European Union membership is a “priority” for Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday during a joint press conference with visiting EU chief Charles Michel.
“Regarding our future membership in the EU, it is a priority for our state, for the strength of our people, those who are ready to defend our land against Russian invaders even without arms,” Zelensky said.
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India will give another $500 million in fuel aid: Sri Lanka foreign minister
India will give Sri Lanka an additional $500 million in financial assistance to buy fuel, the troubled island nation’s foreign minister told reporters Wednesday, adding that Bangladesh was also willing to postpone $450 million in swap repayments to ease Colombo’s burden. The first line of credit was used up earlier this month after a shipment of 120,000 tons of diesel and 40,000 tons of petrol. So far India has provided nearly 400,000 tons of fuel.
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‘The ball is in their court, we are waiting’: Russia on peace talks with Ukraine
With no end to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war in sight, especially after Moscow announced a second round of operations a day ago, the Kremlin Wednesday said it has passed on a draft document to Kyiv containing ‘absolutely clear, elaborate wording’ of its demands as part of peace talks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also said ‘the ball is in their court’ and that Russia is now ‘waiting for a response’, news agency AP reported.
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Elderly Shanghai woman’s quarantine ordeal sparks outrage
The treatment of a 92-year-old Shanghai woman who was sent to quarantine late at night has caused anger in China, underscoring the frustration that many are feeling under the nation’s strict Covid Zero rules. The government didn’t give full names of the people involved. Many people questioned why anyone — let alone an elderly woman — would need to be sent to quarantine late at night. One person described the official explanation as “laughable.”
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Russia-Ukraine war: Over 5 million Ukrainians fled country so far, says UN
More than five million Ukrainians have now fled their country following the Russian invasion, the United Nations said Wednesday, in Europe’s fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said 5,034,439 Ukrainians had left since Russia invaded on February 24 — an increase of 53,850 over Tuesday’s total. Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have been forced from their homes, including those still inside the country.
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Netflix likely to restrict password sharing after subscriptions slump: Report
An unexpectedly sharp drop in subscribers has Netflix considering changes it has long resisted: Minimising password sharing and creating a low-cost subscription supported by advertising. Netflix’s customer base fell by 200,000 subscribers during the January-March quarter, the first contraction the streaming service has seen since it became available throughout most of the world other than China six years ago. Netflix projected a loss of another 2 million subscribers in the current April-June quarter.