Switzerland on Wednesday announced that a high-level conference on the Ukraine conflict would be held on June 15-16, but without Russia.

Russia warned of ‘unprecedented’ flooding in coming days as locals in a city partially submerged by rising waters took to the streets in rare protest at the authorities’ handling of the crisis.

After initially being banned, the athletes can now take part after passing some vetting criteria, including not actively supporting the war in Ukraine.

Belarusian president, a close Putin ally, said Belarus and Russia had coordinated actions as suspects fled to Bryansk, bordering Ukraine and Belarus, where they were apprehended.

The crew – a Russian, a Belarusian and an American headed for the International Space Station – were safely evacuated.

A man has been charged with assault for the attack on a 25-year-old migrant that has sparked outrage among women’s rights groups and fellow refugees.

The president spoke on the day his nation – Russia’s neighbour and ally – held parliamentary elections described as a sham by the opposition.

The leader, Belgian businessman Hans De Geetere, was also charged over a scheme to export military-grade US technology to end users in China and Russia.

Russia’s invasion has limited shipment routes from China to Europe and raised interest in alternative and nascent routes – including across the choppy Caspian Sea. But relevant governments need to get on board.

Border crossing closures follow a surge in migrants which Finland claims Russia is intentionally pushing.

Moscow has held secret talks with Egypt, Belarus, Brazil and Pakistan, insiders say, with Egypt and Belarus agreeing to send helicopter engines back to Russia.

The decision was widely praised by Swedish politicians, several of whom said they would boycott the ceremony in Stockholm if those countries were represented.

The organiser’s decision to include the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors this year drew anger in Ukraine, Sweden and elsewhere.

Scrapping visa application fees could entice back more of the 11 million Chinese visitors who went to Thailand pre-pandemic. But some tourism officials want more big-spending Russians, Belarusians and Kazakhs instead.

The mandatory oath for private military contractors was a clear move to bring them under tighter state control following the attempted mutiny by the volatile Yevgeny Prigozhin.

US assessments indicated the plane may have been destroyed by a bomb on board, the UK also is working on the assumption the plane was brought down deliberately, but Putin’s spokesman says: ‘All of this is an absolute lie’.

Li promotes security cooperation in meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Closer military cooperation between Beijing and Minsk a focus of Li’s trip and economic ties also celebrated.

Everyone knows what they [the Russians] do with ‘traitors,’ Christo Grozev, a journalist with the highly respected investigative outlet Bellingcat, said.

Set up in August 2022 by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the self-declared government-in exile has opened more than 20 alternative embassies and information centres abroad.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko had earlier taunted Poland over the presence of Russian Wagner mercenaries near their joint border.

‘Most likely they will be disguised as the Belarusian border guard and help illegal migrants get to the Polish territory’, Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said.

Belarus officials said that the mercenaries were continuing to work with Belarusian troops, including at training grounds close to the Polish border.

Lukashenko was quoted as saying, in a jocular tone, that fighters from Russia’s Wagner mercenary group who are training Belarus’s army are keen to push into Nato member Poland.

The unverified footage is the first video evidence of the Russia mercenary chief’s whereabouts since his failed mutiny.

A video posted by the defence ministry is the first official sign of the group’s presence in the country as part of a deal with Putin to end the rebellion.

It was the latest twist in a baffling episode that has raised questions about the power and influence held by both men.

Belarus has built a new camp site that could be used to house the mercenaries as part of an agreement Moscow struck with Wagner boss Prigozhin to end his mutiny.