All posts tagged: battered

Ukraine seeks air defence boost to protect battered energy grid | Russia-Ukraine war News

Ukraine seeks air defence boost to protect battered energy grid | Russia-Ukraine war News

Published by Sam

The Ukrainian leader asks for help in repelling air attacks, warning Russia has destroyed half of Ukraine’s power production capacity. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on allies to increase their air defence support to Ukraine to help protect his country’s energy infrastructure. Speaking on Tuesday at a conference in Germany on the reconstruction of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said that Russia has destroyed half of his country’s electricity-generating capacity. Another seven Patriot missile systems, as well as other aerial defences, are needed to allow the military to shield Ukraine’s urban centres from the storm of missiles, he claimed. The two-day Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin marks the start of a week of intense diplomacy for the Ukrainian president, which will also see him travel to the Group of Seven (G7) summit featuring his country’s leading Western allies, and a peace summit in Switzerland. The German hosts say it is bringing together 2,000 people from national and local politics, business and other areas, arguing that the task of supporting Ukraine’s recovery is too big for governments alone. Sustained …

Battered by far right, France’s Macron bets big on risky snap election

Battered by far right, France’s Macron bets big on risky snap election

Published by Sam

BRUSSELS — Preparing to host the world for the Olympics, facing threats of terrorist attacks and a war of words with Russia, France is now also shaping up as an epic battleground between the West’s political center and its far right. In European Parliament elections Sunday night, the far right surged in nations including Germany and Austria, but nowhere with more impact than in France. The National Rally there clobbered the ruling centrist coalition so badly that President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the French National Assembly and called snap legislative elections. His bet: that voters might be angry at him, but they’re not prepared to allow the pick of Marine Le Pen — the fiery doyenne of French nationalist, Euroskeptic, anti-immigration politics — to head a new French government. It’s a bet that carries a high risk. French President Emmanuel Macron called for a surprise early election, after far-right parties surged in the European Parliament elections on June 9. (Video: Naomi Schanen/The Washington Post) Already, the uncertainty was reflected in the French stock market on Monday. …

Drone Footage Shows Ukrainian Village Battered to Ruins as Residents Flee Russian Advance

Drone Footage Shows Ukrainian Village Battered to Ruins as Residents Flee Russian Advance

Published by skeptic

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Ukrainian village of Ocheretyne has been battered by fighting, drone footage obtained overnight by The Associated Press shows. The village has been a target for Russian forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Russian troops have been advancing in the area, pounding Kyiv’s depleted, ammunition-deprived forces with artillery, drones and bombs. Ukraine’s military has acknowledged the Russians have gained a “foothold” in Ocheretyne, which had a population of about 3,000 before the war, but says that fighting continues. Residents have scrambled to flee the village, among them a 98-year-old womanwho walked almost 10 kilometers (6 miles) alone last week, wearing a pair of slippers and supported by a cane, until she reached Ukrainian front lines. Not a single person is seen in the footage obtained late Friday, and no building in Ocheretyne appears to have been left untouched by the fighting. Most houses, apartment blocks and other buildings look damaged beyond repair, and many houses have been pummeled into piles of wood and bricks. A factory on the outskirts …

Tornado Kills 5 in Guangzhou, a Chinese City Battered by Recent Rains

Tornado Kills 5 in Guangzhou, a Chinese City Battered by Recent Rains

Published by Sam

A tornado that swept through the southern Chinese economic hub of Guangzhou killed five people and damaged scores of factory buildings on Saturday. The tornado struck at about 3 p.m. and injured another 33 people as it slammed through the Baiyun district, in the city’s northern suburbs, the local government said. It lasted about four minutes. Hailstones, some with diameters of around 2 inches, also fell over parts of the city. Videos shared by Chinese official media showed transmission towers and power lines igniting and debris swirling in the air, against a backdrop of a giant funnel that had darkened the midafternoon sky. Guangzhou, a sprawling city of 19 million people and a manufacturing and technology hub, has been battered this month by heavy spring downpours. Flooding across Guangdong Province, of which Guangzhou is the capital, had already led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of people last week. The flow of warm, humid air from the South China Sea had led to the accumulation of a “large amount of unstable energy” near the …

‘Kharkiv Is Unbreakable’: A Battered Ukrainian City Carries On

‘Kharkiv Is Unbreakable’: A Battered Ukrainian City Carries On

Published by Sam

The espresso machine was warming up and Liliia Korneva was counting cash at the coffee shop in Kharkiv where she works when a powerful Russian bomb detonated nearby, sending up a deafening explosion and knocking her to the floor. “I can’t describe in words how it felt, it was terrifying,” said Ms. Korneva, 20. She was not hurt, though the courtyard where the bomb fell was destroyed and a man riding a bicycle nearby was killed, according to city officials. Just a day later, the cafe was open again. Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, is open for business, too, despite a sustained bombing campaign that is among the most devastating of the entire war and growing fears that Russia might launch a renewed offensive aimed at taking the city. Russian attacks have destroyed all three major power stations, but residents continue to live and work with only a few, often unpredictable, hours of electricity each day. More than 100 schools have been damaged or destroyed but classes go on, deep underground in subway stations. Dozens …

Snow maps show Britain battered by flurries as Arctic freeze hits | Weather | News

Snow maps show Britain battered by flurries as Arctic freeze hits | Weather | News

Published by skeptic

Parts of the United Kingdom look set to be hit by a snowbomb in the coming days with nine-inch flurries hitting parts of England. Maps from WxCharts, using Met Desk data, show there is a chance snow will hit Yorkshire, parts of north west England, Wales, and Scotland. Although the forecaster currently predicts there is around 60 percent chance most of those areas could be hit with snow on Wednesday, April 17. Elsewhere parts of the United Kingdom look set to face a bitter zero C. Forecasts suggest the midlands, Wales, and large parts of the south will experience a cold snap on Thursday, April 18. Maps forecast Scotland will be the worst hit by the snowwy spell. Northern parts around Inverness are looking as though they could be hit by up to nine inches of the white stuff. While areas of England likely to get snowfall would receive 2cm flurries, forecasters say. James Madden, from Exacta Weather, said: “Colder and wintry in places before gradually becoming more settled and much warmer to hot on …

Gold Hits Another New Record High But Bonds, Stocks, & Bitcoin Battered On ‘Good’ News

Gold Hits Another New Record High But Bonds, Stocks, & Bitcoin Battered On ‘Good’ News

Published by skeptic

Mixed (well good) data this morning – in-line JOLTS (labor market shows no signs of cracking), stronger than expected Factory orders, but weaker than expected durable goods (final) and shipments data actually shrank in Feb (bad for GDP) – had no major impact on rate-cut expectations (which remain low – 67bps total cuts in 2024, 50% odds of June cut). US macro surprise data is picking up (and overnight saw European PMIs better than expected)… Source: Bloomberg But Fed’s Mester sung from the same hymn-sheet as Waller and Bostic, saying that The Fed needs more time to make the ‘cut’ call: “But I need to see more data to raise my confidence,” Mester said Tuesday in prepared remarks for an event at the Cleveland Fed.  “Some further monthly readings will give us a better sense of whether the disinflation process is stalling out or whether the start-of-the-year readings reflect a temporary detour on the downward path back to price stability.” And then she explained her view of Fed asymmetry: “At this point, I think the …

Gold Hits New Record Highs, Bonds Battered As Inflation Fears Reignite

Gold Hits New Record Highs, Bonds Battered As Inflation Fears Reignite

Published by skeptic

The macro picture was not great for the doves today… On a day dominated by the illiquidity of absent European markets still celebrating Easter, the Manufacturing survey headline data was mixed (ISM turned positve) but the prices components were very much not mixed – both signaling soaring costs and prices being passed on to consumers at the fastest pace in 18 months. As an aside, The Cleveland Fed’s CPI NOWCAST is starting to accelerate meaningfully once again… Source: Bloomberg The one redeeming ‘bad news’ datapoint was an unexpected plunge in construction-spending (its second monthly decline in a row and the biggest MoM drop since Oct 2022) but the market was focused on the inflationary aspect of PMIs, sending June rate-cut odds back below 50%… Source: Bloomberg Bonds were battered today – again amid an illiquid market – with yields up 10-12bps Source: Bloomberg …that was among the worst (upward) yield moves for the long-end in the last 18 months… Source: Bloomberg …Pushing yields back up to the highs of the year… Source: Bloomberg And the …

Display of Battered Men Was Russia’s Warning to the Public, Analysts Say

Display of Battered Men Was Russia’s Warning to the Public, Analysts Say

Published by Sam

The four men accused of carrying out Russia’s deadliest terror attack in decades appeared in a Moscow court on Sunday night bandaged and battered. One entered with his partially severed ear covered. Another was in an orange wheelchair, his left eye bulging, his hospital gown open and a catheter on his lap. Many people around the world, including Russians, already knew what had happened to them. Since Saturday, videos of the men being tortured during interrogation circulated widely on social media, in what analysts called an apparent retaliation for the concert hall attack they are accused of committing last Friday, which killed at least 139 people and injured 180 more. One of the most disturbing videos showed one defendant, identified as Saidakrami M. Rajabalizoda, having part of his ear sliced off and shoved in his mouth. A photograph circulating online showed a battery hooked up to the genitals of another, Shamsidin Fariduni, while he was being detained. How the videos began circulating was not immediately clear, but they were spread by nationalistic, pro-war Telegram channels …

UK weather maps: Britain to be battered by snow in April as charts make gloomy prediction | Weather | News

UK weather maps: Britain to be battered by snow in April as charts make gloomy prediction | Weather | News

Published by skeptic

Freezing weather conditions will continue to hover around Britain as the latest maps show parts of the UK battered with snow in April. Maps from WXCharts make a gloomy prediction as they turn purple suggesting snow showers for areas ranging from Wick to Edinburgh on April 4. The cold snap will stay inside the country for almost 36 hours bringing in more frost and rain. The brutal weather conditions will begin to mark its entry at around 6 am on April 4, maps suggest. The 257-mile wall of snow will leave the topmost areas of Scotland covered with snow as the temperature level plummets to -1C. The icy conditions will move around the parts of Scotland on April 4 leaving areas such as Inverness, Wick, Portree, Fort William, and Edinburgh peppered with snow. However, by the morning of April 5, the purple blobs on the weather maps representing snow slid further southwards leaving areas like Newcastle covered with snow and ice. A possibility of 2cm of snow per hour is likely in these areas, maps …