World News Roundup: Twitter suspends hundreds of accounts promoting Philippines' Marcos; Blinken calls for Russia to release two U.S. citizens at Geneva talks and more

Speaking at a news conference after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Lavrov said he hoped that emotions would cool down over Ukraine and repeated Russian assertions that it poses no threat to its former Soviet neighbour. At Mali border with Ivory Coast, lines of trucks held up by sanctions Madou Sidibe should be home by now, the cement product in his truck delivered to a client in Mali.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Twitter suspends hundreds of accounts promoting Philippines' Marcos

Twitter said on Friday it had suspended hundreds of accounts that were promoting Philippines presidential election candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr, which it said had violated rules on spam and manipulation. Veteran politician Marcos, 64, the son of the late dictator overthrown in a 1986 "people power" revolution, has emerged as the lead candidate ahead of the May vote.

Blinken calls for Russia to release two U.S. citizens at Geneva talks

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday raised the cases of Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed, two U.S. citizens detained in Russia and repeated Washington's call for their release during talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva. The top diplomats of Russia and the United States met in the Swiss city amid soaring tensions over Ukraine, after talks between their deputies last week failed to achieve a breakthrough.

New Zealand water ship unloads in Tonga as other aid trickles in

Life-saving water supplies from a New Zealand navy ship were distributed across Tonga's main island on Friday, as other countries battled the logistics of delivering aid to one of the world's remotest communities. Six days after the South Pacific archipelago was devastated by a volcanic eruption and tsunami that deposited a blanket of ash and polluted its water sources, the HMNZS Aotearoa docked in the capital, Nuku’alofa.

At least 17 dead after explosion in Ghana mining region

At least 17 people were killed and scores injured when a truck carrying explosives to a gold mine in western Ghana collided with a motorcycle, setting off an explosion that flattened a rural community, the government said on Friday. As rescuers combed the site for survivors, videos posted on local media showed hundreds of buildings reduced to piles of wood, rubble and twisted metal, and dead bodies crumpled on the ground surrounded by debris.

European Union re-establishes physical presence in Afghanistan -spokesman

The European Union said on Friday it was re-establishing a physical presence in Afghanistan for humanitarian purposes, but stressed it was not formally recognising the Taliban-led administration. It was the first such announcement by a Western power since the 27-nation EU and many governments withdrew staff and diplomats from Afghanistan as Kabul fell to the hardline Islamist Taliban last August.

Britain warns Putin and Xi: West will stand up to 'dictatorship'

Britain warned Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday that its allies would stand together to fight for democracy against dictatorships that it said were more emboldened than at any time since the Cold War. Speaking in Australia, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said Britain and its allies in the "free world" must respond together to global threats, deepen ties with democracies in the Indo-Pacific and "face down global aggressors" who were using economic dependence to try to get what they want.

Russia says dialogue will continue with U.S. as Geneva talks end

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks with the United States in Geneva on Friday that dialogue would continue over Moscow's security demands and that it expected written responses from Washington next week. Speaking at a news conference after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Lavrov said he hoped that emotions would cool down over Ukraine and repeated Russian assertions that it poses no threat to its former Soviet neighbour.

At Mali border with Ivory Coast, lines of trucks held up by sanctions

Madou Sidibe should be home by now, the cement product in his truck delivered to a client in Mali. Instead he is stranded at a dusty border crossing in neighbouring Ivory Coast, one of hundreds of drivers shut out by economic sanctions. Over the phone from Mali's capital Bamako, his five children fire questions that he does not have the answer to: "When are you coming back, daddy? How long will you be there?"

Several killed in air strike on Yemen detention centre - Reuters witness

An air strike hit a temporary detention centre in Yemen's Saada province on Friday killing several people including African migrants, a Reuters witness said, as the Saudi-led coalition stepped up operations on areas held by the Houthi movement. Rescue workers were still pulling bodies out of the rubble around midday following the dawn strike, but it was not immediately clear how many people had been killed.

German chancellor to discuss Russia with France's Macron on Tuesday

Chancellor Olaf Scholz will discuss Russia with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, said a German government spokesperson, as major Western powers aim to resolve tensions with Russia regarding Ukraine. A spokesperson for the German government declined to comment on a report saying Scholz turned down an invite at short notice from U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss the Ukraine crisis.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)