Monday 27 June 2022

Ukraine pleads for air defense as Russia turns sights on Lysychansk

Monday, June 27, 2022

by Linda Noakes

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Here's what you need to know.

Russia pitches into its first major external bond default in a century, crisis-hit Sri Lanka shuts schools to save fuel, and legal clashes await U.S. companies covering workers' abortion costs

Today's biggest stories

G7 leaders sit at a table as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy addresses them via video link during their working session at Elmau Castle, Germany, June 27, 2022

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR


Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Western leaders to supply anti-aircraft defense systems to his embattled nation as Russian forces assaulted Lysychansk, the last big city still held by Ukrainian troops in eastern Luhansk province.

Addressing the Group of Seven summit in the Bavarian Alps via video link, Zelenskiy also asked for help to export grain from Ukraine and for more sanctions on Russia.

The United States is likely to announce this week the purchase of an advanced medium to long range surface-to-air missile defense system for Ukraine, a source told Reuters.

The G7 will commit tomorrow to a new package of coordinated actions aimed at increasing pressure on Russia and will finalize plans for a price cap on Russian oil, a senior U.S. official said.

Vladimir Putin will visit two small former Soviet states in central Asia this week, Russian state television reported, in what would be the Russian leader's first known trip abroad since ordering the invasion of Ukraine.

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

BUSINESS

Russia defaulted on its foreign sovereign bonds for the first time since the Bolshevik revolution, as sweeping sanctions effectively cut the country off from the global financial system and rendered its assets untouchable to many investors. Here is a history of Russian defaults.

G7 leaders pledged to raise $600 billion in private and public funds over five years to finance needed infrastructure in developing countries and counter China's older, multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road project.

Profits at China's industrial firms shrank at a slower pace in May following a sharp fall in April, as activity in major manufacturing hubs resumed, but COVID-19 restrictions still weighed on factory production and squeezed factory margins.

It only took 24 hours last month for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in India - the world's second-largest producer of wheat - to shelve its plans to "feed the world". Here's how food export bans across the globe risk fueling inflation.

Swiss judges are set to rule today whether Credit Suisse failed to prevent money laundering linked to an alleged cocaine trafficking gang in Switzerland's first criminal trial of one of its major banks.

U.S. shale oil producers are returning to existing wells and giving them a second, high-pressure blast to lift output for a fraction of the cost of a finishing a new well. These 're-fracs' are taking hold as shale oil producers look to take advantage of $100 a barrel crude without making big investments in new wells and fields.

Abortion rights supporters raise their fists during a moment of silence in Washington, June 26, 2022


U.S.


Leading Democratic women called on President Joe Biden and Congress to protect abortion rights nationwide after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, in a ruling that has heightened political tensions between the federal government and states.

The Supreme Court's decision is expected to have a disproportionate impact on Black women and other women of color, who have traditionally faced overwhelming costs and logistical obstacles in obtaining reproductive healthcare.

A growing number of large companies have said they will cover travel costs for employees who must leave their home states to get abortions, but these new policies could expose businesses to lawsuits and even potential criminal liability.

Tina Peters, an election official in western Colorado, has been indicted for election tampering and barred by a judge from overseeing voting in her home county this year. But she is seeking the Republican nomination for secretary of state in tomorrow's primary contest, a position that would put her in charge of the state's election apparatus. We report on the 2020 election deniers seeking top voting offices.

Ghislaine Maxwell reported Brooklyn jail staff threatened her safety, prompting employees to place her on suicide watch, prosecutors said, arguing there was no need to delay her sentencing on sex trafficking charges.



WORLD


Troops in Sri Lanka handed tokens to people queueing for petrol amid a severe fuel shortage in the nation battling its worst economic crisis in seven decades, while schools shut in Colombo and public employees were asked to work from home.

A Norwegian court named the suspect in a deadly rampage at a gay bar in Oslo as Zaniar Matapour, a Norwegian citizen of Iranian origin, as the city prepared a demonstration of solidarity to honor the victims. Matapour, whom police have described as a radicalized Islamist with a history of mental illness, is accused of killing two people and injuring 21.

Turkish police blocked hundreds of people from gathering for Istanbul's annual Pride parade and detained dozens after local authorities banned the march from going ahead again this year. Thousands of people used to attend Pride marches on Istanbul's main Istiklal Avenue but in recent years the government has toughened its stance on LGBTQ+ freedom.

South African authorities investigating the deaths of 21 teenagers at an east coast tavern over the weekend said the youths were probably killed by something they ate, drank or smoked, ruling out the earlier-touted possibility of a stampede.

Four people were killed and about 70 injured when part of a stand collapsed at a bullring in the town of El Espinal, Colombia, provincial officials said.

Quote of the day

"The anti-abortion playbook and the anti-LGBTQ playbook are one and the same. Both are about denying control over our bodies and making it more dangerous for us to live as we are"

Sarah Kate Ellis

CEO of LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD

Abortion ruling casts cloud over usual cheer at U.S. Pride parades

Video of the day

Lunar robots put to the test on Mount Etna

Robots move across a wasteland of dark dust and although the scenario would suggest they are on the moon, they are actually being tested on Europe's most active volcano.

And finally…

Home favourite Raducanu relishing Centre Court debut at Wimbledon

When Emma Raducanu competes at Wimbledon this week, she will return to the venue of not only one of her most cherished moments last year when she made her Grand Slam debut but also one of her most harrowing.

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