Wicked Blue
Wicked Blue's JournalEuropean Union agrees to freeze assets of Putin and minister
Source: AP
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union agreed to freeze the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov along with other sanctions, according to Latvia’s foreign minister.
A decision to freeze Putin and Lavrov’s assets indicates that Western powers are moving toward unprecedented measures to try to stop the brutal invasion of Russia’s neighbor and a major war in Europe.
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said in a Tweet on Friday that the EU’s foreign ministers “adopted the 2nd sanctions package” and added that “the asset freeze includes President of Russia and its Foreign Minister.”
He said the EU plans to prepare another package of sanctions.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-business-china-asia-b57700241d650315db1eb0e8516ce2d6
Russia puts 'partial restriction' on Facebook access
BRUSSELS (AP) — Russian authorities on Friday announced the “partial restriction” of access to Facebook after the social media network limited the accounts of several Kremlin-backed media over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russian state communications watchdog Roskomnadzor said Friday it demanded that Facebook lift the restrictions it placed Thursday on state news agency RIA Novosti, state TV channel Zvezda, and pro-Kremlin news sites Lenta.Ru and Gazeta.Ru. The agency said Facebook didn’t reinstate the media outlets.
The restrictions on the accounts, according to Roskomnadzor, included marking their content as unreliable and imposing technical restrictions on the search results to reduce the publications’ audiences on Facebook.
Roskomnadzor said its “partial restriction” on Facebook takes effect Friday, without clarifying what exactly the move means.
https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-business-china-asia-b57700241d650315db1eb0e8516ce2d6
'No To War' hashtag trends on Russian-language social media
BBC
The hashtag "No To War" has been trending on Russian-language social media, including the profiles of a number of Russian celebrities.
The hashtag and caption have been shared approximately 208,000 times on Instagram, sometimes accompanied by a black square. The posts come from Russia and the Russian diaspora, as well as Russian-speaking populations of former Soviet republics.
“Fear and pain. NO TO WAR," read a Thursday post from Ivan Urgant, a popular late-night talk show host.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-60517447
European human rights organization suspends Russia
Source: Associated Press
BRUSSELS (AP) — The Council of Europe has suspended Russia from the continent’s human rights organization because of its invasion of Ukraine.
The 47-nation council announced Friday that Russia was suspended with “immediate effect” from the organization’s Committee of Ministers and parliamentary assembly on Friday “as a result of the Russian Federation’s armed attack on Ukraine.”
The Strasbourg-based organization, which was founded in 1949, said Russia remained a member and continued to be bound by relevant human rights conventions.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-vladimir-putin-business-china-asia-b57700241d650315db1eb0e8516ce2d6
Breaking: Russia kicked out of 2022 Eurovision Song Contest
BBC
"We remain dedicated to protecting the values of a cultural competition which promotes international exchange and understanding."
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-60517447
no details yet
"Amphibious assault" underway west of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov, senior US defense official says
CNN
There is an “amphibious assault” underway on the Sea of Azov, located west of Mariupol in Ukraine, a senior US defense official told reporters on Friday.
Russians are now “putting potentially thousands of naval infantry ashore there,” the official said.
The official did not know exactly what these infantrymen are going to do in Ukraine, but the official said “the general assumption is they are going to move towards the northeast, towards Mariupol and the Donbas region.”
https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-25-22/index.html
Russians "meeting more resistance" in advance towards Kyiv "than they expected," US defense official
From CNN's Ellie Kaufman
Russian forces advancing towards the Ukrainian capital city of Kyiv are “meeting more resistance than they expected,” a senior US defense official told reporters on Friday.
The official added, Russians “continue to try to move on Kyiv,” even though they are meeting Ukrainian resistance.
The Russian invasion of the country is continuing in the Kharkiv area of Ukraine and from the south towards the Ukrainian city of Kherson on the river, the official added. These are still the three main advances on the country that Russia began yesterday, the official said.
There have been “no additional airborne drops over the last 24 hours” in the Kharkiv area, the official said.
https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-25-22/index.html
Washington Post is reporting on this now:
Russian offensive on Ukraine has lost momentum, Pentagon says
By Daniel Lamothe 11:09 a.m.
The Russian military has lost momentum in its offensive on Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday, cautioning that could change in coming days.
The assessment came amid signs that Russia has struggled to move on the capital city of Kyiv, as outgunned Ukrainian forces dig in and put up a fight. Roughly one-third of the Russian forces committed to the assault now are in Ukraine — which would amount to more than 50,000 — the official said.
“They have not achieved the progress that we believe they thought they would,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon.
The invasion continued with an amphibious landing of Russian naval forces west of the city of Mariupol and with Russia continuing to launch missiles into Ukraine. As of Friday morning in Washington, more than 200 missile strikes had occurred, the official said, up from 160 as of Thursday. Some of the strikes had landed in residential areas.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/25/ukraine-invasion-russia-news/#link-BN3NGAI2SJB3XB2OJGTSIXCE7I
China State Banks Restrict Financing for Russian Commodities
Bloomberg News
Fri, February 25, 2022, 10:07 AM·3 min read
(Bloomberg) -- At least two of China’s largest state-owned banks are restricting financing for purchases of Russian commodities, underscoring the limits of Beijing’s pledge to maintain economic ties with one of its most important strategic partners in the face of sanctions by the U.S. and its allies.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.’s offshore units stopped issuing U.S. dollar-denominated letters of credit for purchases of physical Russian commodities ready for export, two people familiar with the matter said. Yuan-denominated letters of credit are still available for some clients, subject to approvals from senior executives, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information.
The move followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which triggered a wave of sanctions from countries including the U.S., the U.K. and Japan and stoked speculation that more may follow. Because commodity-linked letters of credit are issued so frequently, they would be among the first transactions impacted by the threat of sanctions.
Bank of China Ltd. has also curbed financing for Russian commodities based on its own risk assessment, another person said. The lender has yet to receive explicit guidance on Russia from Chinese regulators, two people said.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinese-state-banks-restrict-financing-144352036.html
Putin tells Ukraine military to 'take power into your own hands'
Source: BBC
Here's more from Vladimir Putin, who is addressing the Russian Security Council - and, indirectly, the Ukrainian military.
He says Banderites - a reference to World War Two anti-Soviet fighter Stepan Bandera - and so-called neo-Nazis "have put up heavy armaments including multiple rocket launch systems" in cities, including Kyiv and Kharkiv.
"Neo-Nazis" is a regularly used by President Putin to deride the Ukrainian government. Ukraine's President Zelensky, who is Jewish, has dismissed the term.
Putin says: "They are acting like terrorists across the world, shielding behind people in order to accuse Russia of causing casualties among the peaceful population.
Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-60517447
Drug distributors, J&J agree to finalize $26 bln opioid settlement
Source: Reuters
Feb 25 (Reuters) - The three largest U.S. drug distributors and drugmaker Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) have agreed to finalize a proposed $26 billion settlement resolving claims by states and local governments that they helped fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic.
Distributors McKesson Corp (MCK.N), AmerisourceBergen Corp (ABC.N), Cardinal Health Inc (CAH.N) along with J&J had until Friday to decide whether enough cities and counties nationally had opted to join the landmark settlement to justify moving forward with it.
The deal aims to resolve more than 3,000 lawsuits largely by state and local governments seeking to hold the companies responsible for an opioid abuse crisis that has led to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths over the last two decades.
The announcement paves the way for the companies to begin making payments to the governments in April, money that officials say will be used to fund treatment and other programs aimed at addressing the health crisis.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/drug-distributors-agree-finalize-opioid-settlement-2022-02-25/
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