- North Korea fires short-range ballistic missile salvo ahead of US election
- Taiwan couple charged with trying to influence elections for China
- Indonesian President Prabowo to visit China this week
- Critically endangered Sumatran elephant calf born in Indonesia
- The marble 'living Buddhas' trapped by Myanmar's civil war
- How East Germany's 'traffic light man' became a beloved icon
- Japan expresses concern to China over Russia-North Korea ties
- Asian markets swing ahead of toss-up US election
- Palau polls open as pro-US president faces election test
- 'Panic buttons,' SWAT teams: US braces for election unrest
- Hundreds of UK police sacked for misconduct
- Harris, Trump fight through final campaign hours
- Top-ranked Nelly Korda wins LPGA Player of Year award
- Israel accuses Turkey of 'malice' over UN arms embargo call
- Man City will 'struggle' to overcome injury crisis, says Guardiola
- First candidates grilled in parliament test for EU top team
- Fulham strike twice in stoppage time to beat Brentford
- Saints fire head coach Allen after seventh straight NFL defeat
- Is the US election really so close?
- Mitrovic hat-trick fires Al Hilal past Esteghlal, Neymar replaced early
- Three charged as Modi slams Canada Hindu temple violence
- NATO will 'stay united' whoever wins US election: Rutte
- Turkey sacks 3 mayors on 'terror' charges, sparking fury in southeast
- Thousands protest alleged election fraud in Georgia
- Spain dreads more flood deaths on day six of rescue
- Germany's Baerbock offers Ukraine no guarantees as Kyiv sounds alarm
- Edu resigns as Arsenal sporting director
- Prince William plays rugby on S.Africa climate prize visit
- French boxing quits international body to keep its fighters at Olympics
- Gaza hospital hit as Israel tells UN aid agency ties to be cut
- Ailing Spurs coach Popovich reportedly out indefinitely
- Quincy Jones, peerless music giant, dies at 91
- Harris, Trump in last campaign push as polls deadlocked
- Sabalenka advances to WTA Finals last four as Zheng ousts Rybakina
- Noah Lyles fails to make cut for men's world track athlete of year
- Slot braced to face 'special' Alonso in Anfield homecoming
- Striking workers weigh latest Boeing contract offer
- Germany's Baerbock offers no Ukraine guarantees as Kyiv sounds alarm
- Montreux Jazz Festival hails 'godfather' Quincy Jones
- Chile football star Vidal accused of sexual assault
- Injured Atonio called up to France squad before Japan Test
- 'Guardiola best coach in the world', says Amorim before Man United move
- Fake X accounts promote COP hosts UAE, Azerbaijan
- Turkey sacks 3 pro-Kurdish mayors for 'terror ties'
- China's Zheng beats Rybakina at WTA Finals
- Music mastermind Quincy Jones dies aged 91
- Stock markets hesitant before knife-edge US election
- Spain dreads more flood deaths as rain pounds Catalonia
- From abortion to bobcat hunting: US vote not just for president
- Former Scotland rugby captain Stuart Hogg admits domestic abuse
Germany's Baerbock vows 'rock-solid' Ukraine support as Russia advances
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited Kyiv on Monday to underscore Berlin's "rock-solid" support for Ukraine whose forces are buckling under a large-scale Russian offensive in the east of the country.
Baerbock's eighth trip comes at a critical moment in the nearly three-year war as Kyiv voices mounting frustration with Western support for its struggling army ahead of US elections that could prove decisive for further military aid.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has criticised the West for what he says is its muted response to the deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to bolster Russia's war effort in Ukraine, a major escalation in the conflict.
"Germany, together with many partners worldwide, stands rock-solid by Ukraine's side," Baerbock said in a statement as Ukraine heads into what could be its toughest winter of the war.
"We will support the people of Ukraine for as long as they need us so they can follow their path to a just peace," she added.
US President Joe Biden has vowed to continue backing Ukraine but a victory for former US leader Donald Trump would likely mean less support from Kyiv's biggest military backer.
Baerbock stressed the importance of protecting Ukraine's energy infrastructure from destruction during the winter.
- North Korean troops 'under fire' -
She said Germany was helping counter the "brutality" of Russia's campaign with "humanity and support -- so that the Ukrainians not only survive the winter, but their country can survive".
Germany, Ukraine's second-biggest backer after the United States, has pledged 170 million euros ($185 million) in emergency aid to help the country get through the winter.
Ukraine has long been asking Germany for long-range Taurus missiles but Chancellor Olaf Scholz has refused to do so due to fears of escalating and widening the conflict.
Scholz has also rejected Ukraine's request to immediately join NATO, made by Zelensky when he recently presented his "Victory Plan" to Western allies.
Zelensky told journalists last month that Berlin was "afraid" to allow Ukraine to integrate with the US-led defence alliance more closely because it feared how Russia might respond.
He has also lashed out at Western allies for their muted reaction to the apparent deployment of North Korean soldiers to the eastern Russian region of Kursk.
Ukrainian forces in August launched a surprise offensive there and Kyiv said Monday that Pyongyang's forces were already in combat in the border territory, where Russian forces have been beating back the Ukrainian incursion.
"The first North Korean soldiers have already come under fire in Kursk region," said Andriy Kovalenko, the Head of Center for Countering Disinformation.
Baerbock's arrival was announced hours after 13 people, including four police officers, were wounded in another night of Russian attacks on Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv.
AFP journalists at the scene saw buildings gutted by the blast and first responders in helmets hauling wounded civilians to ambulances.
P.Anderson--BTB