Tuesday Briefing: Ukrainians escape besieged eastern city through corridor as refugee total tops 2 million

The Reuters Daily Briefing Tuesday, March 8, 2022 by Linda Noakes Hello Here's what you need to know. Britain says it will back Poland if it decides to sends jets to Ukraine, the EU will sanction more oligarchs, and what would a U.S. ban on Russian oil mean for the world? Today's biggest stories Evacuees from Mariupol area get settled at a refugee camp in Bezymennoye in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, March 8, 2022 RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AT WAR Ukrainians boarded buses to flee the besieged eastern city of Sumy, the first evacuation from a Ukrainian city through a humanitarian corridor agreed with Russia. Ukraine said a separate convoy of 30 buses was also headed to Mariupol to evacuate residents from that southern port, which has been encircled without food, water, power or heat and subjected to relentless bombardment for a week. The United Nations said the number of refugees who have fled Ukraine had surged past 2 million, describing the flight as one of the fastest exoduses in modern times. The World Health Organization said that attacks on hospitals, ambulances and other health care facilities in Ukraine have increased rapidly in recent days and warned the country is running short of vital medical supplies. Children with cancer are among patients needing urgent care. The European Commission has prepared a new package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus that will hit additional Russian oligarchs and politicians and three Belarusian banks, three sources told Reuters. British defence minister Ben Wallace said Britain would support Poland if it decided to provide Ukraine with fighter jets, but warned that doing so might have direct consequences for Poland. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will address British lawmakers via videolink in the House of Commons today, the first time a president of another country has addressed the main Westminster chamber. Here's what you need to know about the Russia-Ukraine conflict right now Gasoline prices are displayed on a pump at a gas station in Manhattan in New York City, March 7, 2022. REUTERS/Mike Segar BUSINESS & MARKETS Western countries could face oil prices of over $300 per barrel and the possible closure of the main Russia-Germany gas pipeline if governments follow through on threats to cut energy supplies from Russia, a senior minister said. The United States is willing to move ahead with a ban on Russian oil imports without the participation of allies in Europe, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. So what would a U.S. ban on Russian oil mean for the world? Shell apologized for buying Russian crude oil last week and said it would withdraw completely from any involvement in Russian hydrocarbons over the country's invasion of Ukraine. The London Metal Exchange halted nickel trading after prices doubled to a record $100,000 per tonne, fueled by a race to cover short positions after Western sanctions threatened supply from major producer Russia. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is ramping up the price of metals used in cars, from aluminum in the bodywork to palladium in catalytic converters to the high-grade nickel in electric vehicle batteries, and drivers are likely to foot the bill. Morgan Stanley urged the U.S. Federal Reserve to take a more cautious approach to raising interest rates as Russia's invasion of Ukraine spurs already sky-rocketing global inflation. JP Morgan, which runs the most widely used emerging bond market indexes, said it would exclude Russia from all of its fixed income indexes. Kelso Beach Reserve is submerged by floodwater after the Georges River burst its banks in East Hills, south-west of Sydney, Australia, March 8, 2022 IN OTHER NEWS Flood warnings stretched across Australia's east coast and tens of thousands of Sydney residents fled their homes as torrential rains again pummeled the country's largest city, flooding several big suburbs. Satellite imagery shows construction at North Korea's nuclear testing site for the first time since it was closed in 2018, analysts said, as a U.S. intelligence report warned the country could resume major weapons tests this year. Iran and the United States must take a political decision within days to prevent the failure of indirect talks on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal after 11 months of negotiations rocked by a last-minute Russian demand of a sanctions exemption. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said he agreed an agenda for future talks with a U.S. delegation that he met on Saturday, the first high-level meeting between the two countries in years. Florida's Senate is expected to pass a Republican-backed bill that would prohibit classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity for many young students, a measure Democrats denounced as being anti-LGBTQ. Quote of the day "Tim goes away, so who looks like Tim? It's usually not a Sarah" At the top of Europe's banks, it's still a man's world Video of the day Foreign fighters find purpose in Ukraine Members of Ukraine's 'international' legion say they are attracted by the cause: to halt what they view as an unprovoked attack in a once-in-a-generation showdown between the forces of democracy and dictatorship. And finally… Indian farmer builds 'tree scooter' Ganapathi Bhat farms areca nut in the coastal town of Mangaluru in India's southern Karnataka state and has to regularly scale 60- to 70-foot-tall trees to harvest his crop. More from Reuters COVID The Great Reboot Disrupted Legal News Breakingviews Thanks for spending part of your day with us. Share your thoughts You are receiving this email because you signed up for newsletters from Reuters. No longer want to hear from us? Unsubscribe from The Reuters Daily Briefing. Terms, conditions, and privacy statement © 2022 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036