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☆ It's really hard for foreign companies to break up with Russia — and there are 3 main reasons why
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

One year after Russia invaded Ukraine, just 520 firms have fully exited Russia, per a Yale study. Quite simply, it's just not that straightforward for a company to get out of Russia right now — and there are three main reasons why. Companies have been trying to exit Russia in an orderly fashionMany companies were quick to announce their intent to leave the Russian market after it invaded Ukraine. Thus, companies that want to exit Russia are pressed to find buyers for their Russian operations who would continue running the business under a different brand. Multinational companies face operation challenges in their exitsBecause many foreign companies operating in Russia are multinationals, shutting operations in the country can have a domino effect on their businesses elsewhere.

The Arctic Council was created in 1996 to discuss issues affecting the polar region, ranging from pollution to local economic development to search-and-rescue missions. The Arctic Council comprises the eight Arctic states of Russia, the United States, Canada, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Sweden and Denmark. Russia's possible degree of involvement with the Council once Norway takes over is still unclear. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had earlier extended an invitation to Arctic officials to attend a transition ceremony in Salekhard, Siberia. Russian Arctic Ambassador Nikolay Korchunov, chair of the Senior Arctic Officials on the council, told Reuters the transition would "presuppose active and responsible participation of all Arctic Council member states in this preparatory process."

☆ Russian officer sentenced to 6.5 years for deserting amid war he opposed
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 24 (Reuters) - A Russian security officer who fled the country because he objected to the invasion of Ukraine has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in high-security prison, the Taiga.info news website reported on Friday. Federal Protective Service Major Mikhail Zhilin, 36, fled to Kazakhstan last year when Russia announced a conscription campaign, illegally crossing the border through woods while his wife and children drove through a checkpoint. Zhilin sought refugee status in the former Soviet republic but his request was denied and authorities there stopped him from leaving for Armenia. Kazakhstan handed him over to Russia late last year, leading to the rare conviction of an officer for desertion. A Barnaul court clerk reached by telephone confirmed that Zhilin has been sentenced but declined to provide any further information.

March 22 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a two-day summit in Moscow this week. UKRAINEPutin said Chinese proposals could be used as the basis of a peace settlement in Ukraine, but nothing emerged from the meeting to tie his hands militarily. Bottom line: The agreed summit language suits Putin's purposes, enabling him to continue fighting while saying he is open to talk peace. Bottom line: Russia is still waiting on a deal and China has powerful leverage to secure advantageous price terms. Putin said Chinese companies would be first in line to replace Western companies that have quit Russia.

☆ Candida auris is just one infection fueled by rising temperatures. See how extreme climate helps spread disease, in 3 simple charts.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Climate change may be driving the rapid spread of Candida auris, a deadly fungus, across the US. Three charts show how extreme weather and environmental changes help spread disease. Nicolas Armer/picture alliance via Getty ImagesA leading theory on this fungus's sudden emergence and wide spread is that it's fueled by climate change. Whatever survives, however, is adapted to extreme heat — including the fever our bodies produce to kill off pathogens. David Ryder/Getty ImagesHumans and their infrastructure are more vulnerable to the devastating impacts of disease when they're compromised by extreme weather.

REUTERS/Florence LoBEIJING, March 20 (Reuters) - Chinese state energy giants have made a number of multi-billion dollar investments in Russia, one of China's top oil and gas suppliers, across various stages of the energy supply chain. Below are the main investments by the Chinese government, key state-owned energy companies and their listed vehicles, based on company releases and Reuters reports. 2005: Sakhalin-3 Veninsky oil projectRussian oil giant Rosneft (ROSN.MM) and Sinopec (600028.SS), agreed to jointly explore the Sakhalin-3 Veninsky block during a visit by China's then-president Hu Jintao to Moscow in 2005. It became China's first energy project in Russia. 2019: Arctic LNG 2In 2019 China's CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK) and PetroChina agreed to buy a combined 20% stake in the $25.5 billion Arctic-2 liquefied natural gas project led by Novatek.

☆ Factbox: Putin, quoting Confucius, heaps praise on Xi
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Both countries pursue an independent and autonomous foreign policy, and consider relations between China and Russia as one of the main priorities in diplomacy." "China and Russia adhere to the concept of eternal friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation." - Xi said he and Putin have met more than 40 times at different venues. - Putin speaks about the 'Power of Siberia' gas pipeline from Russia to China as the "deal of the century". - Putin said oil and coal deliveries had grown and that Russia is helping to build new nuclear power reactors in China.

☆ Factbox: Russia's tighter energy ties with China since Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In February 2022, China also agreed to buy up to 10 bcm of gas annually by around 2026 via a pipeline from Russia's far east island of Sakhalin. Russia's gas exports to China are still a small fraction of the record 177 bcm it delivered to Europe in 2018-19. Since the start of the Ukraine war in February 2022, volumes to Europe have shrunk, reaching about 62 bcm in 2022. - China's seaborne imports of Russian oil are set to hit a record in March as Chinese refiners take advantage of cheap prices as domestic fuel demand rebounds. - China has largely ignored the sanctions imposed by Western nations on seaborne Russian crude since Dec. 5.

☆ Russia convicted a soldier who admitted killing a civilian in Ukraine — not for killing anyone but for spreading illegal 'fake news'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Russian court sentenced a soldier after he confessed to killing a civilian in Ukraine. Daniil Frolkin was tried under Russia's "fake news" law, which outlaws claiming that Russia is committing atrocities. Daniil Frolkin was given a suspended sentence in a military court in Khabarovsk, in eastern Russia, according to the news site Siberia.Realities, an affiliate of Radio Free Europe. In June, Ukraine's Office of the Prosecutor General announced Frolkin was suspected of killing a civilian there — something that Frolkin initially denied. It outlaws contradicting the Kremlin's official version of events in the war — in which Russia commits no atrocities and stringently avoids harming civilians.

☆ Russia is so cut off from the international financial system that the Kremlin thinks Western sanctions have 'insured' the country against the banking crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Kremlin said Russia will not be impacted by the US bank crisis. Sanctions over the Ukraine war have cut Russia off from the international financial system. Russia is now so cut off from the global financial system that the Kremlin thinks it will face no impact from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. In contrast, Russia — like much of the world — faced a credit crunch due to the fallout from the US subprime mortgage crisis in 2008, which ultimately led to the Global Financial Crisis. As the country recovered from the recession, it started working towards its grand ambition of making Moscow a global financial hub.

☆ 'Navalny,' portrait of Kremlin critic, wins best documentary Oscar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Mary Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] A still image taken from video footage shows law enforcement officers speaking with Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny before leading him away at Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow, Russia January 17, 2021. REUTERS/Reuters TV/File PhotoLOS ANGELES, March 12 (Reuters) - The film "Navalny" about the poisoning that nearly killed Alexei Navalny, Russia's most prominent opposition leader, and his detention upon his 2021 return to Moscow, won the Oscar for best feature documentary on Sunday. In the documentary, Navalny works with investigative news outlet Bellingcat and they unmask FSB agents sent to poison Navalny in 2020. He decides to return to Russia in January 2021 with Yulia and throngs of supporters await his arrival. At the end of the film, Navalny is asked what his message would be to the Russian people if he were killed.

☆ Scientists revived a 'zombie' virus frozen for 48,500 years in ice. They learned it could still infect other cells.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Chris Panella | Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Scientists revived a 48,500-year-old 'zombie' virus from permafrost and found it was still infectious. Some scientists are concerned that climate change thawing permafrost could reawaken ancient viruses. A carcass of an Ice Age cave bear found on Great Lyakhovsky Island, in northern Russia, unearthed by thawing permafrost. How 'zombie' viruses could infect hosts once they emergeThis isn't the first time Claverie has revived ancient viruses, or "zombie viruses" as he calls them. The current research on frozen viruses like Claverie's 'zombie' virus is helping scientists understand more about how these ancient viruses function and whether, or not, they could potentially infect animals or humans.

☆ A regiment of drafted Russian soldiers who made video plea to Putin to stop them being 'slaughtered' are now mostly dead, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Drafted Russian soldiers made a video appeal to Vladimir Putin for help. Most of the soldiers in the regiment have died in Donetsk since recording the video, a report says. "Please help," the soldiers say in the video while in their uniforms with their faces covered. In the video, which was published by Telegram channel of the Siberian news outlet Lyudi Baikala on February 25, the soldiers directly ask Putin for help. The video was the soldiers' third such appeal, according to the Russian outlet The Insider.

☆ Russia may run out of money in 2024, says oligarch
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Olesya Dmitracova | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN —Russia could find itself with no money as soon as next year and needs foreign investment, outspoken Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska has said. Putin praised the resilience of the country’s economy in the face of unprecedented Western sanctions imposed in the past year. Russia’s economic output shrank 2.1% last year, according to a preliminary estimate from the government. But cracks are starting to show — Russia is cutting oil production this month — and Western sanctions could escalate further. Ultimately, Russia’s economic prospects are contingent on what happens in Ukraine.

☆ Russia may run of out money next year and needs foreign investors due to 'serious' pressure from sanctions, oligarch warns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska warned Thursday that Russia may run out of money in 2024. Deripaska said Russia needs foreign investors due to "serious" pressure from western sanctions. Deripaska, who founded Rusal, one of the world's biggest aluminum producers, said the gloomy economic outlook was due to "serious" pressure from western sanctions, per the report. The US has imposed more than 2,700 sanctions against Russia, more than any other country, according to the Atlantic Council's database. He told the forum that Russia needed to ensure a safe business climate for foreign investors, Bloomberg reported.

☆ Russian defence chief keeps job despite Ukraine routs thanks to Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The Russian Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Shoigu or its own performance in Ukraine. Appointed defence minister in 2012, he is part of Putin's inner circle and has enjoyed hunting and fishing holidays with him in his native Siberia. The Russian army has been learning from its mistakes and successfully adapting, the source said. There's no escaping the poor performance of the Russian military". It was "inconceivable", said Jones, that a Western defence minister could have kept his job in such circumstances.

☆ A bizarre video shows Russians in swimwear dousing themselves in buckets of cold water to show solidarity with soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Russians supported Putin's invasion of Ukraine by pouring icy water on themselves. A video shared on Twitter by a BBC journalist shows the event in Blagoveshchensk, Siberia. "Today, we're going to support them with our heroic act by pouring cold water on ourselves." After the speech, about 150 people, ranging from teenagers to pensioners, proceeded to dump buckets of cold water on their heads. In short, Russia has lost — they've lost strategically, operationally, and tactically."

Feb 15 (Reuters) - Finnair (FIA1S.HE) reported a second straight quarterly operating profit on Wednesday as the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns eases on its key Asian business, and said it looked forward to potentially "huge" demand from the Chinese market. In the fourth quarter, 31.2% of its passenger revenue came from Asian traffic, versus 41.1% in the same period in 2019. Finnair said it expects to significantly increase its 2023 revenue compared with the previous year, but not yet to reach pre-pandemic levels. Its comparable operating profit reached 17.9 million euros ($19.2 million) in the fourth quarter, against a loss of 65.2 million a year earlier. Finnair shares were up 1.1% at 0.5345 euros by 1506 GMT, after rising as high as 0.5520, their highest since February 2022.

☆ Moscow's decades-old gas ties with Europe lie in ruins
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Vladimir Soldatkin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

Washington has long criticised Germany's policy of reliance on Russian energy, which until last year, Berlin had said was a means to improve relations. In October, he mooted an idea of a gas hub in Turkey to divert the Russian gas flows from the Baltic Sea and North-West Europe. The 20-year supply deal is worth about $30 billion in current gas prices. In Europe, gas prices hit record levels and international oil prices shortly after the special military operation began spiked close to their all-time high. Domestic gas prices are regulated by the government and there have been discussions about liberalising the gas market, a sensitive issue for Russian households.

☆ Russian forces have relocated at least 6,000 Ukrainian children to camps since start of war, new report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Amanda Macias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON — Russian forces have moved at least 6,000 Ukrainian children to camps and facilities across Russia for forced adoptions and military training, according to a new report. The allegations detailed in the 35-page report, such as the abduction or detention of children, may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity. Earlier this month, Ukraine's prosecutor general, Andriy Kostin, said that regional authorities have logged more than 65,000 Russian war crimes since Moscow invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago. Kostin said his teams have also documented more than 14,000 Ukrainian children forced into adoption in Russia. At the time, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the conduct may breach international humanitarian agreements and constitute war crimes.

HONG KONG, Feb 7 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Beijing's energy policy will indirectly support Europe. The European Union imported a record 131 bcm of LNG last year, 60% more than in 2021, Kpler data show. That’s why Chinese LNG imports are forecast to rise just 7% this year to 94 bcm, according to data provider OilChem China, or 14% below their 2021 peak. While strengthening its own energy security, China may accidentally help keep Europe warm. Chinese LNG imports are expected to rise 7% to 94 billion cubic metres in 2023 from a year before, according to data provider OilChem China.

☆ Some Neanderthals couldn't smell their own stink, suggests a new study recreating early humans' noses
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Meanwhile, one group of a related species — Neanderthals — developed a mutation that could have spared them the smell of their own body odors. It's a popular idea that humans have a bad sense of smell, as compared with dogs, for instance. Will Oliver/PA Images/Getty"We have to really understand ourselves within our own context," rather than comparing humans to dogs or monkeys, as previous research on smell receptors has done, Hoover said. To Hoover's surprise, the Neanderthals, Denisovan, and humans all appeared to have the same repertoire of smells. More research like it, with more samples of ancient genomes, could reveal a clearer picture of Neanderthal and Denisovan life.

☆ Shell still taking LNG cargoes from Russia under Novatek contract
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Shell (SHEL.L) is still receiving cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia under its long-term contract with Novatek (NVTK.MM), a Shell spokesperson said on Thursday. The world's largest LNG trader agreed a more than 20-year deal in 2015 for Novatek to supply around 900,000 tonnes per annum from the Yamal LNG plant in Siberia. Shell said in 2022 it would exit all its Russian operations, including a major LNG plant in the Sakhalin peninsula in the eastern flank of the country after Russia invaded Ukraine. However, Russia supplied Europe with some 17 million tonnes of LNG in 2022, up about 20% from 2021, Refinitiv Eikon data show. Novatek, Russia's largest LNG producer, provided most of the supplies, having shipped 20.8 million tonnes from the Yamal LNG project - including to other customers - and 700,000 tonnes from Kriogaz-Vysotsk on the Baltic Sea, according to Refinitiv Eikon.

☆ At least 5 Russian men who escaped conscription have been living in Seoul's airport for months, and their refugee status still hangs in the balance: report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

At least five Russian men have been living in South Korea's Incheon airport for months. The men told The Post their lives are hanging in the balance: Seoul could still reject their asylum appeal. But I feel this conflict is extremely political," Maraktaev told The Post. Maraktaev then managed to get a flight to South Korea, and he finally landed in Incheon on November 12. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, most of the refugees given a humanitarian visa in South Korea are from Syria and Yemen.

☆ Crashes behind the front lines hint at a looming problem for isolated Russia's Air Force
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Russia lost several combat aircraft to crashes in the final months of 2022. The question is what has changed in Russian aircraft reliability and maintenance? The site where a Russian military aircraft crashed into a residential building in the city of Irkutsk on October 23. REUTERS/StringerFor example, measuring the impact of mobilization on Russian manufacturing is difficult, as is determining how many aircraft parts Russia is covertly importing. In the end, Russian aircraft maintenance may face a mix of problems.

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