By Chen Aizhu and Florence Tan SINGAPORE (Reuters) – China’s state refiners are honouring existing Russian oil contracts but avoiding new ones despite steep discounts, heeding Beijing’s call for caution as western sanctions mount against Russia over it…
No poop for you: Manure supplies run short as fertilizer prices soar
By P.J. Huffstutter, Tom Polansek and Bianca Flowers CHICAGO (Reuters) – For nearly two decades, Abe Sandquist has used every marketing tool he can think of to sell the back end of a cow. Poop, after all, needs to go somewhere. The Midwestern entrepren…
British worker at UK embassy in Berlin charged with Russian spying offences
LONDON (Reuters) -A British man who worked in the British embassy in Berlin has been charged with offences under the Official Secrets Act related to passing on information useful to Russia, London police said. David Ballantyne Smith, 57, who was living…
Ukrainian Railways report casualties after rockets hit eastern rail station
(Reuters) – State-owned Ukrainian Railways said on Wednesday there were a number of casualties after three rockets hit a rail station in eastern Ukraine, damaging buildings, tracks and rail stock. “There are casualties,” it said in a statement, without…
Finnish state railway operator to halt Russia goods transport
HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finnish state railway operator VR on Wednesday said it will gradually halt goods transport to and from neighbouring Russia. Shutting down traffic will take months and considerations must be made to ensure Finland’s security of supp…
Finnish customs impound art works worth 42 million euros on way back to Russia
(Fixes typo) HELSINKI (Reuters) – Finnish customs said on Wednesday they had stopped works of art worth around 42 million euros ($46 million) from being returned to Russia last weekend due to European Union sanctions, and would consult with Brussels on…
Inflation in Russia hits 7-yr high, prices jump 10% in year-to-date
(Reuters) -Annual inflation in Russia accelerated to 16.70% as of April 1, its highest since March 2015 and up from 15.66% a week earlier, the economy ministry said on Wednesday, as the volatile rouble sent prices soaring amid unprecedented Western san…
French election poll: Macron to beat Le Pen but Le Pen gains ground
PARIS (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron would beat Marine Le Pen in the country’s presidential election later this month, though Le Pen has gained ground in recent weeks, showed an Ipsos Sopra Steria Cevipof poll for Le Monde newspaper. The …
Treasury’s Yellen: Should not ‘infer anything’ from ruble’s recovery
(Reuters) – The Russian ruble’s near complete recovery in recent weeks is not a signal that the Russian economy is weathering the sanctions Washington and its allies have imposed since Russia invaded Ukraine, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said o…
U.S. charges Russian oligarch with violating sanctions, disrupts botnet
By Sarah N. Lynch WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department has charged Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev with violating sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, saying on Wednesday he provided financing for Russians prom…