Russia Financial News

The family of George Glezmann, feeling like it is running out of options, has informed the White House it would negotiate directly with the Taliban to try to secure the American hostage’s release from Afghanistan. “We are in the process of finalizing a meeting in Doha with the [Taliban] to try to recover George," wrote George Taylor, a Glezmann family representative, in an email last week to senior U.S. officials including national security adviser Jake Sullivan and top hostage negotiator Roger Carstens.

Kyiv now offers Heorhii Samofalov a safer and more stable life than his high-rise apartment in the Ukrainian capital. He doesn't need to use an elevator and has access to an uninterrupted supply of water and other amenities. «Power issues made it extremely challenging to reach the thirteenth floor,» the 75-year-old retiree said. «It's a problem even to make tea, as everything runs on electricity.» Russia's massive attacks on Ukraine's power grid have forced many like him to consider their options as a grim winter without heating looms. This week's air raids on Kyiv and other cities across the country were the largest since Russia's full-scale invasion began two and a half year ago.

Indian Nostradamus certainly has hopes! In one of his most recent predictions, astrologer Kushal Kumar (also known as the Indian Nostradamus), hinted that the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has a hope of being resolved, as both countries are becoming rather relentless in the path of mutual assured destruction. However, there’s a glimmer of hope.

Brazil's Supreme Court has ordered the suspension of X, formerly known as Twitter, after a protracted legal battle with the social media platform's owner, Elon Musk. The Court mandated this suspension due to the company's failure to appoint a new legal representative in Brazil within the deadline set by Supreme Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes. The decision affects approximately 40 million Brazilian users who will lose access to the platform within 24 hours, making it the latest addition to the list of countries that have banned or suspended the social media service. The legal confrontation between X and Brazilian authorities began in April when Judge de Moraes ordered the suspension of multiple X accounts accused of spreading disinformation, a directive with which the company did not comply. This defiance led to the current suspension order. The judge also imposed a fine of 50,000 reais (Rs. 7.47 lakh) for any attempts to circumvent the block, such as using a VPN. In response to the decision, Elon Musk stated, «Free speech is the bedrock of democracy, and an unelected pseudo-judge in Brazil is destroying it for political purposes.»

Mediazona said Saturday according to its estimates more than 66,000 Russian military personnel have died during the war in Ukraine. Mediazona has been drawing up a list of known soldier deaths in conjunction with the BBC Russian Service using open-source data. Previously in April, they announced they had found more than 50,000 names of Russians killed.

Brigade, said his initial reaction was shock. “Where are we going?" Lt. Col.

Donald Trump captions images of significant events in his political career in a new book of photos, providing an autobiographical account of his time in office and his post-presidency. Excerpts obtained by NBC News from the book ‘Save America,’ written by Trump, include his memories of meetings with foreign leaders, pictures of family milestones, and appearances with celebrities like musician Kid Rock and golfer Jack Nicklaus. The release of the book is scheduled for Tuesday. Save America, published by Winning Team, captures the historical journey of President Donald Trump like no other book, publisher Sergio Gor said in a statement. First sales have been phenomenal, and they are currently reprinting right now.

Nasa announced on Friday that it will remove two astronauts from an upcoming SpaceX flight to make space for two astronauts currently stranded at the International Space Station (ISS). Nasa astronauts Zena Cardman and Stephanie Wilson will be removed from the mission but are expected to join future missions. This decision was made considering factors such as spaceflight experience. Nasa’s Nick Hague and Russian astronaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are set to launch aboard a SpaceX rocket to the ISS in September. They will return in February with the astronauts stranded at the ISS, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore. Williams and Wilmore had originally embarked on a one-week mission aboard Boeing's Starliner since June. However, due to technical problems like helium leaks and thruster malfunctions, their stay on the ISS has been extended.

India confirmed on Friday that it has received an invitation from Pakistan for the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's (SCO) Council of Heads of Government meeting to be held in Islamabad in October. Pakistan invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday to the SCO's Council of Heads of Government meeting. «Yes, we have received an invitation from Pakistan for the SCO's Council of Heads of State that is to happen. We do not have an update on that,» a spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in response to a reporter's question during his media briefing here. Pakistan holds the rotating chairmanship of the SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG) and in that capacity, will be hosting the two-day in-person SCO Heads of Government meeting in October.

ONGC is seeking US exemption to get operational control of its fields in sanctions-hit Venezuela, a top executive said, adding that the Latin American country has already agreed to it in principle. ONGC has stakes in two Venezuelan oil fields — Sancristobal and Carabobo-1 — but has been unable to receive its share of income for years, first due to enduring financial troubles in the Latin American country and then the imposition of the US sanctions that blocked oil trade and payment channels. ONGC hasn’t been able to repatriate about $500 million of dividends from Venezuela. In both fields, the Venezuelan state firm PDVSA has the majority stake and controls the operation and finances of the fields even though ONGC is technically the joint operator.

Bitcoin trails traditional assets in August as the month draws to a close, hampered by ebbing liquidity and lingering worries that governments may sell from their stockpiles of the cryptocurrency.

Inflation is down in Europe

The Economist has adjusted SIPRI’s estimates for military purchasing-power parity (PPP), with help from Peter Robertson, a researcher at the University of Western Australia. This makes defence budgets comparable with America’s: pay is adjusted for wage differences and operating costs for general price levels. (Equipment costs are left the same, as much of the kit is imported, and its relative quality is hard to judge.) The adjustments show that Ukraine’s budget increases (though not its total budget) will stretch further than Russia’s, for example, even though its budget grew at a slightly slower rate in nominal terms (see chart 1).

Mint explains. Durov, 39, was detained in France and later released from police custody under conditions that he can’t leave the country. He was accused of failing to take action against harmful posts by users of the encrypted messaging app.

French President Emmanuel Macron is defending his government’s decision to give special fast-track citizenship to Telegram messaging app CEO Pavel Durov

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have released footage showing that they boarded and intentionally set explosives aboard a Greek-flagged tanker that was earlier abandoned after they repeatedly attacked it, putting the Red Sea at risk of a major oil spill

Ukraine from frozen Russian central bank assets regardless of issues raised by the US, the bloc's top diplomat said. A Group of Seven agreement to leverage proceeds of the blocked assets has faced delays as Washington seeks firmer assurances that the EU will be able to renew sanctions measures in the face of the opposition from Hungary. The US wants to ensure that the plan, which aims to generate $50 billion in loans for Kyiv, moves forward before seeking approval from Congress.

Durov is now considered a tech icon as the founder and CEO of Telegram. The CEO of one of the most well-known instant messaging services was arrested in Paris, and this caused a stir and mayhem among people all across the world. Telegram has experienced exponential growth over time; but the secretive platform has suffered from backlash and has a negative reputation with governments due to its reckless efforts at content moderation and its purported role in supporting propaganda, terrorism, and misinformation. When Durov was detained by French authorities this past weekend while they were looking into the platform's moderating of purportedly illegal activity, those accusations reached a boiling point. Since Durov's arrest at Le Bourget Airport in Paris, the political ramifications of his detention have grown. Also Read: Lioness Season 2: What we know about Paramount+ premiere date, filming, plot and cast

Russia conducted a heavy aerial attack on Ukraine for the third time in four days Thursday, again launching missiles and scores of drones that mostly were intercepted, Ukraine's air force said. Russian forces fired five missiles and 74 Shahed drones at Ukrainian targets, an air force statement said. Air defenses stopped two missiles and 60 drones, and 14 other drones presumably fell before reaching their target, it said. Authorities in the capital, Kyiv, said debris of destroyed drones fell in three districts of the city, causing minor damage to civilian infrastructure but no injuries. Russia's relentless and unnerving long-range strikes on civilian areas have been a feature of the war since it invaded its neighbor in February 2022.

The price of Toncoin has jumped by as much as 6% overnight, with its move to $5.62 going some way to correcting the plunge it suffered after French authorities arrested Telegram founder Pavel Durov on Saturday.

French President Emmanuel Macron starts a two-day state visit to Serbia, with the focus on the possible sale of 12 Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets to the country, which has maintained close ties to Russia despite its invasion of Ukraine