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What next? Ukraine's allies divided over Russia endgame

Monday, June 13, 2022

by Linda Noakes

Hello

Here's what you need to know.

Russian artillery pounds Sievierodonetsk, a gun-reform deal is reached in the U.S. Senate, and major crypto lender Celsius freezes withdrawals

Today's biggest stories

A Ukrainian serviceman inside a tank at a position in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 11, 2022

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Russian forces swarmed into the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk and pounded a zone where hundreds of civilians were sheltering, a Ukrainian official said - a scene that mirrored Moscow's brutal capture of Mariupol last month.

Ukraine has issued increasingly urgent calls for more Western weapons to help defend Sievierodonetsk, which Kyiv says could hold the key to the outcome of the battle for control of the eastern Donbas region and the future course of the war.

Is it better to engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin or to isolate him? Should Kyiv make concessions to end the war, or would that embolden the Kremlin? Are ramped up sanctions on Russia worth the collateral damage? Ukraine's allies are divided over the endgame.

A former British soldier has been killed fighting for Ukraine in the city of Sievierodonetsk, his family said on social media, and a senior Ukrainian official praised him as a "true hero".

The leader of the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk region of Ukraine said there was no reason to pardon two British nationals who were sentenced to death last week after being captured while fighting for Ukraine.

The Wikimedia Foundation, which owns Wikipedia, has filed an appeal against a Moscow court decision demanding that it remove information related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, arguing that people have a right to know the facts of the war.

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

Demonstrators hold placards as they take part in the 'March for Our Lives' against gun violence in Washington, D.C., June 11, 2022


U.S.

In a potential breakthrough toward the first significant new U.S. gun law in decades, a bipartisan group of senators announced an agreement on a framework for a firearms safety bill with enough Republican support to advance in the narrowly divided Senate. Here's what's in and what's out of the Senate's gun-safety plan.

The second hearing of the congressional committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol will focus on former President Donald Trump's insistence that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread fraud, an unfounded allegation known as the 'Big Lie'.

Thirty-one members of the white nationalist group Patriot Front are expected to appear in an Idaho court for an arraignment following their weekend arrest on suspicion of plotting to violently disrupt an LGBTQ pride event.

Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups are expanding a network of staff to guide patients through what is expected to become an increasingly complex and expensive process to obtain abortions across much of the United States.

Michael Avenatti, the twice-convicted lawyer who represented porn actress Stormy Daniels in her legal battles against Trump, offered to plead guilty to "multiple" criminal charges he still faces in California.

WORLD


Authorities in China's capital Beijing raced to contain a COVID-19 outbreak traced to a raucous 24-hour bar known for cheap liquor and big crowds, with millions facing mandatory testing and thousands under targeted lockdowns.

Leaders of prominent Islamic groups and mosques in India appealed to fellow Muslims to suspend plans for protests against derogatory remarks about the Prophet Mohammad made by two members of the ruling Hindu-nationalist party.

Britain will set out plans today to override some of the post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland, changes that will inflame tensions with the European Union but were dubbed mere "bureaucratic simplifications" by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

President Emmanuel Macron could lose his outright majority in France's parliament and the ability to push through his economic reform agenda with a free hand after a strong showing by a new left-wing alliance in the first round of voting.

Brazilian police said search teams have discovered belongings of missing British journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous expert Bruno Pereira who went missing in the Amazon rainforest a week ago. The two men were on a reporting trip in the remote jungle area near the border with Peru and Colombia.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

Cryptocurrency lending firm Celsius Network will pause withdrawals and transfers between accounts due to "extreme market conditions", the company said, in the latest sign of pressure in the crypto industry. The value of the cryptocurrency market fell below $1 trillion for the first time since January 2021, according to data site CoinMarketCap.

Futures tracking the tech-heavy Nasdaq tumbled nearly 3% as a widely watched part of the Treasury yield curve inverted on growing fears that aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve will tip the economy into recession.

Tokyo is concerned about sharp falls in the yen currency and stands ready to "respond appropriately" if needed, Japan's top government spokesperson said, issuing a fresh warning to markets. We explain the consequences of the yen's fall to a 24-year low.

Britain's economy unexpectedly shrank in April, official figures showed, adding to fears of a sharp slowdown just three days before the Bank of England announces the scale of its latest interest rate response to the surge in inflation.

Defiant South Korean truckers are considering blocking shipments of coal to a power plant if the government rejects their demands for minimum pay guarantees, a senior trade union official said.

Malaysian companies from palm oil plantations to semiconductor makers are refusing orders and forgoing billions in sales, hampered by a shortage of more than a million workers that threatens the country's economic recovery.

Quote of the day

"All of the nuclear-armed states are increasing or upgrading their arsenals and most are sharpening nuclear rhetoric"

Wilfred Wan

Director at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

Global nuclear arsenal to grow for first time since Cold War, think-tank says

Video of the day

Russia opens rebranded McDonald's restaurants

It might look and smell like McDonald's but now it's Vkusno & Tochka. The golden arches are gone, the Filet-O-Fish is simply a fish burger. The Big Mac has left Russia.

And finally…

'Strange Loop' and 'Lehman Trilogy' earn Tony honors

The story of a Black gay man and his mental struggles as a playwright won the Tony award for best new musical as Broadway celebrated its first season since the long pandemic shutdown.

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