Ukraine

The women filed into the yoga studio, on the ground floor of an otherwise pitch-black apartment block, for an afterwork session that was specially tailored to Ukraine's current period of deprivation.

A group of English villagers has declared the Russian president Vladimir Putin "Bellend of the Year."

The World Bank's private investment arm on Thursday said it had launched a $2 billion support package for Ukraine to help build the resilience of the Ukrainian private sector devastated by Russia's war and to prepare for reconstruction.

With Moscow blacklisted since it invaded Ukraine, Europe's main producer of caviar wants to put an end, once and for all, to the delicacy's traditional association with Russia.

Pope Francis on Wednesday called on people to spend less on Christmas presents and celebrations, and donate the money saved to those in war-ravaged Ukraine.

All non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa was without power after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, leaving 1.5 million people without power, officials said on Saturday.

European motorists could find Russian diesel in their tanks even after bans take effect because regulators lack tools to trace the origin of fuel when it has passed through other countries.

Time magazine named President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as "the spirit of Ukraine" as its 2022 person of the year on Wednesday, for the resistance the country has shown in the face of Russia's invasion.

The European Union flagged tougher requirements on Wednesday for commodity companies using derivatives markets after failing to meet higher collateral calls when gas prices rocketed due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

European Union finance ministers will on Tuesday look to get Hungary's backing for 18 billion euros ($18.89 billion) of support for Ukraine for next year in exchange for access to EU money from its recovery fund as well as budget.

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Vadym Khlupianets, a 26-year-old ballet dancer at Kyiv's National Operetta Theatre, joined the army.

The United Arab Emirates and Ukraine agreed on Monday to begin talks on a bilateral trade deal, expected to conclude by the middle of next year, the UAE's economy ministry said.

The West's plan to starve Russia of resources to fight its war in Ukraine by imposing a price cap on its oil exports hit a diplomatic logjam in Brussels on Friday.

Italy's ruling rightist parties are preparing to vote on allowing the government to continue sending weapons to Ukraine throughout 2023, a draft amendment and a parliamentary motion seen by Reuters showed on Tuesday.

The Italian who ran on to the World Cup pitch wearing a T-shirt in support of Ukraine and Iranian women is a football player with a history of similar stunts.

Ukraine said on Monday that Russia was preparing for a fresh wave of missile attacks on its energy grid that have plunged swathes of the country into the cold and dark.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that Russia would surely launch new missile attacks on his country, and warned defence forces and citizens to be prepared to withstand a new week of strain on the power grid.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak plans to promise on Monday to maintain or increase military aid to Ukraine next year, and to confront international competitors "not with grand rhetoric but with robust pragmatism".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the United Nations Security Council to act against Russia over air strikes on civilian infrastructure that have again plunged Ukrainian cities into darkness and cold as winter sets in.

Ukraine's security service said Wednesday it had seized "pro-Russian literature", cash and interrogated dozens during raids of several Orthodox monasteries that spurred a backlash from the Kremlin.

Dutch judges convicted two Russian men and a Ukrainian man in absentia of murder for their role in the shooting down of Flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014 with the loss of 298 passengers and crew, and handed them life sentences.

The APEC summit caps an intense fortnight of diplomacy in Asia, following the G20 and a gathering of Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders in Phnom Penh last week.

European stock markets slid Wednesday, with investors spooked over a deadly missile blast in Poland near the border with Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine both tortured their prisoners of war during the ongoing conflict between the two.

The UK has also confirmed the deaths of medic Craig Mackintosh and ex-paratrooper Simon Lingard, who was killed near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine this month.

The G20 gathering will inevitably be overshadowed by Moscow's offensive in Ukraine, which has shocked global energy markets and aggravated food shortages.

The British government said on Thursday it had frozen assets worth more than 18 billion pounds ($20.5 billion) held by Russian oligarchs, other individuals and businesses sanctioned over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Britain is stepping up its support for Ukrainian soldiers through the winter as a key battle in Kherson looms and as mobilised Russian troops struggle, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told Reuters on Wednesday.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday night said his forces would not yield "a single centimetre" in battles for control of eastern Donetsk region while Russian-installed officials described Ukrainian forces moving into one southern town with tanks.

Stoltenberg will meet Sunak after visiting a military facility where Ukrainian troops are being trained by British military.