Entertainers

Pop megastar Beyonce on Feb. 1 announced plans to tour Europe and North America later this year, following the release of her latest album "Renaissance" just days before a Grammy Awards ceremony where she is the most-nominated artist.

"We will continue to deny it," Lavrov said and added that no one is trying to convince Kyiv to return to the negotiating table with Moscow. "Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky is not independent, he is being manipulated," he believes.

Russia is mustering its military might in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, officials said Wednesday, in what Kiev suspects is preparation for an offensive as the first anniversary of Moscow's invasion approaches.

Ukraine will hold a summit with the European Union in Kiev this week, the government announced on Dec. 31, as it expressed hope the conference would bring the war-battered nation closer to membership of the bloc almost a year after Russia launched its invasion.

President Joe Biden said Monday the United States would not provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, as Kiev expands the list of weaponry it needs to be better able to drive Russian forces from occupied territories.

Fighting continued at key points along the long front as Russian forces sought to expand their hold on territory in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.

President Vladimir Putin threatened to personally target Boris Johnson with a missile attack just before ordering Russian forces into Ukraine, the former UK prime minister has claimed.

The apparent threat came in a phone call just ahead of the invasion on February 24, according to a new BBC documentary to be broadcast on Monday.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated on Jan. 29 that Germany will not send fighter jets to Ukraine, as Kiev steps up calls for more advanced weapons from the West to help repel Russia's invasion.

Scholz only just agreed on Wednesday to send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and to allow other European countries to send theirs, after weeks of intense debate and mounting pressure from allies.

One of the world's longest-running festivals kicked off in Mumbai Saturday for the Indian financial hub's biggest music extravaganza since the end of the pandemic. 

Lollapalooza's arrival in Mumbai is the first time the festival has been staged in Asia after branching out from its American origins in the past decade.

Ukraine and its Western allies are engaged in "fast-track" talks on the possibility of equipping the invaded country with long-range missiles and military aircraft, a top Ukrainian presidential aide said Saturday.

As he pointed out, "Putin does not want negotiations because he does not want peace".
Zelensky said that he is convinced that Ukraine is only the first step.