Kyiv economy will contract by 35% in 2022, compared with a 4.5% fall in Russian GDP
Ukraine’s economy will shrink at a rate eight times that of Russia this year as a result of the war triggered by Moscow’s invasion in February, the World Bank has estimated.
In its latest report on Europe and central Asia, the Washington-based institution said the Ukrainian economy would contract by 35% in 2022, compared with a 4.5% fall in Russian GDP.
Continue reading...Western officials say Ukraine is dictating the operational tempo on the battlefield
• Russia-Ukraine war – live updates
Ukraine has continued to liberate territory in the east and the south of the country, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said, as Russian defence ministry maps appeared to show rapid withdrawals of its invasion forces.
The ministry’s daily video briefing made no mention of any pullbacks, but on maps used to show the location of purported Russian strikes, the shaded area designating Russian military control was smaller than the day before.
Continue reading...Apple will be forced to change charger after EU votes to use USB-C connectors
The European parliament has voted to introduce a single charging port for mobile phones, tablets and cameras by 2024 in a move that presents difficulties for Apple, whose iPhones use a different power connector.
The vote confirms an earlier agreement among EU institutions and will make USB-C connectors used by Android-based devices the EU standard, forcing Apple to change its charging port for its devices.
Continue reading...Its enzymes degrade polyethylene within hours at room temperature and could ‘revolutionise’ recycling
Enzymes that rapidly break down plastic bags have been discovered in the saliva of wax worms, which are moth larvae that infest beehives.
The enzymes are the first reported to break down polyethylene within hours at room temperature and could lead to cost-effective ways of recycling the plastic.
Continue reading...Iconic ticket on one-way trip to transport history as city opts for payment by travelcards and mobiles
It has inspired French film-makers and songwriters, proven useful to cannabis smokers and aestheticians and served as an emergency bookmark or jotter – but now the Paris Métro ticket has reached the end of the line.
The city’s public transport authority is phasing out the rectangular pieces of cardboard that have kept the capital’s travellers on the move for the past 120 years.
Continue reading...French president’s ‘right-hand man’ allegedly failed to reveal family ties to public investment agency
The top official in Emmanuel Macron’s office has been charged with a conflict of interest.
The move against Alexis Kohler, who holds one of France’s most powerful jobs as Élysée secretary general, came hours after another ally of the French president, the justice minister, Éric Dupond-Moretti, was ordered to stand trial in a separate case, also over a conflict of interest.
Continue reading...President’s economic adviser says country must speed up reform of industries after Russia’s invasion
Ukraine needs to revamp its labour laws and redouble efforts to privatise thousands of companies to repair its economy, its president’s economic adviser has said.
Alexander Rodnyansky, an adviser to the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the war-torn country needed to speed up efforts to reform industries as it looked to rebuild after Russia’s invasion.
Continue reading...Outrage and condemnation over billionaire’s suggestions including formally making Crimea part of Russia
Elon Musk has prompted an online row with Ukraine’s president after he asked Twitter users to weigh in on his ideas to end Russia’s war.
In a tweet, Musk suggested UN-supervised elections in four occupied regions that Moscow has falsely annexed after what it called referendums. The votes were denounced by Kyiv and western governments as illegal and coercive. “Russia leaves if that is will of the people,” Musk wrote.
Continue reading...North Africa analysts believe new leader Ibrahim Traoré may seek help from Moscow in fight against Islamic extremists
Russian mercenaries may be poised for further expansion in Africa’s strategically important Sahel region after the latest coup d’etat in the region, western officials and analysts fear.
Ibrahim Traoré, a 34-year-old army captain, took power in Burkina Faso on Friday, overthrowing Lt Col Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, whom he accused of failing to effectively counter rising violence by Islamic extremists in the unstable and poverty-stricken country.
Continue reading...Journalist Marina Ovsyannikova gained international attention after holding up ‘no war’ poster on live TV
Russia has put Marina Ovsyannikova, the former state TV editor who interrupted a news broadcast to protest against the Ukraine war, on a wanted list after she reportedly escaped house arrest.
The Ukrainian-born Ovsyannikova, 44, gained international attention in March after bursting into a studio of Channel One, her then employer, to denounce the Ukraine war during a live news bulletin, holding a poster reading “no war”. At the time she was fined 30,000 roubles (£460) for shunning protest laws.
Continue reading...Kyiv’s troops advanced in southern Kherson province and made additional gains in east
Russia no longer has full control of any of the four provinces of Ukraine it says it annexed last week after Ukrainian troops advanced dozens of kilometres in Kherson province in the south of the country and made additional gains in the east.
On Monday, the Russian military acknowledged that Kyiv’s forces had broken through in the Kherson region. It said the Ukrainian army and its “superior tank units” had managed to “penetrate the depths of our defence” around the villages of Zoltaya Balka and Alexsandrovka.
Continue reading...Tianqiuping-style porcelain sells for nearly 4,000 times its estimated value after buyers are convinced it is a rare artefact
An “ordinary” Chinese vase put up for auction in France and valued at €2,000 (£1,745) has sold for almost €8m after a ferocious bidding war among buyers convinced it was a rare 18th-century artefact.
At the sale in Fontainebleau near Paris, auctioneers were astonished as the offers from about 30 mainly Chinese bidders kept on coming. When the hammer fell the vase had been sold for €7.7m – almost 4,000 times its estimated value. With the seller’s fees, the final purchase price was €9.12m.
Continue reading...Svante Pääbo receives 2022 award in physiology or medicine for genome discoveries including Neanderthals
A Swedish geneticist has been awarded the 2022 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine.
Svante Pääbo won the 10m Swedish kronor (£867,000) prize announced on Monday by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Continue reading...U-turn comes after months of protests over scheme that would have meant loss of mature trees
The Paris mayor’s office has abandoned plans for new buildings around the foot of the Eiffel Tower after months of protests from environmentalists and a petition signed by nearly 150,000 people.
Under the scheme, about 20 mature trees would have been cut down and four new buildings housing a cafe, shops, toilets and baggage drop-off constructed.
Continue reading...Poultry farmers from Arctic to Portugal reported 2,500 outbreaks in past year, with migrating birds taking avian flu to North America
The UK and continental Europe have been hit by an “unprecedented” number of cases of avian flu this summer, with 47.7m birds having been culled since last autumn, according to new figures.
Poultry producers from as far north as Norway’s Svalbard islands to southern Portugal have together reported almost 2,500 outbreaks of the disease since last year.
Continue reading...Investors rush to buy credit default swaps as worries grow over solidity of bank’s balance sheet
The cost of buying insurance against Credit Suisse defaulting on its debt soared to a record high on Monday, amid fears on markets about the solidity of the balance sheet at the globally significant Swiss bank.
There was a sell-off in the bank’s shares and bonds while investors rushed instead to buy credit default swaps (CDS) – insurance against the bank failing to meet its debts.
Continue reading...Former CIA director and retired army general says Moscow’s leader is ‘desperate’ and ‘battlefield reality he faces is irreversible’
The US and its allies would destroy Russia’s troops and equipment in Ukraine – as well as sink its Black sea fleet – if Russian president Vladimir Putin uses nuclear weapons in the country, former CIA director and retired four-star army general David Petraeus warned on Sunday.
Petreaus said that he had not spoken to national security adviser Jake Sullivan on the likely US response to nuclear escalation from Russia, which administration officials have said has been repeatedly communicated to Moscow.
Continue reading...Northern Ireland minister says he and colleagues had not always respected others’ ‘legitimate interests’
Steve Baker – arch Brexiter and one of the Conservative party’s fiercest campaigners to get the UK out of the EU – has apologised to Ireland and Brussels for the way he and some of his colleagues behaved over the past six years.
Baker told the Tory party conference that he and others in the party had not shown respect to the “legitimate interests” of Ireland or the EU during the campaign to leave the bloc.
Continue reading...Family members raised £9,000 for repatriation after Foreign Office said it was unable to pay transport costs
The body of Paul Urey, a British aid volunteer who died after being captured by Russian fighters in Ukraine, has been returned to the UK.
Family members of the Warrington man raised £9,000 to repatriate his body after the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said it was unable to pay the transport costs.
Continue reading...Loss-making venture led by Amit Gudka eyes continent as countries move towards using renewable power
The co-founder of collapsed energy supplier Bulb is planning to expand his loss-making battery storage venture into Europe as the energy crisis escalates.
Amit Gudka hopes to develop Field Energy, the business he set up after leaving Bulb in February 2021, on the continent as countries attempt to switch toward renewable power.
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