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Cold War II is worsening. The G7 summit held in Italy ended with a stiff warning aimed at China over its alleged role in “enabling" Russia’s war in Ukraine by means of dual-use tech transfers, a charge Beijing denied.

Kylian Mbappe and France have been to the last two World Cup finals but are on a mission as they begin their Euro 2024 campaign against Austria on Monday, having endured disappointment in recent editions of the continental championship. Les Bleus won the World Cup in Russia in 2018, when a teenage Mbappe announced himself on the global stage, and only lost the 2022 final on penalties after an epic battle with Argentina in Doha. They also won the UEFA Nations League in 2021, but the European Championship is the one title that has evaded the French since Didier Deschamps became coach in 2012.

territorial integrity" of Ukraine to be the basis for any peace agreement to end Russia's two-year war, though some key developing nations at a Swiss conference did not join in. The joint communique capped a two-day conference at the Burgenstock resort in Switzerland marked by the absence of Russia, which was not invited, but that many attendees hoped could join in on a roadmap to peace. About 100 delegations, mostly Western countries but also some key developing nations, were on hand for the conference — and experts were on watch to see how and if at all they might line up behind the outcome document. Participants India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates — which were represented by foreign ministers or lower-level envoys — were among those that did not sign onto the final document, which focused on issues of nuclear safety, food security and the exchange of prisoners.

Iran called upon the Group of Seven on Sunday to distance itself from «destructive policies of the past», the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said, referring to a G7 statement condemning Iran's recent nuclear programme escalation. On Friday, the G7 warned Iran against advancing its nuclear enrichment programme and said they would be ready to enforce new measures if Tehran were to transfer ballistic missiles to Russia. «Any attempt to link the war in Ukraine to the bilateral cooperation between Iran and Russia is an act with only biased political goals,» Kanaani said, adding that some countries are «resorting to false claims to continue sanctions» against Iran.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday predicted «history being made» at the Swiss-hosted conference that aims to plot the first steps toward peace in Ukraine even though experts and critics don't expect any major breakthroughs because Russia isn't attending. The presidents of Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Kenya and Somalia joined dozens of Western heads of state, other senior government leaders and high-level envoys at the meeting, in the hopes that Russia could join in one day.

The Telegram-based crypto game sensation, Hamster Kombat, has announced that its player base has exceeded 150 million users, surpassing the population of Russia.

Russia sending its fleet including nuclear powered submarine has achieved desired results as far as it has been able to create panic in US media as well as the population at large. The Russian fleet docked at Havana port is around 350 kms from the popular Miami Beach (Florida). So much so that US Southern Command has to rush its submarine USS Helena to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to inspire confidence in the US public.

WhatsApp to roll out enhanced call quality even in poor networks, screen sharingAccording to a report by WABetainfo, users will have to download 150MB of new app data to transcribe their voice notes. The new feature is said to be based on advanced speech recognition technology that works locally on the user's device while preserving end-to-end encryption.After downloading the additional data, users will reportedly be able to use the new feature to read their voice messages.

India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) in the G7 Summit Communique issued at the end of the three-day G7 Summit, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Communique was issued on Friday evening after the customary «family photo» at the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia, where the G7 also reiterated a commitment to a «free and open Indo-Pacific» based on the rule of law. Prime Minister Modi attended the G7 Summit at the invitation of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the host. «We will further promote concrete G7 PGII (Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment) initiatives, flagship projects, and complementary initiatives to develop transformative economic corridors for quality infrastructure and investment, such as the deepening of our coordination and financing for the Lobito Corridor, the Luzon Corridor, the Middle Corridor, and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, also building on the EU Global Gateway, the Great Green Wall Initiative, and the Mattei Plan for Africa launched by Italy,» reads the communique.

NEW DELHI : New Delhi: Demand for air travel is taking off globally, but there aren’t enough planes to carry all the people who want to fly with the aviation sector yet to recover from covid and the repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine war. Not enough parts are available to manufacture planes because of a persistent supply chain bottleneck, forcing several airlines to lease jets instead, often at higher prices. There’s a scramble even for those leased planes.

Emmanuel Macron's policies if it wins historic polls that could propel the far right to major gains in parliament. Far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen, also making a pitch to voters, pledged a «national unity government» if her party takes power in the snap legislative elections.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is tweaking his Cabinet with a focus on cost-of-living and labor policies after his center-right party’s victory in last week’s European parliamentary elections

Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair says his country looks on track to meet NATO’s military spending guideline by 2030

Also Read: Airfares have soared, but summer travellers don't careHow did the traffic not grow? The growth has been on the edge for a while until countries enticed Indians with visa-free travel or visa on arrival, which has been the case with Thailand and Malaysia. While travel to South East Asia has been on the rise, largely led by increased connectivity, travel to Europe and North America is yet to see its heydays.Europe has seen an ongoing war since 2022, along with the delay in issuing Schengen visas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday to “immediately” order a cease-fire in Ukraine and begin negotiations if Kyiv started withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow and renounced plans to join NATO.

Putin has approved a plan to jointly build the International Lunar Research Station with China, an ambitious space project which was announced previously by the two close neighbours. The document connected with the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) was published on a Russian official legal information portal on Wednesday, Russia's state-run Sputnik news agency reported. The ILRS will consist of sections on the lunar surface, sections in lunar orbit and sections on Earth, and it will be built in two phases, Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration programme said in April this year. According to Wu, the first phase of the ILRS construction project will see a basic station built by 2035 in the lunar south pole region. The second phase will see the expansion of the station, set for completion by 2045, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Wu as saying.

Switzerland will host scores of world leaders this weekend to try to map out first steps toward peace in Ukraine

G7 Summit hosted by Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's arrival was marked by a warm, albeit slightly awkward, greeting. The event, taking place in Borgo Egnazia, Apulia, Italy, from June 13 to 15, 2024, saw leaders from the world's major economies gather to discuss critical global issues. As Sunak walked up to Meloni, she welcomed him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. The moment, captured on video and shared widely online, quickly went viral. While the interaction seemed cordial, internet users were quick to point out an awkwardness, with some suggesting that Meloni appeared to pull back slightly. One social media user humorously noted, «Rishi Sunak being greeted by Giorgia Meloni at G7 looked a lot like he went in for a snog and she pulled back. There was then a real 'eurgh, smelly breath' energy.» Another quipped, «Don't lean in, Rishi!»

Pawan Kalyan's recent political victories have been widely celebrated, with his Jana Sena Party making significant gains in the Lok Sabha and Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections. Following these successes, Kalyan was unanimously elected as the party floor leader in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, where JSP holds 21 seats. In a touching moment that captured public attention, Kalyan's wife, Anna Lezhneva, welcomed him home amidst jubilant celebrations. She performed aarti and applied a sacred tika on his forehead, a gesture that quickly went viral.

Oil prices fell on Friday but were on track for their first weekly gain in four weeks as markets assessed the impact of higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates versus solid outlooks for crude and fuel demand this year. Brent crude futures were down 72 cents, or 0.87%, to $82.04 a barrel at 0100 GMT. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) U.S. crude futures lost 79 cents, or 1%, to trade at $77.84 a barrel, reversing small gains in the previous session.

U.S. President Joe Biden says the agreement to tap into the windfall profits on frozen Russian assets held in Europe would put that money to work for Ukraine