks of the war. Explosions were also reported in Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in Ukraine's west, Dnipro and Kremenchuk in central Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia in the south and Kharkiv in the east. A witness in Russia's Belgorod region near the Ukrainian border also heard a blast from the border area.

"We hope the situation will deescalate soon," ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing.

The final gong of the year will be announced at 11:45 am (0945 GMT) on Monday.

"There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure," Putin said on Sunday in a video on the Kremlin's Telegram channel. 

Saturday's explosion on the bridge over the Kerch Strait prompted gleeful messages from Ukrainian officials but no claim of responsibility. Russia did not immediately assign blame.

The federal police are investigating the incident, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said, adding the motive for it was unclear.

The Nobel Peace Prize was on Friday awarded to human rights champions Ales Bialiatski of Belarus, Russia's Memorial group and Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties for their work to document war crimes and rights abuses.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine's forces were swiftly recapturing more territory especially in the south of the country as Putin's seven-month invasion unravels.

With Russian forces retreating from front lines in the south and east, Zelenskiy said in a late-night video address on Wednesday that Novovoskresenske, Novohryhorivka and Petropavlivka to the northeast of Kherson city had been "liberated".