UKRAINE BRACES FOR KEY BATTLES ON EASTERN FRONT

Ukraine is preparing for “important battles” against Moscow’s forces in the east of the country, officials in Kyiv said, as Pope Francis on Sunday called for an Easter truce to end the war.

Evacuations continued from Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, where a missile strike on Friday killed 52 people at a railway station, while an airport in the central city of Dnipro was completely destroyed in fresh shelling on Sunday.

Some cities in the east were under heavy shelling, with tens of thousands of people unable to evacuate. The airport in Dnipro, Ukraine’s fourth-largest city, was also hit by missiles twice on Sunday, according to the regional governor.

Ukraine’s prosecutor general Iryna Venediktova said the country was examining the alleged culpability of 500 leading Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, for thousands of war crimes.

Pope Francis, meanwhile, called for an Easter ceasefire in Ukraine to pave the way for peace through “real negotiation”. “Let the Easter truce begin. But not to provide more weapons and pick up the combat again — no! — a truce that will lead to peace, through real negotiation,” he told a public mass at Saint Peter’s Square.

But Russia’s Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, a key ally of Mr. Putin, issued his own appeal against Russia’s “enemies”.

“In this difficult period for our fatherland, may the Lord help each of us to unite, including around power,” he said. “This is how true solidarity will emerge in our people, as well as an ability to push back external and internal enemies, and to build a life with more good, truth and love.”

The appeals came after Mr. Zelensky said Kyiv was readying for a Russian onslaught. “Sadly, in parallel we see the preparations for important battles, some people say decisive ones, in the east,” he said on Saturday. “We are ready to fight and to look in parallel to end this war through diplomacy.”

A senior U.S. official said Russia has appointed a new commander to oversee its war on Ukraine.

Meanwhile, On Sunday night, Zelensky again called on Western countries to provide more assistance to Ukraine. During talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Zelensky said, he discussed “how to strengthen sanctions against Russia and ... force Russia to seek peace.”

“I am glad to note that the German position has recently changed in favor of Ukraine. I consider it absolutely logical,” Zelensky said.

PAKISTAN PARLIAMENT TO VOTE IN NEW PM AFTER IMRAN KHAN OUSTING

Pakistan's parliament will select a new prime minister on Monday, after Imran Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in the early hours of Sunday.

Shahbaz Sharif - the leader of an opposition coalition who worked to depose Mr Khan - is widely expected to win a majority of the vote.

Mr Sharif, 70, comes from one of Pakistan's most powerful political dynasties. His older brother, Nawaz Sharif, was a former three-term Prime Minister who last held office from 2013 to 2017.

Other opposition leaders - like Bilawal Bhutto Zardari of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) - have already indicated their support for him.

Parliamentary voting will take place around 14:00 local time (09:00GMT).

Mr Khan, 69, was voted out after days of political drama and Supreme Court intervention.

He attempted to block a previous attempt to bring a no-confidence motion against him by dissolving parliament and calling for a snap election.

However, the country's Supreme Court upheld an opposition petition that his actions were unconstitutional and ordered the vote to go ahead.

Imran Khan, whose supporters protested across major cities after he was dismissed, is still blaming a "foreign conspiracy" for his removal as prime minister.

He has claimed, without evidence, that his rivals had colluded with the US to remove him because of his foreign policy stance on Afghanistan, Russia and China. Washington has strongly denied this. But the former international cricketer's claims fed on anti-American sentiment held by many of his supporters.

FRENCH ELECTIONS: MACRON AND LE PEN TO FIGHT FOR PRESIDENCY

Emmanuel Macron has won the first round of the French election and far-right rival Marine Le Pen will fight him for the presidency for a second time.

"Make no mistake, nothing is decided," he told cheering supporters.

In the end, he won a convincing first-round victory, but opinion polls suggest the run-off could be much closer.

Ms Le Pen called on every non-Macron voter to join her and "put France back in order".

With 97% of results counted, Emmanuel Macron had 27.6% of the vote, Marine Le Pen 23.41% and Jean-Luc Mélenchon 21.95%. The top two candidates going through to the second round run-off on April 24, according to projections by polling firms for French television channels based on a sample of votes.

Twelve candidates were in the running, but these were the only three who polled more than 10%. Many voters appeared to embrace the idea of tactical or "useful" voting, deciding that the other nine candidates had no hope of making the run-off.

A renewed battle for votes is under way. Marine Le Pen can count on supporters of Eric Zemmour, whose more hardline nationalism won him fourth place and 7%. Nationalist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan has also backed her. She can already count on an impressive 33% of the entire vote.

Mr Macron's team is planning a series of big rallies and major TV appearances. Most of the other candidates on the left have backed him, as has Valérie Pécresse, but one-time Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal said the president now had to "earn" victory.

SRI LANKAN DOCTORS SEEK URGENT MEDICAL SUPPLIES TO SAVE BABIES

Sri Lanka’s neonatologists have made a desperate call for urgent medical supplies to treat and save newborns needing emergency care, amid a severe shortage of essentials gripping the country that is battling an unprecedented economic crisis.

In a message to colleagues elsewhere, they have sought immediate donations such as Endotracheal (ET) tubes, among other crucial drugs and medical equipment.

“This is a critical message for colleagues overseas. Many things are lacking in our hospital set up, and we pediatricians and neonatologists are especially worried about the shortage of ET Tubes to ventilate newborn babies. Stocks would very soon run out,” said Dr. Saman Kumara, senior neonatologist practising in the government sector. In a YouTube message released on Sunday, he appealed to colleagues abroad to dispatch supplies for emergency neonatal care. “We have come to the stage of reusing ET tubes,” said Dr. Saman Kumara, who is also the President of the Perinatal Society of Sri Lanka, describing the situation as “pathetic”.

A statement from the Society said Sri Lanka had been maintaining an “outstanding” neonatal mortality rate in South East Asia, but due to the current economic and political crisis, “most of the essential consumables are not available in hospitals”.

The disruption in supply of essentials has put Sri Lanka’s enviable public health system in distress, as doctors across the country flag a severe shortage of vital medicines.

The Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA) said on Sunday that all hospitals in the country no longer had access to imported medical tools and vital drugs.

ANGER GROWS OVER SHANGHAI LOCKDOWN AMID COVID SURGE

Anger is growing among the residents of Shanghai as they face continuing shortages of food and medicine, with China’s financial centre on Sunday reporting a record rise in COVID-19 cases.

Most of Shanghai’s 26 million residents remained confined to their apartments for the past two weeks in a harsh lockdown aimed to curb the spread.

On Sunday, Shanghai reported a record of close to 25,000 cases, bringing the total in the current wave past 1,70,000.

Health authorities said most cases were mild, prompting many residents to question why they were being confined to their homes. The outbreak has paralysed the city’s supply chain and logistics with many now only relying on handouts of vegetables from the government to feed their families.

Many have taken to social media to complain about no access to medicines or hospital treatments because of the lockdown.

Videos on social media this weekend showed residents in some communities leaving their apartments and taking to the street in protest, demanding food supplies.

“Fears of contagion, movement restrictions both in and outside Shanghai, and questions about who can take delivery jobs and what vehicles they can drive have left the city underserved,” news outlet Caixin reported.

One reason for the shortage is that the harsh “zero COVID” measures have seen many delivery workers as well as employees of delivery companies and warehouses sent to enforced quarantine.

U.S. IMPOSING NEW TERMS IN N-TALKS: IRAN

Iran’s Foreign Minister said on Sunday that Washington is “imposing new conditions” in the negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement.

“On the issue of lifting sanctions, they (the Americans) are interested in proposing and imposing new conditions outside the negotiations,” state news agency IRNA quoted Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as saying.

“In the last two or three weeks, the American side has made excessive demands that contradict some paragraphs of the text,” he added.

“The Americans keep talking about the need for direct negotiations, but we have not seen the benefit of direct talks with the United States,” he said.

Talks had progressed most of the way toward reviving the deal, but pending issues are still unresolved. Among the key sticking points is Tehran’s demand to delist the Revolutionary Guards from a U.S. terror list.