International from Thursday, March 13th, 2025

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia supported a US proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine in principle, but that any truce would have to address the root causes of the conflict and that many crucial details needed to be sorted out.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday he would scrap a body overseeing the state-funded health system in England in a bid to save hundreds of millions of pounds and cut waiting lists and bureaucracy.

Russia says there is no doubt that its troops would soon complete the task of clearing out Ukrainian forces from Russia's Kursk region where they have held a pocket of territory for more than seven months.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia was ready to talk to the United States about a peace initiative discussed between the US and Ukraine, and contacts could take place on Thursday.

Australia's interior minister said on Thursday his department was reviewing the visa status of a American influencer who uploaded a video of her grabbing a baby wombat in an incident that has caused outrage in the country.

NASA and SpaceX have delayed the launch of a replacement crew of four astronauts to the International Space Station that would have set in motion the long-awaited homecoming of US astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

Russian President Vladimir Putin donned military fatigues for a surprise visit to troops in Russia's western Kursk region on Wednesday, where he ordered them to press their lightning advance and swiftly retake the rest of the area from Ukrainian forces.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he takes full responsibility for his administration's "war on drugs", in a video message posted on his Facebook account, as he braces for a legal battle at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Officials from the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine agreed to continue consultations on their Gaza reconstruction plan with US Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, it was announced after a meeting in Qatar on Wednesday.