Here is a rundown of all the news you need to start your Sunday, including CIA chief John Ratcliffe proposing a Trump-Putin-Zelenskyy meeting during his Moscow visit; devastating floods and landslides in Nepal and China that have pushed the death toll close to 700, with more than 3,000 still missing.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe proposed a meeting between US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a covert visit to Moscow earlier this week, Axios reported Saturday.
The visit was also aimed at assessing whether Russia's intelligence chiefs could help persuade Putin to move toward resuming US-mediated negotiations with Ukraine, sources told Axios.
US officials briefed Zelenskyy on Friday about Ratcliffe's talks in Moscow and the proposal for the summit.
The Trump administration has previously raised the possibility of a meeting. Zelenskyy has expressed support for the idea, while Putin has rejected it.
Trump told Axios that Ratcliffe's visit was "standard business" and was not intended to warn Russia against a potential attack on NATO territory.
The death toll from devastating flash floods and landslides in Nepal and China's Tibet region has risen to 750, with more than 3,000 people still missing, according to the latest figures from authorities and local media.
Nepal's disaster agency reported 675 deaths and 2,498 people missing. Chinese authorities said 16 people had died and 546 remained unaccounted for in Tibet, an autonomous region of China.
Only 20 of the 669 bodies recovered have been identified by relatives as of late Saturday, the Kathmandu Post reported. Authorities are racing to preserve evidence and find space for the dead as hospital mortuaries reach capacity and remains begin to decompose.
The Nepal Tourism Board said 261 foreign nationals had been rescued, while 320 remain missing.
- The Israeli army blew up an elderly care home in southern Lebanon in yet another violation of the country’s sovereignty, the Lebanese NNA news agency reported.
- Ukraine's ambassador to Ankara was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry following attacks on two Turkish-operated vessels in the Black Sea, said Foreign Ministry sources.
- Niger's defense minister said military activity in the capital, Niamey, had been brought under control and security forces regained control of critical sites that were targeted.
- Three Palestinians were injured in an Israeli airstrike targeting a medicine warehouse at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza Strip, in the latest violation of a ceasefire agreement, a medical source told Anadolu.
- At least four civilians were killed in attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan’s North Kordofan state, according to a local emergency group.
- Severe storms swept across five Syrian provinces, forcing families to evacuate, flooding dozens of homes and blocking roads as authorities mounted a wide emergency response, according to media reports.
- Six Palestinians were injured when the Israeli army fired tear gas during a raid on the Al-Faraa refugee camp south of Tubas in the northern occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
- The US announced more than $3.6 million in humanitarian aid for flood-hit Nepal, including emergency food assistance for up to 10,000 affected households.
- Egypt has unearthed a more than 4,000-year-old tomb and an interconnected network of burial shafts containing human remains and funerary objects at the Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo, said authorities.
- Initial results of Iceland's referendum show a narrow majority backing the reopening of EU membership negotiations as vote counting continues, according to public broadcaster RUV.
- Türkiye rejected a statement by the Israeli Foreign Ministry targeting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, saying the “lies and slanders” it contained reflected the mentality of those serving in the Israeli government.
- Hezbollah must disarm for Lebanon to become a “safe and sovereign country,” said a US State Department spokesperson, stressing that the Lebanese government is the “sole legitimate interlocutor” for discussions on the country’s future
- Iran has reached an understanding with Oman on transit arrangements through the Strait of Hormuz, but its implementation is contingent on the US fulfilling its commitments, according to a senior Iranian diplomat.
- President Daniel Noboa said former Ecuadorian Interior Minister Jose Serrano was detained in the US and sent to Ecuador, where he is accused of plotting the 2023 assassination of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.
- The Turkish Navy and Somali National Armed Forces (SNAF) rescued the cargo ship MV LATUF, which was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia, in a joint operation, said the Somali Defense Ministry.
- The pace of forest fires in Algeria slowed as firefighting operations continued in several provinces and major solidarity convoys headed toward affected areas, particularly the eastern province of Jijel.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin said trade and economic ties between Russia and the neighboring Belarus are developing despite “external” attempts to influence them.
- The foreign ministers of China and Nepal pledged to strengthen emergency response and relief cooperation as devastating cross-border flash floods left at least 691 dead and thousands missing.
- Germany is preparing to formally hold Russia responsible for an attempted explosive drone attack at Leipzig Airport and announce tougher sanctions on Moscow, the Welt am Sonntag weekly newspaper reported ay.
The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates said it ordered an urgent inspection of Banque Misr branches after US authorities proposed restricting dollar correspondent banking services for the Egyptian lender’s UAE branch, according to the state WAM news agency.
The UAE central bank said the inspection would include an in-depth review of the period cited in the US notice, with a particular focus on transactions involving companies named by American authorities over money laundering concerns.
It stressed that Banque Misr’s branches in the UAE are subject to the country’s laws and regulations.
The regulator said it routinely examines anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing controls at banks operating in the UAE, including the effectiveness of sanctions-screening systems.
Venezuela’s ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) backed a sweeping oil agreement with Washington, as American Democratic lawmakers accused US President Donald Trump of putting private profit ahead of American troops and public interests.
In a statement on US social media company X, the PSUV expressed “full support” for acting President Delcy Rodriguez and the agreements reached with the US in the energy sector.
It said the deal could help Venezuela overcome the effects of more than a decade of US sanctions and economic restrictions, while supporting economic recovery, public services, jobs and incomes for workers.
The PSUV also stressed that Venezuela’s “immense hydrocarbon reserves” should serve national development and said the process must remain within the country’s constitutional framework.
Some of the world’s biggest music publishers have filed a major lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Anthropic, accusing it of "one of the largest and most blatant ongoing thefts of intellectual property in history."
The lawsuit marks the beginning of what could become a yearslong legal battle about the use of music in artificial intelligence systems and the future of copyright protection in the rapidly developing technology era, according to Axios.
Companies affiliated with Sony Music and Warner Music brought the case before a federal court in Northern California. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and co-founder Benjamin Mann were also named as defendants.
The plaintiffs accuse Anthropic and its founders of systematically obtaining copyrighted material without permission to develop and operate the company's artificial intelligence models.
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