As the deadline for Russia to agree to a ceasefire in its conflict with Ukraine approaches, according to a Kremlin official, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet.
A Trump-Putin meeting could occur as early as the following week, according to Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov, who spoke on Thursday. He continued, “A place has been chosen, but it will be revealed later.”
Both parties have formally agreed to hold a high-level bilateral meeting in the upcoming days, according to Ushakov, who spoke to reporters at the American side’s request.
Trump stated on Wednesday that he was hopeful that a meeting would be held “very soon” with both Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the announcement followed. Moscow will be subject to broader sanctions unless a ceasefire is reached by Friday, according to Trump’s warning.
Ushakov, who met Putin for the fifth time earlier this week, discussed the possibility of a three-way summit during discussions with Steve Witkoff, the envoy for Trump, in Moscow. The potential trilateral meeting was not officially commented on by Russia.
In a letter to X, Zelenskyy stated that “Russians expect the same brave approach from the Russian side” and that “Ukraine is not afraid of meetings.” He added that discussions had a “two bilateral and one trilateral” formula, and that Europe must be a part of efforts to put an end to the war.
No breakthrough has been made despite Witkoff making numerous trips to Moscow since Trump’s January declaration to end the war. Trump acknowledged the lack of progress, saying, “We have been working at this for a long time. I’m here to end the situation because there are countless young people who are dying.
The Kremlin characterized Witkoff’s most recent discussions as “constructive” and claimed that both sides had exchanged “signals,” but it provided few details. Zelenskyy also confirmed speaking with Trump about the meeting with leaders from Europe in the interim.
A peace agreement is still not anticipated to be reached before Trump’s deadline, though. For Ukraine and its Western allies, Russian air strikes continue to strike Ukraine, and Moscow’s demands for a resolution to the war, such as Kyiv’s demilitarization, neutrality, and renunciation of NATO membership, continue to be in jeopardy.
Putin also demands the lifting of international sanctions, the recognition of Crimea, and the withdrawal of Ukraine from Russian-occupied areas. These conditions have been consistently rejected by Kyiv.
Khan Younes, Gaza: When you’re lost, you’re no longer a human being.
Sometimes, it’s a phone, a faithful companion of your joys and sorrows, your sweetest moments and the darkest of your pain.
It turns into more than just a tool in the harsh conditions of life in the largest open-air prison in the world. It serves as your gateway to the outside world, your way to communicate with loved ones either inside or outside of the prison.
Sometimes you can see joy and beauty through its lens, but more often than not, it only shows falling rockets or the remains of their occupants.
What, however, does the genocidal chaos leave you with when that devoted companion vanishes?
My phone incurred injuries, which caused it to collapse.
My phone incurred injuries, which caused it to collapse..
I find it hard to believe I’m describing it in this way, using the same phrase I use when reporting on the deaths of thousands of people who were denied urgent medical care and who were simply punished for surviving Israeli bombs.
My phone, however, fought its share of this persistent Israeli cruelty, suffocation caused by dust and sand, suffocation from overheated tents, and constant torment from poor connection.
Everyone has a limit on their endurance, so it made an effort to hold on. In the midst of frantic stampeding crowds, it fell the day we left our damaged home for our 14th displacement.
It managed to survive the severe blow, but it only endured 70 days after its body blistered and its screen cracked before its wounds became too painful to bear.
Then it permanently went dark.
Oddly, I felt comforted. I wasn’t alone because it wasn’t painful, not to mention that. I’ve witnessed the same thing happen to others: Friends and family members who are slowly losing their phones, just like their loved ones.
Strangely, these minor, shared losses bring us comfort. We expect our phones to not function despite the loss of our loved ones and our state of health. They actually endured this long, which is a miracle.
Smartphone addiction is frequently used as a buzzword. However, if you’re lucky enough to still have one, it’s just for life in Gaza.
It’s a break. You cling to a tiny, glowing portal. It makes it easier to scurry back in time while scrolling through memories or staring at loved ones’ faces, which are now names on graves or which still conjure you up.
Their beautiful smiles are still preserved in your phone’s emotionless memory. It makes you accessible to voices you otherwise cannot hear and people you can’t reach. Instead of healing the pain, it distracts you.
Like you’re starving and can’t seem to stop yourself, you scroll through the endless menus of mouthwatering food and make fun of it.
On May 3, 2025, the author reported to [Ahmed Al-Najjar/Al Jazeera] with his phone in hand.
While your table is buried beneath rubble, you watch strangers eating dinner with your family. You may be wondering how dare to post such scenes when nearby children are starving to death. And yet you continue to scroll because it temporarily acts as a calming sedative.
Are you still alive?
Finding a new companion is a necessity when reporting daily on the ongoing genocide in the world. However, Gaza’s quest is disastrous.
There are plenty of options, even the most recent high-end brands that somehow managed to survive the blockade, despite the fact that life has crumbled and bread is scarce here.
The cost of a phone is also very high because this is Gaza, where a bag of flour costs $ 700.
Even the best-quality phones in makeshift stores are sold for more than the building costs, which are further inflated by the genocidal environment.
And it doesn’t end there. In a place where the only thing that is free is your breath, you must pay in cash.
An iPhone might cost $1, 000 elsewhere, but here it costs $4, 200.
You then look for less expensive options and hope for something more reasonably priced, but the calculations are the same.
By spending such incomprehensible amounts, you are confirming the very reality your captors are trying to impose, and you are doing it with your own money, which is not me.
You are aware of how you are influencing their style. During this genocidal siege, we are already drained of whatever is left in our pockets just for flour. We don’t know how long it will last.
So you hold onto what you already have in order to avoid having to pay your price at a GHF center for the deadly “aid” you never receive.
I’ve been feeling paralyzed for a while, which became especially acute during Israel’s two-week total communication blackout, during which time my phone finally died in complete silence.
More than just being unable to check on loved ones when the captor cuts yet another lifeline. This prevents the call for ambulances. Unheard, in the dark, that is how a wounded person might perish.
Someone is out there making cruel decisions about when you can contact the world or be contacted so that you can say, “Are you alive?”
Israel’s expulsion orders are cruel ironic because they are issued online even as Gaza’s citizens are unable to access the networks they depend on. Only when you witness thousands of people strewn across the streets and the earth trembling from Israeli attacks are you able to tell.
Your digital lifeline’s hand has been colonizing and blocking your land for years.
And you are certain that if they could obstruct the air you breathe, they would not rebuff.
The phone, which was shown in Khan Younis, Gaza on August 4, 2025 [Ahmed Al-Najjar/Al Jazeera], after it ” succumbed to its wounds.”
You rise therefore.
There are times when I try to call someone or check something with my hand still touching nothing.
I no longer have my companion. Under both digital and physical blockade, I remain phoneless and helpless.
Then you begin to compare your chains to the wealth your captors possess, giving you unmatched access to every technological advantage and luxury.
On the other hand, you are being hunted down by the tech giants whose tools are assisting your destruction using the most advanced weapons in the world.
You just want to let everyone know you’re still here, despite the use of satellites and precision-guided missiles.
How significant a missing companion was to you. It wasn’t just a phone, either. Your witness, your shield, and your sword were all in one.
And in the face of this tyranny, surrendering is something you cannot afford. You rise therefore..
Because we refuse to be massacred in silence, you whisper, “Rest in power, my companion.”
Ahmed Aaed, a Palestinian boy, finds solace in caring for feral cats in Gaza. Due to the Israeli-imposed food and medicine shortage, he shared his grief over one kitten he was unable to save.
Real Betis from Spain and Como from Italy had a preseason friendly that got even more heated with players punching each other and starting a brawl.
Former Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini is in charge of the Italian club while former midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Cesc Fabregas are in charge of the Italian team.
In the first half of the match, which took place in southern Spain’s La Linea de la Concepcion on Wednesday, there were several tense exchanges, and Como midfielder Maximo Perrone and Betis player Pablo Fornals got into a fight.
After a brief exchange of words, they both engaged in physical therapy.
Both teams’ players rushed in, and the conflict grew worse. With substitutes and staff members entering the field, some attempting to halt the fighting, the benches were cleared.
Before order was restored, it took a few moments. A player from each team was sent off by the referee.
Both teams want to win, but in the end, Betis midfielder Sergi Altimira said, “We are competitive,” but there is a line you can’t cross in these games. They “weren’t stopping the game all the time,” they said.
Como won the friendly 3-2 as Como prepares to face Barcelona in a second preseason game on Sunday.
People are being shot like animals, they say. After its report revealed that Israeli troops were purposefully killing Palestinians trying to access food, according to Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the organization is calling for the closure of Gaza’s GHF aid sites.
Kagiso Rabada, South Africa’s top paceman, says it’s time to get over the ferocity of beating Australia in the World Test Championship final, but that the team has “nothing to fear” now that their belated major trophy success has come to an end.
As South Africa take on Australia in three Twenty20 fights and three one-day internationals starting on Sunday in Darwin, Rabada will spearhead the country’s attack.
Rabada referred to South Africa’s victory over Australia at Lord’s in June as “special,” adding that she has done so many interviews since.
“I believe it’s time to move on,” she said. He stated at a news conference on Thursday that he believes South Africa will never forget that as a team and that it is time to move on.
South Africa’s five-wicket victory in the WTC final came after a number of frustrating near misses at limited-over World Cups.
“It kind of felt relief,” she said. However, as the season progresses and we approach the T20 World Cup, I’m inclined to expect something slightly different.
You are aware that nothing is a threat.
After winning the final, South African’s Kagiso Rabada and teammates take the ICC Test Championship trophy.
Rabada relishes the resumption of Australia and South Africa’s conflict.
He said, “There’s always some good cricket playing, and there’s always some hard cricket.” I always think that Australia gets the most out of us because we kind of have them in our faces whenever we play them. And I suppose that’s our style.
Rababa, who turned 30 in May, hasn’t played since the London WTC final.
“Thank goodness I’ve had a long break, so that’s awesome. Because of the high volume of cricket, maintenance work must always be done.
South Africa hopes the experience will help the young players in their squad as they prepare for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka and the 2027 World Cup in Southern Africa.
