International

Despite West’s help, Ukraine forces vastly outnumbered by Russia

by Stuart WILLIAMS / Daphne BENOIT / Valerie LEROUX Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Ukraine’s armed forces find themselves vastly outnumbered and outmatched in firepower by their Russian opponents, despite growing military assistance for Kyiv’s troops by the West. Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country had massed some 150,000 troops on the border in recent months, on Thursday ordered military operations against Ukraine. There are also, according to Western estimates, some 30,000 Russian […]

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Eighteen killed in attack near Ukraine’s Odessa

  KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Eighteen people died Thursday in an air strike on a military base near Ukraine’s Black Sea port city of Odessa, the local administration said. “Eighteen died — eight men and 10 women. At the moment, we are still digging through the rubble,” the Odessa regional administration said in a statement. The attack came on the first day of an invasion of Ukraine that President Vladimir Putin launched after sparring for […]

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Russian ground forces cross into Ukraine: border guards

Russia’s ground forces on Thursday crossed into Ukraine from several directions, Ukraine’s border guard service said, hours after President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of a major offensive. Russian tanks and other heavy equipment crossed the frontier in several northern regions, as well as from the Kremlin-annexed peninsula of Crimea in the south, the agency said. It said one of its servicemen died in a shelling attack along the Crimean border, the first officially confirmed […]

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Oil tops $100, havens rally, stocks drop as Russia invades Ukraine

Oil prices broke past $100 and safe havens surged while equities tumbled Thursday after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “military operation” in Ukraine, accelerating fears of a major war. Markets have been hammered this week after the Kremlin recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine and said it would provide “peacekeepers” to the regions, leading to warnings of a conflagration. The Russian president said in a surprise statement on television: “I have made the […]

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Unprovoked and unjustified:’ world reacts to attack on Ukraine

World leaders on Thursday  condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Western capitals vowing to escalate sanctions against Moscow while the head of the United Nations demanded the conflict end immediately. Key reactions: – US President Joe Biden – “The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine tonight as they suffer an unprovoked and unjustified attack by Russian military forces,” Biden said shortly after the operation began. He warned “Russia alone is […]

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Biden says ‘world will hold Russia accountable’ over Ukraine attack

US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said the “world will hold Russia accountable” over a military onslaught against Ukraine that he warned will cause “catastrophic loss of life.” In a statement issued shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of military operations in Ukraine, Biden said he would address the US public Thursday to outline the “consequences” for Russia, calling the attack “unprovoked and unjustified.” Biden also held a phone call with his […]

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UN chief appeals to Russia’s Pres. Putin to withdraw troops from Ukraine, warns of devastating global impact

UN Secretary General Guterres: “This conflict must stop now”   (Eagle News) – United Nations Secretary General once again appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, this time asking him to “bring back” his troops to Russia to avoid devastating consequences of a war in Ukraine that would have an impact globally. “This is the saddest moment in my tenure the Secretary General of the United Nations. I started this meeting of the Security Council addressing […]

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Putin starts military operations in Ukraine; Biden warns this will cause “catastrophic loss of life”

Putin vows retaliation against those who will interfere in Russia’s Ukraine operations   Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of military operations in Ukraine early Thursday, February 24, to defend separatists in the east of the country, and even vowed retaliation against those who will interfere with the Russian operations. “I have made the decision of a military operation,” he said in a surprise statement on television shortly before 6 am (0300 GMT). The […]

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Russia’s Putin announces ‘military operation’ in Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday a military operation in Ukraine to defend separatists in the east of the country, and “demilitarise and de-nazify” its pro-Western neighbour. “I have made the decision of a military operation,” he said in a surprise statement on television shortly before 6 am (0300 GMT). He went on to denounce what he called a “genocide” orchestrated by Ukraine in the country’s east, as well as NATO’s aggressive policy towards Russia. “For […]

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Cyclone Emnati lashes Madagascar

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AFP) — Cyclone Emnati overnight lashed the island nation of Madagascar, still reeling from the impact of another cyclone earlier this month, local authorities said Wednesday. The cyclone “made landfall around 2300 GMT just north of the southeastern district of Manakara,” Faly Aritiana Fabien, a senior official of the National Risk Management Office (BNGRC) told AFP. No casualties have been reported yet. The storm, which passed just north of Indian Ocean islands of […]

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Hong Kong unveils $22 billion budget for virus plagued economy

by Su Xinqi and Jerome Taylor HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s finance chief on Wednesday unveiled a costly HK$170 billion ($21.79 billion) budget, including tax breaks and consumer spending vouchers, as the city reels under its worst coronavirus outbreak to date. While rival finance centres emerging from pandemic isolation and reopening to the world, Hong Kong has found itself overwhelmed by the highly infectious Omicron variant after the city’s previously successful zero-Covid strategy […]

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US sanctions Russia for crisis in Ukraine

  by Frankie TAGGART Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced tough new sanctions against Russia for “beginning” an invasion of Ukraine but said there was still time to avoid war, even as Vladimir Putin signaled plans to send troops beyond Russia’s borders. Japan and Australia followed suit early Wednesday with their own stringent penalties for Moscow and individuals connected with the aggression against Ukraine, with Australian […]

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