Russia jails head of independent election watchdog for 5 years, TASS says
MOSCOW, May 14 (Reuters) - The head of Russia's only independent election watchdog was sentenced on Wednesday to five years in prison after being found guilty of working for an "undesirable organisation", state news agency TASS said.
Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the Golos movement, was arrested in August 2023. He pleaded innocent at his trial.
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The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
Ukraine repatriates more bodies of fallen soldiers in line with an agreement with Russia
Ukraine has repatriated more bodies of fallen soldiers in line with an agreement reached during peace talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, Ukrainian officials said Friday. Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement that Russia returned 1,200 bodies, and 'according to the Russian side, the bodies belong to Ukrainian citizens, in particular military personnel.' The repatriation of the bodies was carried out with the help of Ukraine's Armed Forces, the country's Security Service, the Interior Ministry and other government agencies. Forensic experts will now work to identify the remains, the statement said. The repatriation of the bodies marks one of the largest returns of remains since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago. Earlier this week, Russia returned 1,212 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers and received 27 bodies of its own killed troops. The agreement to exchange prisoners of war and the bodies of fallen soldiers was the only tangible outcome of the talks in Istanbul that took place June 2. Russia and Ukraine conducted a POW swap on Thursday that included severely wounded and gravely ill captives, although the sides did not report the numbers. In addition to agreeing to exchange POWs and bodies of fallen soldiers, the two sides traded memorandums at the talks that set out conditions for a ceasefire. However, the inclusion of clauses that both sides see as nonstarters make any quick deal unlikely. Despite discussions of a potential truce in the war, Moscow's forces in recent days have launched waves of drones and missiles at Ukraine, with a record bombardment of almost 500 drones on Monday and a wave of 315 drones and seven missiles overnight on Tuesday. Ukraine's air force said Friday that Russia fired 55 Shahed and decoy drones and four ballistic missiles at Ukraine overnight. The air force said air defenses neutralized 43 drones. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the attack. Russia's Defense Ministry said Friday that its air defenses downed 125 Ukrainian drones over several Russian regions and the annexed Crimea late Thursday and early Friday.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
How di Israel-Iran conflict fit affect energy prices
Israel attacks on Iran, and Iran response, bin cause fear on global financial markets on Friday, 13 June. Di price of oil bin go high, up to 7% by mid-afternoon on Friday. Dis dey make pipo worry say we fit dey face anoda period wey di price of energy go rise, and dat automatically go make di price of evritin from petrol and food to holidays to go up. Dis na wetin happun afta Russia invade Ukraine three years ago, and e affect pipo lives around di world. How much oil price don rise? Di attacks bin lead to an instant reaction on di markets. Brent Crude - di main international benchmark – rise more dan 10% bifor e fall back to around $75 a barrel. Di price of oil dey rise and fall all di time in response to big geopolitical events, plus di state of di global economy, so no be surprise to see say oil prices dey react to di attacks. However, di Brent crude price still dey about 10% lower pass dat of 2023. E also dey below di peaks we see for 2022 afta Russia attack Ukraine, wen e spike to nearly $130. Di price of petrol plus oda prices don go up? Wen di price of oil for wholesale go up, many pipo no dey quick notice am until di price of petrol go up. But more expensive energy go lead to higher prices for almost evritin, from farming to manufacturing. Wen e come to food, higher energy costs fit make food dey very expensive. Rise in di price of oil go make am dey more expensive to run farm machinery, to transport produce, and to process and package food. However, dat go only happun if energy prices stay high for a sustained period. Even wit petrol and diesel, rising crude prices only get limited impact. "One rough rule of thumb na $10 rise for di price of oil go add about 7p to di price for di pump," David Oxley for Capital Economics tok. Many pipo go remember how di price of energy and everytin go up for di beginning of di Ukraine conflict. Dat na big response to higher gas prices, Oga Oxley tok. Many of us heat our homes wit gas, and for UK, dem dey set di price of electricity in relation to di price of gas. Gas prices don also rise afta Thursday night attacks. But households go feel di impact slowly, if di regulator try fix di price, Oga Oxley tok. Price of oil fit go high? Di current situation dey "very significant and concerning" Richard Bronze di head of geopolitics for consultancy and research firm Energy Aspects, tok. But e no mean say e go get big impact like di Ukraine conflict, or even previous troubles for di Middle East. Di main questions now na how long Israel and Iran go remain for dis conflict, weda oda kontris for di region go join, and if di US go step in to try solve di situation. Above all, e depend on weda we go see actual disruption to shipping for di Strait of Hormuz, di waterway off Iran southern coast, wey be di route to global markets for about a fifth of di world oil production. "Na narrow choke point so na important weak spot for global oil markets," Oga Bronze tok. Without interruption to shipping, oil prices no go remain high. For 2022, afta Russian invade Ukraine, growing demand bin dey for energy as di global economy reopen afta Covid. Now di global economy dey face tougher times, and oil producers from Saudi Arabia to Brazil get di capacity to increase oil supply wey go help lower prices. Wetin dis mean for di global economy? Di scale of any energy price rise, plus di wider impact, go depend on di magnitude of wetin go happun next for di conflict between Israel and Iran. But e get di potential to be "a bad shock for di global economy at a bad time" Mohammed El-Erian, chief economic adviser for asset manager Allianz, tok. "Whichever way you look am, im negative short-term, im negative longer-term. "Na anoda shock to di stability of di US-led global economic order for time wen plenty questions already dey ground." Capital Economics calculate if oil prices go back to ova $100 a barrel dat fit add 1% to inflation for advanced economies, wey make life difficult for central banks wey dey hope to bring down interest rates. But dat no be di most likely scenario for David Oxley view. "Instability for di Middle East no be new thing, we don see am happun ova and ova again," he says. "In a week time everytin go blow up."
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Putin tells Netanyahu issues surrounding Iran's nuclear programme must be solved through diplomacy
June 13 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, in separate telephone conversations on Friday, told Iran's president that Moscow condemned Israel's actions against Tehran and told Israel's prime minister that questions around Iran's nuclear programme could only be solved through diplomacy. A Kremlin statement said Putin told Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian that Russia "condemns the actions of Israel taken in violation of the U.N. Charter" and expressed condolences for those killed. The statement said Putin, in his conversation with Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu "stressed the importance of a return to the process of talks and resolution of all issues concerning Iran's nuclear programme strictly through political and diplomatic means". The Kremlin statement said Russia would remain in close contact with both Iran and Israel.
