RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT: TOP UPDATES

LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned NATO Monday that its member states would soon be attacked by Russian forces after an air strike hit a Ukrainian military base close to the Polish border.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the strategic southern port city of Mariupol, facing acute deprivation amid a prolonged siege, has topped 2,000, officials there said.

While western Ukraine has largely been spared so far, Russian air strikes overnight Saturday into Sunday carried the war deep into the west, killing 35 people and wounding 134 at a military base near Yavoriv, outside the city of Lviv -- which is dangerously close to the frontier with EU and NATO member Poland.

"If you do not close our sky, it is only a matter of time before Russian missiles fall on your territory, on NATO territory, on the homes of NATO citizens," Zelensky said in a video address released shortly after midnight, urging NATO to impose a no-fly zone over his country.

Washington and its EU allies have sent funds and military aid to Ukraine and imposed unprecedented economic sanctions on Russia.

Zelensky has continued to implore foreign counterparts to do more.

"Last year, I clearly warned NATO leaders that if there were no harsh preventive sanctions against the Russian Federation, it would go to war," Zelensky said. "We were right."

Further east, the latest fighting in Kyiv's suburbs left a US journalist dead -- the first foreign reporter killed since Russia's invasion of its neighbour on February 24.

"Kyiv. A city under siege," presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak wrote on Twitter. He said the city was preparing a "ruthless defence".

Meanwhile, efforts continued to get help to Mariupol, which aid agencies say is facing a humanitarian catastrophe.

A humanitarian column headed there had to turn back again on Sunday, a city official told AFP, after the Russians "did not stop firing."

A total of 2,187 residents have now died in days of relentless Russian bombardment, the city council said Sunday.

Zelensky has accused Moscow of both blocking and attacking humanitarian convoys, although he said Sunday that another 125,000 people had been evacuated that way across Ukraine.

Talks between the two sides have yet to yield a ceasefire, but Ukrainian and Russian representatives will meet via video-conference Monday, a Zelensky adviser and a Kremlin spokesman both said.

"And our goal is that in this struggle, in this difficult negotiating work, Ukraine will get the necessary result... for peace and for security," Zelensky said early Monday.

"We see significant progress," Leonid Slutsky, a senior member of Russia's negotiating team, told state-run television network RT Sunday.

RUSSIA-UKRAINE TALKS TODAY AS WAR COMES CLOSE TO NATO'S BORDERS

Expectations have been raised a notch ahead of renewed dialogue between the two countries.

Dmitry Peskov, Russia's negotiator and President Vladimir Putin's press secretary, said the talks will take place via video-conference.

Mykhailo Podolyak, Ukraine's negotiator and adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, confirmed the Kremlin's statement.

In a video posted on social media, Podolyak said Russia was beginning to engage constructively.

He added: "Russia now much more adequately perceives the world around it. It is much more sensitive to the position of Ukraine, which has been proven in battlefields, and in Ukraine's actions in terms of protecting its interests."

On Sunday, Zelensky said his delegation is in talks with their Russian counterparts every day.

Separately, US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman said Russia was showing signs of willingness to engage in substantive negotiations about ending a conflict in which thousands have died. Ukraine has said it is willing to negotiate, but not to surrender or accept any ultimatums. “We will not concede in principle on any positions. Russia now understands this. Russia is already beginning to talk constructively,” Ukrainian negotiator and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in a video posted online. “I think that we’ll achieve some results literally in a matter of days,” he said.

RIA news agency quoted a Russian delegate, Leonid Slutsky, as saying the talks had made substantial progress. “According to my personal expectations, this progress may grow in the coming days into a joint position of both delegations, into documents for signing,” Slutsky said. Neither side indicated what the scope of any agreement might be. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said late on Sunday that talks between Russia and Ukraine will continue on Monday.

In a tweet, Podolyak said Russia was carefully listening to Ukraine’s proposals. “Our demands are — the end of the war and the withdrawal of (Russian) troops. I see the understanding and there is a dialogue,” he said.

RUSSIA SEEKS MILITARY EQUIPMENT FROM CHINA FOR UKRAINE WAR: REPORT

Russia has asked China for military assistance including drones, to support its invasion of Ukraine, amid the ongoing military operations, a top US official cited by CNN broadcaster said.

Following Russia's military operation in Ukraine, the US and its European allies have introduced sanctions targeting several major Russian banks and high-rank Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, besides ousting Russia from the SWIFT financial system.

Liu Pengyu, the Chinese embassy spokesperson in Washington, said he was unaware of any suggestions that China might be willing to help Russia.

"I've never heard of that," Pengyu said in a statement when asked by CNN about the reporting of Russia's request for military aid.

Pengyu expressed concern for "the Ukraine situation" -- calling it "indeed disconcerting" -- and said China has and will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

Pengyu said: "The high priority now is to prevent the tense situation from escalating or even getting out of control. ... China calls for exercising utmost restraint and preventing a massive humanitarian crisis," as per CNN.

‘CHINA TO FACE CONSEQUENCES IF IT HELPS RUSSIA EVADE SANCTIONS’

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who is due to meet with China’s top diplomat Yang Jiechi in Rome on Monday, warned Beijing that it would “absolutely” face consequences if it helped Moscow evade sweeping sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Mr. Sullivan told CNN the U.S. believed China was aware that Russia was planning some action in Ukraine before the invasion took place, although Beijing may not have understood the full extent of what was planned.

“We are communicating directly, privately to Beijing, that there will absolutely be consequences for large-scale sanctions, evasion efforts or support to Russia to backfill them,” Mr. Sullivan said.

“We will not allow that to go forward and allow there to be a lifeline to Russia from these economic sanctions from any country, anywhere in the world.”

A senior official said the war in Ukraine would be a “significant topic” during Mr. Sullivan’s meeting with Mr. Yang, which is part of a broader effort to maintain open channels of communication and manage competition between both sides.

ISRAELI FOREIGN MIN CONDEMNS RUSSIA

Israel’s foreign minister has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, calling on Moscow to halt its attacks and end the conflict. Yair Lapid’s criticism Sunday is among the strongest that has come from Israeli officials since the war began. His remarks set him apart from Israeli PM Naftali Bennett, who has stopped short of condemning Russia.

CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR PLANT RESTORED: UKRAINE TELLS IAEA

Ukraine says it has restored Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) four days after they were completely lost at the Russian-controlled site, Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said in a statement.

The Director-General received the news from the head of Ukraine's nuclear power company Energoatom, Petro Kotin, who told him that the specialists had fixed one of two damaged lines and would now be able to deliver all required off-site power to the NPP, where various radioactive waste management facilities are located following the 1986 accident.

Ukraine's regulator separately informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that the power supply line was restored at 18:38 CET by the repair personnel of Ukrenergo, the country's transmission system operator. The Chornobyl NPP continues to work on backup diesel generators and will be reconnected to the Ukrainian electricity grid in the morning, the statement said.

INDIA TEMPORARILY RELOCATES EMBASSY TO POLAND

India on Sunday said the country’s embassy in Ukraine would be moved to Poland because of the rapidly deteriorating security situation.

The embassy had been functioning from an office in Lviv, located some 70 km from the Polish border, after Indian officials moved out of the capital Kyiv following the evacuation of a majority of Indian nationals from Ukraine last week.

“In view of the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Ukraine, including attacks in the western parts of the country, it has been decided that the Indian Embassy in Ukraine will be temporarily relocated in Poland,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement.

“The situation will be reassessed in the light of further developments,” the statement added.

IRAN SUSPENDS TALKS WITH SAUDI ARABIA

Iran has suspended talks with regional rival Saudi Arabia, a website affiliated to Iran’s top security body reported on Sunday, without giving a reason for the decision which comes as a fifth round of negotiations was due to start this week.

The news comes a day after Saudi Arabia carried out mass executions that activists said included 41 Shia Muslims, and amid stalled talks on an Iranian nuclear deal in Vienna.

“Iran has unilaterally suspended talks with Saudi Arabia,” Nour news said, without providing a reason. It said no specific date had been scheduled for a new round of talks.

Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia and and Shia-majority Iran, which are locked in proxy conflicts, started direct talks last year to try to contain tensions. Iraq’s Foreign Minister earlier said his country would host a new round on Wednesday.

Riyadh in 2016 severed ties with Iran after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi Embassy in Tehran following the execution of a Shia cleric in Saudi Arabia.

On Saturday, Saudi Arabia said it had executed 81 men in its biggest mass execution in decades. Activists said 41 were Shia Muslims from the eastern Qatif region.

COVID IN CHINA: MILLIONS PLACED UNDER LOCKDOWN

China on Sunday reported nearly 3,400 domestic Covid-19 cases including 1,807 symptomatic ones, the highest in over two years, across 19 provinces, forcing new lockdowns and travel restrictions to contain the outbreak.

The Chinese government has placed all 17.5 million residents in one of its biggest cities under lockdown on Sunday.

The southern tech hub of Shenzhen told all residents to stay at home as the city struggles to eradicate an Omicron flare-up linked to neighbouring virus-ravaged Hong Kong.

Shenzhen reported 66 new infections on Sunday - a fraction of the 32,430 confirmed the same day in Hong Kong.

The 1,807 cases for Saturday across China were more than triple the caseload of 476 for the previous day. The surge in cases in the past few days has health authorities scrambling to control the localised clusters of both Omicron and Delta varieties of the infection.

While China’s count of Covid-19 cases is far lower than those of many other countries, the sharp surge in numbers could complicate Beijing’s “dynamic-clearance” policy to suppress the outbreak as quickly as possible.

The city of Jilin has been partially locked down with hundreds of neighbourhoods sealed up, an official announced on Sunday, while Yanji, an urban area of nearly 700,000 bordering North Korea, was fully closed off.

DIDN'T JOIN POLITICS TO CHECK PRICES OF 'ALOO, TAMATAR': PAK PM IMRAN KHAN

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said he did not join politics to check the prices of 'aloo, tamatar', as he attacked the Opposition parties for tabling a no confidence motion against him in Parliament, accusing him for mismanaging the economy.

Addressing a political rally in Hafizabad city in Punjab province, Khan said the nation would stand against elements trying to topple his government through “buying the conscience of the [lawmakers] using money”.

He said Pakistan was going to become a great country in the remainder of his term, adding that the incentives announced by his government would yield results soon.

The cricketer-turned-politician said that 25 years ago, he decided to join politics for the sake of the country's youth, adding that he had no personal gains from doing so as he already had everything in life that a person could dream of.

"I didn't join politics to know the prices of 'aloo and tamatar' (potatoes and tomatoes). I joined it for the sake of the country's youth", Khan, also chairman of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, said.

"If we want to become a great nation, we will have to support the truth, and this is what I have been preaching for the last 25 years," Khan said.

Khan's speech came days after the united opposition front submitted a no-confidence motion against him while pinning its hopes for the success of the motion on the estranged members of the ruling party and its allies.

The key leaders of the Opposition parties will meet on Monday at the residence of the Leader of Opposition in National Assembly and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif to hold a consultative huddle to chalk out an effective strategy to make its no-confidence motion successful.

'THE POWER OF THE DOG', 'CODA', 'DUNE' WIN BIG AT BAFTA-2022

LONDON - Dark Western "The Power of the Dog" scooped the top two honours at the British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, winning best film and director for Jane Campion, while sci-fi epic "Dune" picked up the most prizes.

New Zealand filmmaker Campion wrapped up a successful weekend for her comeback feature film, after winning the top honours at the Directors Guild of America awards in Beverly Hills the day before.

Based on the 1967 novel by Thomas Savage, the critically-acclaimed movie set on a 1920s Montana ranch marks the return of Oscar winner Campion to feature films since 2009’s “Bright Star”.

"Jane ... you are a visionary whose trail blazed through the last 30 years of cinema with stories about the silenced, the under-represented and the misunderstood," producer Tanya Seghatchian said as she accepted the award on behalf of Campion, who was absent.

"You've inspired legions of women to find their voices. We're here because of you."

Campion later briefly appeared via a video call on the phone of one of the film's producers during the winners' press conference, and said she was "overwhelmed".

Hosted by Australian actress and comedian Rebel Wilson, this year's ceremony, known as the BAFTAs (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) returned as a usual glitzy red carpet event at London's Royal Albert Hall, following a virtual event last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were references to the war in Ukraine, with some nominees wearing ribbons and badges in the blue and yellow colours of the Ukrainian flag or speaking about the crisis on the red carpet and on stage.

"Dune", a mammoth adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 novel, had lead nominations with 11 nods, mainly in the creative and technical categories. It won five awards.

"Belfast", Kenneth Brannagh's semi-autobiographical black and white comedy drama set at the onset of Northern Ireland's three decades of conflict, won outstanding British film.

Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" remake won two awards, including best supporting actress for Ariana DeBose.

Fresh from his win at the Screen Actors Guild awards, Troy Katsur, who is deaf, won supporting actor for "CODA", a coming-of-age story about the only hearing member of a deaf family.

"This is a historic moment because it's been an extremely long time for folks to really accept a different perspective of the deaf community and deaf actors," Kotsur told Reuters on the red carpet via an interpreter.

"Finally they look at me not as a deaf person, but as an artist and an actor who happens to be deaf."

An absent Will Smith won the leading actor award for playing the father of tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams in "King Richard", while Joanna Scanlan won leading actress for portraying a widow who discovers her late husband's devastating secret in "After Love".

FIVE INDIAN STUDENTS DIE IN CRASH NEAR CANADA'S TORONTO

Five Indian students died in an accident involving a van and a tractor-trailer near Toronto on Saturday, Indian High Commission to Canada said. Two other passengers were hospitalised with severe injuries.

According to local media reports, police said that Harpreet Singh, 24, Jaspinder Singh, 21, Karanpal Singh, 22, Mohit Chouhan, 23, and Pawan Kumar, 23, were pronounced dead at the scene. They were all studying in Montreal and the Greater Toronto areas.

Indian envoy Ajay Bisaria tweeted: “Heart-breaking tragedy in Canada: 5 Indians students passed away in an auto accident near Toronto on Saturday. Two others in hospital. Deepest condolences to the families of the victims. @IndiainToronto team in touch with friends of the victims for assistance.”

“Deepest condolences to the families,” TS Tirumurti, India's Permanent Representative of UN, replied.

The students were travelling west in a passenger van on Saturday morning when the vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer. Police said that the investigation into the crash is underway and no charges have been laid.