Russia Financial News

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is pushing back against some NATO proposals that would allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike targets within Russia

An unpopular government with a reputation for constant infighting

SEOUL—China’s panda diplomacy isn’t looking so cuddly all of a sudden. Beijing is accused of mistreating Fu Bao, a recently returned female panda from South Korea. The 4-year-old panda has a following in South Korea akin to a pop star, with merchandise, online fan groups and even birthday billboards.

Russia said Friday that it had conducted a prisoner exchange with Kyiv, exchanging 75 captured servicemen with Ukraine, in one of the only areas of dialogue between the warring countries. «As a result of negotiations, 75 Russian servicemen who were in mortal danger in captivity have been returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime.

Germany on Friday suggested Ukraine could use weapons supplied by Western countries to defend itself against attacks launched from just inside Russia against the northern border region around the city of Kharkiv in accordance with international law. Germany discussed with allies the fact that Russia has carried out strikes on the Kharkiv region from positions in the immediately adjacent Russian border area, a government spokesperson said in a statement. «We are jointly convinced that Ukraine has the right, guaranteed under international law, to defend itself against these attacks,» the spokesperson said.

Ukraine is permitted to retaliate against Russian forces or targets located near Kharkiv using weaponry supplied by the United States."The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use US-supplied weapons for counterfire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them," one official said, according to CNN.This policy adjustment, however, is strictly confined to the vicinity of Kharkiv, with no plans to expand the permitted area, the official added. Ukrainian authorities have not sought permission for strikes beyond this region.The official confirmed that Kyiv made the request for this policy change in response to the advancing Russian forces in recent weeks.

India will likely report economic growth of close to 8% in the fiscal year that ended in March, providing a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government as elections come to a close. Official data due to be published Friday will probably show Asia’s third-largest economy grew 7% in the first three months of the year, taking growth for the financial year through March to 7.9%, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. Catch it live here

A Greek-owned and Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier that came under attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels earlier this week had a cargo of grain bound for Iran

Kremlin on Thursday accused NATO of "provoking" Kyiv into prolonging the conflict in Ukraine, whose officials have been appealing for permission from allies to target Russia with Western-supplied weapons. The comments came as NATO foreign ministers were convening in Prague in the face of growing calls for leading allies to lift restrictions stopping Kyiv from using Western weapons to strike inside Russia. «NATO member states, the United States, and capitals in Europe in recent days and weeks have been entering a new round of escalations in tensions and they are doing it deliberately,» Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Stay up to date with our new daily update, The US in brief, and our presidential poll tracker. Read more of our coverage of the US elections of 2024. Admirers and detractors alike, however, struggle to predict specific policies Mr Trump might adopt. Even those close to him admit that, until he is in the room with the likes of Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping or Prince Muhammad bin Salman, he may not know himself what he wants to do. The art of the deal, they claim, lies in personal dynamics.

FTAs)," US Ambassador to India Eric M. Garcetti said in an interview. "But I do think that there's an openness in Washington to advance a discussion about preferential trade between our countries.

The top European Union cybersecurity official says that disruptive digital attacks have doubled in the 27-member bloc in recent months and election-related services are also being targeted

Russia’s wealthy elite could face higher income taxes

ConocoPhillips is buying Marathon Oil in an all-stock deal valued at approximately $17.1 billion as energy prices soar and big oil companies reap massive profits

Hungary’s top diplomat has visited Belarus for talks on expanding ties despite the European Union’s sanctions against the country

Sweden will donate two radar surveillance and command aircraft to Ukraine to boost its defences in the war with Russia, the Swedish government said on Wednesday, as part of its largest aid package to Ukraine so far worth about 13.3 billion Swedish crowns ($1.3 billion). The Saab Airborne Surveillance and Control (ASC) 890 aircraft allows easier long-range target identification and will help Ukraine with the planned introduction of F-16 fighter jets donated by other Western countries, Sweden said. «They will complement and reinforce the F-16 systems,» Defence Minister Pal Jonson told a press briefing in Stockholm.

India is poised to begin wheat imports after a six-year gap, to replenish depleted reserves and hold down prices that leaped following three years of disappointing crops, sources say, as the approaching end of general elections removes a key hurdle. New Delhi is expected to abandon a 40% tax on wheat imports this year, officials and other sources told Reuters, paving the way for private traders and flour millers to buy from producers such as top exporter Russia, albeit in modest volumes. As the new-season wheat harvest rolls in, the government is likely to wait until after June to scrap the import tax, in time for Russia's harvest, the sources said.

North Korea flew hundreds of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea in one of its most bizarre provocations against its rival in years, prompting the South's military to mobilise chemical and explosive response teams to recover objects and debris in different parts of the country. The ballooning campaign came as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un urged his military scientists to overcome a failed satellite launch and continue developing space-based reconnaissance capabilities, which he described as crucial for countering U.S. and South Korean military activities, state media said Wednesday. In his first public comments about the launch failure, Kim also warned of unspecified «stern» action against South Korea over an exercise involving 20 fighter jets near the inter-Korean border hours before North Korea's failed launch on Monday. In a speech Tuesday, Kim called the South Korean response «hysterical insanity» and «a very dangerous provocation that cannot be ignored,» the North's official Korean Central News Agency said Wednesday.

equity markets fell in a volatile trade on Tuesday amid uncertainty ahead of Lok Sabha election results. In today's trade, shares of IRCTC, Hindalco, IRCTC State-run Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) reported a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 284 crore, which was up 2% year-on-year.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy received a second $1-billion promise of military aid in as many days on Tuesday during a whirlwind tour of three European Union countries, even as President Vladimir Putin warned that hitting Russian soil with Western-supplied weapons could set the war on a dangerous new path. The aid pledge for 2024 came from Belgium, which topped up the money with a commitment to give Ukraine 30 F-16 fighter jets in the next four years. «Our task is to use the first F-16 on the battlefield this year and in such way that it will fortify our positions,» Zelenskyy said.

Immediately halt its military offensive and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part".The ICJ ruling against Israel on Friday brought the focus on Judge Dalveer Bhandari in India. So who is Dalveer Bhandari, the Indian Judge who voted in favor of the ruling against Israel.A former Supreme Court judge, Justice Bhandari has been a member of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) since 2012.