By Andrea Shalal and David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The International Monetary Fund said on Friday its executive board approved a four-year $15.6 billion loan program for Ukraine, part of a global $115 billion package to support the country’s economy as it battles Russia’s 13-month-old invasion.

The decision clears the way for an immediate disbursement of about $2.7 billion to Kyiv, and requires Ukraine to carry out ambitious reforms, especially in the energy sector, the Fund said in a statement.

The Extended Fund Facility (EFF) loan is the first major conventional financing program approved by the IMF for a country involved in a large-scale war.

Ukraine’s previous, $5 billion long-term IMF program was canceled in March 2022 when the fund provided $1.4 billion in emergency financing with few conditions. It provided another $1.3 billion under a “food shock window” program last October.

An IMF official said the new $115 billion package includes the IMF loan, $80 billion in pledges for grants and concessional loans from multilateral institutions and other countries, and $20 billion worth of debt relief commitments.

Ukraine must meet certain conditions over the next two years, including steps to boost tax revenue, maintain exchange rate stability, preserve central bank independence and strengthen anti-corruption efforts.

Deeper reforms will be required in the second phase of the program to enhance stability and early post-war reconstruction, returning to pre-war fiscal and monetary policy frameworks, boosting competitiveness and addressing energy sector vulnerabilities, the IMF said.

A senior U.S. Treasury official said the program was “really solid” and included commitments from Ukrainian authorities to achieve 19 structural benchmarks over the next year alone.

IMF First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said the program faced “exceptionally high” risks, and its success depended on the size, composition and timing of external financing to help close fiscal and external financing gaps and restore Ukraine’s debt sustainability.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues to have a devastating economic and social impact,” she said, lauding Ukrainian authorities for maintaining “overall macroeconomic and financial stability” despite the strains of the war.

The decision formalizes an IMF staff-level agreement reached with Ukraine on March 21 that takes into consideration Ukraine’s path to accession to the European Union after the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomed the new funding.

“It is an important help in our fight against Russian aggression,” he said on Twitter. “Together we support the Ukrainian economy. And we are moving forward to victory!”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who pushed hard for the past year to secure the IMF funding package and paid a surprise visit to Ukraine in February, said the package would help secure the country’s economic and financial stability and set the foundation for long-term reconstruction.

“I call on all other official and private creditors to join this initiative to assist Ukraine as it defends itself from Russia’s unprovoked war,” she said in a statement. “The United States will continue to stand by Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes.”

The IMF said international financial institutions, private-sector firms, and most of Ukraine’s official bilateral creditors and donors backed a two-step debt treatment process for Ukraine that includes adequate financing assurances on debt relief and concessional financing during and after the program.

The broad support reassured the IMF, the senior Treasury official said, adding, “That was really helpful for them to see that we really mean to be there for the long haul.”

LONGER WAR SCENARIO

IMF official Gavin Gray told reporters the fund’s baseline scenario assumed the war would wind down in mid-2024, resulting in the projected financing gap of $115 billion, which would be covered by the multilateral and bilateral donors and creditors.

The fund’s “downside scenario” saw the war continuing through the end of 2025, opening a much larger $140 billion financing gap that would require donors to dig deeper, he said.

Gray said the program had been designed to function, even if economic circumstances were “considerably worse” than the baseline. He said the countries providing financing assurances had agreed to work with the IMF to ensure Ukraine was able to service its debt to the IMF if larger sums if needed.

Ukraine will face quarterly reviews beginning as early as June, he said.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and David Lawder in WashingtonEditing by Tomasz Janowski and Matthew Lewis)

CAIRO (Reuters) – The signing of a final political agreement‮ ‬in Sudan was delayed due to a lack of ‮”‬consensus on some outstanding issues‮”‬, the spokesperson of the negotiation process said early on Saturday in a statement.

The final accord to name a civilian government this month and launch a new transition towards elections was originally to be signed on Saturday.

Disagreements surfaced this week over the timeline for integrating the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the military, a move called for in a framework deal for the new transition signed in December.

(Reporting by Enas Alashray and Adam Makary; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Ten Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, normally an unofficial barrier between the two sides, Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Saturday, as Beijing continues its military activities near the island.

Nine Chinese fighter jets and one military drone crossed the median line in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. on Saturday (2000 GMT on Friday), the ministry said in its daily report on Chinese military activities.

(Reporting By Yimou Lee; Editing bu William Mallard)

TAIPEI (Reuters) – Ten Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, normally an unofficial barrier between the two sides, Taiwan’s defence ministry said on Saturday, as Beijing continues its military activities near the island.

Nine Chinese fighter jets and one military drone crossed the median line in the 24 hours to 6 a.m. on Saturday (2000 GMT on Friday), the ministry said in its daily report on Chinese military activities.

(Reporting By Yimou Lee; Editing bu William Mallard)

QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador’s government on Friday raised the number of dead from a landslide in the Andean city of Alausi to 23, while rescue teams continued to look for missing people.

The incident took place on Sunday night in a part of the city, which is located in the province of Chimborazo. The landslide has affected some 850 people and destroyed 57 buildings, according to official figures.

The number of dead is growing gradually as rescue groups gain access to houses that were covered by huge amounts of earth.

“Security protocols to stabilize the ground are being applied so that the teams can continue with the search and rescue work in the affected area, including the use of machinery,” the country’s risk agency said in its latest report on Friday.

At least 67 people remain missing, while 38 people were injured.

Ecuador’s disaster agency had warned of potential landslide danger for a 247-hectare (610-acre) area in Alausi in February, which included part of the zone where Sunday’s landslide hit.

Areas in other Andean provinces were also issued similar warnings by authorities on Friday due to risks of floods and landslides.

Heavy rains destroyed roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Oliver Griffin; Editing by Marguerita Choy)

By Karen Freifeld, Tyler Clifford and Nathan Layne

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump is due to be fingerprinted and photographed in a New York courthouse next week as he becomes the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges in a case involving a 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump’s expected appearance before a judge in Manhattan on Tuesday, as the Republican mounts a bid to regain the presidency, could further inflame divisions in the United States. A New York judge in a document unsealed on Friday authorized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, to disclose that Trump had been indicted, but it was not clear when the specific charges would be made public.

Trump plans to fly to New York on Monday from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and spend the night at Trump Tower before appearing in court early on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump plans to return to Florida afterward, the source said.

Susan Necheles, a Trump attorney, told Reuters he will plead not guilty. Necheles said she did not expect the charges to be unsealed until Tuesday.

“I am not afraid of what’s to come,” Trump said in a fundraising email on Friday.

For nearly two weeks, Trump has been using the various legal troubles he faces to rally supporters and raise money as he seeks his party’s nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden next year in a rematch of the 2020 election. His campaign said Trump raised more than $4 million in the 24 hours following the news of his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury.

The first American president to try to overthrow an election defeat, inspiring the deadly 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, has signaled he will continue to run despite the charges.

Biden on Friday kept his thoughts on the charges against his political rival to himself, telling reporters: “I’m not going to talk about Trump’s indictment.”

After word surfaced on Thursday about the indictment, Trump called himself “completely innocent” and a victim of political persecution.

On Friday, Trump lashed out at Justice Juan Merchan, the judge expected to oversee the case. Trump wrote on social media that Merchan, who also presided over last year’s trial in which his real estate company was convicted of tax fraud, “HATES ME” and treated the Trump Organization “VICIOUSLY.” Trump was not charged in that case, which also was handled by Bragg’s office.

The specific charges in the new indictment are not yet known, though CNN reported that Trump faced more than 30 counts related to business fraud and the Associated Press reported the former president faced at least one felony charge.

Another Trump lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said Trump will not have to wear handcuffs at his court appearance and will likely be released without having to post bail.

“He’s ready to fight. He’s gearing up,” Tacopina said in a phone interview.

Any potential trial is still at least more than a year away, legal experts said, meaning it could occur during or after the presidential campaign.

PARTISAN BRAWL

Trump, 76, has accused Bragg of trying to damage his electoral chances. Trump’s claims have been echoed by many of his fellow Republicans and his potential rivals in the race for the party’s presidential nomination.

Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president and a possible 2024 candidate, said the charges send a “terrible message” to the world about U.S. justice.

“I’m very troubled by it,” Pence said at a forum in Washington.

Ahead of the indictment, the grand jury heard evidence about a $130,000 payment to Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels has said she was paid to keep silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006.

“It’s vindication,” Daniels told the Times of London. “He’s done so much worse that he should have been taken down (for) before.”

Senior House of Representatives Republicans have vowed to investigate Bragg and demanded he hand over documents and other confidential material from the investigation. Bragg said Congress does not have authority to interfere with a New York legal proceeding and accused the lawmakers of escalating political tensions. Bragg’s office has been the target of bomb threats in recent weeks.

“You and many of your colleagues have chosen to collaborate with Mr. Trump’s efforts to vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges,” Bragg wrote in a letter to Republican lawmakers.

Aside from this case, Trump faces two federal criminal investigations into his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and his handling of classified documents after leaving office. Trump also faces a separate Georgia investigation into his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss in that state.

Officials have stepped up security around the courthouse in New York since Trump on March 18 called on his supporters to protest any arrest. A law enforcement source said police would close streets around the courthouse ahead of Tuesday’s expected appearance.

On Friday, media outlets were set up outside the courthouse but there was no sign of unrest or protests related to the case.

Trump appealed this month for nationwide protests, recalling his charged rhetoric ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, and warned last week of potential “death & destruction” if he were charged.

Outside Mar-a-Lago, about a dozen people waved Trump flags and cheered as cars passed by.

Sonja Simpson, 62, said the payment to Daniels was not a public concern.

“If there were a thing, that’s between him, that woman and his wife. Period. Let them work it out,” Simpson said.

Merchandise vendor Ronald Solomon said sales of Trump-themed hats and t-shirts were up sharply after the charges were announced.

Some 44% of Republicans said Trump should drop out of the race if he is indicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.

The former president’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen has said he coordinated with Trump on the payments to Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied having had sexual relationships with either woman, but has acknowledged reimbursing Cohen.

Cohen pleaded guilty to a campaign-finance violation in 2018 and served more than a year in prison. Federal prosecutors said he acted at Trump’s direction.

(Additional reporting by Rich McKay, Tim Reid, Alexandra Ulmer, Doina Chiacu, Kanishka Singh, Costas Pitas and Katharine Jackson; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Will Dunham, Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel Wallis)

By Phil Noble

HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) – King Charles laid a wreath in memory of the victims of the allied bombing in World War Two during a visit to Hamburg’s St Nikolai memorial, the remains of a church in Germany’s northern port city severely damaged by the air raids.

The gesture comes on the last day of Charles’ three-day tour of Germany, his first overseas state trip since ascending the British throne last year designed to strengthen bilateral and European ties.

It comes shortly before the 80th anniversary of the allied bombing of Hamburg in July known as “Operation Gomorrah” that killed some 40,000 people and destroyed swathes of the city.

In response to Nazi air raids on civilian targets in Poland and later London, the Allies dropped about 1.9 million tonnes of bombs on Germany in an effort to cripple German industry. The allied raids killed some 500,000 people.

Earlier, Charles also paid his respects at the memorial to the Kindertransporte, a rescue mission that allowed some 10,000 Jewish children to flee Nazi-occupied Europe in the late 1930, mostly to Britain.

“Heeding the lessons of the past is our sacred responsibility, but it can only be fully discharged through a commitment to our shared future,” Charles said in a bilingual address to the Bundestag lower house of parliament on Thursday.

“Together we must be vigilant against threats to our values and freedoms, and resolute in our determination to confront them.”

Later on Friday, Charles, who succeeded his mother Queen Elizabeth when she died in September, is set to learn more about the port of Hamburg’s adoption of green technologies and to meet representatives of some of the firms involved.

“Our countries are both accelerating the expansion of our hydrogen economies, the fuel which could transform our future,” he told the Bundestag. “I am looking forward to seeing Hamburg’s plans to use hydrogen in its efforts to become a fully sustainable port.”

Throughout his visit, German officials have praised his interest in environmental causes and sustainability that has shone through in the engagements he has chosen to undertake.

“I have great respect for his decades-long commitment to the protection of the environment and climate,” tweeted German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, designated the “climate chancellor” during his election campaign in 2021.

(Reporting by Phil Noble and Maria Martinez; Writing by Sarah Marsh; editing by Matthias Williams, William Maclean)

By Karen Freifeld, Tyler Clifford and Nathan Layne

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Donald Trump is due to be fingerprinted and photographed in a New York courthouse next week as he becomes the first former U.S. president to face criminal charges in a case involving a 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump’s expected appearance before a judge in Manhattan on Tuesday, as the Republican mounts a bid to regain the presidency, could further inflame divisions in the United States. A New York judge in a document unsealed on Friday authorized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, to make the charges public, but it was not clear when he would do so.

Trump plans to fly to New York on Monday from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and spend the night at Trump Tower before appearing in court early on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Trump plans to return to Florida afterward, the source said.

Susan Necheles, a Trump attorney, told Reuters he will plead not guilty. Necheles said she did not expect the charges to be unsealed until Tuesday.

“I am not afraid of what’s to come,” Trump said in a fundraising email on Friday.

For nearly two weeks, Trump has been using the various legal troubles he faces to rally supporters and raise money as he seeks his party’s nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden next year in a rematch of the 2020 election. His campaign said Trump raised more than $4 million in the 24 hours following the news of his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury.

The first American president to try to overthrow an election defeat, inspiring the deadly 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol, has signaled he will continue to run despite the charges.

Biden on Friday kept his thoughts on the charges against his political rival to himself, telling reporters: “I’m not going to talk about Trump’s indictment.”

After word surfaced on Thursday about the indictment, Trump called himself “completely innocent” and a victim of political persecution.

On Friday, Trump lashed out at Justice Juan Merchan, the judge expected to oversee the case. Trump wrote on social media that Merchan, who also presided over last year’s trial in which his real estate company was convicted of tax fraud, “HATES ME” and treated the Trump Organization “VICIOUSLY.” Trump was not charged in that case, which also was handled by Bragg’s office.

The specific charges in the new indictment are not yet known, though CNN reported that Trump faced more than 30 counts related to business fraud and the Associated Press reported the former president faced at least one felony charge.

Another Trump lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said Trump will not have to wear handcuffs at his court appearance and will likely be released without having to post bail.

“He’s ready to fight. He’s gearing up,” Tacopina said in a phone interview.

Any potential trial is still at least more than a year away, legal experts said, meaning it could occur during or after the presidential campaign.

PARTISAN BRAWL

Trump, 76, has accused Bragg of trying to damage his electoral chances. Trump’s claims have been echoed by many of his fellow Republicans and his potential rivals in the race for the party’s presidential nomination.

Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president and a possible 2024 candidate, said the charges send a “terrible message” to the world about U.S. justice.

“I’m very troubled by it,” Pence said at a forum in Washington.

Ahead of the indictment, the grand jury heard evidence about a $130,000 payment to Daniels in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels has said she was paid to keep silent about a sexual encounter she had with Trump in 2006.

“It’s vindication,” Daniels told the Times of London. “He’s done so much worse that he should have been taken down (for) before.”

Senior House of Representatives Republicans have vowed to investigate Bragg and demanded he hand over documents and other confidential material from the investigation. Bragg said Congress does not have authority to interfere with a New York legal proceeding and accused the lawmakers of escalating political tensions. Bragg’s office has been the target of bomb threats in recent weeks.

“You and many of your colleagues have chosen to collaborate with Mr. Trump’s efforts to vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges,” Bragg wrote in a letter to Republican lawmakers.

Aside from this case, Trump faces two federal criminal investigations into his efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and his handling of classified documents after leaving office. Trump also faces a separate Georgia investigation into his efforts to overturn his 2020 loss in that state.

Officials have stepped up security around the courthouse in New York since Trump on March 18 called on his supporters to protest any arrest. A law enforcement source said police would close streets around the courthouse ahead of Tuesday’s expected appearance.

On Friday, media outlets were set up outside the courthouse but there was no sign of unrest or protests related to the case.

Trump appealed this month for nationwide protests, recalling his charged rhetoric ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack, and warned last week of potential “death & destruction” if he were charged.

Outside Mar-a-Lago, about a dozen people waved Trump flags and cheered as cars passed by.

Sonja Simpson, 62, said the payment to Daniels was not a public concern.

“If there were a thing, that’s between him, that woman and his wife. Period. Let them work it out,” Simpson said.

Merchandise vendor Ronald Solomon said sales of Trump-themed hats and t-shirts were up sharply after the charges were announced.

Some 44% of Republicans said Trump should drop out of the race if he is indicted, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released last week.

The former president’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen has said he coordinated with Trump on the payments to Daniels and to a second woman, former Playboy model Karen McDougal. Trump has denied having had sexual relationships with either woman, but has acknowledged reimbursing Cohen.

Cohen pleaded guilty to a campaign-finance violation in 2018 and served more than a year in prison. Federal prosecutors said he acted at Trump’s direction.

(Additional reporting by Rich McKay, Tim Reid, Alexandra Ulmer, Doina Chiacu, Kanishka Singh, Costas Pitas and Katharine Jackson; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Will Dunham, Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel Wallis)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States plans to open an embassy in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, the State Department said on Friday, in Washington’s latest move to boost its diplomatic presence in the Pacific to counter China’s growing influence.

“Consistent with the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy, a permanent diplomatic presence in Vanuatu would allow the U.S. Government to deepen relationships with Ni-Vanuatu officials and society,” the department said in a statement.

“Establishing U.S. Embassy Port Vila would facilitate areas of potential bilateral cooperation and development assistance, including efforts to tackle the climate crisis,” it said.

The United States has diplomatic relations with Vanuatu, which has a population of 319,000 spread across 80 islands, but is currently represented by diplomats based in New Guinea.

The United States States reopened its embassy in the Solomon Islands this year after a 30-year absence and the latest State Department announcement follows a visit this month to the region, including Vanuatu, by U.S. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell.

Other U.S. embassies are planned in the Pacific island nations of Kiribati and Tonga.

Despite the diplomatic push, the Solomon Islands announced this month it had awarded a multi-million-dollar contract to a Chinese state company to upgrade an international port in Honiara.

The United States and its regional allies have held concerns that China has ambitions to build a naval base in the region since the Solomon Islands struck a security pact with Beijing last year.

Washington has also been working to renew agreements with the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) under which it retains responsibility for the islands’ defense and gains exclusive access to huge swaths of the Pacific.

The Biden administration is seeking more than $7 billion over the next two decades for economic assistance to the three countries, the State Department said last week, funds seen as key to insulating them from growing Chinese influence.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Eric Beech; editing by Kanishka Singh and Sandra Maler)

By Vincent West

SETIENES, Spain (Reuters) – The lush region of Asturias in northern Spain was ravaged by more than 90 wildfires on Friday, most of them believed to have been started by arsonists whom the region’s leader called “fire terrorists”.

Over 600 firefighters were deployed to tackle the blazes and several towns have been evacuated as police closed off roads and highways.

The Spanish government has said it is worried more wildfires will flare this year after an unusually dry winter across parts of southern Europe and rising average temperatures due to climate change.

“THEY ARE BURNING OUR ASTURIAS. We are dealing with real terrorists who are endangering lives, towns and cities,” Adrian Barbon, the head of the regional government, said on Twitter.

Dozens of fires have already been put off by emergency services in Asturias and the neighboring region of Cantabria over the past two days. Most of them were sparked on purpose and fanned by strong winds, authorities said.

Police said they opened multiple investigations but no arsonist has yet been identified. Penalties for arson can reach up to 20 years in prison, depending on the damage caused.

Andres Perez, a 68-year-old resident of the town of Setienes, told Reuters he was convinced the fires were the result of arson but did not know who was behind them or their motives.

“But what we do know is that it is total ruin, both for the ecology, materially and for everything.”

In the past, intentional fires have often been linked to pastoralists seeking to gain more grazing land for their cattle. Asturias revoked a law restricting cattle from grazing in fire-damaged forest areas in 2017.

“These fires are unparallelled and it’s devastating to watch with impotence as the fires sweep over our land,” Oscar Perez, the mayor of Luarca – a municipality that comprises 164 towns and hamlets – told state broadcaster TVE.

The densely-forested mountainous region is one of Spain’s rainiest areas, though fires are common in March, according to the regional government.

A combination of scarce rainfall, high temperatures and winds has placed most of northern Spain at a high wildfire risk.

Spain registered its hottest March 29 on record on Wednesday, with temperatures exceeding normal levels by seven to 14 Celsius, according to weather agency AEMET.

(This story has been refiled to remove incorrect temperature conversion in paragraph 13)

(Reporting by Vincent West, Inti Landauro and Emma Pinedo; Writing by David Latona; Editing by Angus MacSwan)