Ukraine has appealed to the EU to send Kyiv 250,000 artillery shells a month to ease a critical shortage that it warns is limiting its progress on the battlefield. In a letter to his counterparts in the 27 member states on Friday, obtained by the Financial Times, Ukraine’s defence minister Oleksiy Reznikov writes that his
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Germany and Italy have blown apart an EU plan to ban internal combustion engines by 2035, as the European car industry’s heartlands mount a fightback against ambitious carbon goals. The two countries, the homes of Volkswagen, Fiat and Ferrari, are demanding exemptions for cars that run on synthetic fuels, potentially cushioning the blow for established
A reconnaissance group claiming to work for the Ukrainian military crossed into Russia and allegedly launched an attack on Thursday, prompting President Vladimir Putin to convene his security council and delay a planned trip out of Moscow. Russian authorities said on Thursday that the group had entered a village in Bryansk region near Russia’s border
UK house prices registered the largest decline in more than a decade last month as higher interest rates and the wider cost of living crisis hit demand, according to a closely watched survey. Property prices fell 1.1 per cent in February compared with the same month last year, the biggest drop since November 2012, and
The first anniversary of Russia’s assault on Ukraine has been greeted with soaring rhetoric. Notably, US president Joe Biden stated in Warsaw that “Our support for Ukraine will not waver, Nato will not be divided, and we will not tire. President Putin’s craven lust for land and power will fail. And the Ukrainian people’s love
The UK energy regulator has lowered the energy price cap by almost £1,000 for a typical home, but consumers will still end up with higher bills from April as the government reduces subsidies to households. The price cap, which normally governs the amount paid for gas and electricity bills for typical usage, will fall to
President Joe Biden’s speech in Warsaw was thickly coated in the kind of idealistic rhetoric many western Europeans discreetly roll their eyes at. Of Vladimir Putin, he said: “He thought autocrats like himself were tough and leaders of democracies were soft . . . And then, he met the iron will of America and the nations everywhere that refused
Joe Biden has said he did not think China would send weapons to Russia to help its military campaign in Ukraine, in comments that appeared to undercut claims from his top officials that Beijing was considering the idea. In an interview with ABC television on Friday that was aired on the evening of the anniversary
US stocks were on course for their biggest weekly drop in over two months on Friday, after the latest evidence of stubbornly high inflation in the world’s largest economy unnerved traders. The S&P 500 fell 1 per cent in morning trade while the Nasdaq 100 was down 1.9 per cent, with both indices deepening their
At a small rural farm about an hour’s drive from the Zambian capital city of Lusaka in late January, US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen stood before a gathering of farmers and told them she understood the destruction that global warming was causing. “We know that over the past decade, storms, floods, and droughts in Africa
Citigroup has forecast that UK inflation will plunge from double-digit rates to close to 2 per cent by the end of this year as rapid falls in gas prices give Rishi Sunak’s government hope of solving some of its biggest economic challenges. Citi said on Wednesday that consumer price inflation was likely to fall to
Vladimir Putin has said Russia will suspend its last remaining nuclear weapons treaty with the US, a move western officials said spelt the end of the post-cold war arms control regime. In a state-of-the-nation address ahead of the first anniversary of his invasion of Ukraine, the Russian president said Moscow would freeze its participation in
US president Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday in a dramatic show of American commitment to Ukraine ahead of the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. His stopover, shrouded in secrecy owing to security concerns, comes at a pivotal moment in the war as Ukraine gears up for a counteroffensive and
The prime minister of Sweden has warned against delinking his country’s Nato membership bid from Finland’s, after the alliance acknowledged for the first time that the two might have to join separately owing to Turkey’s obstruction. Ulf Kristersson said in an interview that for strategic reasons, the two membership applications should be ratified at the
Welcome back. Maia Sandu, the pro-western president of Moldova, accused Russia this week of plotting to overthrow her country’s democratic institutions. It’s time to pay more attention to Moldova — and to recognise that not every problem in this precarious, politically splintered state on Ukraine’s south-western border is connected directly to Russia’s war next door.
US stocks slid on Friday as the recent run of robust economic data and hawkish comments from central bank officials fanned concerns that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates high for a prolonged period to combat inflation. The blue-chip S&P 500 lost 0.8 per cent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 1.2 per cent. Those
The dollar climbed and US stocks slipped on Wednesday following stronger than expected retail sales figures, the latest in a string of economic data that has fuelled investor bets that the Federal Reserve will have to raise interest rates further to curb inflation. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite both opened
President Joe Biden is set to name Lael Brainard, vice-chair of the US Federal Reserve, to be his top economic adviser, bringing the central bank’s second-in-command to the White House to serve as one of Washington’s top financial policymakers. Brainard will become the next director of the National Economic Council, the main White House job
China has accused the US of repeatedly flying surveillance balloons into its airspace, allegations Washington immediately denied, as tensions between the two nations reached a new high. Beijing’s accusations came after the US shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina this month and subsequently downed three
Ukraine has pleaded with its allies for ammunition and artillery “immediately”, warning it is running short of stocks to defend against a new Russian offensive that Kyiv fears is imminent. The demand, by deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna, came on a day when Moscow launched ballistic missiles against Ukraine’s infrastructure. It also followed a tour