Research, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
News on U.S., Russia, Ukraine
News (1)
Lavrov attends meeting in Huangshan, focus on Afghanistan
According to the Weibo account of the Russian Embassy in China on 30 March 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov arrived in Tunxi District, Huangshan.
CCP Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced on 28 March 2022 that Wang Yi is presiding over the third Afghanistan Neighbouring Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Tunxi, Anhui from 30 to 31 March 2022. Six foreign ministers or representatives of Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are also present.
News (2) to (8) / Reporters : Elizabeth Elkind etal. / https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10664487/Trump-urges-Putin-hand-related-Hunter-Bidens-dealings-Russian-oligarchs.html
News (2)
Trump urges Putin to hand over possible documents on Hunter Biden's dealings with Russian oligarchs
In the middle of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine, Donald Trump's priority on Tuesday (29 March 2022) was urging Vladimir Putin to hand over any documents he may have about Hunter Biden's dealings with Russian oligarchs.
The ex-president said he was particularly interested in an alleged $3.5 million payment from the former mayor of Moscow's widow to a company co-founded by Hunter Biden, according to an excerpt from a new interview with Just The News.
"Why did the mayor of Moscow's wife give the Bidens -- both of them -- $3.5 million? That's a lot of money," Trump in a 30-second clip on the Voice of America program.
"She gave him $3.5 million. So now I would think Putin would know the answer to that. I think he should release it. I think we should know that answer."
News (3)
Russian oligarch paid Hunter Biden's company a hefty sum for consultancy
Trump was referring to a 2020 report by Senate Republicans that claimed Yelena Baturina, one of Russia's billionaire oligarchs, gave the hefty sum to a company called Rosemont Seneca Thorton as part of a 'consultancy agreement.'
Earlier this month, Trump accused Biden of a "conflict of interest" after the president was sanctioned by Moscow along with a host of other US officials, as well as his son Hunter and Hillary Clinton.
News (4)
Trump: Biden failed to react more strongly on Putin's invasion of Ukraine because of the hefty sum
He suggested Biden failed to more strongly react to Putin's invasion of Ukraine because of the alleged payments from the late Moscow mayor's wife.
'Breaking News: Russia just sanctioned Joe Biden. While that is a terrible thing, in so many ways, perhaps it will now be explained why the Biden family received 3.5 million dollars from the very wealthy former Mayor of Moscow's wife,' Trump said in a March 15 statement.
Days later, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was grilled over why Baturina had not yet been sanctioned by the US over Russia's attack despite her apparent ties to the Kremlin -- and whether Biden indeed was conflicted.
News (5)
Psaki claims the Biden-Harris administration sanction oligarchs more than in the past
Psaki replied that there was "no confirmation" of Senate Republicans' allegations and pointed out that the president has 'continued to sanction oligarchs more than we've ever sanctioned in the past, so I'm not sure that's a conflict of interest.'
News (6)
Attorney claims Hunter Biden was not involved
GOP lawmakers said the firm which received Baturina's money was co-founded by Hunter Biden but an attorney for the president's son previously claimed he never received the funds and was not involved in the company.
Hunter Biden is the co-founder of Rosemont Seneca Advisors, and it is not clear what if any connection the two companies share.
The Russian oligarch's payment was reportedly made while Hunter's father was vice president.
The September 2020 Senate report, released just weeks before the presidential election, also found no wrongdoing on President Joe Biden's part.
However that has not stopped Trump from accusing his Democrat rival of being influenced by foreign powers.
News (7)
Hunter Biden presented conflict of interest for the Obama administration when Joe Biden was leading anti-corruption efforts in Kyiv
While Biden himself was not implicated, the report did argue that Hunter Biden's time working on the board of Ukrainian gas company Burisma did present a conflict of interest for the Obama administration, at a time when then-Vice President Biden was leading anti-corruption efforts in Kyiv.
However it notes "the extent to which Hunter Biden’s role on Burisma’s board affected U.S. policy toward Ukraine is not clear."
It also failed to support Trump's accusation that Biden pressured Ukraine's government to fire a corrupt top prosecutor in an effort to shield his son.
Hunter was on Burisma's board from 2014 to 2019 and received about $50,000 a month.
The new Trump interview comes as a federal probe into Hunter Biden's overseas business dealings in the country picks up speed.
News (8)
Investigation on Hunter Biden's history of addiction in relation to potential criminal tax case
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that prosecutors from the US attorney's office in Delaware are interested in funds the first son received from the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma and how he used that money to pay debts.
A source also told the Journal that one person was extensively questioned in front of the grand jury in February on Hunter Biden's drug and alcohol use, spending habits and mental state.
That line of questioning suggests prosecutors are exploring whether the younger Biden could use his history of addiction as a defense against a potential criminal tax case.
'It doesn’t necessarily mean an indictment is imminent, but it is indicative of trying to lock in testimony with an eye towards a potential trial someday,' former federal tax prosecutor Matt Mueller told the Journal. Mueller isn't working on the case.
Sources talked to the Journal about some of the lines of questioning prosecutors have used when talking to a number of associates and witnesses before the grand jury.
Prosecutors are looking into whether Biden violated tax or other laws, including laws that guide working as a lobbyist for a foreign government, with his business dealings in Ukraine, China and Kazakhstan.
Prosecutors have particularly focused on payments Biden received from Burisma - which flowed into a company called Rosemont Seneca Bohai LLC before being directed to Hunter Biden.
Trump's Tuesday interview is not the first time he's publicly called on the Kremlin to come up with dirt against a political opponent.
In a July 2016 press conference during his first presidential race, he infamously called on Moscow to hack then-opponent Hillary Clinton.
'Russia, if you’re listening -- I hope you are able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens,' Trump told reporters.
He walked the comments back years later during a rally in Pennsylvania, insisting the comments were a 'joke.'
An October 2021 report alleges that Hunter Biden once offered to sell a major US company information and analysis on Oleg Deripaska, the Russian oligarch currently under federal investigation, emails from his abandoned laptop show.
News (9) to (11) / Reporter : Nikki Schwab / https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10660847/Hunter-Bidens-tax-probe-picks-speed.html
News (9)
Hunter Biden tax probe picks up speed
The Hunter Biden tax probe is picking up speed, with prosecutors interviewing associates and witnesses about the first son's foreign business dealings.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that prosecutors from the U.S. attorney's office in Delaware are interested in funds the first son received from the Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma and how he used that money to pay debts.
A source also told the Journal that one person was extensively questioned in front of the grand jury in February on Biden's drug and alcohol use, spending habits and mental state.
That line of questioning suggests prosecutors are exploring whether the younger Biden could use his history of addiction as a defense against a potential criminal tax case.
'It doesn’t necessarily mean an indictment is imminent, but it is indicative of trying to lock in testimony with an eye towards a potential trial someday,' former federal tax prosecutor Matt Mueller told the Journal. Mueller isn't working on the case.
Sources talked to the Journal about some of the lines of questioning prosecutors have used when talking to a number of associates and witnesses before the grand jury.
Prosecutors are looking into whether Biden violated tax or other laws, including laws that guide working as a lobbyist for a foreign government, with his business dealings in Ukraine, China and Kazakhstan.
Prosecutors have particularly focused on payments Biden received from Burisma - which flowed into a company called Rosemont Seneca Bohai LLC before being directed to Biden.
Biden was on Burisma's board from 2014 to 2019 and received about $50,000 a month.
Former President Donald Trump talked often about this lucrative set-up.
News (10)
Trump pressured Zelenskyy to announce investigation into the Bidens over Hunter's Ukraine-based business dealings
His first impeachment revolved around an effort to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to announce an investigation into Hunter and Joe Biden over Hunter's Ukraine-based business dealings.
Trump held up nearly $400 million in Congressionally approved military aid to push Zelenskyy to act.
News (11)
A Singapore-based company financed Hunter Biden's car purchase during his addiction period
The Journal reported that prosecutors are also interested in how Hunter Biden purchased a car through funds from Rosemont Seneca.
In April 2014, a business associate from Kazakhstan wired $142,300 to Rosemont Seneca.
The money came from a Singapore-based company controlled by the Kazakhstan banker Kenges Rakishev "For a Car," the Journal reported.
Rakishev has close relations with the leaders of Kazakhstan.
A day after the money was received by Rosemont Seneca it was wired to a New Jersey car dealership to purchase a Fisker sports car for Hunter Biden to use in the name of Rosemont Seneca, two sources told the Journal.
Hunter Biden later traded in the Fisker for a silver Porsche.
The Journal could not determine how close the investigation is coming to completion.
News (12) to (21) / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2022/03/29/a103386375.html
News (12)
At least 12 killed in Unan Nikolayev government building hit by Russian missile
A Russian missile hit a government building in the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on Tuesday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 33, emergency officials of the Ukrainian State Emergency Services said.
The missile hit the government building on the 9th floor near around 8.45 am Ukrainian time, destroying the middle part of the building.
The death toll was an increase from figures provided by the Telegram channel of the Nikolaev Regional Media Office earlier in the day.
"Twelve bodies were found in the bombed area and 33 others were injured," Ukraine's emergency services said in a Telegram statement.
Photos posted by emergency services showed rescue workers clearing rubble and female paramedics in red helping a blood-splattered wounded person onto a stretcher.
Nikolayev Oblast Governor Vitaly. King wrote on Facebook that "the state building was hit" and that most of the people inside had "miraculously fled", but several civilians and soldiers were missing.
Officials had previously released the death toll at nine dead and 28 wounded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the attack in a video address to the Danish parliament earlier on Tuesday.
"The inhabitants of Nikolaev are not a threat to Russia, but they are still targeted by Russian forces like all Ukrainians," he said.
News (13)
Zelenskyy: Russia negotiating can be described as positive but Ukraine will not relax defense
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the signals from the peace talks with Russia could be described as positive, but he added that they did not drown out the explosion of Russian artillery shells.
In his late-night speech, Zelenskyy also expressed caution about Russia's commitment to slash military operations in some areas and said Ukraine would not relax its defense efforts.
"We can say that the signals we received from the talks were positive, but they did not drown out the explosion of Russian shells," he said, adding that Ukraine could only trust the concrete outcome of the talks.
Earlier in the day, Russia pledged to scale back military operations in Ukraine's capital and north.
Despite the oath, Zelenskyy said, "the situation is not getting any easier ... there is still a lot of potential for Russian troops to continue attacking our country". "Therefore, we will not reduce our defence efforts," he added.
Zelenskyy reiterated that for any peace deal to work, Russian troops must withdraw and that there can be no compromise on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
News (14)
Legal humanitarian aid to Mariupol, Russia: Ukrainian nationalists will not abandon their weapons and avoid talks
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron on the 29th that Ukrainian "nationalists" in Mariupol had to lay down their weapons before Russia would allow emergency humanitarian aid into the besieged city of Unan.
The Kremlin said the two presidents discussed the outcome of the Russia-Ukraine talks and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
"The Russian president informed (Macron) the details of the Russian military's emergency humanitarian assistance and measures to ensure the safe evacuation of civilians, including from Mariupol," the Kremlin said.
"The conversation emphasized that to resolve the city's difficult humanitarian crisis, Ukrainian nationalist militants must stop resisting and lay down their arms."
Macron's office said after the two talks that the situation "at this stage" does not allow France to carry out humanitarian operations to assist civilians in Mariupol.
Elysee Palace, the French presidential palace, said Macron told Putin on the phone the details of the mission that France, Turkey and Greece would oversee, but Putin said "he would have to think about it" before responding.
At the same time, due to the "tragic" situation in Mariupol and its residents, "it is impossible for us to relax," the Palace added.
News (15)
Dozens of Russian diplomats expelled from 4 EU countries
Under the shadow of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, EU countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and the Czech Republic announced on the 29th that they would join forces to expel dozens of Russian diplomats suspected of espionage.
According to a comprehensive report by AFP and Reuters, Russia issued a statement expressing anger at the "unfriendly" move and vowing to retaliate.
Belgium will expel 21 diplomats from the Russian embassy in Brussels and the Antwerp consulate, giving them two weeks to leave, Belgian Foreign Minister Sophie Wilmes said.
She said Belgium's actions were in line with neighbouring Netherlands. The Netherlands' foreign ministry said it would expel 17 Russian diplomats deemed "covertly active" as intelligence officers.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said four "senior officials" of the Russian embassy in Dublin had been asked to leave Ireland for activities that did not meet "standards of international diplomatic conduct", meaning the four Espionage.
The Czech foreign ministry said a Russian diplomat in Prague had been given 72 hours to leave the country. Czech officials said the diplomat was the deputy head of the Russian embassy.
The Czech Foreign Ministry tweeted, "We are working with our allies to reduce Russian intelligence searches in the EU."
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia would respond based on the principle of reciprocity, but gave no further details.
News (16)
UN observers: Thousands may have been killed in Mariupol in the past month
Russia began bombing the southern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol four weeks ago, and the United Nations Human Rights Observatory told Reuters on Thursday that thousands of civilians were at risk of being killed in the besieged city.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym Boichenko said on the 28th that nearly 5,000 people, including 210 children, have been killed since the Russian army began the siege a month ago. Pochenko's office also said that 90 percent of buildings in Mariupol were damaged and 40 percent were destroyed, including hospitals, schools, kindergartens and factories.
Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said in a video interview: "We do think there could be thousands of deaths in Mariupol, civilians."
She said the mission did not have precise estimates at hand, but was working to gather more information.
Local officials estimated last week, citing witnesses, that 300 people were killed in the 16 March bombing of the Mariupol theatre where they were taking shelter.
The UN Human Rights Observatory stated in a statement that the report was delayed due to enemy actions, but as of the 29th, the mission confirmed that 1,179 civilians had been killed and 1,860 injured in the five-week conflict across Ukraine.
Bogner told a briefing last week that UN observers had received more information about the Mariupol mass grave, one of which appeared to contain 200 bodies.
"With regard to the mass grave, we've actually decided now that it should be called a temporary cemetery," Bogner said today.
She pointed out that this is because the term "mass grave" may mean victims of crime, whereas those who perish in Mariupol reflect deaths from all causes. She said it was unclear whether any of the fallen military members were buried in the makeshift graves.
In a separate interview with Reuters today, ICRC secretary-general Robert Mardini said the committee did not have "first-hand information" on casualties in the Mariupol theater bombing.
News (17)
Zelenskyy: Russia says it will reduce military activities but the scale of the challenge has not been reduced
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Tuesday night that Russia's talk of scaling back military activity in parts of Ukraine "does not drown out the sound of Russian bombs."
The comment came from a speech he posted on social media.
"I'm sure you've seen news about the alleged decision of the Russian army to scale down their attacks in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions," Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine did not want to lose its vigilance and that the situation "has not changed. easier."
"The scale of the challenge has not diminished. The Russian military still has considerable potential to attack our country," Zelenskyy added.
He also said on Tuesday night that Ukraine would continue negotiations.
He also called on the international community to maintain sanctions on Russia while negotiations continue.
News (18)
White House: "Not going to believe" Russia withdrawal
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said the Biden-Harris administration's decision that the actions of Russian troops inside Ukraine did not constitute a withdrawal was "based on the fact that before we fully believe what they say, we need to see the Russians in action".
"We've seen from the beginning that they were aggressively pushing towards Kyiv at the beginning of this conflict, and we have no reason to believe they've adjusted ... that strategy," Bedingfield told CNN on Tuesday.
"We're going to continue to execute our strategy, but as you heard the president say, we're not going to take their word for it. We're going to wait and see what their actions look like," Bedingfield said.
Earlier on Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters that he would not "interpret" Russia's claims about the withdrawal "until I see what their actions are."
"We'll see. I'm not going to read any of them until I see them in action. We'll see if they follow through on what they're proposing," Biden said.
News (19)
UN: More than 10 million Ukrainians have fled their homes since war started
Speaking at the UN Security Council on Tuesday, Joyce Msuya, the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war last month, more than Ten million Ukrainians fled their homes, including more than half of Ukraine's children.
Of those, 6.5 million were internally displaced and 3.9 million crossed the border to neighbouring countries, Msuya said.
Humanitarian aid is increasing every day, she said, and more than 1,230 UN personnel have now arrived in Ukraine to work with more than 100 humanitarian organizations across the country.
News (20)
Pentagon: Russian mobilization near Kyiv may be a repositioning rather than a real retreat
The Pentagon warned that while "a small number" of Russian troops had withdrawn from Kyiv "in the past day or so," Russia could still inflict "mass atrocities" on the country, including the capital, Kyiv.
"We believe this is a repositioning, not a real retreat, and we should all be prepared for a massive attack on the rest of Ukraine. This does not mean the threat to Kyiv is over." Pentagon spokesman John John Kirby said at a news conference on Tuesday.
"No one should be deceived by the Kremlin's latest claim that it will suddenly reduce military attacks near Kyiv or by any reports that it will withdraw all troops," Kirby said.
He noted that the number of Russian troops evacuated from Kyiv was "far from most of what they had deployed for Kyiv" and that Russian airstrikes continued "even today" in the city.
Kirby said the redeployed troops were "moving more north" but it was "too early to judge" their final destination.
"We assess that this may be more of a repositioning for use elsewhere in Ukraine. Where exactly, we don't know," he said.
Meanwhile, fighting continued around the outskirts of Kyiv on Tuesday afternoon, even as Ukrainian and Russian officials announced that Moscow was withdrawing some troops from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and Chernihiv, CNN reported. Fierce fighting, especially in the northwest and northeast areas of the city.
A CNN task force was visiting a residential area in eastern Kyiv near the front when it heard loud and frequent shelling back and forth. Occasionally, the sound of the MLRS can be heard. The settlement is located 5 km from Irpin.
In the city centre, air raid sirens and artillery can also be heard with the same intensity and frequency as in previous days.
At a nearby checkpoint, Yuryi Matsarski, a member of Ukraine's territorial defense forces, told CNN that fighting had not diminished in the past 24 hours.
News (21)
Russian negotiator: De-escalation of fighting around Kyiv and Chernigov "not a ceasefire"
Russia's announced plan to reduce fighting around Kyiv and Chernihiv "is not a ceasefire," Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said on Tuesday.
He said in a speech to the Russian state media "Russia Today" TV (RT) that Russia agreed to significantly reduce military operations in the direction of Kyiv and Chernihiv in negotiations with Ukraine, "We understand that Kyiv needs to do people who decide, so we don't want to put the city at extra risk."
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