2022年4月8日星期五

Friday Briefing: Ukraine says dozens killed in rocket strike on rail evacuation hub

Friday, April 8, 2022

by Hani Richter

Hello

Here's what you need to know.

Dozens killed in rocket strike on Ukraine rail evacuation hub, Amazon objecting to union's victory in New York and Israeli forces shoot dead Palestinian who killed two people in a Tel Aviv bar.

Today's biggest stories

A rescuer sits in a rubble of a building that was destroyed by Russian shelling, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Borodyanka, Kyiv region, Ukraine April 7, 2022. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AT WAR

At least 39 people were killed and 87 wounded when two rockets hit a railway station in eastern Ukraine packed with evacuees, Ukrainian authorities said, as the region braced for a major Russian offensive.

The European Commission chief and the EU's top diplomat arrived in Kyiv to offer Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy support and reassurance over his bid for EU membership in a capital gradually reviving after Russia pulled back forces.

Russia gave its most sombre take yet on the six-week long war in Ukraine, describing the "tragedy" of rising troop losses and the economic pain of sanctions, as Ukrainian authorities rushed civilians out of the way of a looming big offensive in the east.

The United Nations General Assembly suspended Russia from the U.N. Human Rights Council over reports of "gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights" in Ukraine, prompting Moscow to announce it was quitting the body.

Britain added Vladimir Putin's daughters to its sanctions list, mirroring moves by the United States, in what it said was an effort to target the lifestyles of those in the Russian president's inner circle.

Ukraine said it aimed to establish up to 10 humanitarian corridors to evacuate trapped civilians, but civilians trying to flee besieged Mariupol will have to use private vehicles.

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

BUSINESS

Amazon.com accused the new union at a New York City warehouse of threatening workers unless they voted to organize, an assertion an attorney for the labor group called "really absurd."

Big U.S. banks are expected to show a sharp decline in first quarter earnings from a year ago
, when they benefited from exceptionally strong dealmaking and trading, and funds set aside for loan losses being released.

The macro-economic picture is deteriorating fast and could push the U.S. economy into recession as the Federal Reserve tightens its monetary policy to tame surging inflation, BofA strategists warned in a weekly research note.

Samsung's flagship Galaxy S22 smartphone has taken a battering from reports of hobbled performance and has seen carriers halve its price at home in South Korea just weeks since its launch, hurting its image as an iPhone rival.

World food prices jumped nearly 13% in March to a new record high as the war in Ukraine caused turmoil in markets for staple grains and edible oils, the U.N. food agency said.

Israeli security personnel work near the scene of a fatal shooting attack near a bar in Tel Aviv, Israel April 7, 2022. REUTERS/Corinna Kern

WORLD

Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian who killed two people in a Tel Aviv bar after an hours-long manhunt through the cit
y. The bar attack was the latest in a string of deadly street assaults that have killed 13 people and shaken the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron voiced regret for starting campaigning late
as opinion polls showed him holding a slender lead over the far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, who he warned would scare investors away from France. First round of the presidential election takes place on Sunday.

Shanghai announced a record 21,000 new cases and a third consecutive day of COVID testing as a lockdown of its 26 million people showed no sign of easing and other Chinese cities tightened curbs - even in places with no recent infections.

Sri Lanka's finance minister said that the crisis-hit country must urgently restructure its debt and seek external help, while the main opposition threatened a no-confidence motion and business leaders warned that exports could plummet.

Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled that Prime Minister Imran Khan's move to dissolve parliament was unconstitutional and ordered lawmakers to return, a decision that could spell the end of his premiership.

U.S.

The White House will celebrate the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court in an outdoor event as coronavirus cases among Washington's political elite rise.

Alabama lawmakers passed a bill that would criminalize gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth, with a threat of 10 years in prison for medical providers.

A California law requiring grocery stores and restaurants to donate leftover food has been hard for local food banks and small towns to implement due to climbing fuel costs and uncertainty over who pays for food recovery.

More than a thousand book titles, most addressing racism and LGBTQ issues, have been banned from U.S. classrooms and school libraries in the last nine months, many under pressure from conservative parents and officials, the writers' organization PEN America said.

The city of Denver said it will appeal a federal jury's verdict from March that awarded $14 million to a dozen activists who sued Denver police, claiming excessive force was used against peaceful protesters during racial injustice demonstrations following the death of George Floyd in 2020.

Sign up free for Sustainable Switch

Find out how companies and governments are grappling with climate change, diversity, and human rights. Sent every Tuesday and Thursday.

Quote of the day

"Lacking the strength and courage to stand up to us on the battlefield, they are cynically destroying the civilian population."

Volodymr Zelenskiy

Ukraine President

Ukraine says Russia deliberately struck railway station used by evacuees

Video of the day

High-profile U.S. COVID cases amid rise in new variant

At least a half-dozen senior officials, including members of President Joe Biden's Cabinet and lawmakers, have tested positive for COVID-19 in recent days, as caseloads drop across the country. Even as the new BA.2 Omicron variant accounts for nearly three out of four cases in the U.S., experts are hoping another wave will be avoided.

And finally…

Sun, sea and now smoke free: Barcelona bans cigarettes on the beach

Barcelona beachgoers will no longer have to contend with cigarette butts or passive smoke starting in July when Spain's second largest city will ban smoking on all its beaches.

More from Reuters

COVID The Great Reboot Sustainable Business 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

没有评论:

发表评论