LIVE: Delhi sees 366 new Covid cases in 24 hrs, positivity rate at 3.95%

Doctors on Tuesday had said that it was not a panic situation as the count of daily cases was still low, but had cautioned against dropping the guard

11:02 PM

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar hosts Iftar party at his residence

10:47 PM

Ukraine says five killed in shelling in city of Mykolaiv

Five people were killed by shelling in the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv on Friday and cluster munitions were used, Vitaliy Kim, the governor of Mykolaiv region, said on Telegram on Friday.

 

Reuters could not independently verify the statement. Russia denies targeting civilian areas in Ukraine.

10:46 PM

Zelenskiy asked Biden to designate Russia a 'state sponsor of terrorism': Washington Post

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy recently made a direct appeal to U.S. President Joe Biden for the United States to designate Russia a "state sponsor of terrorism," the Washington Post reported on Friday, citing people familiar with their conversation.

 

Biden did not commit to specific actions during that call, the newspaper reported. The label can be applied to any country that has "repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism," the newspaper said, citing a State Department fact sheet. The list currently includes four countries: North Korea, Cuba, Iran and Syria.

9:52 PM

Delhi Covid positivity rate rises to 3.95%, 366 new cases in 24 hrs

9:40 PM

Police: Over 900 civilians dead in Kyiv area

The bodies of more than 900 civilians were discovered in the Kyiv region following the withdrawal of Russian forces, the regional police chief said in a briefing Friday.

 

Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv's regional police force, said the bodies had been abandoned in the streets or given temporary burials. He cited police data indicating that 95% of the casualties had died from sniper fire and gunshot wounds.

 

“Consequently, we understand that under the (Russian) occupation, people were simply executed in the streets,” Nebytov said. “The number of killed civilians has surpassed 900 — and I emphasize, these are civilians, whose bodies we have discovered and handed over for forensic examination.” He added that more bodies were being found every day, under the rubble and in mass graves.

9:31 PM

Moscow says 18 members of EU mission in Russia must leave the country

9:17 PM

Ukraine evacuates 2,864 people from conflict areas on Friday: Deputy PM

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said that 2,864 people had been evacuated from conflict areas on Friday, including 363 people from Mariupol who used their own transport.

 

She said in a statement on Telegram that the evacuees also included 370 people from Luhansk region in the east and 2,131 people from cities in Zaporizhzhia region.

8:40 PM

Eshwarappa arrives at Karnataka Chief Minister's residence

8:20 PM

Russian cenbank says it used cash FX accumulated in state reserves

The Russian central bank had accumulated cash foreign currency which it has used, Central Bank Deputy Governor Ksenia Yudayeva said on Friday, without providing details.

 

Yudayeva said sanctions against Russia will have negative impact on the global economy, adding that a ban on operations with the Russian central bank and the government was unprecedented.

 

Foreign sanctions have frozen around $300 billion out of $640 billion that Russia had in its gold and forex reserves in February.

7:21 PM

Ukraine says street battles ongoing in Mariupol

Ukraine's defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said on Friday that street battles were ongoing in the besieged port city of Mariupol, which Russian forces had not managed to completely capture.

 

Motuzyanyk said active fighting was taking place around Mariupol's Illich Steel and Iron Works, as well as in the port area.