| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Friday, April 22, 2022 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. Russia says it plans full control of Donbas and southern Ukraine, frustration grows in Shanghai's lockdown purgatory, and climate activists rally for Earth Day | | | | | Today's biggest stories  An armored convoy of pro-Russian troops moves along a road in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 21, 2022. REUTERS/Chingis Kondarov RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AT WAR Russia pressed its new offensive in eastern Ukraine, while in the port city of Mariupol teams of volunteers collected corpses from the ruins after Moscow declared victory there despite Ukrainian forces holding out.
Ukraine's general staff said Russian forces had increased attacks along the whole frontline in the east of the country and were trying to mount an offensive in the Kharkiv region, north of Russia's main target, the Donbas.
The mayor of Mariupol appealed for the "full evacuation" of the devastated southern Ukrainian city. Vadym Boichenko told Reuters that President Vladimir Putin alone can decide the fate of the civilians still trapped in Mariupol, scene of the worst humanitarian crisis of the war.
NATO must avoid a direct military confrontation with Russia that could lead to a third world war, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview with Der Spiegel when asked about Germany's failure to deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine.
A small number of Ukrainian troops are being trained in Britain for the first time since the start of the Russian invasion as Prime Minister Boris Johnson steps up his military support. The troops began training with armored patrol vehicles donated by Britain this month, Johnson's spokesman said.
Plans for Pope Francis to meet in June with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, who has backed Russia's war in Ukraine, have been suspended, the pope has told an Argentine newspaper.
Here's what you need to know about the Russia-Ukraine conflict right now
| BUSINESS Crypto giant Binance met with Russia’s financial intelligence unit last year in Moscow, agreeing to hand over client data. Reuters reveals how the move was part of behind-the-scenes efforts to build ties with government agencies as it sought to boost its growing business in the country.
A half-point interest rate increase "will be on the table" when the Federal Reserve meets on May 3-4 to approve the next in what are expected to be a series of rate increases this year, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in comments that pointed to an aggressive set of Fed actions ahead. Some investors are tiptoeing back into Treasuries, as a hawkish Fed clouds the outlook.
Euro zone business growth unexpectedly accelerated this month, with the bloc's dominant services sector seeing a sharp increase in activity as consumers shrugged off soaring prices. Manufacturers, however, struggled as supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic have been exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and renewed lockdowns in China.
Florida lawmakers gave their final approval to a bill ending Walt Disney's designation as a self-governing entity in an apparent response to its opposition to a new state law limiting the teaching of LGBTQ issues in schools.
American Express beat Wall Street estimates for first-quarter profit, driven by strong spending from its card holders globally as consumer appetite for travel and entertainment reached pre-pandemic levels.
SpaceX signed its first deal with an air carrier to provide in-flight wireless internet using the Starlink satellite network, the space company said as it jockeys with other burgeoning satellite firms to put high-speed internet on commercial airlines.
|  A demonstrator holds a banner as climate activists protest in front of the German Embassy in Brussels, Belgium, April 22, 2022. REUTERS/Johanna Geron
WORLD
Climate change campaigners kicked off a wave of protests for Earth Day, pushing demands such as an immediate halt to European imports of Russian oil and gas and an end to building fossil fuel infrastructure.
French President Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen are due to make final appeals to undecided voters weighing their fears of what a Le Pen presidency could bring against their anger at Macron's record. Here's a look at the five-decade rise of France's far right.
At least 31 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, Palestinian medics said, the latest outbreak in a recent upsurge of violence at a site revered by Muslims and Jews alike.
Stiffening resolve after three weeks of strict lockdown, authorities warned Shanghai's 25 million frazzled residents that their purgatory would go on until the COVID-19 virus was eradicated neighborhood by neighborhood.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has thanked South Korea's outgoing president for trying to improve relations, a rare gesture of goodwill but one that analysts said may not be enough to head off growing tension between the two Koreas.
Mwai Kibaki, who ushered in economic reforms and a new constitution but struggled to tackle widespread corruption as Kenya's third president from 2003-2013, has died aged 90.
U.S.
Republican U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene will face a challenge in a Georgia court today by a group of voters trying to block her from the ballot, citing a post-Civil War policy aimed at keeping insurrectionists from serving in office.
Republicans in Florida's House approved a new congressional map backed by Governor Ron DeSantis that gives the party a major advantage in November's elections while eliminating two majority-Black districts.
A federal judge temporarily blocked Kentucky officials from enforcing a sweeping new abortion law that Planned Parenthood said would force abortion clinics to stop offering the procedure until they can meet certain requirements.
Philadelphia is ending its indoor mask mandate, health officials said, reversing its decision just days after imposing the order.
A decorated U.S. Air Force veteran who helped lead a fundraising campaign to build former President Donald Trump's promised wall along the U.S.-Mexican border pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud donors.
Lawyers for Johnny Depp's ex-wife Amber Heard questioned the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star in his defamation case, showing jurors graphic text messages in which Depp referred to a "monster" inside him that he had to keep in check.
| | | | | | | | | | | Quote of the day "Some of these people have no prospects any more in the combustion engine world. But they are reliable employees, and it just makes more sense to retrain them." Fevzi Sikar Head of the workers' council at Mercedes-Benz's Marienfelde plant Big business joins forces to bridge Germany's growing skills gap | | | | Video of the day  Scientists breed threatened coral species The project could restore damaged reefs off the coast of Florida that are under threat from a relatively new disease. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
