Russia on Saturday said its forces had taken two villages in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, increasing the military pressure as world leaders struggle to broker an end to the conflict.

Convicted criminals could face being banned from going to the pub, music concerts and sports events such as soccer matches under new plans by the British government as it seeks ways to address the country's overflowing prison crisis.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that Russia was doing everything it could to prevent a meeting between him and Putin, while Russia's foreign minister said the agenda for such a meeting was not ready.

US President Donald Trump raised expectations for a swift summit between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents by saying they had both agreed to meet after Zelensky, Rutte and Kyiv's European allies visited the White House on Monday.

Caterham was due to mark the occasion quietly with her family, taking the day "at her own pace", the care home where she lives said.

They will reportedly move into Forest Lodge, an eight-bedroom mansion dating to the late 18th century, larger than their current four-bedroom home on the estate, west of London.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has signalled openness to German participation in a possible peacekeeping mission in Ukraine while emphasizing that such a decision would require coordination with European partners and his own coalition.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was certainly hoping that a spot of fashion diplomacy Monday could get US counterpart Donald Trump to help his country reach a peace deal with Russia.

Macron's remarks came as Russian and Ukrainian presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky looked set for a peace summit after fast-moving talks Monday between Donald Trump and European leaders that focused on the key issue of long-term security guarantees for Kyiv.

Hopes of a breakthrough rose after Trump said he had spoken by phone with Russian counterpart Putin -- whom he met in Alaska last week -- following a "very good" meeting with the Europeans and the Ukrainian president at the White House.

US President Donald Trump said Monday he had started arranging a peace summit between Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and Russia's Vladimir Putin, after intensive talks with Zelensky and European leaders at the White House.

As Spain enters its third week of heatwave alerts, firefighters continue to battle blazes in the northwest and west of the country, with army units deployed to help contain the blazes.

The first lady's office on Saturday reposted a Fox News article on X containing the short letter, a day after Trump and Putin failed to find a breakthrough at their high-stakes meeting.

Donald Trump on Saturday dropped his push for a ceasefire in Ukraine in favor of pursuing a full peace accord -- a major shift announced hours after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin yielded no clear breakthrough.

Talks on striking a global treaty on combating plastic pollution were extended an extra day into Friday but with no clear endgame in sight.

Putin flies to Alaska on Friday at the invitation of Trump in his first visit to a Western country since he ordered the 2022 invasion of Ukraine that has killed tens of thousands of people.

Spain on Thursday mourned its third wildfire death this week and Greece began beating back a blaze threatening its third-largest city as an unrelenting heatwave stoked tinderbox conditions in southern Europe.

US President Donald Trump said he believes his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin is ready to end his war in Ukraine, speaking on the eve of Friday's summit between the men, but that peace would likely require at least a second meeting involving Ukraine's leader.

"Now I can talk about it without crying," said the Dutch woman who was four when she and her family were captured and held in "horrible" conditions in a camp in Java.

Attempts to secure a landmark treaty combating plastic pollution descended into disarray on the penultimate day of talks Wednesday as dozens of countries rejected the latest draft text, leaving the talks in limbo.

US President Donald Trump threatened "severe consequences" if Russia's Vladimir Putin does not agree to peace in Ukraine but also said on Wednesday that a meeting between them could swiftly be followed by a second that would include the leader of Ukraine.

Firefighters across Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and the Balkans were battling wildfires on Tuesday, with another heatwave pushing temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius across parts of Europe.

The procurement of the Dassault Rafale B jet fighters marks an ambitious plan to update the Indonesian Air Force with more capable and modern aircraft. 

Trump has been vague about his expectations for the Alaska summit with Putin on Friday, describing it as a "feel-out meeting" to gauge the Russian leader's ideas for ending the war in Ukraine.

Talks on sealing a landmark treaty to tackle the global scourge of plastic pollution were still stuck in second gear on Monday, with time running out to bridge the chasm between the most ambitious countries and oil-producing states.

Two warships that are part of the UK Carrier Strike Group HMS Prince of Wales visited Jakarta in late June.

Indonesia's first Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft succesfully made its maiden flight from Seville, Spain, on Aug. 1

Talks on forging a landmark treaty to combat the scourge of plastic pollution were stumbling Saturday, with progress slow and countries wildly at odds on how far the proposed agreement should go.

European leaders welcomed on Saturday US President Donald Trump's plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the war in Ukraine, while stressing the need to keep pressure on Moscow and protect Ukrainian and European security interests.

The Alaska summit would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021.