DREW ANGERER, GAVRIIL GRIGOROV/ GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / POOL/ AFP
Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to a proposal by US President Donald Trump that Russia and Ukraine cease attacking each other's energy infrastructure for 30 days, the Kremlin said following a lengthy phone discussion between the leaders.
The two countries plan to begin negotiations "immediately" in the Middle East on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, according to a readout from the White House.
"The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace," the White House readout said.
Trump had been pressuring Putin to agree to a US-backed 30-day ceasefire that Ukraine has already accepted as part of a move toward a permanent peace deal to end Europe's biggest conflict since World War Two.
The war has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions and reduced entire towns to rubble.
Putin, whose forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, said last week he supported in principle Washington's proposal for a truce but that his forces would fight on until several crucial conditions were worked out.
Rescuers cleared the rubble in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday in a search for survivors, as flags were lowered to half mast to mark a day of mourning, a day after a Russian missile and drone attack killed at least 30 people.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced on Thursday the launch of clinical trials for two potential treatments for the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the first patient enrolled in the study.
India has issued notices to messaging platforms Telegram and Signal asking them to explain safeguards around features that allow users to post messages without revealing their phone numbers, a government source said.
Rebels in Indonesia's restive easternmost region of Papua on Thursday shot dead an American pilot and set a civilian plane on fire in what a spokesperson for a local separatist group described as a message to the US and Indonesian governments.
Russian forces attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Thursday, killing at least 10 people and wounding more than 50, as drones and missiles struck residential buildings in what Russia said was a retaliation for recent attacks on its civil infrastructure.
Firefighters were battling to bring a wildfire in the Aude region of southern France under control on Thursday, as the country grappled with the lingering effects of Europe's recent heatwave.
Iran and the US concluded a round of indirect talks on Wednesday with no sign they had made headway toward a lasting peace, focusing instead on issues that they said had been resolved when an interim agreement was announced two weeks ago.
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