US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that if it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, the United States needs to abandon its efforts and move on.

“If it is not possible to end the war in Ukraine, we need to move on,” he told reporters before departing Paris. “We need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days, whether or not this is doable.”

The comments come a day after he and special envoy Steve Witkoff met with European and Ukrainian allies as US President Donald Trump’s administration pushes for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

A US-authored outline of a peace plan had received an “encouraging reception” at the talks, according to a State Department readout, which did not give details on the outline. Rubio also spoke with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and conveyed the same outline, the readout said.

Speaking Friday, Rubio said he and Witkoff had come to Paris to “begin to talk about more specific outlines of what it might take to end the war” and whether or not this is a war that can be ended.

“If it’s not possible, if we’re so far apart that this is not going to happen then I think the president is probably at a point where he’s going to say we’re done,” he said.

“It’s not our war. We didn’t start it. The United States has been helping Ukraine for the past three years and we want it to end, but it’s not our war,” he added.

“President (Trump) has spent 87 days at the highest level of this government repeatedly taking efforts to bring this war to and end. We are now reaching a point when we need to decide and determine whether this is even possible or not. Which is why we’re engaging both sides.”

Meanwhile, Russia launched a missile attack on Ukraine overnight, hitting a residential neighborhood of the city of Kharkiv. The strike killed one person and wounded 67 others, authorities said Friday, adding they feared more people could be trapped beneath the rubble of a damaged apartment building.

Step towards minerals deal

Rubio’s words of warning on Friday come after the US and Ukraine moved closer toward clinching an agreement on a minerals deal on Thursday night.

Kyiv and Washington have now signed a memorandum as a move towards the proposed agreement, Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

“We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine,” Svyrydenko said in a post on X.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had said earlier Thursday that a memorandum related to the deal could be signed remotely that day.

“This document is the result of the professional work of the negotiating teams, which recently completed another round of technical discussions in Washington,” Svyrydenko continued. “Ahead is the finalization of the text of the agreement and its signing — and then, ratification by parliaments.”

“There is a lot to do, but the current pace and significant progress give reason to expect that the document will be very beneficial for both countries,” Svyrydenko concluded.

An earlier iteration of the minerals deal went unsigned following a public argument between Zelensky and Trump in February.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Police have arrested scores of people in Pakistan in recent weeks after more than 10 mob attacks on outlets of US fast-food chain KFC, sparked by anti-United States sentiment and opposition to its ally Israel’s war in Gaza, officials said.

Police in major cities in the Islamic nation, including the southern port city of Karachi, the eastern city of Lahore and the capital Islamabad, confirmed at least 11 incidents in which KFC outlets were attacked by protesters armed with sticks and vandalized. At least 178 people were arrested, the officials said this week.

KFC and its parent Yum Brands, both US-based, did not respond to requests for comment.

A police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said one KFC employee was shot and killed this week in a store on the outskirts of Lahore by unknown gunmen. The official added there was no protest at the time and they were investigating whether the killing was motivated by political sentiment or some other reason.

In Lahore, police said they were ramping up security at 27 KFC outlets around the city after two attacks took place and five others were prevented.

“We are investigating the role of different individuals and groups in these attacks,” said Faisal Kamran, a senior Lahore police officer, adding that 11 people, including a member of the Islamist religious party Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), were arrested in the city. He added the protests were not officially organized by TLP.

TLP spokesman Rehan Mohsin Khan said the group “has urged Muslims to boycott Israeli products, but it has not given any call for protest outside KFC.”

“If any other person claiming to be a TLP leader or activist has indulged in such activity, it should be taken as his personal act which has nothing to do with the party’s policy,” said Khan.

KFC has long been viewed as a symbol of the United States in Pakistan and borne the brunt of anti-American sentiment in recent decades with protests and attacks.

Western brands have been hit by boycotts and other forms of protests in Pakistan and other Muslim-majority countries in recent months over Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The war was triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive, according to local health authorities.

Yum Brands has said one of its other brands, Pizza Hut, has faced a protracted impact from boycotts related to Israel’s war in Gaza.

In Pakistan, local brands have made inroads into its fast-growing cola market as some consumers avoid US brands. In 2023, Coca-Cola’s market share in the consumer sector in Pakistan fell to 5.7% from 6.3% in 2022, according to GlobalData, while PepsiCo’s fell to 10.4% from 10.8%.

Earlier this month, religious clerics in Pakistan called for a boycott of any products or brands that they say support Israel or the American economy, but asked people to stay peaceful and not destroy property.

The United Kingdom’s highest court ruled that the legal definition of “woman” excludes trans women, in a case with sweeping consequences for how equality laws are applied.

Britain’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the definition of a woman in equality legislation refers to “a biological woman and biological sex.”

The court was deciding on whether trans women with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) – which offers legal recognition of someone’s female sex – are protected from discrimination as a woman under the nation’s Equality Act 2010.

A group of campaigners in Scotland brought the challenge in 2018, arguing that those rights should only safeguard those assigned as women at birth. But the Scottish government said that a trans woman with a GRC is legally a woman and should therefore be afforded the same legal protections.

Even though the case draws from a debate over Scottish laws designed to increase the number of women sitting on boards, the outcome on Wednesday will shape the increasingly fractious and polarizing debate over transgender rights across the UK.

The UK’s ruling Labour party said the ruling brought “clarity” while the opposition Conservatives called it a “clear victory for common sense,” urging the government to clarify existing guidance.

Five judges overwhelmingly ruled in favor of For Women Scotland (FWS) – which proposed that not linking the legal definition of gender to biological sex would have repercussions on designated single-sex services, including changing rooms, hostels and communal accommodation.

“The terms woman and sex in the Equality Act 2010 refer to a biological woman and biological sex,” Lord Hodge told the court in London. “The provisions relating to sex discrimination can only be interpreted as referring to biological sex,” he added.

If transgender women with a GRC were afforded the same protected characteristic as biological women under the Equality Act, Hodge said, they would possess “greater rights than those who do not,” citing provisions relating to pregnancy and maternity leave.

The justice insisted that the court’s interpretation of the Equality Act 2010 “does not remove protection from trans people,” with or without a GRC document. A trans woman could claim discrimination on the grounds of gender reassignment, and because “she is perceived to be a woman,” added Hodge.

Britain’s government “has always supported the protection of single-sex spaces based on biological sex,” a spokesperson said, following the ruling.

“This ruling brings clarity and confidence, for women and service providers such as hospitals, refuges, and sports clubs,” the spokesperson added. “Single-sex spaces are protected in law and will always be protected by this Government.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Two Belgian teenagers were charged Tuesday with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser known species.

Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal.

In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis Ng’ang’a and Vietnamese Duh Hung Nguyen also were charged with illegal trafficking in the same courtroom, following their arrest while in possession of 400 ants.

The Kenya Wildlife Service said the four men were involved in trafficking the ants to markets in Europe and Asia, and that the species included messor cephalotes, a distinctive, large and red-colored harvester ant native to East Africa.

The illegal export of the ants “not only undermines Kenya’s sovereign rights over its biodiversity but also deprives local communities and research institutions of potential ecological and economic benefits,” KWS said in a statement.

Kenya has in the past fought against the trafficking of body parts of larger species of wild animals such as elephants, rhinos and pangolins among others. But the cases against the four men represent “a shift in trafficking trends — from iconic large mammals to lesser-known yet ecologically critical species,” KWS said.

The two Belgians were arrested in Kenya’s Nakuru county, which is home to various national parks. The 5,000 ants were found in a guest house where they were staying, and were packed in 2,244 test tubes that had been filled with cotton wool to enable the ants to survive for months.

The other two men were arrested in Nairobi where they were found to have 400 ants in their apartments.

Kenyan authorities valued the ants at 1 million shillings ($7,700). The prices for ants can vary greatly according to the species and the market.

Philip Muruthi, a vice president for conservation at the Africa Wildlife Foundation in Nairobi, said ants play the role of enriching soils, enabling germination and providing food for species such as birds.

“The thing is, when you see a healthy forest, like Ngong forest, you don’t think about what is making it healthy. It is the relationships all the way from the bacteria to the ants to the bigger things,” he said.

Muruthi warned of the risk of trafficking species and exporting diseases to the agricultural industry of the destination countries.

“Even if there is trade, it should be regulated and nobody should be taking our resources just like that,” he said.

An American preacher who was taken hostage by armed men while preaching a sermon in a South African township last week has been rescued in a fierce gun battle with his kidnappers, police said Wednesday.

Josh Sullivan, 45, was kidnapped last Thursday during an evening service in Motherwell, a township in Gqeberha, formerly known as Port Elizabeth, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, the Fellowship Baptist Church said.

The South African Police Service said officers launched a rescue operation after receiving intelligence the pastor was being held by his abductors at a house in KwaMagxaki, another township in the city.

A rescue team was sent to the location, a police statement said, “leading to a high-intensity shootout” that left “three unidentified suspects” dead.

“As officers approached the house, they observed a vehicle on the premises. The suspects inside the vehicle upon seeing law enforcement allegedly attempted to flee and opened fire on the team,” the statement read.

It added that Sullivan, whom the Associated Press reported is from the US state of Tennessee, was found inside the vehicle “miraculously unharmed” and “is currently in an excellent condition.”

Tom Hatley, whom Sullivan had said on his website he was training under, also announced the rescue. “Josh has been released,” Hatley wrote in a Facebook post along with a picture of Sullivan and his family. “I just got ‘the go ahead to let it be known,’” he added while urging for privacy from the public.

“Also, PLEASE respect The Sullivans privacy and their parents. A lot of folks love The Sullivans and they love you back, but give them some time,” he said in another post.

Kidnappings are at a record high in South Africa with an average of 51 abductions every day, authorities said last year. The country also grapples with deadly mass shootings and a murder rate that is among the highest in the world.

Sullivan’s abduction comes two months after renowned Islamic cleric Muhsin Hendricks was shot dead by armed men in Bethelsdorp, also in the Eastern Cape province.

Sullivan, who describes himself as “a church planting missionary,” arrived in South Africa in 2018 with plans to “finish language school … and plant a church to the Xhosa speaking people,” he said on his website.

Prosecutors in Berlin on Wednesday charged a doctor suspected of administering lethal amounts of various medications to palliative patients under his care with 15 counts of murder.

Prosecutors are also seeking a lifelong professional ban for the 40-year-old suspect, detained since August 2024, who had been active in several German states.

The suspect, not officially named in line with German privacy laws, has not admitted the charges, said prosecutors.

He was initially suspected of being involved in four deaths last year, which prosecutors said he had tried to cover up by setting fire to the victims’ apartments. However, ongoing investigations have turned up more suspected deaths, dating back to 2021, and that number could rise even further.

An investigative team set up specifically for the case is evaluating his patient records and more exhumations are planned.

The doctor is accused of administering an anaesthetic and then a muscle relaxant to palliative patients under his care who were not actively dying and without their knowledge or consent, said prosecutors.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said he hopes Iran-backed Hezbollah can be disarmed this year, following an Israeli military campaign that left the group decapitated and significantly weakened.

“We hope that Hezbollah’s weapons will be withdrawn or that their possession will be restricted to the state in 2025, and this is what I am striving for,” the United States-backed president said during an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed published on Tuesday.

Hezbollah was formed in the aftermath of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the early 1980s, and has grown to become a formidable rival political and military force within the country. The militants have long resisted calls to disarm.

“As for Hezbollah members, they are ultimately Lebanese, and if they want to join the army, they can undergo so-called absorption courses,” Aoun said, adding that the group would not be allowed to function as a distinct unit within the Lebanese army.

He stressed however that the process could only be done through dialogue.

“We want to withdraw Hezbollah’s weapons, but we do not want to ignite a civil war,” he said.

Experts say that while Hezbollah may prefer to retain its arms, Israel’s weakening of the group and its continued attacks on Lebanon along with pressure from the Lebanese government may make the once inconceivable prospect a reality.

Until its conflict with Israel last year, Hezbollah was widely regarded as the most formidable non-state armed group in the Middle East, with tens of thousands of missiles and a well-trained military force.

Aoun said the government has yet to speak to Hezbollah about the matter, but that Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, a Shiite politician allied to the militant group, “is in full agreement” that the state should have a monopoly over arms. Berri served as the mediator between Hezbollah and the US in talks last year to reach a ceasefire with Israel.

Aoun’s ‘delicate position’

Some experts say that while Aoun is facing pressure from both Israel and the United States to quickly disarm Hezbollah, he is nonetheless wary of the precarious situation he is in.

Last week, Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah said in a news conference that the group is ready for dialogue with the Lebanese government on the country’s defense strategy. Woods said that offer means that Aoun’s proposal “may not seem that confrontational.”

Asked about the failure of previous attempts to discuss Hezbollah’s weapons, Aoun said the regional situation had changed, pointing to Iran’s “developing position” toward allied militias in the region.

Hezbollah has relied on its armed struggle against Israel to burnish its popular support, Woods said. “After last year’s disastrous war with Israel, it remains unclear if the party can find a replacement source of political legitimacy.”

Aoun said he has told US officials Israel’s presence in southern Lebanon “gives Hezbollah a pretext” to remain armed, urging the US to pressure Israel to withdraw.

Lebanon’s government has repeatedly condemned continued Israeli strikes on its territory, calling them a violation of its sovereignty and a breach of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement.

Asked whether it is possible for Lebanon to engage in normalization talks with Israel should the Israeli army withdraw, Aoun said that while “anything is possible” in politics, the circumstances on the ground dictate reality.

“The Americans currently know that normalization or peace negotiations with Israel are impossible, and the key for us today is to establish long-term stability on the border,” he said.

Israel-Hezbollah war ‘not likely’

Full-blown war between Israel and Hezbollah remains a possibility but is unlikely, he said, adding that Hezbollah has recently “shown a sense of responsibility despite the heavy human losses it has suffered.”

“Ultimately the possibility remains with the continuation of (Israeli) attacks,” Aoun said. “Hence, we always repeat: Let us negotiate with Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah’s disarmament could have a significant impact on regional dynamics. Just months ago, the group was seen as Iran’s most powerful regional proxy, engaging in tit-for-tat strikes with the Israeli army until an Israeli campaign killed many of its senior guard. The toppling of Hezbollah-ally Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria also weakened the group.

As Lebanon reels from an ongoing cross-border conflict with Israel and years of economic meltdown, Hezbollah may also face pressure from its own constituency to lay down its arms, Woods said. Disarming could remove obstacles for the delivery of post-war reconstruction aid, “which many Hezbollah supporters desperately need.”

The group’s backer, Iran, may also use this as a negotiating tool in its nuclear talks with the Trump administration, trading “its support for the group in negotiations,” Woods added.

Iran has engaged in talks with the US over its nuclear program. Delegations from both countries met in Oman last weekend, and are due to hold a second round of talks on Saturday.