Qatar to help Germany cut reliance on Russian oil amid Ukraine conflict – WION

Biden announces U.S. will close its skies to Russian aircraft

In his State of the Union speech, Biden also vowed to work alongside allies to seize assets from Russian oligarchs, including yachts, luxury apartments and private jets. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday during his State of the Union address that the U.S. would close its skies to Russian aircraft while promising more pain to Russia and its

What is SWIFT and why does Ukraine want Russia banned from it?

The European Union is being criticized for not cutting off Russia from the global payments system. But what exactly is SWIFT? What would a ban mean for Russia? And why is the EU dragging its feet? DW explains. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba didn’t mince his words in calling out the European Union for dragging

‘Every Asset They Have in US Will Be Frozen’: Biden Orders Massive Sanctions Against Russia

“This is going to impose severe cost on the Russian economy, both immediately and over time,” said U.S. President Joe Biden. Amid Moscow’s ongoing military attack on Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced that Washington is imposing additional sanctions to limit exports to Russia, freeze assets held by powerful banks, and restrict the economic activities of oligarchs

Japan announces sanctions on Russia after Ukraine crisis escalation – DW News Asia

The US, the EU and Japan have all taken steps to restrict Russia’s capacity to borrow on international markets. “We’ve cut off Russia’s government from Western financing,” Biden said. “It can no longer raise money from the West and cannot trade in its new debt on our markets or European markets either.” Von der Leyen

Ecuador’s private heavy crude pipeline bursts in Amazon region

Ecuador’s privately held heavy crude pipeline burst on Friday and technical staff are at the scene working to contain the damage, crude transport company OCP Ecuador said. The incident happened in the so-called Piedra Fina zone, an area in Ecuador’s Amazon where regressive erosion caused the OCP pipeline and the state-owned SOTE pipeline to halt

Why did the US Join World War One? – History Matters

The United States could have, if it wanted, quite easily avoided entering World War One. Yet, in April of 1917 it did, joining the Entente and helping with their victory of the Central Powers. But why did the US get involved? To find out watch this short and simple animated history documentary.

‘They want to remove us and take the rock’, say Zimbabweans living near Chinese-owned mines

As companies extract wealth, villagers say they see little benefit and are instead exploited in quarries, live in homes damaged by blasts and are unable to farm polluted land A convoy of trucks laden with huge black granite rocks trundles along the dusty pathway as a group of villagers look on grimly. Every day more

Hong Kong press freedom is in ‘free fall’ as China’s journalism crackdown goes global, says Reporters Without Borders

In its latest report on the state of journalism in China, Reporters Without Borders says “the repression no longer spares Hong Kong, once a champion of press freedom.” A prominent international media watchdog says press freedom in Hong Kong is in “free fall,” as it voices concern over the increasing sophistication with which the Chinese

Taiwan Opens Lithuania Representative Office Using Its Own Name

Taipei announced on Thursday it had formally opened a de facto embassy in Lithuania using the name Taiwan, a significant diplomatic departure that defied a pressure campaign by Beijing. China tries to keep Taipei isolated on the world stage and baulks at any official use of the word “Taiwan”, lest it lend a sense of