Category Archives: Russia

Russia-Ukraine war latest: Russian casualties estimated at 7,000; western officials say Kyiv assault now in doubt – live

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Western officials say Russia is struggling to make progress around the capital and question ‘whether Moscow now intends to try to assault Kyiv’

Hungary says it expects a “bigger wave” of refugees to arrive from Ukraine next week, prime minister Viktor Orban said in a video message posted to his official Facebook page.

Visiting a border crossing point near Hungary’s border with Romania and Ukraine, Orban said more border guards would be posted there next week to handle an increased number of refugees.

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Biden calls Putin a ‘murderous dictator’ and says Russia ‘waging an immoral war’ – as it happened

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It’s been a busy day so far, with the US political landscape dominated by foreign affairs, with focus on US-news related to Russia’s war in Ukraine. We’ll have more coming up.

Meanwhile, it if you want to follow our global, round-the-clock blog on the war in Ukraine itself, that is here.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger appeals to Russian people to reject Kremlin misinformation

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Former California governor, 74, calls on Putin to stop attack on Ukraine and says ‘this is not the Russian people’s war’

Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday told the Russian people that they are being fed misinformation about their country’s assault on Ukraine and appealed to President Vladimir Putin to stop the attack.

The Hollywood star said in the nine-minute video on Twitter that the Kremlin was intentionally lying to Russians by saying the invasion was intended to “denazify” Ukraine. Russia describes its actions as a “special operation”.

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European Space Agency suspends €1bn Mars mission with Russia

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The ESA has commissioned a study of how to get ExoMars off the ground without Roscosmos involvement

The European Space Agency has suspended its €1bn (£844m) ExoMars mission, a joint project with Russia that was due to launch a robotic rover in September. Member states of the ESA voted on Thursday to cancel the launch because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“The decision was made that this launch cannot happen, given the current circumstances and especially the sanctions that are imposed by our member states,” said agency director general Josef Aschbacher. “This makes it practically impossible, but also politically impossible to have a launch of [the rover] in September.”

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Tory MP backs calls for Marks & Spencer stores in Russia to close

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Retailer says it has stopped supplying its franchisee’s business in Russia, but the shops remain open

A Conservative MP has backed calls for dozens of Marks & Spencer stores across Russia to be shut immediately, suggesting Vladimir Putin is funnelling every rouble made in the country into the invasion of Ukraine.

Alicia Kearns, who hosted four Ukrainian parliamentarians in the House of Commons on Thursday, said any profits generated would be tainted by the killings and war crimes committed during the conflict.

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Six countries including UK and US accuse Russia of war crimes in Ukraine

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British foreign secretary says there is ‘very strong evidence’, and France says Putin is only pretending to negotiate

Russia has been accused by the UK, the US, France, Albania, Ireland and Norway of war crimes in Ukraine, as Paris claimed Vladimir Putin was only pretending to be interested in negotiating a peace deal.

The six countries challenged Russia before a UN security council meeting as the British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said there was now “very, very strong evidence” of war crimes being committed by Russian forces.

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Aid agencies race to get food supplies to Ukrainian cities at risk of siege

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Efforts to stock up Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro are under way as the wider repercussions of the conflict are felt in Yemen and Lebanon

Aid workers are racing to deliver emergency food supplies to Ukrainian cities at risk of “medieval tactics of besiegement”, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) has said.

In a dramatic turnaround for a country long hailed as the “breadbasket of the world”, the UN’s emergency food agency is now trying to get stocks into warehouses in Ukrainian cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipro before it is too late, said Jakob Kern.

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Philippines considers four-day working week to combat rising costs

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Economist calls for compressed working hours with 10-hour days in response to higher fuel prices

The Philippines is considering a four-day working week to conserve energy, as the cost of fuel continues to rise globally, driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Officials are searching for ways to soften the impact of dramatic price increases, which have prompted calls for a rise in the minimum wage and greater assistance for drivers.

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‘First you cry, then get used to it’: Ukraine villagers find a kind of refuge in Mykolaiv

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Ukraine is holding out in the heavily bombarded port city and even as thousands of people try to leave, others are arriving

After an airstrike flattened the school behind his house and artillery shells ripped apart a circle of neighbouring homes, Dmitry Yakhshyboyev went out to look for petrol.

His family, from seven-month-old son to parents in their 70s, had been cowering in their basement without heating, electricity or running water for two days, as Russian forces assaulted their village.

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Biden calls Putin a war criminal after Zelenskiy speaks to Congress

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Ukrainian president receives standing ovation as he urges US to send more military aid and impose further sanctions

Joe Biden has denounced Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, delivering his sharpest rebuke yet of the Russian leader just hours after the Ukrainian president pleaded with Congress to provide more aid to his country.

“I think he is a war criminal,” Biden said of Putin on Wednesday.

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Joe Biden calls Vladimir Putin a ‘war criminal’ – as it happened

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Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, addressed the US Congress seated in a high-backed office chair with a plain white wall behind him and a prominently-displayed Ukrainian flag to his right.

He was neatly turned out with a trimmed beard and wearing what has become his characteristic combat-green tee shirt, since Russia invaded Ukraine last month and he was forced to shelter in a hidden bunker somewhere in Kyiv with his top team.

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Hopes rise for Ukraine talks, but experts doubt Russia will pull out

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Analysis: Putin’s rhetoric remains uncompromising and analysts are sceptical negotiations will yield a lasting solution

As Russia has pursued its war with Ukraine, it has held parallel negotiations with Kyiv ostensibly seeking a peace deal from its own invasion of a neighbouring country.

Those talks, which appeared to be a sideshow to the continuing war, received an unexpected boost on Wednesday as both sides indicated that discussions had yielded some progress.

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Fed expected to raise interest rates for first time since 2018, markets rise on Ukraine hopes – business live

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The UK government released $530m of its debts to Iran, ahead of Tehran’s release of two British-Iranian prisoners, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.

The prisoners are Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who had been detained by Iran for six years, and Anousheh Ashouri.

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Russia and Ukraine ‘close to agreeing’ on neutral status, says Sergei Lavrov

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Russian foreign minister says status comparable to Sweden or Austria being ‘seriously discussed’

A deal with Kyiv on “neutral status” for Ukraine as part of a peace agreement could be close, Russia’s foreign minister has said, as Ukrainian forces launched a wave of counterattacks against Russian forces.

Sergei Lavrov suggested in a media interview that talks with Kyiv were making ground despite the continued bloodshed, echoing cautiously optimistic comments overnight from Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

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Church of England to reconsider shares in TotalEnergies over Ukraine inaction

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Pension board and investment fund managers urge French energy company to cut ties with Russia

The Church of England is pressuring the French energy giant TotalEnergies over its decision not to cut ties with Russia after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Church’s pensions board and the manager of its investment fund said they would reconsider their shareholding in the company.

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Wagamama owner and Fever-Tree warn of cost increases as energy prices soar

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The Restaurant Group mindful of impact of Russia-Ukraine war, while drinks maker lowers profit guidance

The drinks maker Fever-Tree and the owner of the Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s restaurant chains have warned of dramatic cost increases as the price of commodities and gas and electricity soars and the war in Ukraine adds pressure to their businesses.

Fever-Tree has lowered its profit guidance, blaming a “dramatic increase” in commodity prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The company, which had forecast adjusted profits of £69m to £72m this year, has downgraded its outlook to between £63m and £69m.

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Canada and US announce Arctic military exercises amid Russia tensions

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Drills will test response to aircraft and cruise missiles in vast and thinly defended northern region

Canada and the US have issued a rare public notice over planned military exercises in the Arctic amid growing concern over Russian aggression.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command said on Tuesday that it would hold air defence exercises throughout the Canadian Arctic, adding that the drills were meant to test the ability to “respond to both aircraft and cruise missiles” threatening the continent.

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‘An abomination’: Morrison signals sanctions against China if it helps arm Russia

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PM says Australia ‘will move in lockstep’ with allies on sanctioning the country’s largest trading partner

Scott Morrison has left the door open to introducing sanctions against China, Australia’s largest trading partner, if Chinese president Xi Jinping’s regime were to provide military equipment to Russia.

The prime minister said his government would move in lockstep with its allies and partners in response to what he called Beijing’s “chilling silence” on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said any move by China to arm Russia would be “an abomination”.

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Biden to visit Nato and EU in Brussels as pressure over Ukraine increases – as it happened

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If spending legislation remains stalled in Congress, the US will soon run out of funding for Covid booster shots, new treatments and testing efforts, a Biden administration official told NBC News.

To recap: the White House requested $22.5bn in Covid relief funding. Democrats negotiated the funding down to $15bn, but still had to take it out of the $1.5tn omnibus package in order for it to pass.

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