NEW DELHI — SpaceX chief Elon Musk said on Saturday that its Starlink satellite broadband service has been told by some governments, not Ukraine, to block Russian news sources. “We will not do so unless at ‘gunpoint’, sorry to be a free speech absolutist”, he said in a tweet. Musk also said that SpaceX was […]
MOSCOW — Russia has “practically” completed the “mission” of destroying Ukraine’s main military infrastructure, including weapon warehouses, ammunition depots, aviation and air defense systems, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday. “Russian forces will fulfill all their assigned tasks and the operation in Ukraine is proceeding in accordance with the plan and schedule,” Putin was quoted as […]
NEW DELHI — Energy and commodity prices-including wheat and other grains-have surged due to the war in Ukraine, adding to inflationary pressures from supply chain disruptions and the rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic, the IMF has said. Price shocks will have an impact worldwide, especially on poor households for whom food and fuel are a […]
UNITED NATIONS — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday condemned the suicide bomb attack inside a Shiite mosque at Peshawar in Pakistan. “Houses of worship should be havens, not targets. I condemn today’s horrific attack on a mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan, during Friday prayers,” he tweeted, Xinhua news agency reported. “My condolences to those who […]
WASHINGTON — Amid the deteriorating situation and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, the World Bank is preparing a USD 3 billion support package for the country in the coming months and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is soon considering requests for emergency financing. World Bank Group President David Malpass and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced […]
KYIV — A 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles threatened Ukraine’s capital Tuesday as an intense shelling attack targeted the country’s second-largest city, and both sides looked to resume talks in the coming days aimed at stopping the fighting. The country’s embattled president said he believed the stepped-up shelling was designed to force […]
UNITED NATIONS — India has said that it was deeply concerned over the deteriorating situation in Ukraine and reiterated its call for immediate cessation of violence and end to hostilities, saying all differences can only be bridged through honest, sincere and sustained dialogue. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti told a rare […]
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian nuclear forces put on high alert Sunday in response to what he called “aggressive statements” by leading NATO powers. The order means Putin has ordered Russia’s nuclear weapons prepared for increased readiness to launch, raising the threat that the tensions could boil over into nuclear warfare. In giving […]
KYIV — Ukraine on Sunday said it would hold talks with Russia at its border with Belarus — near the Chernobyl exclusion zone — after a phone call between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko. “The politicians agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet the Russian one without preconditions at the Ukraine-Belarus border, […]
WASHINGTON — Elon Musk said Saturday his company SpaceX’s Starlink satellite broadband service had been activated in Ukraine, after a Kyiv official urged the tech titan to provide his embattled country with stations. “Starlink service is now active in Ukraine,” Musk tweeted, adding “more terminals en route.” The tweet came some 10 hours after Ukrainian […]