Residents evacuated from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky have left for Russia's Anapa city with a Ukrainian delegation, senior official David Arakhamia said Friday. They are expected to fly to Belarus before returning to Ukraine by bus, during a rare ceasefire brokered by the United States.

À l'issue de deux jours de sommet à Montréal, l'Union européenne et le Canada ont scellé vendredi une alliance qui doit permettre aux deux partenaires de "résister ensemble aux chocs", selon les mots du Premier ministre Mark Carney. La série d'accords signés élargit leur coopération à plusieurs secteurs stratégiques, de l'intelligence artificielle aux minerais critiques.

Russian made an unprecedented combative move this month as one of its military satellites, the Cosmos-2612, encroached upon the orbit of Ukrainian commercial satellite, Iceye-X36, in behaviour deemed "threatening" by the US State Department. Norbert Pouzin, an orbital analyst at French space tech firm, Aldoria, described the mercenary manoeuvre as the first of its kind.

Canada and the European Union on Friday held talks to deepen cooperation on areas spanning critical minerals, artificial intelligence and trade; to better navigate global tensions and reduce reliance on the United States and China.

Thousands of protesters marched across Italy on Friday over the rising cost of living, education funding cuts and government spending on defence. Minor clashes were reported in the northwestern Italian city of Turin, while police maintained a heavy presence across the country.

Newspaper Novaya Gazeta, one of the last vestiges of independent journalism in Russia, announced Friday that it was closing down, citing pressure from authorities who recently searched the home of its senior editor and earlier this year detained one of its journalists.

The Trump administration has approved the sale of 500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine to bolster its air defences, the US State Department said Friday. Meanwhile, evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky have begun their journey back to Ukraine in a rare local ceasefire. Read our liveblog to see how the events unfolded.

French investigators on Thursday questioned former prime minister Édouard Philippe, a candidate in next year's presidential election, in a case of alleged embezzlement of public funds. His lawyer welcomed the move, noting that magistrates had chosen not to place the ex-PM under formal investigation.