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US, Ukraine to Discuss Ceasefire in Berlin Ahead of European Summit

Anti-drone nets hang taut along a road near the city of Izyum of Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 12 December 2025. (EPA)
Anti-drone nets hang taut along a road near the city of Izyum of Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 12 December 2025. (EPA)
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US, Ukraine to Discuss Ceasefire in Berlin Ahead of European Summit

Anti-drone nets hang taut along a road near the city of Izyum of Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 12 December 2025. (EPA)
Anti-drone nets hang taut along a road near the city of Izyum of Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 12 December 2025. (EPA)

Germany will host US and Ukrainian delegations over the weekend for talks on a ceasefire in Ukraine, ahead of a summit with European leaders and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Berlin on Monday, a German official said on Saturday.

A US official said overnight that President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner were travelling to Germany for talks involving Ukrainians and Europeans.

The choice to send Witkoff, who has led negotiations with Ukraine and Russia regarding a US peace proposal, appeared to be a signal that Washington saw a chance of progress. The White House had said on Thursday Trump would send an official to talks only if he felt there was enough progress to be made.

"Talks on a possible ceasefire in Ukraine are taking place in Berlin this weekend between foreign policy advisors from, among others, the US and Ukraine," said a German government source when asked about the meetings.

On Monday, Merz is hosting Zelenskiy and European leaders for a summit in Berlin, the latest in a series of public shows of support for the Ukrainian leader from allies across Europe as Kyiv faces pressure from Washington to sign up to a peace plan that initially backed Moscow's main demands.

Britain, France and Germany have been working in the last few weeks to refine the US proposals, which, in a draft disclosed last month, called for Kyiv to cede more territory, abandon its ambition to join NATO and accept limits on its armed forces.

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World

New Mexico Investigators Search Epstein’s Former Ranch

A drone view shows Zorro Ranch, a property formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein, near Stanley, New Mexico, US, March 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows Zorro Ranch, a property formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein, near Stanley, New Mexico, US, March 8, 2026. (Reuters)
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New Mexico Investigators Search Epstein’s Former Ranch

A drone view shows Zorro Ranch, a property formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein, near Stanley, New Mexico, US, March 8, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view shows Zorro Ranch, a property formerly owned by Jeffrey Epstein, near Stanley, New Mexico, US, March 8, 2026. (Reuters)

Investigators in New Mexico began searching on Monday the former high-plains ranch of Jeffrey Epstein where the late financier and his acquaintances are accused of sexually abusing women and girls, state authorities said.

Democratic-run New Mexico is acting on new information in documents released in January by the US Department of Justice, including an accusation that Epstein ordered the bodies of two foreign girls buried in hills near the secluded property.

The search follows New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez's decision last month to reopen the investigation ‌into the late sex ‌offender's alleged criminal activities at the ranch ‌30 ⁠miles (48 km) south ⁠of the state's capital of Santa Fe.

"The New Mexico Department of Justice will continue to keep the public appropriately informed, support the survivors, and follow the facts wherever they lead," it said in a statement.

On Monday, a Reuters witness heard dogs barking and saw a government vehicle bearing a paw-print symbol, ⁠suggesting it was carrying animals, leave the ranch. ‌State police and a county fire ‌and rescue vehicle were also spotted.

The Epstein files have become a ‌persistent political problem for President Donald Trump.

New Mexico closed its ‌previous Epstein investigation in 2019 at the request of federal authorities. There has never been a full investigation of the alleged assaults by Epstein, his partner Ghislaine Maxwell and ranch visitors.

Last month, New Mexico became ‌the first US state to launch a legislative "truth commission" to uncover possible public corruption that allowed ⁠Epstein to ⁠operate in secrecy at the ranch for 26 years before his death in 2019.

Epstein's estate sold the property in 2023 to Texas businessman Don Huffines who renamed it San Rafael Ranch.

The new owners are cooperating with the investigation and granted access for the search, the department said.

The January 30 release of millions more files exposed Epstein's social connections with politicians, business people and scientists who he invited to the ranch.

Reuters/Ipsos polling shows most Americans view the Epstein case as an example of wealthy and powerful people rarely being held accountable.

World

Pakistan Navy Begins Ship Escorts Due to Gulf Tensions

Pakistanis walk across the Taftan border as they return from Iran, in Balochistan province, on March 9, 2026 amid ongoing US-Israel strikes on Iran. (AFP)
Pakistanis walk across the Taftan border as they return from Iran, in Balochistan province, on March 9, 2026 amid ongoing US-Israel strikes on Iran. (AFP)
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Pakistan Navy Begins Ship Escorts Due to Gulf Tensions

Pakistanis walk across the Taftan border as they return from Iran, in Balochistan province, on March 9, 2026 amid ongoing US-Israel strikes on Iran. (AFP)
Pakistanis walk across the Taftan border as they return from Iran, in Balochistan province, on March 9, 2026 amid ongoing US-Israel strikes on Iran. (AFP)

Pakistan's navy has launched an operation to "counter multidimensional threats" to its national shipping and maritime trade, with concerns about fuel supplies due to the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The military said late on Monday that navy ships were escorting merchant vessels "to ensure the uninterrupted flow of national energy supplies and the security of sea lines of communication".

Pakistan, which shares a border with Iran in the southwest, depends on oil and gas from the Gulf and last Friday hiked prices at the pump by about 20 percent, triggering long lines at petrol stations across the country.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday evening unveiled a raft of austerity measures to save fuel, including shutting government offices for one day a week and ordering 50 percent of staff to work from home.

Schools were also told to close for two weeks.

The military said it was vital that sea routes remained safe, secure and uninterrupted because 90 percent of Pakistan's trade is moved by sea.

The navy was fully "prepared to respond to emerging maritime security challenges", it added, without elaborating.

World

Russian Drones Injure 20 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Dnipro

Firefighters extinguish a blaze and clear rubble of a five-story residential building which was hit by a ballistic missile in Kharkiv on March 7, 2026. (AFP)
Firefighters extinguish a blaze and clear rubble of a five-story residential building which was hit by a ballistic missile in Kharkiv on March 7, 2026. (AFP)
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Russian Drones Injure 20 in Ukraine’s Kharkiv, Dnipro

Firefighters extinguish a blaze and clear rubble of a five-story residential building which was hit by a ballistic missile in Kharkiv on March 7, 2026. (AFP)
Firefighters extinguish a blaze and clear rubble of a five-story residential building which was hit by a ballistic missile in Kharkiv on March 7, 2026. (AFP)

Russian drones attacked Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, and the southeastern city of Dnipro late on Monday and overnight, injuring more than 20 people, Ukrainian officials said. A Russian ‌drone struck ‌an area near a ‌high-rise ⁠apartment building late on ⁠Monday in Kharkiv, injuring seven people, smashing windows and setting cars ablaze, the city's mayor and Ukrainian police said.

A second attack overnight injured four people, when a drone hit a road ⁠between buildings, Mayor Ihor Terekhov ‌said on ‌the Telegram messaging app.

Kharkiv, located 30 km (18 miles) ‌from the Russian border, withstood early ‌advances by Russian forces after their full-scale invasion in February 2022 and has since been a frequent target of Russian air attacks.

Ukraine's ‌air force said that overall Russia attacked the country with ⁠137 ⁠drones, of which 122 were downed or neutralized.

In Dnipro, 10 people were injured, including a 12-year-old boy, regional Governor Oleksandr Ganzha said on Telegram.

Ganzha posted photos online showing rubble in streets and damaged building facades. City Mayor Borys Filatov said that at least eight high-rise buildings were damaged in the attack.