
-
Serbia's Vucic holds rally for 'love of Serbia'
-
Israel expanding Gaza offensive, seizes key corridor
-
Monaco beat faltering Marseille to take second place in Ligue 1
-
'Slow travel' start-up launches cross-Channel crossings by sail
-
UK passes emergency law to save British Steel
-
Alcaraz to face Italy's Musetti in Monte Carlo final
-
Newcastle boss Howe admitted to hospital
-
US exempts tech imports in tariff step back
-
US in hurry for nuclear deal, Iran says after high-stakes talks
-
Masters winner to get $4.2 mn from $21 mn purse
-
De Bruyne leads Man City comeback, Forest beaten by Everton
-
Record-breaker Penaud fires Bordeaux-Begles into Champions Cup semis
-
Almeida claims Tour of the Basque Country with stage six triumph
-
Israel seizes key Gaza corridor, expanding offensive
-
Toll hits 225, Dominican officials say all bodies returned to loved ones
-
Leverkusen title hopes take hit in Union stalemate
-
Ferrand-Prevot wins sensational women's Paris-Roubaix on debut
-
De Bruyne targets Champions League place before Man City farewell
-
Rose leads stacked leaderboard heading into Masters third round
-
Ferrand-Prevot wins sensational Paris-Roubaix women's debut
-
US, Iran hold 'constructive' nuclear talks in Oman
-
Bordeaux-Begles' Penaud breaks Champions Cup single season try record
-
Pogacar 'here to go for it' in Paris-Roubaix debut
-
Real Madrid need to plug defensive leaks: Ancelotti
-
Markram, Pooran lead Lucknow to IPL win over Gujarat
-
First US-Iran nuclear talks in years take place in Oman
-
Boulard double takes Women's Six Nations contenders France past Wales
-
Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 in Bahrain final practice
-
Alcaraz beats Davidovich Fokina to reach first Monte Carlo final
-
De Bruyne inspires Man City revival to crush Palace
-
Israel seizes key Gaza corridor, to expand offensive
-
UK lawmakers hold emergency debate to save British Steel
-
Warnings issued, flights cancelled as strong winds whip north China
-
End of the line for Hong Kong's Democratic Party
-
Israel takes control of key Gaza corridor, to expand offensive
-
First US-Iran nuclear talks in years start in Oman
-
Asian football chief fears 'chaos' if 2030 World Cup expands to 64 teams
-
UK lawmakers begin emergency debate to save British Steel
-
Accord reached 'in principle' over tackling future pandemics: negotiating body
-
Hamas expects 'real progress' in Cairo talks to end Gaza war
-
Lady Gaga brings mayhem to the desert on Coachella day one
-
UN warns US aid cuts threaten millions of Afghans with famine
-
Japan PM warns of divided world at futuristic World Expo opening ceremony
-
Junta chief frontrunner as Gabon holds first election since 2023 coup
-
Iran delegation in Oman for high-stakes nuclear talks with US
-
Australia beat Colombia to end BJK Cup bid on winning note
-
German refinery's plight prompts calls for return of Russian oil
-
Trump carves up world and international order with it
-
Paris theatre soul-searching after allegations of sexual abuse
-
US, Iran to hold high-stakes nuclear talks

Russia warns against 'destructive' sanctions on Putin
Russia hit back Wednesday at US threats of direct sanctions against President Vladimir Putin, saying moves against the Russian leader would be ineffective and hurt efforts to lower tensions over Ukraine.
Officials from France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine were set for talks in Paris on Wednesday in the latest bid to ease a crisis sparked by fears that Moscow is preparing an invasion of its pro-Western neighbour.
The West has warned Russia of severe consequences if it does invade, and on Tuesday, Washington said there could be sanctions personally targeting Putin.
Reacting to the news, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the threats as worthless because senior Russian officials are barred from holding assets abroad.
But such a move, he said, would do serious damage to diplomatic efforts to ease ratcheting tensions over Ukraine.
"Politically, it's not painful, it's destructive," Peskov told reporters.
The Kremlin has previously said any US sanctions personally targeting Putin would be akin to crossing a red line, warning the move could result in a rupture of bilateral ties.
US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that any Russian military attack on Ukraine would trigger "enormous consequences" and could even "change the world".
- High-tech export sanctions -
Echoing Biden's message, a senior US official described potential economic sanctions "with massive consequences" that would go far beyond measures implemented in 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimea region.
The official said new measures would include restrictions on exports of high-tech US equipment in the artificial intelligence, quantum computing and aerospace sectors.
Cutting Russia off from these technologies would hit Putin's "strategic ambitions to industrialise his economy quite hard", the official said.
The speaker of Russia's lower house said Wednesday that Washington's threat against Putin showed the US "wants a loyal Russian president that it can control".
"The United States is not happy that under President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Federation has become strong and independent," Vyacheslav Volodin wrote on social media.
During weeks of talks between Russian, US and European diplomats, Western leaders have repeatedly warned of far-reaching economic measures against Moscow in the event of an attack.
The next round of talks in Paris on Wednesday will bring together one of Russia's deputy prime ministers and a senior aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as diplomatic advisors to French President Emmanuel Macron and German leader Olaf Scholz.
Negotiations so far have failed to ease tensions, though Washington and Moscow have agreed to keep talking.
- Russia to take 'necessary measures' -
Russia is expecting this week to receive written US responses to sweeping security demands Moscow made last year that seek to dramatically limit NATO's reach and capabilities in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR.
Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned in an address to lawmakers Wednesday that Moscow would take "all necessary measures" if it didn't receive constructive responses and if the West continued its "aggressive policy".
Moscow has meanwhile announced a spate of military drills including in Belarus, and said Tuesday it would hold fresh exercises involving 6,000 troops near Ukraine and within the Crimea region.
As part of separate naval exercises announced this month, Russia warships entered the Barents Sea on Wednesday, the North Fleet said in a statement.
The West has accused Russia of massing some 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border.
Fears of a Russian invasion follow on from Moscow's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014 and the capture by pro-Kremlin separatists of two self-proclaimed breakaway republics in Ukraine's east.
More than 13,000 people have died in the fighting between government forces and the pro-Russian rebels.
F.Ramirez--AT