ANKARA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will push for a speedy resumption of talks with the European Union to update their customs union during a visit to Turkey by the bloc's commissioner for enlargement, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said on Thursday.

Turkey has been an official candidate to join the EU since 1999, but its accession has been frozen for years over issues ranging from human rights to democratic backsliding. The sides have in recent months shown signs of increased engagement and economic cooperation.

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk appealed for $400 million on Thursday to address mounting human rights needs in countries such as Sudan and Myanmar, after donor funding cuts drastically reduced the work of his office and left it in "survival mode".

The U.N. office is appealing for $100 million less than last year, after a significant scale back of its work in some areas due to a fall in contributions from countries including the U.S. and Europe.

MOSCOW, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's envoy Kirill Dmitriev said on Thursday that there was progress and a positive movement forward in negotiations on peace in Ukraine, as delegations from Russia, Ukraine and the United States prepared for talks in Abu Dhabi.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 after eight years of fighting in the east, triggering the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two and biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the depths of the Cold War.

KYIV, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine and Russia on Thursday started a second day of U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi to discuss how to end their four-year-old war, top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov said.

"The second day of negotiations in Abu Dhabi has begun," Umerov said on the Telegram app. "We are working in the same formats as yesterday: trilateral consultations, group work and further synchronizationof positions."

(Reporting by Olena Harmash; Editing by Daniel Flynn )

Australia's government sidestepped a call Thursday for Israeli President Isaac Herzog to be arrested when he visits the country to pay respect to victims of an antisemitic mass shooting on Bondi Beach.

Herzog has been invited to a four-day visit from Monday to meet with the Jewish community after the December 14 attack on a Hanukkah festival in Sydney killed 15 people.

A UN-established inquiry found in 2025 that Herzog "incited the commission of genocide" by saying all Palestinians -- "an entire nation" -- were responsible for the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

SYDNEY, Feb 5 (Reuters) - An Australian teenager has been charged for allegedly making online death threats against Israeli President Isaac Herzog, ahead of his upcoming visit to Australia.

The 19-year-old man allegedly made the threats on a social media platform last month "towards a foreign head of state and internationally protected person", the Australian Federal Police said in a statement.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.

By Jasper Ward

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - A man accused of killing two Israeli diplomats in Washington, D.C., last year was indicted on four additional counts of terrorism, in a new indictment that was unsealed on Wednesday.

The new indictment includes nine charges, including hate crimes, filed earlier. Several of the charges carry a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia said.

By Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has attacked key pillars of his country's democracy, Human Rights Watch warned on Wednesday in its annual global report, citing the Republican president's immigration crackdown, threats to voting rights and other policies.

By Bo Erickson

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S. first lady Melania Trump said on Wednesday she remains in contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin's team in an effort to secure the return of more Ukrainian children from Russia.

"I'm working on it, and we are in the process," she told reporters at the White House. "I hope we have success very soon."

She did not share details about talks between her representatives and Putin's team.

WASHINGTON, Feb 4 (Reuters) - U.S. talks with Iran will take place on Friday in Oman, a U.S. official confirmed on Wednesday, after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said that nuclear talks with the U.S. are set to be held in the Omani capital Muscat at around 10 a.m. on Friday.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by Doina Chiacu)