PUTIN VISITS MARIUPOL IN FIRST TRIP TO FALLEN CITY

MOSCOW, Russia — Russian President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Mariupol, state media reported Sunday, his first to the city since it was captured after a lengthy siege at the start of Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.

The trip comes after an arrest warrant was issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court, over Russia's alleged deportation of thousands of Ukrainian children during the conflict.

Russia besieged Mariupol at the start of its offensive last year, destroying the Azovstal steel works, the last holdout of Ukrainian forces in the city.

According to state news agency TASS on Sunday, Putin flew to Mariupol by helicopter on Saturday and took a tour of the city, at times driving a car.

He visited several sites and spoke with residents, and was presented with a report on the reconstruction work of the city.

Putin's stop in Mariupol comes after his surprise visit to Crimea on Saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of the peninsula's annexation.

Russian state TV showed him visiting the Black Sea port city of Sevastopol, accompanied by the local Moscow-appointed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev.

Razvozhayev said on the messaging app Telegram that Putin had been expected to take part in the opening of a children's art school by video link.

"But Vladimir Vladimirovich came in person. Himself. Behind the wheel. Because on such a historic day, the president is always with Sevastopol and the people of Sevastopol," he said.

UBS AGREES 'EMERGENCY RESCUE' OF CREDIT SUISSE

Troubled bank Credit Suisse has been rescued by its Swiss rival UBS in a government-backed deal.

Sunday evening's announcement came after a weekend of emergency talks in Switzerland between the two banks and the country's financial regulators.

The Swiss National Bank said the deal was the best way to restore the confidence of financial markets and to manage risks to the economy.

The Bank of England said it welcomed the "comprehensive set of actions".

Credit Suisse shareholders were deprived of a vote on the deal and will receive one share in UBS for every 22.48 shares they own, valuing the bank at $3.15bn (£2.6bn).

At the close of business on Friday Credit Suisse was valued at around $8bn (£6.5bn).

But the deal has achieved what regulators set out to do - secure a result before the financial markets opened on Monday.

In a statement Switzerland's central bank said "a solution has been found to secure financial stability and protect the Swiss economy in this exceptional situation".

The federal government said in order to reduce any risks for UBS it would grant a guarantee against potential losses worth $9.6bn (£7.9bn)

The Swiss central bank has also offered liquidity assistance of up to $110bn (£90bn).

IMRAN KHAN AND OTHER LEADERS BOOKED ON TERROR AND VANDALISM CHARGES OVER CLASHES IN ISLAMABAD

Islamabad : Pakistani police on Sunday registered a terrorism case against Imran Khan and over a dozen PTI leaders for indulging in vandalism, attacking security personnel and creating unrest outside the judicial complex here ahead of a court hearing in a graft case involvingthe ousted premier.

Clashes erupted outside the Islamabad Judicial Complex on Saturday when Khan arrived in Islamabad from Lahore to attend a much awaited hearing in the Toshakhana case. During the confrontation between PTI workers and police, over 25 security personnel were injured, prompting additional district and sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal to defer the court hearing till March 30.

The case was registered against arrested PTI workers and wanted party leaders. About 17 PTI leaders were named in the FIR lodged by Islamabad Police, Geo News reported. The FIR states the workers damaged the police check post and the main gate of the judicial complex, itsaid.

In all, 18 people were arrested for arson, pelting stones and damaging the complex, said the FIR. “About two police vehicles and seven motorcycles were burned,” it added.

Imran, 70, arrived in Islamabad from Lahore to appear before the court. Soon after he left for Islamabad, over 10,000 armed Punjab police personnel stormed his Zaman Park home in Lahore and arrested dozens of his party workers.

The police personnel removed the barricades and tents at the entrance of the PTI party chief’s residence and evicted hundreds of his supporters. They conducted a search at the house after demolishing its main gate and walls. About 10 workers were injured in the police operation.

SAUDI ARABIA INVITED IRAN'S PRESIDENT RAISI TO VISIT, TEHRAN SAYS

Iran says Saudi Arabia has invited Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi for an official visit - just over a week since the countries agreed to restore diplomatic relations.

The invitation is said to have come in a letter from King Salman, but has not yet been confirmed by the Saudis.

The Middle East's recent history has been dominated by hostility between the two nations.

China brokered the thaw, which could reshape the region's geopolitics.

A senior Iranian official, Mohammad Jamshidi, tweeted about the invitation to visit the Saudi capital, Riyadh, saying Mr Raisi had welcomed it and "stressed Iran's readiness to expand co-operation".

Separately, Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters that the two countries had agreed to hold a meeting at foreign minister level, and that three possible locations had been proposed.

He did not name the locations, nor say when the meeting might take place.

BLACK SEA DRONES SHOW US INVOLVEMENT IN CONFLICT AGAINST RUSSIA, SAYS KREMLIN

US drone flights over the Black Sea are a sign of direct US involvement in conflict with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Sunday. Last week, a US drone crashed into the sea after being intercepted by Russian Su-27 fighter planes in the first known direct military encounter between the two sides since Russia launched its war in Ukraine last year. “It is quite obvious what these drones are doing, and their mission is not at all a peaceful mission to ensure the safety of shipping in international waters,” Interfax quoted Peskov as saying in a TV interview. “And in fact, we are talking about the direct involvement of the operators of these drones in the conflict, and against us. ”The US said the Russian planes harassed the drone in Tuesday’s incident and sprayed fuel on it before one of them clipped its propeller and caused it to crash while on a reconnaissance mission in international airspace. Russia said the drone had violated airspace restrictions and lost control after manoeuvring sharply.

NORTH KOREA FIRES BALLISTIC MISSILE AMID DRILL BY US AND SOUTH KOREA

Seoul : North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile towards the sea off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula on Sunday, South Korea and Japan said, in the latest of a series of tests carried out by the nuclear-armed state since the start of this year.

The missile, launched from the Dongchang-risite on the west coast around 11. 05am (0205 GMT), flew some 800 km (500 miles) before hitting a target, a South Korean military statement said. Japan’s defence ministry said the missile flew as high as 50 km(30 miles).

Soon after the launch on Sunday, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defence said the US deployed a B-1B strategic bomber to a joint air drill, which Seoul and Washington say they are holding to strengthendeterrence.

The deployment of the bomber was planned in advance and unrelated to the latest North Korean launch, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, citing the military. Japan andUS conducted joint air and sea military exercises over the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan for a third straight day on Sunday, Japan’s local mediareported. In a statement on Sunday, G7 foreign ministers said they “deeply regret” inaction by the UNSC against the North caused by some members’ “obstruction”.

ATTACK ON FRENCH LEADER’S OFFICE OVER PENSIONS ROW

Paris : Protesters have vandalised the Nice office of the president of the Republicans party in an apparent threat to get his right-wing party to vote to block President Emmanuel Macron’s pensionreform.

Eric Ciotti tweeted a photo of his office in the French Riviera city with shattered windows, after a paving stone was thrown at it overnight. The vandals also scrawled the words “the motion or the stone” — in reference to the motions of censure against the pension reform that will be voted on Monday in the National Assembly in Paris.

Amid weeks of mass protests over Macron’s plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, Macron last week ordered PM Elisabeth Borne to invoke a special constitutional power to skirt a vote in the lower chamber of parliament. In response, lawmakers at both ends of the political spectrum filed no-confidence motions against her Cabinet onFriday. Ciotti had announced his party would not vote for either of the two motions of censure — meaning there would not be enough votes to stop thelaw. Reacting to the vandals, Ciotti tweeted: “I will never give in to the new disciples of terror. ”

FORMER TAIWAN PRESIDENT TO VISIT CHINA NEXT WEEK

Taipei : Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou will visit China this month, his office said on Sunday, the first time a former or current Taiwanese leader has visited since the defeated Republic of China government fled to the island in1949.

The trip will be at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Taipei as China keeps up its military and political pressure to try and get democratically-elected Taiwan to accept Chinese sovereignty. Ma’s office said that he would visit China from March 27 to April 7 and go to the cities of Nanjing, Wuhan, Changsha, Chongqing and Shanghai.

It did not say if he would meet any Chinese officials or leaders, including whether he would meet Xi.

NEPAL PM CONFIDENT OF WINNING TRUST VOTE TODAY

Kathmandu : Nepal PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on Sunday exuded confidence that he will comfortably win a vote of confidence in the House of Representatives on Monday.

Prachanda requires to seek a vote of confidence as two parties in the seven-party alliance — Rastriya Prajatantra Party and CPN-UML — withdrew support to the government. They refused to endorse Prachanda’s proposal to back Nepali Congress leader Ramchandra Paudel for the post ofpresident.

Prachanda comfortably passed the floor test on January 10 with 268 votes in the 275-member House of Representatives (HoR). Talking to reporters, PM Prachanda saidthat he hopes to get all the votes on Monday.

“Last time, I received support from 99% members of the House of Representatives, and I hope, this time I will get one hundred per cent votes,” he said. Earlier, the PM told the alliance partners that he would go for a floor test on March 20. The Nepali Congress, the largest party in the HoR, has decided to vote in favour of Prachanda on Monday and join the government after the vote of confidenceis passed.

The combined strength of the parties is 151, which is sufficient as the votes need to win the vote of confidence in the 275-member HoR is138.

The voting will begin at 1pm on Monday when the Parliament session starts.