- Sri Lanka's new leader appoints cabinet ahead of expected snap polls
- Singapore ex-minister convicted in rare graft trial
- UK town catches Subbuteo fever
- France facing 'one of worst deficits' in its history: minister
- China's Olympic champ Zheng embraces big home expectations
- Biden bids farewell to UN, in shadow of Trump
- All Blacks seek to end Wellington jinx, with Cane poised for 100th cap
- Postbank (Постбанк) анулює рахунки українців у Німеччині
- Meryl Streep says a 'squirrel has more rights' than an Afghan girl
- Postbank terminates accounts of Ukrainians in Germany
- Hong Kong, Shanghai lead markets rally after China stimulus
- Dutch paint giant Akzonobel slashes 2,000 jobs worldwide
- Sri Lanka's new leader to call snap parliamentary polls
- In Ukraine's Pokrovsk, some quietly waiting for Russian troops
- Singapore ex-minister pleads guilty in rare graft trial
- Fishy business caught by fraying India-Bangladesh ties
- US Open champion Sabalenka chases year-end number one ranking
- New Zealand scientists discover ghostly 'spookfish'
- Trump slams early voting, even while urging Pennsylvanians to do so
- Singapore ex-minister pleads guilty to bribery in rare graft trial
- Major Hurricane John hits Mexico's Pacific coast
- IMF says ready for talks with Sri Lanka's new leftist government
- Phillies clinch division title, eye top seed
- Bills trample Jaguars, Commanders claw Bengals
- China unveils fresh stimulus to boost ailing economy
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally on China stimulus on mixed day for markets
- Back to death row? Retrial verdict due in Japan murder saga
- Rare corruption trial of Singapore ex-minister begins
- Ghana a long way off from gender equality despite new law
- China unveils fresh stimulus to boost economy
- Hamas weakened, not crushed a year into war with Israel
- Israeli economy struggles under weight of Gaza war
- Israelis united in trauma, divided by war after October 7
- New York Liberty riding WNBA boom into playoffs
- Union says new Boeing pay offer 'missed the mark'
- Environmental groups urge EU 'high risk' label for Sarawak
- Argentina seeks Maduro's arrest for crimes against humanity
- Morales issues Bolivian president 24-hour ultimatum to shake up cabinet
- Armenia and Azerbaijan see progress, but peace treaty seems distant
- World leaders gather at UN as Mideast tensions explode
- Biden's UN goodbye aims to 'Trump-proof' legacy
- Singapore ex-minister set for high-profile corruption trial
- Man Utd, Spurs eye respite from domestic woes in Europa League
- Guatemala picks Supreme Court judges with focus on anti-graft fight
- Jill Biden announces $500 million for women's health research
- Injured All Blacks centre Jordie Barrett out of Australia Test
- 'Lead the future': youth challenge world leaders at UN
- Goosebumps and stars as Paris Fashion Week kicks off
- Boeing boosts pay offer in effort to end strike
- Global markets inch higher on hopes of further rate cuts
Russia unleashes offensive into east Ukraine: Zelensky
Russia launched a major offensive into eastern Ukraine on Monday, authorities in Kyiv said, as Moscow opened a new phase of its invasion after being thwarted in efforts to capture the capital.
In recent weeks, Russia's military campaign has refocused on the eastern region of Donbas, which pro-Moscow separatists have partly controlled since 2014.
"We can now confirm that Russian troops have begun the battle for the Donbas, which they have been preparing for a long time," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Telegram late Monday.
"No matter how many Russian soldiers are brought here, we will fight. We will defend ourselves."
Ahead of the widely anticipated advance, Ukrainian authorities had urged people in Donbas to flee west to escape.
Control of Donbas would allow Moscow to create a southern corridor to the occupied Crimean peninsula.
In the south of Donbas, Russia continued its push to capture the besieged port city of Mariupol, where the last remaining Ukrainian forces have taken a final stand.
Russia on Monday also pounded targets across the country, killing at least seven people in the far western city of Lviv.
Lviv has largely been spared bombardment since Russia invaded on February 24, and the city and its surroundings had become a relatively safe haven for those seeking safety for the war zone.
But "today we understood clearly that we don't have any safe places in Ukraine. It's very dangerous," a bank employee who gave her name as Natalia told AFP after the strikes.
- Strikes across Ukraine -
Russia's defence ministry said Monday it had hit 16 military targets across Ukraine.
Among the sites struck was a depot near Lviv that Moscow said held weapons recently delivered to Ukraine from the United States and Europe.
Shipments of the latest $800-million US military aid package, which includes helicopters, howitzers and armoured personnel carriers, have arrived at Ukraine's borders, a Pentagon official said Monday.
Shortly before Zelensky's address, the regional governor of the Lugansk region Sergiy Gaiday also announced the beginning of Russia's much-anticipated attack.
"It's hell. The offensive has begun, the one we've been talking about for weeks. There's constant fighting in Rubizhne and Popasna, fighting in other peaceful cities," he said on Facebook.
Russian shelling killed at least eight civilians in eastern Ukraine, according to local authorities.
Gaiday said four people died as they tried to flee the city of Kreminna in Lugansk as Russian troops moved in.
"The Russian army has already entered there, with a huge amount of military hardware... Our defenders have retreated to new positions," Gaiday said in a statement on social media.
But Ukrainian presidential advisor Oleksiy Arestovich said Russian forces had not conquered the city.
Ukraine officials on Monday halted the evacuation of civilians from frontline towns and cities in the east for a second day, accusing Russian forces of having blocked and shelled escape routes.
- War crimes -
President Vladimir Putin has said he launched the military operation on February 24 to save Russian-speakers in Ukraine from a "genocide" carried out by a "neo-Nazi" regime.
He recognised the independence of two self-proclaimed separatist republics in Donetsk and Lugansk shortly before the invasion began.
On Monday, Putin lauded the 64th Motor Rifle Brigade -- which is accused of committing atrocities near Kyiv -- bestowing battle honours on them for "heroism and valour, tenacity and courage".
Ukraine has alleged the brigade is guilty of war crimes while occupying the suburb of Bucha on the outskirts of Kyiv, where residents were shot dead, some with their hands bound.
The European Union condemned Russia's "indiscriminate" bombing of Ukrainian civilians following the strikes on Lviv.
Its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pointed to "particularly heavy attacks" in eastern and southern Ukraine and an offensive against second city Kharkiv, where officials said Russian shelling killed three people.
Seeking to strengthen ties and accelerate admission to the 27-nation bloc, Zelensky said that Ukraine hoped to receive EU candidate country status within weeks.
On Monday, he handed the EU's envoy to Kyiv a two-volume response to a membership questionnaire brought by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in March.
burs-bgs/to
M.Ouellet--BTB