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

Latest live news: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is likely to announce 300 units of free electricity for the people of the state on Saturday, as per sources. Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government in Punjab will complete one month of governance tomorrow. During a press conference in Jalandhar on Thursday, Mann said, "On the 16th we will give a great good news to the people of Punjab."

Mann met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday to discuss the scheme of providing free electricity in Punjab for up to 300 units, informed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) sources.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has said he had discussed new military aid for Ukraine with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a phone conversation. "In our new call, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and I discussed the next military aid package for Ukraine," Kuleba tweeted on Thursday.

In view of an uptick in Covid-19 cases in the national capital, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will hold a meeting on April 20 in which it may consider reimposing the mandatory use of face masks, officials said on Thursday. Delhi reported 325 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a marked rise from 137 cases reported on Monday. The positivity rate stood at 2.39 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.

 

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.

7:19 PM

Russia says it thwarted 'terrorist attack' on military facility: TASS

Russia's FSB security service on Friday said it had detained four members of an Islamist militant group in the Kaluga region south west of Moscow and said one was preparing a "terrorist attack", the TASS news agency reported.

 

The four were members of the Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham group, it said.

6:31 PM

Ukraine says Russia used long-range bombers on Mariupol; 1st time in war

Ukraine's defence ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said on Friday that for, the first time since the start of its invasion, Russia used long-range bombers to attack the besieged port city of Mariupol.

 

Motuzyanyk said Russia was concentrating its efforts on seizing the cities of Rubizhne, Popasna and Mariupol.

6:05 PM

Ukraine's top steelmaker says it will never work under Russian occupation

Ukraine's biggest steelmaker Metinvest said on Friday its enterprises would never operate under Russian occupation and that Ukraine had lost access to 30% to 40% of its metallurgy production capacity in the besieged port city of Mariupol.

 

It told Reuters in a statement that Ukraine, one of Europe's biggest suppliers of iron ore, had already more than halved its iron ore production due to the invasion that Russia launched on Feb. 24.

5:28 PM

Ukraine ups 2022 spring sowing area forecast to 14 mn ha

Ukraine's agriculture ministry on Friday revised up its forecast for the area to be sown to 2022 spring crops, giving no reason for the new outlook.

 

Around 14 million hectares of various grains, cereals and oilseed might be sown this year, compared with the previous forecast of 13.4 million hectares, the ministry said in a report.

 

The acreage is still smaller than in 2021 due to hostilities in some Ukrainian regions cause by the Russian invasion.

5:20 PM

Russian Deputy PM says several buyers agree to pay in roubles for Russian gas

Several buyers of Russian gas have agreed to switch to payments in roubles, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Friday.

 

"We expect the decision (to switch to roubles) from other importers," he added, in comments published in the ministry's in-house magazine. He did not disclose the identities of customers who had already switched.

 

President Vladimir Putin said last month that buyers of Russian gas from "unfriendly" countries should pay in roubles, a move rejected by European Union authorities under the bloc's sanctions regime against Moscow.