Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday described his two-hour-long phone conversation with former US President Donald Trump as "substantive" and "productive," raising fresh hopes for a potential breakthrough in the prolonged Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The call, which focused on reviving stalled peace negotiations, marks a significant diplomatic development in the three-year-long war.

"This conversation has effectively taken place and lasted more than two hours. I would like to emphasise that it was both substantive and quite candid. Overall, I believe it was a very productive exchange," Putin told the media following the conversation.

The talks come amid renewed efforts by the United States to facilitate direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.

While discussions between the Russian and Ukrainian sides were initially expected to resume through a high-level meeting between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Turkey last week, the Russian leader did not attend. Trump, who was on a tour of West Asia at the time, had signalled he might visit the summit but did not make the trip either.

South Korea's military on Monday raised the possibility that North Korea received technological assistance from Russia in developing a new air-to-air missile following the North's test of the weapon last week.

On Saturday, the North's state media reported North Korean leader Kim Jong-un oversaw anti-air combat and air raid drills by an air force flight group earlier in the week, unveiling what appeared to be a live-fire drill involving a new air-to-air missile launched from a MiG-29 fighter jet. Kim was accompanied by a group of party and military officials, including Ri Pyong-chol, general adviser for the munitions policy of the ruling Workers' Party's Central Committee, and Kim Yong-hwan, president of the Academy of Defence Sciences.

"We believe there is an association," Col. Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), told a regular press briefing, when asked whether the North received arms and advanced technology from Russia in exchange for its troop deployment.

Two people were killed and one person remains missing after multiple pedestrians were struck by a train in Fremont, Ohio, authorities confirmed.

The tragic incident occurred around 7 p.m. on Sunday near the Miles Newton Bridge in Fremont, a city located between Toledo and Cleveland along Lake Erie.

The Fremont Police Department, in coordination with other emergency responders, launched a search operation in the area, focusing on the Sandusky River, where one individual is believed to be missing.

Fremont Mayor Danny Sanchez confirmed the two fatalities, noting that both victims were adults. However, the identities of the deceased have not yet been released, pending notification of their families.

Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel resumed on Saturday in the Qatari capital Doha, according to senior Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi.

Mardawi said the talks are being held under Qatari and US mediation in an effort to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and finalize a hostage exchange deal, without preconditions.

According to the source, the guarantees provided by the United States in the current round of Gaza ceasefire talks appeared to be "more serious," including clear commitments to implementing the terms of any potential agreement.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed on Saturday the resumption of negotiations with Hamas, saying Hamas' return to the negotiation table marks a shift from what he described as a refusal position it has taken so far.

South Korea has discussed ways of enhancing bilateral economic and trade cooperation with the United States, China, Japan and several other partner nations on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting amid heightened uncertainties in the global economic and trade landscape, the industry ministry said.

The two-day APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting took place on South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju from Thursday, providing an opportunity for trade ministers of regional economies to engage in one-on-one discussions, according the Seoul's Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, reports news agency.

On the sidelines of the meeting, South Korean trade and industry officials held high-level bilateral talks with representatives from 14 of the 20 other APEC member economies, as well as with the director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), to explore avenues for trade cooperation and coordination.

The Israeli military said that it had stepped up its operations in the Gaza Strip, launching a wave of airstrikes and deploying additional ground forces in an effort to establish operational control in parts of the enclave.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Friday, said the intensified assault marked the start of a new operation codenamed 'Gideon's Chariots,' which aims to expand the scope of fighting and advance key war objectives, including the release of hostages and the dismantling of Hamas.

"IDF troops will continue to operate in order to protect Israeli civilians and achieve the objectives of the war," the military said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces would enter Gaza "with full force" in the coming days as part of efforts to defeat Hamas, news agency reported.

Heavier-than-expected rainfall hit the greater South Korea's Seoul area on Friday, prompting the year's first emergency text alert for heavy rain to be sent via mobile phones to residents in parts of the region.

At around 4:30 p.m., residents of Onam-eup in Namyangju, about 25 kilometres east of Seoul, received an emergency text message warning of torrential rain after the area recorded 74 millimetres of rainfall in just one hour.

The Korea Meteorological Administration issues such alerts when hourly rainfall exceeds 50 mm and three-hour cumulative rainfall tops 90 mm, or when one-hour rainfall alone surpasses 72 mm.

Eighteen streams in Seoul, including Cheonggye Stream and Anyang Stream, were closed to the public due to torrential downpours, according to Seoul city officials.

Acute food insecurity and child malnutrition rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2024, pushing more than 295 million people across 53 countries to the brink, according to a joint report by UN agencies released on Friday.

This is an increase of 13.7 million from 2023, said the report, blaming conflict, economic shocks, climate extremes, and forced displacement for the global rise in food insecurity and malnutrition.

It showed that the prevalence of acute food insecurity is worsening -- standing at 22.6 per cent of the population. 2024 marks the fifth consecutive year in which the figure has remained above 20 per cent.

During the same period, the number of people facing catastrophic hunger more than doubled to reach 1.9 million -- the highest since tracking began in 2016, the report said, adding that hunger shocks will likely persist into 2025.

“This Global Report on Food Crises is another unflinching indictment of a world dangerously off course,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

South Korea has again asked the United States to exempt the country from all tariffs, Seoul's Industry Minister Ahn Duk-geun said on Friday, after meeting with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the sidelines of a trade ministers' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies.

In the meeting, the two sides agreed to hold their second round of technical discussions in Washington next week on six areas related to trade -- trade imbalances, non-tariff measures, economic security, country of origin of products and commercial considerations -- Ahn said.

Next week's meeting is expected to be followed by additional high-level talks in mid-June, he added, reports news agency.

The high-level meeting held on South Korea's southern island of Jeju comes about three weeks after their last gathering in Washington for high-level trade consultations, where the two sides agreed to pursue a "package" deal on U.S. tariffs and economic cooperation issues by July 8.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that a Ukrainian delegation would attend the upcoming peace talks in Istanbul with a commitment to ending the conflict with Russia, though he would not personally show up at the negotiating table.

At the Ukrainian embassy in Ankara following talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday, Zelensky told reporters that Ukraine would send a delegation to Istanbul.

Zelensky said Ukraine remained committed to dialogue but expressed doubts about Moscow's intentions, news agency reported.

He told reporters that Ukraine did not see "any decision-makers" from the Russian delegation who will be present at the talks.

The delegation will be led by Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, alongside professionals, including military and intelligence officers, Zelensky remarked, noting that Ukraine is awaiting confirmation from both Washington and Moscow on the exact schedule for the talks, which are expected to take place either Thursday or Friday.