Just days after Russia and Ukraine concluded their talks in Istanbul, NATO declared that “Russia is trying to regroup, resupply and reinforce its offensive in the Donbas region”.
Russia trying to reinforce offensive in Donbas; maintains pressure on Kyiv: NATO
Russian negotiators had said that its forces would “radically” scale down attacks on Kyiv and northern Ukraine in order to ensure a conducive atmosphere amid the talks.
68-year-old Singaporean man hanged for drug trafficking
A 68-year-old man from Singapore charged for drug trafficking was hanged after the city-state resumed executions after a hiatus of two years during the pandemic. Singapore, which has one of the most draconian rules against drug trafficking, conducted its last execution in November 2019.
Facebook failed to label most posts spreading Ukraine bioweapons disinformation, says study
A study revealed that Facebook failed to label 80 per cent of the posts spreading disinformation about biological weapons theory. A conspiracy theory taking root online and being discussed even in America says that the US is funding use of bioweapons in Ukraine. US government has denied the speculations.
Some Indian states drop mask mandate rule, signalling normalcy
As India continues to witness a dip in Covid cases, in contrast to its neighbour, China, some states have decided to do away with several restrictions that were placed during the first phase, with some even dropping mask mandates altogether.
US says no letter sent to Pakistan as PM Imran Khan discloses contents of ‘threat letter’
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan recently, while speaking at a rally in the country’s capital Islamabad, said that besides internal politics, a “foreign conspiracy” was also plotting his removal from power as he faces a no-confidence vote.
‘Burner phones’: What is it and why is it making headlines?
There is no official White House note of calls placed by or to Trump from 11:17 a.m. to 6:54 p.m. on January 6. Therefore, the January 6 committee has no record of Trump’s calls during the Capitol attack.
Russia-Ukraine war: Leading jewelers to stop buying Russian-origin diamonds
Following heightened scrutiny over how Russia’s state-controlled diamond monopoly could fund Putin’s war on Ukraine, major jewellers are avoiding Russian diamonds.
Shanghai enters ‘static management’ amid lockdown as COVID-19 cases surge
Amid lockdown in China’s financial hub Shanghai, state-run Global Times newspaper said city officials have resorted to “static management” as they carry out nucleic acid testing to identify “risk groups” and infection clusters.
Debt-ridden Sri Lanka runs out of diesel as people reel under hours-long blackout
After paper, Sri Lanka has now run out of diesel, potentially crippling the transport sector in the debt-ridden country. This comes as a day after the government extended the nationwide daily power cuts from seven hours to 10 due to the non-availability of fuel to generate hydro-electricity. However, several people have been reporting that they are without electricity for more than 13 hours.
Erdogan says Turkey ready in principle to act as Ukraine’s guarantor
NATO member Turkey shares a maritime border with Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea, has good ties with both and has offered to mediate the conflict. It has supported Ukraine while opposing sanctions on Moscow, and this week hosted negotiators from both sides for the first face-to-face peace talks in weeks.
