European leaders will reportedly hold informal talks on Ukraine in Paris on Monday. The meeting is a response to indications that Donald Trump, America’s president, is ready to negotiate a hasty peace deal with Russia on Ukraine’s behalf without Ukraine’s participation. Marco Rubio, America’s secretary of state, will head to Saudi Arabia this week to meet his Russian counterpart.
Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the Trump administration’s suggestion that America is owed the rights to half of Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals for its support in the war. The extraordinary demand was made by Scott Bessent, America’s treasury secretary, who visited Kyiv on Wednesday. The Ukrainian president said any deal would need to include security guarantees.
Marco Rubio, America’s secretary of state, met Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Afterwards Israel’s prime minister praised Mr Trump’s “bold vision” for Gaza, which involves America taking over the territory, and said that the two leaders are working in “full co-operation and co-ordination”. Mr Rubio called for Hamas to be “eradicated”, saying the militant group “cannot continue as a military or governing force”.
M23 soldiers marched into the centre of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu and the second-largest city in eastern Congo. It is unclear whether the rebel group, which is backed by neighbouring Rwanda, controls the whole city. In January it took Goma, the largest city in North Kivu, an adjacent province. The United Nations’ refugee agency claims that the insurgency has displaced 350,000 people.
At least 18 people died in a crush at New Delhi train station as thousands tried to board delayed services. The station was unusually crowded because of travellers going to and from the Maha Kumbh Mela, a religious festival thought to be the largest gathering of people in the world. Last month 30 people were crushed to death at the event, which attracts some 400m worshippers.
Australia said it would ban foreigners from buying many houses for two years. The policy, announced by the country’s Labor government, comes in response to a housing crunch. It applies to existing dwellings, rather than those that are yet to be built. Australia’s housing minister admitted the scheme would free up fewer than 2,000 homes a year.
The former prime minister of Mauritius, Pravind Jugnauth, was arrested over allegations of money-laundering. Authorities say they found 114m Mauritius rupees ($2.4m) in various properties connected to Mr Jugnauth. He denies wrongdoing. Mauritius’s new government has questioned the Jugnauth administration’s keeping of the Indian Ocean archipelago’s books, launching an audit in November.
Word of the week: trochas, the Spanish term for illegal border crossings, often used to describe those used by Venezuelans entering Colombia. Read the full story.
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