Alexei Navalny, Russia's most famous opposition leader, on Friday shared letters showing how he has poked fun at prison authorities for several months with a host of bizarre requests for a kimono, a balalaika, a beetle and even to keep a kangaroo.

HONG KONG/BEIJING (Reuters) -As restrictions in Hong Kong have snuffed out what were once the largest vigils marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, cities like London, New York, Berlin and Taipei are left carrying the candle to commemorate the June 4 anniversary.

U.S. employment increased more than expected in May, but a moderation in wages could allow the Federal Reserve to skip an interest rate hike this month for the first time since embarking on its aggressive policy tightening campaign more than a year ago.

The United States is working with Ukraine and other allies to build consensus around the core elements of a "just and lasting peace" to end the war with Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.

A British teenager who detectives believe may have been just hours away from launching an attack on police or soldiers, was on Friday sentenced to a minimum of six years in jail for terrorism offences.

A senior NATO official on Friday urged Beijing to be more open about its accelerating nuclear weapons build-up, saying that as a global power, China had a responsibility to improve transparency.

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The hope for a "free China" lives on in a new Manhattan museum dedicated to China's 1989 suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations around Tiananmen Square, exhibit organizers said on Thursday ahead of the 34th anniversary of the crackdown.

The latest standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling, resolved just days before the government faced a devastating default, has prompted some to call for the country to ditch its self-imposed borrowing limit.

Ukraine fended off 36 Russian air attacks in and around the capital overnight while pro-Kyiv Russian fighters said they were battling Russian forces for a second day inside Russia, trading blame with Moscow for the deaths of two civilians.

The United States on Friday will offer to abide by the nuclear weapons limits set in the New START treaty until its 2026 expiration if Russia does the same, in order to bolster global security, two senior administration officials said.