Thursday, 26 May 2022

Advancing Russian forces reach key highway out of Donbas cities

Thursday, May 26, 2022

by Linda Noakes

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Here's what you need to know.

The Texas gunman sent an online warning minutes before the school attack, Russia prepares to seize western firms, and global automakers face an electric shock in China

Today's biggest stories

Pro-Russian troops inspect an AT4 anti-tank launcher of the Ukrainian armed forces outside the town of Svitlodarsk in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, May 25, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AT WAR

Advancing Russian forces came closer to surrounding Ukrainian troops in the east, briefly seizing positions on the last highway out of a crucial pair of Ukrainian-held cities before being beaten back, a Ukrainian official said.

Russia has poured thousands of troops into its assault in the eastern Donbas region, attacking from three sides in an attempt to encircle Ukrainian forces in Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. The cities' fall would bring nearly the whole of Luhansk province under Russian control, a key Kremlin war aim.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy savaged suggestions that Kyiv give up territory and make concessions to end the war with Russia, saying the idea smacked of attempts to appease Nazi Germany in 1938.

Two captured Russian soldiers pleaded guilty to shelling a town in eastern Ukraine in the second war crimes trial of the war.

Russia's foreign ministry said that reporters from Western countries will be expelled from Russia if YouTube blocks access to its spokeswoman's briefings.

Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now

People react during a vigil at Uvalde County Fairplex Arena, Texas, May 25, 2022. REUTERS/Marco Bello


U.S.


The Texas gunman who murdered 19 children and two teachers posted an online message warning that he was going to shoot up an elementary school minutes before he attacked, Governor Greg Abbott said, as harrowing new details emerged. As the shocked town of Uvalde struggles to make sense of the massacre, we look at whether gunmakers can be liable for mass shootings.

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law the strictest abortion ban in the United States, one that prohibits abortions from fertilization and allows private citizens to sue those who help women terminate their pregnancies. The next abortion battle - over pills - has already begun.

More Americans prefer the Democratic Party's approach to abortion policy than prefer the Republican approach, and two out of five Republicans do not favor their own party's position on the issue, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

The deadlocked U.S. Senate Republican primary between wellness celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund executive David McCormick was headed for a recount in Pennsylvania, Acting Secretary of State Leigh Chapman said, with the outcome delayed into next month.

Actor Johnny Depp returned to the witness stand to refute ex-wife Amber Heard's testimony in their defamation battle, saying the abuse claims she leveled against him were "unimaginably brutal, cruel and false."

WORLD

Pandemic-hit Shanghai, China's financial hub, unveiled more post-lockdown plans as it moves towards a return to normalcy, but a country-wide economic recovery is still a distance away, heightening a sense of urgency for more support.

Indian security forces have killed six militants in Kashmir in the past 24 hours while militants shot dead a female TV performer and a police officer, officials said, following the conviction of the region's best-known separatist.

Pakistan's ousted prime minister Imran Khan disbanded a protest march by supporters after clashes with police outside parliament, but threatened that they would return unless an election was called within six days.

The Islamist Hamas group that runs the Gaza Strip has warned Israel it risks another war if it allows flag-waving nationalists to march through Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday.

Two lawmakers from Britain's governing Conservative Party pulled their support for Boris Johnson over a damning report that detailed a series of alcohol-fueled lockdown-breaking parties at his 10 Downing Street office. Their voices add to a growing list of Conservative MPs who have called for the prime minister to resign.

People walk past a closed store of the sporting goods retailer Nike at a shopping mall in Saint Petersburg, Russia, May 25, 2022. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov

BUSINESS

Russia is advancing a new law allowing it to take control of the local businesses of western companies that decide to leave, raising the stakes for multinationals trying to exit. The law, which could be in place within weeks, will give Russia sweeping powers to intervene where there is a threat to local jobs or industry.

Apple will raise the starting pay for its U.S. employees, as companies face a tight labor market and a surge in unionization efforts amid rising inflation. Pay will rise to $22 per hour, or higher based upon the market, a 45% jump from 2018 levels.

Elon Musk pledged an additional $6.25 billion in equity financing to fund the $44-billion offer for Twitter, reducing the billionaire's margin loan against his Tesla shares to zero.

If global automakers think they can extend their dominance in China into the electric era, they may be in for a shock. Kings of the combustion age such as General Motors and Volkswagen are falling behind local players in the booming electric vehicle market in China, a country that's key to funding and developing their electric and autonomous ambitions.

Global stocks are forecast to recover from current levels but stay well below record highs this year and next as a majority of more than 150 equity analysts polled by Reuters predicted a rebound that is both lackluster and uneven.

DAVOS

ECB President Christine Lagarde gained key allies for her plan to raise rates out of negative territory this summer.

See our full coverage of the World Economic Forum

Quote of the day

"When I was growing up, it was a poor man's meal. Now, just bought two lots of fish and chips: 23 quid. What family can afford that?"

Malcolm Petherick

Builder

The end of fish and chips? Rising prices threaten a British tradition

Video of the day

Boeing Starliner completes mission

The new uncrewed Boeing Starliner astronaut capsule returned from the International Space Station and landed in New Mexico, capping a high-stakes test flight as NASA's next vehicle for carrying humans to orbit.

And finally…

The schooldays that shaped Prince Charles

Pupils at the heir to the British throne's remote Scottish boarding school had to go for an early morning run followed by a cold shower.

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