China’s Belt and Road Initiative hits record $213bn in 2025
China’s Belt and Road Initiative recorded its strongest year since launch in 2025, with Chinese investment a...
Ukraine’s allies have pledged nearly $48 billion in military support at a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group (UDCG) in Brussels, vowing to intensify pressure on Russia and strengthen Kyiv’s battlefield position.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said five countries had committed new funding to purchase American weapons under Ukraine’s Priority Requirements List.
He thanked the UK, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Lithuania for contributions he described as being “in the hundreds of millions of dollars” and said he expected more pledges soon, without naming specific countries.
He made the announcement at a joint press briefing with the British, German and Ukrainian defence ministers on Thursday.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey, who chaired the session, confirmed that allies had pledged a total of £35 billion, equivalent to nearly $48 billion, in military support.
“The UDCG has a clear message to Putin: we’re more united and more determined than ever,” Healey said.
“We will step up pressure on Russia and we want to make 2026 the year this war ends,” he added.
Healey said Russian President Vladimir Putin had expected a swift victory.
“Four years on, Ukraine’s forces are hitting targets deep into Russia, inflicting high casualty rates on parts of the front line and taking back territory,” Healey explained.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said Berlin would deliver five additional missile interceptors, provided other countries contribute a total of 30.
“We are on a good path,” he said, adding that some partners were still finalising approvals.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov thanked allies for continued backing, accusing Moscow of targeting civilians and energy infrastructure as it struggles on the battlefield.
“Putin cannot win on the ground, so that’s why he is terrorising the civilian population,” he said.
Rutte, who recently visited Ukraine, said he had seen the destruction first-hand and reiterated calls for sustained support, saying 2026 should be the year Russia is no longer able to continue the war.
The U.S military said it carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran on Thursday (7 May). Meanwhile, Iran's Joint Military Command accused the U.S. of breaching the ceasefire, by striking an Iranian oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and launching attacks on several Iranian cities.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that Iran wanted to negotiate and make a deal in comments to reporters on Wednesday (6 May). But earlier, he warned Washington would ramp up attacks if no agreement was reached.
Argentinian authorities are reconstructing the journeys of Dutch citizens who presented with symptoms of deadly hantavirus after visiting Argentina and Chile as part of a luxury cruise trip, the country's Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday (6 May)
The 61st Venice Biennale has opened under grey skies and political tension, with disputes over Russia and Israel, resignations on the jury, and protests marking the start of one of the art world’s most high-profile events.
Latvian authorities said two drones entered NATO member Latvia from Russian territory and crashed on Thursday morning, with officials linking them to Ukraine’s wider drone operations against targets in Russia.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative recorded its strongest year since launch in 2025, with Chinese investment and construction activity surging across Asia, Africa and the Middle East despite years of criticism that the programme was losing momentum.
Two Chinese-British dual nationals have been found guilty by a London court of spying for China. Chung Biu “Bill” Yuen, 65, and Chi Leung “Peter” Wai, 40, targeted prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy activists living in the UK, whom they referred to as “cockroaches.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed five of eight suspected hantavirus cases linked to the luxury cruise ship MV Hondius. The U.N. health agency warned on Thursday (7 May) that more infections could emerge because of the virus’s long incubation period.
A group of Australian women and children detained for years in Kurdish-run camps in northeastern Syria due to links to Islamic State are expected to arrive in Australia on Thursday evening.
A South Korean appeals court on Thursday reduced former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo’s prison sentence from 23 years to 15 years over his role in ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol’s brief imposition of martial law in 2024.
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