French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump rekindled the most touchy-feely bromance in world politics as they met on Monday for talks on Ukraine.

The two votes highlighted a seismic shift in the balance of power at the UN, where Washington had steadfastly voted for resolutions that favored Ukraine and condemned Russia, until the abrupt rupture with Kyiv.

"I think it's a good idea. The US would cut by 50 percent and we would cut by 50 percent and then China would join if it wanted," Putin said in a televised interview.

A long-time rival of centrist ex-chancellor Angela Merkel within the CDU party, Merz has attacked her open-door migrant policy and drawn her ire for accepting support from the far-right AfD on the flashpoint issue in parliament.

The pope was admitted to Rome's Gemelli hospital on February 14 after having trouble breathing for several days and subsequently had pneumonia diagnosed in both lungs.

Tedros urged countries not to sink the agreement on a word, a comma or a percentage in the text, imploring them not to make perfect the enemy of the good.

Francis is being treated at Rome's Gemelli hospital, where he was admitted on Feb. 14 after struggling with breathing difficulties for several days.

Late on Thursday, the Vatican said Pope Francis is "slightly improving" and his blood analyses are stable, in the latest sign of progress as the 88-year-old pontiff battles double pneumonia.

To some, the chant is provocative. German media and commentators have highlighted how it recalls the phrase "Alles fuer Deutschland" (Everything for Germany) a banned Nazi-era slogan, engraved on the daggers of Adolf Hitler's paramilitaries. A state AfD leader, Bjoern Hoecke, has been fined for using those words. Weidel's spokesman denies a resemblance.

However, no specifics on a possible meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin emerged from the gathering in Riyadh, the first high-level official Washington-Moscow talks since Ukraine's 2022 invasion.

The United States has provided essential funding and arms to Ukraine, but Trump made an abrupt policy shift by opening talks with Moscow just weeks after he returned to the White House.

As the 4-1/2-hour meeting in the Saudi capital was underway, Russia hardened its demands, notably insisting it would not tolerate the NATO alliance granting membership to Ukraine.

With European policymakers still reeling from US Vice President JD Vance's withering attack on the European Union at an annual security conference in Munich, key leaders attended the meeting at the Elysee Palace called at the last minute by President Emmanuel Macron.

Both sides played down the chances that the first high-level meeting between the countries since US President Donald Trump took office would result in a breakthrough.

The 88-year-old pontiff had a peaceful night on Sunday, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. The Vatican had not yet provided an update on the pope's condition on Monday.

Trump rattled Ukraine and its European allies on Wednesday by agreeing to launch peace talks in his first publicly announced call with Putin since returning to office. 

"The Secretary intends to continue his travel to Germany and the Middle East on a separate aircraft," Bruce said in a statement.

Chinese officials in recent weeks have raised a proposal with the Trump team through intermediaries to hold a summit between the two leaders and to facilitate peacekeeping efforts after an eventual truce, according to people in Beijing and Washington cited by the newspaper. 

Following Netanyahu's ultimatum, Hamas issued a statement renewing its commitment to the ceasefire and accusing Israel of jeopardizing the ceasefire. 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be in Indonesia on Tuesday and Wednesday to meet with President Praabowo Subianto, with both leaders expected to attend the High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council (HLSC) meeting to discuss various cooperation plans and the strengthening of bilateral mechanisms, the Foreign Ministry has said.

Reynhard Sinaga, 41, was found guilty in Manchester in 2020 of assaulting 48 men, whom he drugged after taking them back to his apartment from bars and clubs in the British city.

The move comes after a gunman killed 10 people on Tuesday before apparently turning the gun on himself at an education centre in Orebro, west of Stockholm.

Reynhard, the "worst-known sex offender" in the British history, made global headlines in 2020 when a court in the United Kingdom sentenced him to life imprisonment for at least 136 counts of rape.

Serge Atlaoui was sentenced to death in 2007 for his role as a chemist in an ecstasy factory that was capable of producing 100 kg (220.5 lb) of illegal pills every week. Atlaoui has long maintained his innocence, saying he thought he was working in an acrylics factory. 

Trump, speaking to reporters at the White House, said Ukraine was willing, adding that he wants "equalization" from Ukraine for Washington's "close to $300 billion" in support.

The Navy has named its two Italian-made warships after historic kings, symbolizing the Navy's hopes, prayers and determination to defend the nation’s sovereignty and honor.

Former president Megawati Soekarnoputri is slated to meet Pope Francis on the sidelines of the the World Leaders’ Summit on Children’s Rights in the Vatican, which will mark their second meeting to date.

Both had agreed on several key cooperations, including personnel exchange and training, joint military equipment production and technology transfer.

The UN confirmed on Thursday that the United States was due to withdraw from the WHO on Jan. 22, 2026, after a one-year notice period required under a 1948 joint resolution of the US Congress.

Indonesia and the United Kingdom have launched an infrastructure program that seeks to advance Indonesia’s sustainable development, following President Prabowo Subianto’s trip to London last November, during which the two countries’ leaders announced a “new strategic partnership”.