Russian president Vladimir Putin has agreed to travel to North Korea on the invitation of leader Kim Jong-un for more talks on their “far-reaching plan” for a deeper partnership, state media reported. Increasingly isolated from the rest of the world, the two leaders held a summit on Wednesday in Russia’s far east where they agreed to help prop up each other’s regime. Mr Putin offered to support North Korea’s UN-sanctioned satellite launch programme, while Mr Kim suggested Russia had Pyongyang’s full backing in its “sacred” invasion of neighbour Ukraine. Mr Kim is continuing his visit to Russia, where he is scheduled to tour various defence equipment manufacturing facilities and view a display of Russian warships. His trip will end with a stop at a marine biology facility – or so it was described by Mr Putin – in the eastern city of Vladivostok, before he returns with his armoured train to North Korea. No timeline for their next meeting has been set, with Mr Putin accepting the invititation to travel to North Korea at “a convenient time”, according to state media. The two leaders exchanged gifts at the beginning of their meeting on Wednesday, according to North Korea’s KCNA news agency, and the North Korean leader – said to be a car enthusiast – had a go in Mr Putin’s Russian-made limousine. "At the end of the reception, Kim Jong-un courteously invited Putin to visit the DPRK at a convenient time," KCNA said, referring to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name. "Putin accepted the invitation with pleasure and reaffirmed his will to invariably carry forward the history and tradition of the Russia-DPRK friendship," it said. Mr Kim said their bilateral ties have reached a new level with their meeting, and expressed his willingness to foster stable, future-oriented relations for the next 100 years. The two leaders, both facing crippling sanctions from the international community, met for talks running over four hours as Mr Putin is believed to be seeking a deal for weapons and munitions, an area where North Korea has excelled, to feed his war machine in Ukraine. The possibility of Russia’s arms deal with North Korea has sparked concerns, with the US State Department saying that they “will not hesitate” to impose additional sanctions on Moscow and Pyongyang. It was "troubling" that Russia is discussing cooperation with North Korea on programs that would violate UN Security Council sanctions, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said after the summit. During a dinner hosted by Mr Putin for his North Korean counterpart, the two leaders praised each other and celebrated the 75 years of diplomatic relations between their countries. Mr Putin reminded Mr Kim of the cooperation between Soviet and Korean soldiers during the Korean War. Mr Kim said that the two leaders have come to “a satisfactory consensus” for further strengthening their strategic and tactical cooperation in their battle to secure guarantees for a lasting peace in the region and the world, according to the Kremlin. “We are confident that the Russian army and people will inevitably attain victory in the sacred struggle to punish the evil crowd, which claims the right to hegemony based on the illusion of expansionism, a struggle to create the stability needed for development,” Mr Kim added. Neighbouring South Korea expressed deep concerns over North Korea’s military cooperation and possible arms transactions between Pyongyang and Moscow South Korea‘s unification minister, Kim Young-ho, said the two countries were apparently continuing to pursue “some kind of” a military deal. “We once again urge Russia and North Korea to halt illicit acts that cause their isolation and regression, and follow international rules including the Security Council resolutions,” the minister told reporters. Russia is preparing for a longer war in Ukraine and it is unable to meet the necessary industrial capacity, said James Nixey, director of the Russia and Eurasia program at Chatham House, a London-based think-tank. In return, Pyongyang is likely seeking to get food and missile technology from Moscow, “a relatively easy gift” for the Kremlin, Mr Nixey said. James O’Brien, head of the Office of Sanctions Coordination at the US State Department, said Russia was “scraping the bottom of the barrel looking for help because it’s having trouble sustaining its military”. A deal between the countries would violate existing sanctions, Mr O’Brien said, and would trigger the US to try to identify the individuals and the financial mechanisms used to “at least limit their ability to be effective”. Additional reporting by agencies Read More Isolated Putin and Kim posture over ‘sacred fight’ with West as they talk arms for Moscow’s war machine Weapons, spy satellites and nuclear ambitions: what we learned from Putin’s summit with Kim Jong-un in Russia Putin’s meeting with Kim is sign of Kremlin’s isolation, claims No 10 The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

Summer is literally right around the corner, and with that comes applying sunscreen upon sunscreen to protect delicate skin from the sun’s harsh (but oh-so-good) rays. Supergoop!, the R29-favorite sunscreen brand, guarantees we’re all well-stocked and prepared with its latest sale event. Today through May 16, use the promo code SPF20 to get 20% off all SPF products. Plus, if you have a Supergoop! account, you get free shipping on all sale orders. So, don’t wait to get burned in the sun to take advantage of this limited-time sale, and keep on reading to check out the products we recommend.

Ryen Russillo goes deep on the current running back controversy.

Fernando Almeyda Rodriguez and Remy Hernandez are two friends from Cuba, bound by a joint struggle for democracy in their country. But that comes at a price. The two men — Rodriguez is 31 and Hernandez 27 — were forced to flee Cuba in the aftermath of mass protests in 2021 to avoid persecution for their activism. An unlikely migration route brought them to Serbia — on the Balkan peninsula, at Europe's southeastern edge — where they sought political asylum. Rodriguez and Hernandez chose Serbia because it was among the few countries in the world that did not require entry visas for Cubans. But Belgrade has since revoked the open travel regime, closing down a passage into Europe used by fleeing Cubans for decades. Serbia made the decision under pressure from the European Union, which it wants to join. Belgrade was also forced to impose visas for the citizens of countries such as Burundi, India or Tunisia which have become a source of migration into the 27-nation bloc. For Rodriguez, however, the decision only meant that Cubans like him will now have fewer options if they wish to flee to avoid pressure from the Communist regime or escape crippling poverty. “Cuba resembles more or less some kind of a concentration camp in which your only option is to die in silence and not complain,” he said. “A lot of these (people) are humanitarian cases or refugee cases and you close the door to them. What about these people?” Friendly relations between Cuba and Serbia date back to the era when Serbia was part of the former Communist-run Yugoslavia, resulting in a small Cuban community here. Last month, Belgrade hosted Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, at a time when Serbia's populist President Aleksandar Vucic has been facing weeks of street protests against his increasingly autocratic rule. Rodriguez said he had been forced to hide for months in Cuba to avoid arrest before he finally flew to Belgrade via Frankfurt, Germany, in Feb. 2022. It was "jail or leaving,” he told the Associated Press in an interview. “I spent more than six months playing hide and seek with the security ... the police,” said Rodriguez. “I would not stop struggling for human rights in my country.” Rodriguez has since been granted asylum in Serbia while the procedure for Hernandez’s application is still underway. Serbian lawyer Nikola Kovacevic, who represented Rodriguez in the asylum procedure, also said the changes in Serbia’s visa policies would expose many refugees from Cuba, Africa and Asia to much longer, dangerous and more complicated ways to reach Europe. “It was the safest route to protection” said Kovacevic. “And now it does not exist any more, it was cancelled. The options for these people have narrowed down.” Migration activists have repeatedly criticized EU countries over the reported illegal pushbacks of migrants and efforts to keep the borders closed even as hundreds die while traversing dangerous routes over the seas or in the hands of people smugglers. Last month, EU countries agreed on a reform of asylum laws and a shared responsibility for migrants entering Europe without authorization. Hungary and Poland opposed the deal, reflecting disunity in the bloc over migration. Both Rodriguez, who is a well-known human rights lawyer and activist in Cuba, and Hernandez, an artist and art teacher, say they had no other option but to flee the government crackdown. The protests in July 2021 were the biggest in Cuba in decades. Scores of people were jailed after the mass rallies that first erupted because of blackouts and shortages that soared during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rodriguez was a prominent member of the Archipelago group that was active on social networks. Hernandez says he lost his job as an art teacher in a Havana high school because he published cartoons in a satirical magazine critical of the Communist authorities. “They expelled me from the school where I worked, from the profession that I studied all my life,” he said. Hernandez said most his friends and family members had also fled as part of a major exodus in recent years. In Cuba, he said, “there is no food, there is no electricity, there is no medicine.” The majority of fleeing Cubans still head for the United States while Europe, primarily Spain, had been an option via Moscow or Serbia. So far, 56 Cubans expressed their intention to seek asylum in Serbia in the first half of 2023, a number that is expected to fall because of the change in the visa regime. Lawyer Kovacevic says that the numbers of Cubans who have used Serbia as a gateway to Europe represent merely a trickle compared to other nationalities migrating along the so-called Western Balkan land route. Serbia’s relaxed visa policies in the past had saved lives, he said. “Any refugee escape is not dignified,” added Kovacevic. “But at least you come directly to safety and then apply for asylum, (which) is way better than to jump over 15 borders where you are going to be beaten up 20 times, pushed back, extorted, humiliated. “This is the way people should be provided with safe routes,” he said. ”And this is not the case now.” —- Follow AP's coverage of migration at: Migration ' AP News Read More Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Kosovo to partially withdraw special police officers from northern Serb-majority municipalities Presidents of Serbia, Montenegro agree to patch up strained relations between historic allies Jews and Muslims come together at Srebrenica anniversary of Europe's only post-World War II genocide

Putri Ariani, the TikTok star with 1.6M followers and the winner of 'Indonesia's Got Talent' is now gracing 'America's Got Talent' Season 18

By Ann Saphir and David Lawder SAN FRANCISCO U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday said the ransomware

U.S. stock index futures remained nearly flat in the early hours of Monday, just ahead of the discussions

Tuesday's transfer notebook includes Everton's transfer plans, Newcastle looking to move on a number of players, Viktor Gyokeres, Tijjani Reijnders and more.

Canada decided to expel a Chinese diplomat on Monday, following an uproar in the country over allegations of political meddling, which Beijing has fiercely denied.

Cowboys rookie Mazi Smith gave some very suspicious answers after his first preseason game on Saturday. Are we sure he's human?The Cowboys took an L against the Jacksonville Jaguars in their first preseason game which came with a great number of revelations. Deuce Vaughn looks like a bona f...

American golfer Ally Ewing stretched her lead to five strokes midway through the second round of the Women’s British Open after shooting a 6-under 66

Bet $50, win five weeks of $50 bonuses with this new offer at Caesars Sportsbook. Read more to learn how you can lock in your $250 bonus in minutes.