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☆ Orlando Bloom, UNICEF ambassador and actor, visits children's centre in Kyiv
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Nick Starkov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

@zelenskiy_official/via REUTERSKYIV, March 27 (Reuters) - Orlando Bloom, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations children's organization UNICEF and a star of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Lord of the Rings" movies visited a children's centre in Kyiv on Sunday. It was his first trip to Ukraine since 2016, the British actor said. He also met with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. "I would have never expected the war to have escalated throughout the country since I was there," Bloom said on Instagram. "He knows what this aggression has brought, how full-scale the world's efforts must be to stop it, to restore Ukraine after the war," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address after meeting Bloom.

☆ Ukraine's Avdiivka becoming 'post-apocalyptic', official says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Nick Starkov | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A view shows a residential building, cars and a church damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the frontline city of Avdiivka, in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 20, 2023. REUTERS/Alex Babenko/File PhotoKYIV, March 27 (Reuters) - Russia is turning Ukraine's Avdiivka into "a place from post-apocalyptic movies", intensifying shelling and forcing a nearly full shutdown of the frontline city, the top local official said on Sunday. Some 2,000 civilians are left in Avdiivka, a Donetsk region city some 90 kilometres (56 miles) southwest of the besieged Bakhmut, according to officials. "I am sad to say this, but Avdiivka is becoming more and more like a place from post-apocalyptic movies," the city's military administration head Vitaliy Barabash said on the Telegram messaging app. One person was injured in numerous air strikes on Avdiivka on Saturday, according to Ukrainian military.

☆ Piquet ordered to pay $950,000 for racist, homophobic comments
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's triple Formula One champion Nelson Piquet must pay 5 million Brazilian Reals ($953,050) in moral damages for racist and homophobic comments against Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton, a Brazilian court ruled on Friday. In an interview in November 2021, Piquet used a racial slur referring to the seven-time world champion, when commenting on Hamilton's British Grand Prix crash with Max Verstappen. Hamilton called for action to change "archaic mindsets" after footage of the interview surfaced on social media last June. In another clip which surfaced later, Piquet used racist and homophobic language against Hamilton in a podcast interview when describing how Hamilton missed out on the 2016 championship to Nico Rosberg. The charges were brought by four human rights groups, including Brazil's National LGBT+ Alliance, which wanted Piquet to pay 10 million Brazilian Reals for alleged moral damages.

☆ Amazon, other retailers revamp 'free' shipping as costs soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Lisa Baertlein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

REUTERS/Alyssa PointerLOS ANGELES, March 24 (Reuters) - There is no such thing as free shipping. "The days of free delivery are numbered," Ken Morris, managing partner at Cambridge Retail Advisors, said of the fast-changing retail marketing tool. It is an open secret that most retailers raise product prices to subsidize free shipping. Postal Service hitting record levels, the industry where nearly three-quarters of e-commerce companies offer some sort of free shipping is rethinking the financial cost of habituating shoppers to free shipping. While retailers like Amazon and fashion purveyor Asos Plc (ASOS.L) have raised thresholds for fast shipping, others are dropping free shipping altogether or taking product prices up again.

☆ Why Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and other major Dems are going all out for a state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Stakes are high in an April Supreme Court election in the battleground state of Wisconsin. Normally, you wouldn't see high-profile figures like former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton weighing in on an upcoming state Supreme Court election. That's nearly double that of the previous record for a state Supreme Court seat. Wikler said the results could affect control of the US Congress, the Supreme Court, the White House in 2024. The state Democratic Party is helping fund Protasiewicz's campaign while other Democratic power players are working to drive interest in the race.

☆ Russia says coordinates meeting with Turkey, Syria, Iran officials - RIA
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

March 21 (Reuters) - Russia is coordinating with Syria, Iran and Turkey on a schedule for a meeting of their deputy foreign ministers, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the state RIA news agency on Tuesday. A source from the Turkish foreign ministry told Reuters that a meeting planned for last week was postponed. "We haven't agreed on anything yet, so there's nothing to postpone," Bogdanov was cited as saying. But our colleagues, the Syrians, the Turks, and the Iranians have their work plans and timetables. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Premarket stocks: Five questions for the Federal Reserve as the banking crisis drags on
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

A policy rate announcement is expected on Wednesday along with new economic projections, and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will face the press to answer questions. Is the Fed’s fight against inflation destabilizing the banking system? The US banking system is under a lot of pressure right now. Lagarde opted to portray that rate increase as a signal that the financial system remains strong. Yet, ironically, the banking mess is now helping tech companies and cryptocurrencies as investors flock out of the banking system in search of alternative safe spaces to store their cash.

Oil prices rebounded as Wall Street posted gains. Earlier, Brent and WTI fell about $3 a barrel to the lowest since December 2021, with WTI sinking below $65 a barrel at one point. After the deal was announced, the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and other major central banks pledged to enhance market liquidity and support other banks. "There's a lot of fear-based movement (in oil prices)," Price Futures Group analyst Phil Flynn said. Some executives are calling on the central bank to pause its monetary policy tightening but be ready to resume raising rates later.

The U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude contract for April was down 28 cents at $66.46 before its expiry on Tuesday. "There's a lot of fear-based movement (in oil prices)," Price Futures Group analyst Phil Flynn said. "We're not moving at all on supply and demand fundamentals, we're just moving on the banking concerns." On Monday, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones gained, helping lift oil prices off the day's lows. The group agreed in October to cut oil production targets by 2 million barrels per day until the end of 2023.

☆ Putin makes surprise trip to Mariupol, first to occupied Donbas in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 19 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin made a surprise visit to Mariupol, Russian state media reported on Sunday, in what would be the Kremlin leader's first trip to the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine's Donbas region since the start of the war. Putin flew by helicopter to Mariupol, Russian new agencies reported citing the Kremlin. The Organization for Security and Cooperation and Europe (OSCE) said Russia's early bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol was a war crime. In the Nevsky district of Mariupol, a new residential neighbourhood built by Russian military, Putin visited a family in their home, Russian media reported. Mariupol is in the Donetsk region, one of the four regions Putin moved in September to annex.

☆ Putin visits Mariupol as part of surprise tour of occupied Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Lidia Kelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Putin flew by helicopter to Mariupol for "a working trip", Russian news agencies reported citing the Kremlin. 'BEAUTIFUL DOWNTOWN'In the Nevsky district of Mariupol, Putin visited a family in their home, Russian media reported. Russian media broadcast videos showing the Russian leader driving a car at night through a built-up area as well as walking into what media said was the philharmonic, restored in just three months. Mariupol is in the Donetsk region, one of the four regions Putin moved in September to annex. Russian media reported on Sunday that Putin also met with the top commander of his military operation in Ukraine, including Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov who is in charge of Moscow's war in Ukraine.

☆ Xi: China's proposal on Ukraine reflects unity of global views
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 20 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Monday that Beijing's proposal on how to solve the Ukraine crisis reflects global views and seeks to neutralise consequences, but acknowledged that the solutions are not easy. The China proposal, a 12-point paper released last month, represents "as much as possible the unity of the world community's views," Xi wrote in an article in Rossiiskaya Gazeta, a daily published by the Russian government, according to Reuters' translation from Russian. Xi has been seeking to present China as a global peace maker and project it as a responsible great power. A peaceful resolution to the situation in Ukraine, Xi wrote, would also "ensure the stability of global production and supply chains." "There is no universal model of government and there is no world order where the decisive word belongs to a single country," Xi wrote.

☆ New Russian law would strip acquired citizenship for discrediting Ukraine operation
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 15 (Reuters) - Proposed amendments to Russia's citizenship law would allow for the stripping of acquired citizenship for treason and discrediting the military operation in Ukraine, Russian media reported on Wednesday. Soon after sending its army into Ukraine just over a year ago Russia introduced sweeping wartime laws to silence dissenting voices. Russia calls its action in Ukraine a "special military operation," while Ukraine and its allies say that is a euphemism for a full blown aggression to grab land. The amendments on stripping the citizenship of those who have acquired it relate to "treason, discrediting the special military operation," the RIA news agency quoted Konstantin Zatulin, first deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) affairs. In 2022, based on data from Russia's Ministry of Internal Affairs, more than 691,000 people received Russian citizenship, with nearly half coming from CIS countries.

March 14 (Reuters) - U.S. senators reintroduced a bipartisan bill on Tuesday that would allow nationwide sales of gasoline with a higher blend of ethanol year-round, as a second heavy-weight oil trade group appeared ready to back the idea. Year-round sales of E15 have been long sought by the biofuel industry and corn farmers, who would benefit from the increased market. The American Petroleum Institute (API), one of the largest U.S. oil trade groups, has supported the bill since it was introduced last autumn. On Tuesday, another top U.S. oil group, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), signaled it could support a national standard. In response to their request, the EPA in early March proposed to allow year-round E15 sales in those states.

☆ Moscow sees drone incident as provocation -Russia's ambassador to U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 14 (Reuters) - Moscow views the incident involving a Russian Su-27 fighter jet and a U.S. military drone over the Black Sea as provocation, Russia's RIA state news agency cited Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the United States, as saying on Tuesday. "We view this incident as a provocation," Antonov said after being summoned by the U.S. State Department. The U.S military MQ-9 surveillance drone crashed into the Black Sea on Tuesday after a Russian Su-27 jet struck its propeller, the Pentagon said, the first such incident since Russia's invasion of Ukraine over a year ago. Antonov said his meeting at the State Department was "constructive" and the issue of possible "consequences" for Moscow over the incident was not raised, RIA reported. "As for us, we do not want any confrontation between the United States and Russia.

☆ Russia says Black Sea grain deal will be extended automatically if no objections
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 14 (Reuters) - A deal allowing the safe export of grain from Ukraine's Black Sea ports will be extended automatically after it expires on March 18 if there are no objections from the involved parties, Russia's TASS state news agency reported on Tuesday. Citing an unnamed source familiar with the details of the negotiations around the agreement, TASS reported that so far none of the involved sides had indicated a withdrawal. "If the parties have no objections, the deal will continue after March 18," TASS quoted the source as saying. The prices of corn and wheat have been under pressure on hopes of a deal renewal . Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia's air defence downs four missiles in Belgorod region - governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - At least one person was wounded in the southern Russian region of Belgorod on Monday after Russian forces shot down four missiles over the region and its administrative centre Belgorod, the governor of the region bordering Ukraine said. "At this time one person is known to have been injured," Vyacheslav Gladkov, said on the Telegram messaging app. He did not say who he thought had fired the missiles but in the past he has accused Ukrainian forces on the other side of the nearby border of similar attacks. Belgorod borders Ukraine's Kharkiv region and has repeatedly come under fire since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago. Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine.

☆ Georgia's PM calls on Ukraine's Zelenskiy not to interfere in Georgia affairs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 13 (Reuters) - Georgian's prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili, called on Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday to not interfere in the political situation in Georgia, after a wave of protests hit the country last week. During the protests against a "foreign agents" law that critics said signalled an authoritarian shift in Georgia, Zelenskiy thanked protesters for waving Ukrainian flag, saying it showed respect and wished the country a "democratic success". The Georgian parliament on Friday dropped the bill, which opponents said was inspired by a 2012 Russian law that has been used extensively to crack down on dissent for the past decade and which had threatened to harm Georgia's bid for closer ties with Europe. Referring to the war in Ukraine, Garibashvili said, "I want to wish everyone a timely end to this war, and peace." Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editng by Gerry DoyleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia's air defence downs three missiles in Belgorod region - governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 6 (Reuters) - At least one person was wounded in the southern Russian region of Belgorod on Monday after Russian forces shot down three missiles, the governor of the region bordering Ukraine said. "It's known about one wounded, a man with shrapnel wounds to his hand," Gladkov said. Belgorod borders Ukraine's Kharkiv region and has repeatedly come under fire since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine a year ago. Ukraine almost never publicly claims responsibility for attacks inside Russia and on Russian-controlled territory in Ukraine. Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Robert BirselOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Russia works to ease visa regime for India, other countries - TASS
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 6 (Reuters) - Russia is working on easing visa procedures for six countries, including India, Syria and Indonesia, the state TASS news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Evgeny Ivanov as saying on Sunday. "In addition to India (procedures simplification) ... is being worked out with Angola, Vietnam, Indonesia, Syria and Philippines," Ivanov said. Earlier, Ivanov said that Russia is also preparing intergovernmental agreements on visa-free trips with 11 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Barbados, Haiti, Zambia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico and Trinidad, TASS reported. While the United States, Japan and the European Union condemned Russia's invasion and imposed sanctions, China and India have not done either. India kept a neutral stance, declining to blame Russia for the invasion while sharply boosting its purchases of Russian oil.

☆ Russia's Wagner chief warns of frontline collapse if forced to retreat from Bakhmut
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 6 (Reuters) - The founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary force said his troops now tightening their grip on the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut were being deprived of ammunition and if they were forced to retreat the entire front would collapse. "If Wagner retreats from Bakhmut now, the whole front will collapse," Yevgeny Prigozhin said in a video published over the weekend. The footage was published on a Telegram channel that has been disseminating Prigozhin news and has associated itself with the Wagner Group. The video was not published on Prigozhin's usual press service channel. Last month, he accused Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and others of "treason" for withholding supplies of munitions to his militia.

☆ Russian law amendments punish 'discrediting' military, including voluntary formations
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Igor RussakSummary This content was produced in Russia where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. MOSCOW, March 1 (Reuters) - Russia brought new law amendments to parliament on Wednesday that further strengthen the country's censorship laws, envisaging up to 15 years in jail for discrediting the armed forces and voluntary military organisations such as the Wagner Group. "As well as public actions aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, volunteer formations, organizations and persons who are facilitated in the implementation of tasks assigned to the ... Armed Forces," would be punishable, Volodin wrote on the Telegram messaging platform. "This initiative will protect everyone who today is risking their lives to ensures the security of the country and our citizens ... ($1 = 75.1 roubles)Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Raju GopalakrishnanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ I'm an EPA worker who's responded to more than 100 toxic spills and chemical fires, and I'll never forget one that got my adrenaline going
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Kelly worked on disasters like the BP oil spill and lead drinking-water crisis in Flint, Michigan. I'm one of the 220 emergency responders that the EPA has across the country who's on call when there's a major oil spill or chemical fire, like after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. There are also smaller events, like fires at oil refineries and paper mills and hazardous waste left behind by mines. EPA on-scene coordinators sample air, water, and buildings for toxic chemicals to determine public-health risks. Brian KellyThe EPA issues an enforcement order to the companies responsible for a spill or fire to take over the cleanup.

☆ Russian military aircraft blown up near Minsk: Belarusian partisans
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Evgenia NovozheninaFeb 27 (Reuters) - Belarusian anti-government activists have claimed responsibility for what they said was a drone attack on a Russian A-50 surveillance aircraft at an airfield near the Belarus capital of Minsk on Sunday. Franak Viacorka, an adviser to Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said in a post on Twitter it was the most successful act of sabotage since the beginning of 2022. Front and central parts of the aircraft as well as the radar antenna were damaged as a result of two explosions in the attack at the Machulishchy air base near Minsk, BYPOL reported. The Beriev A-50 aircraft, which has the NATO reporting name of Mainstay, is a Russian airborne early warning aircraft, with airborne command and control capabilities, and the ability to track up to 60 targets at a time. A number of Russian warplanes and airborne early warning and control aircraft have been deployed to Belarus.

☆ Belarusian partisans say Russian military aircraft damaged near Minsk
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 27 (Reuters) - A Russian A-50 surveillance military aircraft was damaged in a drone attack at an airfield near the Belarus capital of Minsk on Sunday, Belarus partisans and members of the exiled opposition said. Belsat is a Polish broadcaster focused on Belarusian news that Minsk has branded extremist. Front and central parts of the aircraft as well as the radar antenna were damaged as a result of two explosions in the attack at the Machulishchy air base near Minsk, BYPOL reported. The Beriev A-50 aircraft, which has the NATO reporting name of Mainstay, is a Russian airborne early warning aircraft, with airborne command and control capabilities, and the ability to track up to 60 targets at a time. A number of Russian warplanes and airborne early warning and control aircraft have been deployed to Belarus.

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