LONDON (Dispatches) - United States President Joe Biden and China’s leader Xi Jinping have spoken by phone, ending a nearly seven-month gap in direct communication between the leaders of the world’s two biggest economies. The call was confirmed by the White House and China’s state media, which said the two men spoke early on Friday morning. The discussion, which lasted about 90 minutes, focussed on finding a way forward for the U.S.-China relationship, according to the White House.

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KIEV (Dispatches) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that there was a possibility of a war with Russia, but that would be “the biggest mistake” on Russia’s part. “I think there could be a full-on war with Russia ... There is some potential there. I think it would be the biggest mistake Russia could make, there would never be any neighborly relations between Russia, Ukraine, Belarus after that,” Zelenskyy said during YES Brainstorming forum in Kiev, RIA Novosti reported.

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BERLIN (Dispatches) - German prosecutors said on Thursday they had seized documents at the finance and justice ministries as part of an investigation into possible obstruction of justice by a government agency that is responsible for investigating money laundering. Prosecutors said in a statement they had been investigating the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) since 2020 because the agency had not forwarded reports made by banks of possible money laundering to the police and the judiciary, Euro News reported.

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NEW YORK (CNN) - Unidentified hackers breached computer systems at the United Nations in April and the multinational body has had to fend off related hacks in the months since, a UN spokesperson said Thursday. The statement came after multiple private cybersecurity experts warned that cybercriminal forums had in recent months been selling access to login credentials for software that the UN uses to manage internal projects. The software could provide valuable access to intruders looking to extort the UN or steal data, CNN reported.

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OTTAWA (Dispatches) - Canada’s Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has faced off with opponents in the final debate before the September 20 snap election, painting his Conservative Party rival as unready to lead as he faced increased pressure over foreign policy and the timing of his decision to call an election. The nationally televised primetime debate was the final opportunity to take aim at his biggest challenger, Erin O’Toole of the Conservative Party.

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NEW DLHI (Dispatches) - India’s financial hub Mumbai has introduced new safety measures and restrictions for its biggest Hindu festival amid resurgence in COVID-19 cases. Police barred public processions and restricted crowds for the 11-day festival of Ganesh Chaturthi, celebrating the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha, that started on Friday.