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CNN —A top Russian general who went missing after the mercenary group Wagner’s insurrection in June has been fired from his role as head of the country’s aerospace forces, Russian state media reported Wednesday citing unnamed sources. Gen. Sergey Surovikin has spent four decades as part of the Russian military, including a brief stint running Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. A Russian lawmaker said in July that Surovikin is “resting.”Documents shared with CNN in June suggested that Surovikin was a secret VIP member of Wagner. As the head of the aerospace forces, Surovikin oversaw the Kremlin’s campaign in Syria, during which Russian combat aircraft were accused of causing widespread devastation in rebel-held areas. Surovikin’s official bio on the Russian Defense Ministry’s website still lists him as the head of the aerospace forces.

Persons: Sergey Surovikin, Surovikin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Sorovikin, Gen, Viktor Afzalov, Surovikin’s, Ivan Popov, Vladimir Putin, Gleb Irisov, –, ” Irisov, KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV, Alexey Venediktov Organizations: CNN, The New York Times, RIA Novosti, Aerospace Forces, Moscow’s Defense Ministry, Kremlin Press Office, Russian, Human Rights Watch, Getty, Ministry of Defense, RBC, Russian Defense, Russian Ministry of Defense Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Kerch, Crimean, Russia, Afghanistan, Syria, Moscow, AFP

CNN —Iraqi authorities have switched off electronic advertising boards in Baghdad after pornographic footage was broadcast on one of the screens. A man has now been arrested by the police after the x-rated material was broadcast to passers-by in the capital, local media reported. Over the past year, the government has also cracked down on social media influencers. A platform called “Report” was launched this year to allow citizens to anonymously report “negative” or “immoral” content seen online. It prohibited all phone and internet companies licensed by it from using the terms in any of their mobile applications.

Persons: “, ” Organizations: CNN, Shafaq, Iraqi Interior Ministry, ministry’s Federal Intelligence, Investigation Agency, Facebook, Federal Intelligence, Communications, Media Commission Locations: Baghdad, bin, Iraq

☆ Russian Forces Launch Waves of Overnight Attacks on Odesa
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Image Rescuers working on Monday at the site of a fire in Odesa following a Russian attack. Credit... Nina Liashonok/ReutersRussian forces launched waves of missiles and attack drones at Odesa overnight, Ukrainian officials said early Monday, the latest strikes on the southern port city amid heightened tensions in the Black Sea. The Ukrainian military’s southern command said that air defenses intercepted eight cruise missiles and 15 attack drones that were launched in multiple waves. Since then, Russian forces have bombarded Ukrainian ports — including Odesa and Izmail — in what Ukrainian officials said were strikes specifically targeting the country’s ability to ship grain. It also put Moscow on notice that six Russian Black Sea ports and the approaches to them would be considered areas of “war risk” until further notice.

Persons: Nina Liashonok, ” Natalia Humeniuk, Odesa Organizations: Reuters, Russia’s Defense Ministry, Sunday, Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Locations: Odesa, Reuters Russian, Ukrainian, Izmail, Ukraine, Moscow

CNN —China’s civilian spy agency has exposed a Chinese national for allegedly providing sensitive military information to the CIA, the latest in a string of highly public espionage accusations between Washington and Beijing. Zeng was allegedly offered “a huge amount” of money and immigration to the US for his family, in exchange for sensitive information about the Chinese military, the statement said. China’s announcement about the alleged CIA spy came a week after two US Navy sailors in California were arrested for allegedly providing sensitive US military information to Chinese intelligence officers. China’s Ministry of State Security is a civilian agency that oversees intelligence and counterintelligence both within China and overseas. China’s military also has its own intelligence agency.

Persons: CNN —, Zeng, ”, Xi Jinping Organizations: CNN, CIA, China’s Ministry of State Security, US, FBI, China’s Communist Party, The New York Times Locations: Washington, Beijing, Italy, China, California, United States, Russia

☆ Fact Check-Fire extinguished on car carrier off Dutch coast and ship moved to port, not sunk
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A fire on a car carrier sailing off the coast of the Netherlands on July 25 was extinguished, according to Dutch authorities and “K” Line, the ship’s charter company. The Dutch coastguard (here), ministry of infrastructure and water management (here) and “K” Line (here) have all said the fire was successfully extinguished and that the boat was towed to the Dutch port of Eemshaven. A “K” Line spokesperson told Reuters via email that at no point was there any intention to sink the ship. The Fremantle Highway is now at a berth in Eemshaven where she arrived yesterday afternoon (Aug. 3) under tow,” the spokesperson said. The fire on the Fremantle Highway was extinguished and there was never a plan to sink the vessel, which has been pictured at port in Eemshaven.

Persons: “, salvors, Read Organizations: Fremantle, Twitter, Facebook, Dutch coastguard, ”, Reuters Locations: Netherlands, Eemshaven

Kyiv last week replaced the Soviet hammer and sickle symbol with a trident – the Ukrainian coat of arms – on the shield of the Motherland Monument, which dominates the capital’s skyline. Its construction began in 1979, and it depicted a woman holding a sword and a shield emblazoned with the Soviet hammer and sickle symbol. Workers remove the Soviet-era emblem from the motherland monument in Kyiv on August 1, 2023. And they don’t know how.”Putin’s desire to undermine Ukrainian national identity and autonomy has remained a key motivation for the conflict. Kudrya, meanwhile, was a Soviet spy and a leader of a sabotage group in Kyiv during World War II.

Persons: Vladimir Putin’s, Valentyn Ogirenko, Pilipey, ” “, ’, Maria Zakharova, Putin, Andrei Ivanov, Andriy Ivanov, Ivan Kudrya, John McCain, Andreyi, “, McCain, Kudrya, ” “ McCain, Ukraine …, Pobigay Organizations: CNN, Getty, Russian Foreign, Kremlin, UNESCO, ” Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, Soviet, Ukrainian, Kyiv's, AFP, Kiev, Russian Kiev, Moscow, Latvian, Pavlenko, Russia

☆ China spy agency’s social media debut calls for ‘all members of society’ to combat espionage
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The Ministry of State Security oversees intelligence and counterintelligence both within China and overseas. Titled “Countering espionage requires the mobilization of all members of society,” the ministry said national security bodies should keep reporting channels, such as hotlines and online platforms, open to handle reports of suspected espionage within China in a timely manner. But those efforts have gathered pace under Xi Jinping, China’s most assertive and authoritarian leader in a generation who has made state security his top priority. Previous anti-spying driveThere have been multiple previous calls by China for the public to look for potential spies. In June last year, China announced “material rewards” of up to and above 100,000 yuan ($15,000) for tip-offs about people who endanger national security.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, ”, Xi Jinping, Greg Baker, Xiao Li, Li –, David Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, of State Security, CIA, FBI, Group, Bain & Company, Astellas Pharma, Getty Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, American, Shanghai, Japan, AFP

☆ Iran Orders Nationwide Shutdown Because of ‘Unprecedented’ Heat
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Farnaz Fassihi | More About Farnaz Fassihi | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Iran on Tuesday announced a two-day public holiday in response to “unprecedented” heat, ordering all government agencies, banks and schools to shut down, an unusual move prompted by soaring temperatures that threatened public health and strained the country’s power grid. The nationwide shutdown will run from Wednesday to Thursday, as temperatures exceeded 123 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) in some southwestern cities. Iran’s soccer league also canceled all games in the next few days because of the heat. “Given the unprecedented heat in the coming days and to protect public health, the cabinet has agreed with the Health Ministry’s recommendation for a nationwide shutdown on Wednesday and Thursday,” Ali Bahadori Jahromi, the government spokesman, said in a post on Twitter. Temperatures were well above 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) on Tuesday in more than a dozen Iranian cities, and in the capital, Tehran, they were expected to reach 102 degrees Fahrenheit (nearly 39 degrees Celsius) in the coming days, according to Iran’s metrological organization.

Persons: ” Ali Bahadori Jahromi, Iran’s Organizations: Tuesday, Iranian Health Ministry, Twitter Locations: Iran, Tehran

There were just 120 drip irrigation systems allotted to farmers in Mr. Sahlani’s province last year to save water — and the farmers had to pay for them. Past the urban sprawl of northern Naseriyah, with its small auto repair shops and vegetable stands, the land empties out. A short drive off the highway, deeper into the desert, lies Al Najim, a village being blown off the map. Qahatan Almihana, an agricultural engineer, pointed at the town’s landmarks: buildings half-covered in sand, doors buried too deep to open. “The land was good, the soil was good,” he explained.

Persons: ” Mohammed Raed, Sahlani, ”, Ghazwan Abdul Amir, Al Najim, Qahatan, Sheikh Muhammad Ajil Falghus Organizations: Tufts Locations: Turkey, Iran, Naseriyah, Sahlani’s

☆ After Ousting a Top Official, China Erases Him and Evades Questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( David Pierson | More About David Pierson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

China’s abrupt removal of Qin Gang as foreign minister did not stop the questions that had dogged Chinese officials in the month since he vanished from public view: Where is Mr. Qin? Representatives of the Foreign Ministry have struggled to respond when pressed by reporters, repeatedly saying that they had no information to provide. After China replaced him on Tuesday, nearly all references to Mr. Qin were scrubbed from the ministry’s website, an unusual erasure that has only deepened the intrigue. Mr. Xi, China’s most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, has concentrated power under himself and enforced secrecy in an already highly opaque system, no matter the cost to China’s international image. Mr. Xi has diminished the sway of the Foreign Ministry, analysts say, as he’s pursued an increasingly assertive, and some say risky, foreign policy.

Persons: Qin, Qin’s, Xi Jinping, Xi, Mao Zedong, he’s Organizations: Qin Gang, Foreign Ministry Locations: China

CNN —The United Nations has said that Russian accounts of a rocket attack on a camp holding Ukrainian prisoners of war in July 2022 are not supported by the evidence. More than 50 Ukrainian prisoners were killed in the strike that year on a detention center in the town of Olenivka. An extensive CNN investigation published in August last year demonstrated that the Russian narrative that the camp had been hit by a Ukrainian HIMARS rocket did not stand up to scrutiny – a finding now supported by the findings by the UN Human Rights Commissioner (OHCHR). There is almost no chance that a HIMARS rocket caused the damage to the warehouse where the prisoners were being held.”Experts consulted by CNN discounted a HIMARS strike on Olenivka – but could not say definitively what killed and wounded so many prisoners. “Our office has met with the families of the victims and heard their pleas for truth and justice – and indeed, they have a right to truth, justice and reparations.

Persons: Andrey Lazarev, Igor Konashenkov, “, Volker Türk, –, ” Organizations: CNN, United Nations, UN Human Rights, Donetsk People’s, US, Russian Defense Ministry’s Zvezda, Russian Defense Ministry, ”, UN, Russian Federation, United, UN Human Locations: Olenivka, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Donetsk People’s Republic, United Nations, Ukraine

Video The attack on the Moscow buildings closed traffic on at least two large avenues, according to state media. Credit Credit... Reuters Smoke was rising from the top floors of a high-rise building in a complex for Leroy Merlin, a French home improvement store. Russia has fired missiles and drones at cities across Ukraine nearly every day while Russian cities, including Moscow, have been spared the violence of the war. Then on May 31, the Russian defense ministry said at least eight drones had targeted the capital and surrounding region. Ukraine has started to publicly take credit for attacks in Crimea, the peninsula that Russia illegally annexed in 2014, arguing that the attacks are happening inside Ukrainian territory.

Persons: Maxim Shemetov, Sergei Sobyanin, Leroy Merlin, Volodymyr Zelensky, Shawn Paik, Jin Yu Young, Ivan Nechepurenko Organizations: ., Reuters, Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian National Defense Management Center, The New York Times, Credit, Military University, Central Military, Russian Armed Forces Locations: Moscow, Ukrainian, Ukraine, Komsomolsky, Russian, Moskva, Russia, Crimea

☆ Kissinger Makes Unannounced Visit to China, Meets Defense Minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Vivian Wang | More About Vivian Wang | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Henry A. Kissinger, the 100-year-old former secretary of state who has pushed the United States to take a more conciliatory approach to China, has made a surprise visit to Beijing, meeting with China’s defense minister. The previously unannounced trip by Mr. Kissinger, who more than 50 years ago helped pave the way for diplomatic ties between the United States and China during President Richard M. Nixon’s administration, coincided with a string of visits by currently serving American officials to China. On Tuesday, the day that Mr. Kissinger met with Li Shangfu, the defense minister, President Biden’s climate change envoy, John Kerry, met with the Chinese premier and top foreign policy official. But while those officials met with varying levels of chilliness or scolding from Chinese officials or state media, reflecting the geopolitical tensions, the defense ministry’s description of the meeting with Mr. Kissinger was warmer. The fact that Mr. Kissinger met with Mr. Li at all was notable: China last month rebuffed a request for Mr. Li to meet the U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, at a summit in Singapore.

Persons: Henry A . Kissinger, Kissinger, Richard M, Li Shangfu, John Kerry, Antony J, Blinken, Janet Yellen, Li, Lloyd Austin Locations: United States, China, Beijing, Singapore

☆ Xi Jinping's foreign minister vanished from public view. His prolonged absence is driving intense speculation
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang has not been seen in public for three weeks, an unusually long absence during a busy period of diplomatic activity in Beijing, sparking intense speculation in a country known for its political opaqueness. Qin, 57, a career diplomat and trusted aide of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, was promoted to foreign minister in December, after a brief stint as ambassador to the United States. As foreign minister, Qin has delivered searing rebukes of Washington after relations plunged to a new low in the aftermath of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the US. The Chinese Foreign Ministry often leaves out content it deems sensitive from the transcripts of its regular briefings. Senior Chinese officials have disappeared from public view in the past, only to be revealed months later by the ruling Communist Party’s disciplinary watchdog that they’ve been detained for investigations.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, Qin Gang, Qin, Xi Jinping, Antony Blinken, Andrey Rudenko, Wagner, “, ”, Deng Yuwen, Janet Yellen, John Kerry . Qin, Josep Borrell, Wang Yi, Deng, they’ve, Xi Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Hong Kong CNN — China’s, Russian, Communist Party, Foreign Ministry, European Union, EU, ” Reuters, Reuters, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, Chinese Foreign Ministry, Senior, Xi Locations: Hong Kong, Beijing, United States, Washington, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Russia, China, Indonesia

CNN —Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed to Wagner Group fighters that a senior mercenary named Andrey Troshev now command the private military group, according to comments the Russian leader made to the Kommersant newspaper. Who is Andrey Troshev? “Andrey Troshev is directly involved in the military operations of the Wagner Group in Syria. Troshev is also associated with Wagner group commanders Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov and Andrey Bogatov. Members of Wagner group sit atop of a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023.

Persons: Vladimir Putin, Andrey Troshev, Putin, Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, –, ‘, ” Putin, Troshev, “ Andrey Troshev, Bashar al, “ Andrey Nikolaevich Troshev, ”, Dimitriy Utkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich Kuznetsov, Andrey Bogatov, Roman Romokhov, Prigozhin, Alexander Lukashenko Organizations: CNN, Wagner Group, Kommersant, Prigozhin, Wagner, European Union, Soviet Union, Federal District, Red Star, Courage, Merit, Fatherland, Kremlin, Getty, Troshev, Belarusian Locations: Russian, France, Syria, Leningrad, Deir, United Kingdom, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Soviet Union, Rostov, AFP, Ukraine, Belarus, Belarusian, Russia, St . Petersburg

☆ Factbox-Companies respond to China's curbs on gallium and germanium exports
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Reuters Staff | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Florence Lo/IllustrationFollowing are responses from some companies to the announcement of curbs from Aug. 1 on Chinese gallium and germanium exports. * Dowa Holdings, the world’s top producer of high-purity gallium used in products such as wafers and LEDs, said it was investigating the situation. * A spokesperson for Fujitsu said the company “is currently not active in the semiconductor business, so we are not directly impacted by the export regulations. * Microchip Technology said its initial assessment is that there will not be a material impact. * Stellantis Chief Executive Carlos Tavares said the restrictions on gallium and germanium exports should not push Western companies to “decouple” from China.

Persons: Florence Lo, chipmaker, Carlos Tavares, ” Tavares Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Semiconductor, Association of Japan, Dowa Holdings, Fujitsu, Nichia, Sumitomo Chemical, Nasdaq, Semiconductors, Technology, Intel, Infineon, European Union, Navitas Semiconductor Corp Locations: China, United States, U.S

☆ Swedish embassy in Baghdad: Protesters break in after Stockholm Quran burning
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-29 | by ( Mostafa Salem | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Demonstrators breached the perimeter of the Swedish embassy in Baghdad Thursday, a day after a protester burned a copy of the Quran in Sweden. Videos circulating on social media showed some protesters climbing over a barricaded wall outside the embassy. Muslim countries and Islamic organizations had condemned the burning of the Quran in Stockholm. On Thursday, the United Arab Emirates summoned Sweden’s ambassador to Abu Dhabi to protest the Quran burning incident, the UAE’s state news agency WAM said. In January early this year Iraqi protesters clashed with security forces outside the Swedish embassy for a separate incident of Quran burning in Stockholm.

Persons: Muqtada, Sadr, Al Sadr, Momika, ” Al Sadr, it’s, Sweden’s, Abu, WAM Organizations: CNN, Embassy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, AFP, of Islamic Cooperation, Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council, United Arab Emirates Locations: Swedish, Baghdad, Sweden, Muqtada al, Iraqi, Stockholm, Stockholm –, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi

The 56-year-old officer, nicknamed “General Armageddon” by the Russian media because of his reputation for ruthlessness, has not been seen publicly since early Saturday. Fighters from Mr. Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group were on the ground in Syria at the time, and reports indicate that both Wagner and General Surovikin used the civil war for financial gain. Besides leading Russian forces in Syria, General Surovikin was in Chechnya in the early 2000s, according to state news media and his biography on the Russian Defense Ministry’s website. Human Rights Watch said in 2020 that he was among military leaders who might bear “command responsibility” for human rights violations in Syria. He was placed on a European Union sanctions list on Feb. 23, 2022, a day before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Persons: Sergei Surovikin, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Surovikin, Bashar al, Assad, Prigozhin’s Wagner, Wagner, General Surovikin, General Surovikin’s, Aleksei Navalny, Russia’s, Valery Gerasimov, Prigozhin’s, ” Samuel Ramani, “, ”, Ramani, Mikhail Gorbachev Organizations: New York Times, Fighters, Islamic State militants, Russian Army, Russian Defense Ministry, Royal United Services Institute, Russian Defense, Human Rights Watch, Jamestown Foundation, Union Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Syria, Russia, Ukrainian, Kherson, British, Rostov, Chechnya, Washington

In the war-torn Chechnya region, Mr. Kadyrov built up a private fiefdom while professing loyalty to no official but Mr. Putin himself. A judo sparring partner from Mr. Putin’s youth became a construction billionaire and built Mr. Putin’s landmark bridge to Crimea. And then there was Mr. Prigozhin, who has said that he met Mr. Putin in 2000 as a St. Petersburg restaurateur. In Ukraine, as Mr. Prigozhin tells it, Wagner troops were only called in after Mr. Putin’s initial invasion plan failed. But Mr. Putin seemed to vacillate on his own support for Mr. Prigozhin.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Yevgeny V, Prigozhin, Putin’s, “, ”, —, “ Putin, Tatiana Stanovaya, ” Mr, Ramzan Kadyrov, Aleksandr G, Lukashenko, Mr, Wagner, tycoons, Boris N, Yeltsin, Kadyrov, Prigozhin’s, K.G.B, Donald J, Trump, Weeks, ’, Putin “, Andrei Soldatov, Prigozhin “, ” Mark Galeotti, ” Neil MacFarquhar, Valerie Hopkins Organizations: Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, ., Reuters, Federal Security Service, Kremlin, Television, Defense, Defense Ministry, Center for Locations: Russia, Moscow, Russian, Rostov, Chechnya, Belarus, Russia’s, Don, Ukraine, Putin’s, Crimea, St, Petersburg, United States, Syria, Africa, Ukrainian, Bakhmut

But beneath those positive signals, the two-day visit to Beijing from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted another reality: a wide and dangerous gulf between the two powers. The timing of the visit, which followed two close encounters between Chinese and American armed forces in Asia in recent weeks, underscored the urgency of talking. In the same vein, the United States needs to respect China and must not hurt China’s legitimate rights and interests,” he said. We don’t want to look up to the United States, at the very least we should look at each other at eye level,” he said. Baby stepsIn the lead-up to and during Blinken’s visit, China made clear who it thinks is responsible for the problems in the relationship.

Persons: Antony Blinken, –, Xi Jinping, Blinken, Xi, ”, “, Bonnie Glaser, China …, Nancy Pelosi’s, Yang Tao, ” Yang, Li Shangfu, Shen Dingli, Wang Yi, Joe Biden, ” Blinken, Dexter, Roberts Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Washington, China, China’s Communist Party, German Marshall Fund of, United, Pacific, Military, US, Chinese Defense, Minister of Defense, Beijing, Economic Cooperation, Atlantic Council Locations: Hong Kong, China, Beijing, Asia, ”, United States, Washington, Taiwan, American, South China, America, Shanghai, “ China, Bali, “

NEW DELHI, June 15 (Reuters) - India's defence ministry has approved the procurement of U.S.-made armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones, sources told Reuters on Thursday. India will buy 31 drones made by General Atomics worth slightly over $3 billion, one of the sources said. India’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. The defence ministry's initial clearance for the procurement comes just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaves for a state visit to the U.S. next week. The U.S. government approved the sale of 30 drones to India more than two years ago, but the Indian defence ministry had been sitting on the decision.

Persons: General Atomics, Narendra Modi, Joe Biden, Biden, Jake Sullivan, Ajit Doval, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Modi, Lloyd Austin, Krishn Kaushik, Jan Harvey Organizations: Reuters, U.S, Modi, . National, Modi's, Thomson Locations: DELHI, U.S, India, China, Pakistan, New Delhi, Delhi, Russia

☆ UBS’s state aid is a disaster insurance policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Sergio Ermotti has a taxpayer safety net, but it only kicks in if things get really bad. The state will eat 9 billion Swiss francs ($10 billion) of losses on certain assets once UBS has swallowed an initial 5 billion Swiss francs. The actual contract, despite being 94 pages long, is missing the most important number: how many assets are covered by the agreement. UBS in mid-May said it would write down the value of Credit Suisse’s assets by $10 billion. To breach its initial loss threshold, the assets would have to fall 11% below their already discounted value.

Persons: Sergio Ermotti, Liam Proud, Xavier Niel, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, UBS, Credit Suisse, Finance, Suisse’s, Twitter, Toyota, Thomson

☆ Opinion: Why Erdogan’s win isn’t all it seems
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Opinion Ruth Ben-Ghiat | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

In the run-up to the first round of voting, Erdogan’s interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, tellingly likened the election to the 2016 attempted coup. Off the back of Erdogan’s win, we can expect Turkey to draw even closer to Russia, which supplies more than one-third of its petroleum and oil products. So look for Erdogan to follow whatever geopolitical path benefits his Russian patron, including continued opposition to Sweden joining NATO. Erdogan’s economic policies have contributed to horrific inflation: over 80% in October, a 24-year record, and still at 44% last month. For all his bluster about modernizing Turkey, Erdogan has created an environment of fear, hostility and economic hardship.

☆ Russia seeking to disrupt Ukraine's preparations for counterattack, Kyiv says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, May 19 (Reuters) - Russia has shifted the focus of its missile strikes on Ukraine to try to disrupt preparations for a Ukrainian counterattack, a senior Ukrainian military intelligence official said. After months of attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Russian forces are now increasingly targeting military facilities and supplies, said Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of the Defence Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate. He also said Russian aviation was now targeting areas on or near the front line more often than before. Russia, whose air strikes have also often hit residential areas across Ukraine, did not immediately comment on Skibitskyi's remarks. Soldiers near the front line said this week that Russian forces were pounding supply lines to try to halt the Ukrainian advances.

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