Author: Finance for Sight

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded guardedly on Sunday to a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin of rapid direct talks aimed at ending the war, saying Kyiv was willing to talk but only after Moscow agreed to a ceasefire. Putin made his proposal in a 1:30 a.m. (2230 GMT Saturday) televised statement from the Kremlin that coincided with prime time in the U.S., where President Donald Trump has been pressing both sides to agree to a truce of at least 30 days and stop the three-year-old war. Trump, who says he wants to be remembered as a peacemaker and has…

A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Northern Sumatra, Indonesia, on Sunday, the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ) said. Earthquake strikes off Chile’s southern coast, sparking tsunami threat The quake was at a depth of 89 km (55.3 miles), the GFZ said.

SHENZHEN: China’s President Xi Jinping will attend the opening of and deliver a speech at the China-CELAC Forum in Beijing on May 13, China’s Foreign Ministry announced on Sunday. ‘Friends of steel’: Xi and Putin pledge to stand together against US China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi will preside over the meeting with foreign ministers or representatives of countries in the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the ministry said.

WASHINGTON/LONDON: Iran is preparing to deliver in the near future launchers for short-range ballistic missiles that the US said Tehran sent to Russia last year for use against Ukraine, according to two Western security officials and a regional official. Iran denied it had such plans and dismissed the idea as “utterly absurd”. The delivery of the Fath-360 launchers – if it occurs – would help support Russia’s grinding assault on its neighbor and reaffirm the deepening security ties between Moscow and Tehran. With a 75-mile (120-km) range, the Fath-360 would give Moscow’s forces a new weapon to fire at Ukrainian…

VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV took his first trip outside the Vatican on Saturday, heading about an hour’s drive east of Rome to the small Italian town of Genazzano to visit a shrine to the Virgin Mary. The new pontiff arrived for the unannounced visit in the passenger seat of a Volkswagen vehicle and was greeted to cheers from crowds gathered outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel. Leo, the former US Cardinal Robert Prevost, was elected pope on May 8. He is a member of the Augustinian religious order, which runs the shrine in Genazzano. Leo shook…

ISLAMABAD: Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire on Saturday after U.S. pressure and diplomacy, announcing a sudden stop to a conflict that had seemed to be spiralling alarmingly. But within hours, violations were reported from the main cities of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the territory that had borne the brunt of four days of fighting. Blasts were heard in Srinagar and Jammu and projectiles and flashes were seen in the night sky over Jammu, similar to the events of the previous evening, according to authorities, residents and Reuters witnesses. Military spokespeople in both countries…

BEIJING: China expressed “deep concern” Saturday over the escalating situation between Pakistan and India offered to play a constructive role in resolving the matter, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry. “China is closely monitoring the current situation between Pakistan and India,” the foreign ministry said in a post published on its website. US mission to Pakistan restricts all personnel movements, State Department says It urged both countries to prioritise peace and stability, maintain calm and restraint, and return to the path of resolving issues through peaceful political means, cautioning against actions that may further escalate tensions. China…

GENEVA: China’s vice premier He Lipeng held talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent early on Saturday in Geneva in a tentative first step towards defusing a trade war that is disrupting the global economy, according to China’s state-owned news agency and two people close to the talks. Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer were due to meet He in Geneva after weeks of growing tensions that have seen duties on goods imports between the world’s two largest economies soar well beyond 100%. The trade dispute, combined with U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision last month to impose duties on…

MADRID: Spanish technology company GMV has unveiled a GPS-like navigation system for the moon that aims to make lunar missions as intuitive as a drive across town with apps such as Google Maps or Waze. Called LUPIN, the project is part of a programme by the European Space Agency to test new positioning, navigation and timing techniques as interest in lunar surface exploration picks up again, whether for scientific research, potential mining opportunities or even future tourism. “With this software, we bring Europe closer to establishing a presence of humans on the moon and, potentially, this would be a stepping…

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Friday that 80% tariffs on Chinese goods “seems right,” making his first suggestion of a specific alternative to the 145% levies he has imposed on China ahead of weekend talks to contain a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer will meet Chinese economic tsar He Lifeng in Switzerland for talks that could be the first step toward resolving their trade disputes. “China should open up its market to USA — would be so good for them!!! Closed markets don’t work…