Live news: Russia renews assault on Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol

Live news updates: Ukrainian President says Russia's invasion of his country was just the beginning.

6:05 PM

Missile strikes infrastructure of Ukraine's Odes: City council

A missile struck infrastructure in the Ukrainian port city of Odesa on Saturday, the local authorities said in an online statement without giving further details.

"Odesa was hit by a missile strike. Infrastructure has been hit," the statement said.

5:15 PM

Ukrainian officials meet with IMF’s Georgieva

Ukrainian officials including Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and central bank Governor Kyrylo Shevchenko met with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva in Washington on Friday to discuss further short-term aid and long-term renewal, Bloomberg reported.

 

4:42 PM

Russia to deploy nuclear-capable Sarmat missiles

Russia said on Saturday it plans to deploy its newly tested Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles, capable of mounting nuclear strikes against the United States, by autumn. The target stated by Dmitry Rogozin, head of the Roscosmos space agency, is an ambitious one as Russia reported its first test-launch only on Wednesday and Western military experts say more will be needed before the missile can be deployed, Reuters reported.

3:29 PM

Evacuations planned from Ukraine's Mariupol

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Saturday that if all went as planned, evacuations from the besieged city of Mariupol would start at noon (0900 GMT). "Today, we again will be trying to evacuate women, children and the elderly," Vereshchuk wrote in a social media post.

 

3:29 PM

Russia says it shot down Ukrainian fighter jet

Russia's defence ministry said on Saturday that its forces had shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 fighter jet and destroyed three MI-8 helicopters at an airfield in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. There was no immediate reaction from Ukraine regarding the Russian claims, Reuters reported.

3:03 PM

Dump sites in Delhi and other cities are like time bombs: NGT

The National Green Tribunal has expressed serious concern over fire incidents at Ghazipur landfill site in the national capital saying dump sites are like "time bombs".

A massive fire erupted at the Ghazipur landfill site on Wednesday, the third such incident since March 28, sending a dense plume of smoke into the sky and exacerbating the already polluted air in nearby areas.

Last year, the authorities reported four fire incidents at the Ghazipur landfill. In 2017, a large part of it broke away, crashing onto a road and killing two people.

1:58 PM

Ukrainian president says Russia’s invasion ‘only a beginning’

The war on Ukraine was just the start, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said late Friday after comments by a Russian commander that Moscow wants control of all of southern Ukraine. 

 

“This only confirms what I have said many times: the Russian invasion of Ukraine was intended only as a beginning, then they want to capture other countries,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. “Who is next?” 

 

On Friday, a Russian general said the Kremlin aims to secure control of the entire south of Ukraine, create a land bridge to Transnistria, a pro-Russian region of Moldova, and assume control of key Black Sea ports. 

 

1:57 PM

Beijing on alert after COVID-19 cases discovered in school

Beijing is on alert after 10 middle school students tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, in what city officials said was an initial round of testing.

 

City officials suspended classes in the school for a week following the positive test results. The Chinese capital also reported four other confirmed cases on Friday that were counted separately.

 

Mainland China reported 24,326 new community-transmitted infections on Saturday, with the vast majority of them asymptomatic cases in Shanghai, where enforcement of a strict zero-COVID strategy has drawn global attention.

 

1:13 PM

New Zealand reports first Omicron XE variant

New Zealand reported its first case of Omicron XE variant at the border, said the Ministry of Health in a statement on Saturday.

A person who has travelled from overseas to New Zealand has been confirmed as having the XE variant of Omicron, said the ministry.

This is the first known detection of the Omicron XE variant in New Zealand, it said.

According to the ministry, the person, who is currently isolating at home, arrived in New Zealand on April 19 and was tested on April 20. The whole-genome sequencing subsequently confirmed the XE variant.

1:13 PM

UGC, AICTE caution students against pursuing higher education in Pakistan

University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) advised Indian students not to travel to Pakistan for pursuing highereducation while stating that such degrees wouldn't be recognised in India.

Secretary of UGC and Member Secretary, AICTE in joint advisory said that any Indian national/overseas citizen of India who intends to take admission in any degree college or educational institution of Pakistan shall not be eligible for seeking employment or higher studies in India on the basis of such educational qualifications (in any subject) acquired in Pakistan.

The UGC and AICTE further informed students, "However, migrants and their children who have acquired higher education degrees in Pakistan and were awarded citizenship by India would be eligible for seeking employment in India after obtaining Security Clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs."