- Japan's former empress Michiko discharged after surgey: reports
- Israel widens Lebanon strikes as troops fight Hezbollah along border
- Bowlers' graveyards: Pakistan's placid pitches under fresh fire
- 'Little Gregory' murder haunts France 40 years on
- Vietnam, China to expand rail links, cross-border payments
- Americans get their belief back as Pochettino makes his mark
- Vietnam, China to boost economic, defence cooperation
- Winning start for Pochettino's American adventure
- Tariffs, tax cuts, energy: What is in Trump's economic plan?
- Amazon wants to be everything to everyone
- US firms brace for more tariffs as election approaches
- Winning start for Poch's American adventure
- Morocco's tribeswomen see facial tattoo tradition fade
- Centre-left set to win as pro-Ukraine Lithuania votes
- Colombia guerilla group urges delegations not to attend COP16 in Cali
- Pakistan frets over security ahead of SCO summit
- Ronaldo scores 133rd Portugal goal in Nations League win over Poland
- 40 nations contributing to UN Lebanon peacekeeping force condemn 'attacks'
- Eight dead as heavy rain thrashes Brazil after long drought
- Jewish school in Canada hit by gunfire for second time
- Morocco crush Central African Republic, Guirassy scores hat-trick
- Dupont scores quickfire hat-trick on Toulouse Top 14 return
- Ronaldo scores in Portugal's Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- Interim boss Carsley has not applied for England job
- Mets hurler Senga ready to take on Dodgers in game one of NL Championship Series
- Ronaldo on target again as Portugal defeat Poland in Nations League
- Guardians rip Tigers 7-3 to advance in MLB playoffs
- AFP, BBC win top French war reporting awards
- Carsley goes back to basics as humbled England face Finland
- Alex Salmond: the man who took Scotland to the brink of independence
- Scotland's former leader Alex Salmond dies aged 69: party
- UN warns of catastrophe as Israel fights a two-front war
- Croatia extend Scotland's losing streak
- South Africa, New Zealand boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes
- 'Very challenging': Israel faces Hezbollah in tricky terrain
- Farrell begins to feel at home as Racing 92 beat Toulon
- South Africa boost T20 World Cup semi-final hopes with Bangladesh win
- Samson ton powers India to T20 series sweep after record total
- Djokovic to face Sinner in Shanghai final with 100th title in sight
- UN peacekeepers to remain in Lebanon: spokesman
- Pro-Conquest film fuels debate in Mexico over colonial legacy
- Samson ton powers India to record 297-6 in Bangladesh T20
- New Zealand enjoy perfect start to America's Cup defence over Britain
- Pogacar emulates icon Coppi with fourth straight Il Lombardia triumph
- UN warns against 'catastrophic' regional conflict
- New Zealand crush Ineos Britannia in America's Cup opener
- Djokovic to face Sinner in blockbuster Shanghai Masters final
- With medical report Harris seeks to play health card against Trump
- Sri Lanka seeks to match success in W.Indies T20s
- Sinner reaches Shanghai final, will end year number one
Russia commits 'all its forces' to take Ukraine's Lugansk, Kyiv says
Russia on Thursday made an all-out effort to capture the rest of Ukraine's industrial region of Lugansk, officials said, as the war in the east of the country escalated to its fiercest level yet.
As the fighting intensified, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba aired Kyiv's increasing frustration with the West, accusing allies of dragging their feet on arms deliveries and telling his German counterpart that Ukraine needs heavy weapons "as soon as possible."
Moscow's troops pushed into the eastern industrial Donbas region after failing to take the capital Kyiv, closing in on several urban centres including the strategically located Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.
"The situation remains difficult, because the Russian army has thrown all its forces at taking the Lugansk region," regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said in a video on Telegram.
"Extremely fierce fighting is taking place on the outskirts of Severodonetsk. They are simply destroying the city, they are shelling it every day, shelling without pause."
Russian forces also bombarded Ukraine's second city Kharkiv, killing nine people, after Moscow's efforts to capture the northeastern hub were repelled.
And five civilians were killed Thursday in the Donetsk region to the south, according to the governor.
Kyiv has been losing patience with what it views as the West's failure to quickly arm Ukraine and impose a ban on Russian oil exports on top of punishing economic sanctions already in place.
"We need more heavy weapons delivered as soon as possible, especially MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems) to repel Russian attacks," Kuleba wrote on Twitter after speaking with Germany's Annalena Baerbock.
- 'Maximum intensity' -
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar told journalists that fighting in the east had reached "its maximum intensity" since Russia invaded its neighbour on February 24.
Pro-Moscow separatist groups have since 2014 controlled parts of Donbas, the industrial basin comprising the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, but Russia now appears set on taking the whole region.
"Enemy forces are storming the positions of our troops simultaneously in several directions. We have an extremely difficult and long stage of fighting ahead of us," Malyar said.
Three people died in recent Russian attacks on Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which stand on the crucial route to Ukraine's eastern administrative centre in Kramatorsk, according to Gaiday.
In Kramatorsk itself, children roamed the rubble left by Russian attacks as the sound of artillery fire boomed.
"I am not scared," said Yevgen, a sombre-looking 13-year-old who moved to Kramatorsk with his mother from the ruins of his village Galyna.
"I got used to the shelling," he declared as he sat alone on a slab of a destroyed apartment block.
And fresh shelling around Kharkiv killed another nine people and injured 19, officials said.
"Today the enemy insidiously fired on Kharkiv," regional governor Oleg Sinegubov said on social media, warning residents to evacuate to air raid shelters.
An AFP reporter in Kharkiv saw plumes of smoke rising from the stricken area, along with several people injured near a shuttered shopping centre. An elderly man with injuries to his arm and leg was carried away by medics.
- 'Show me one Nazi!' -
Russia's rationale of a "special military operation" to "demilitarise and de-Nazify" Ukraine drew a snort of derision in one village near Kharkiv that came under fire.
"Show me one Nazi in the village! We have our nation, we are nationalists but not Nazis nor fascists," said retired nurse Larysa Kosynets.
Elsewhere, in the strategic southern port city of Mariupol, occupying authorities cancelled school holidays to prepare students to switching to a Russian curriculum, said a Ukrainian official.
Mariupol fell to Russia earlier this month after a devastating siege that left thousands dead the reduced the city to rubble.
"Throughout the summer, children will have to study Russian language, literature and history as well as math classes in Russian," city official Petro Andryushchenko wrote on social media.
- 'Trust is lost for generations' -
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Thursday became the latest Western official to visit Kyiv, where she said it would take Russia decades to repair its standing in the world after invading Ukraine.
"Trust is lost for generations," Marin told a press conference.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who has faced criticism over Berlin's slow response, also weighed in Thursday, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin will not negotiate seriously until he realises he might not win in Ukraine.
"Our goal is crystal-clear -- Putin must not win this war. And I am convinced that he will not win it," Scholz told the World Economic Forum in Davos.
- Food crisis fears -
The Ukraine conflict has sparked fears of a global food crisis, on top of the political and economic shockwaves that have already reverberated around the world.
The Kremlin on Thursday pointed the finger at Western countries for stopping grain-carrying vessels from leaving ports in Ukraine -- rejecting accusations that Russia was to blame.
Putin said Moscow was ready to make a "significant contribution" to averting the crisis if the West lifts sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine, in a telephone call with Italy's Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
"When asked if I have seen any glimmer of hope for peace, the answer is no," the Italian prime minister said.
burs-dk/md/sst
C.Garcia--AMWN