| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Friday, April 15, 2022 by Robert MacMillan | Hello Here's what you need to know. Ukraine sinks the Russian navy’s Black sea flagship, the market questions Elon Musk’s strategy for Twitter, and North Korean penthouse life beckons the unfortunate few | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Russia's coat of arms is seen on the missile cruiser Moskva in Sevastopol, September 16, 2008. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AT WAR Powerful explosions were heard in Kyiv and fighting raged in the east after Ukraine claimed responsibility for sinking the Russian navy’s Black Sea flagship in what would be one of the heaviest blows of the war. Ukraine said it sank the Soviet-era Moskva warship with a Neptune anti-ship missile. Russia said it evacuated more than 500 crew members, and did not acknowledge the attack.
Russia would deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in the Baltic region if Sweden and Finland join NATO, said Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council and an ally of President Vladimir Putin.
Ratings agency Moody’s said Russia might be in default because it tried to service its dollar bonds in roubles. Such an event would mark Russia’s first major default in foreign bonds since the years following the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
The Azovstal iron and steel works in Mariupol, one of Europe’s biggest metallurgical plants, has become an aptly apocalyptic redoubt for Ukrainian forces who are outgunned, outnumbered and surrounded by Russian troops. |  Elon Musk arrives at the Axel Springer award, in Berlin, December 1, 2020. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/Pool BUSINESS “My offer is my best and final offer.” Elon Musk’s $43 billion bid for Twitter seems to take a page from the Warren Buffett “take it or leave it” playbook, but investment bankers, analysts and investors say it won’t work unless Musk makes a blowout bid. That, says the market, is not is on the table. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal meanwhile reassured employees that Twitter is not being “held hostage” by news of Musk’s offer.
Apple, Dell and Lenovo products may face shipment delays if China’s COVID-19 lockdowns persist, as curbs force assemblers to shut down. China’s efforts to stop the spread of the virus have jammed highways and ports, stranded workers and left countless factories awaiting government approval to reopen. They also have brought on a wave of arrests as people defy the curbs.
Eating Nutella and Ferrero Rocher chocolates could become a morally sweeter experience for some after Italian confectionary giant Ferrero said it will stop sourcing palm oil from Sime Darby Plantation after the United States found that the Malaysian planter used forced labor.
On the not-so-sweet side of consumer comestibles, Mondelez as well as Nestle and PepsiCo are facing pushback from workers in Ukraine and eastern Europe angered by the companies’ decisions to maintain some business in Russia. One employee expressed shock over Mondelez continuing to promote “The Batman” Oreo cookies in Russia while another website was offering cash back on purchases as well as prizes in a promotional campaign for Milka chocolates. |  Palestinian protesters stand detained following clashes at the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem's Old City, April 15, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
WORLD
More than 150 Palestinians were injured by Israeli riot police at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the Palestine Red Crescent said, two weeks into Ramadan. Israeli police said hundreds of Palestinians hurled firecrackers and stones at their forces and toward the nearby Jewish prayer area of the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City after morning prayers.
South African authorities are releasing emergency funds to help tens of thousands of people left without shelter, water and electricity by flash floods that washed away homes and roads and killed more than 300 people on the east coast.
Penthouse living in North Korea doesn’t inspire the same kind of “making it to the top” association that it has for many people in other countries. Kim Jong Un keeps building outwardly glamorous high-rise apartment buildings in Pyongyang, but defectors and other North Koreans say the elevators and electricity are unreliable, water supply is poor and that there are concerns about the quality of the workmanship.
A British lawmaker from the Conservative Party who was convicted of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy resigned from Parliament, triggering a by-election that will be a test of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s popularity. Imran Ahmad Khan denied the allegation, but was found guilty on Monday of assaulting the boy in 2008. The Conservatives threw Khan out of the party when he was convicted. He plans to appeal.
With Russo-Japanese relations unraveling over the crisis in Ukraine, no Japanese community has felt the fallout quite like Nemuro, a northern town where the fishing fleet’s catch depends on annual agreements on the quota for Russian-born salmon and trout that the Japanese can harvest. The talks have not concluded as they normally do by this time of year, and sources in Japan say this is a demonstration of Russia’s anger over Japan participating in economic sanctions over the Ukraine invasion.
U.S.
A federal judge ordered the man charged with this week’s mass shooting in a New York subway station to remain in custody and undergo a psychiatric exam as he awaits trial for one of the most violent attacks on the city’s mass-transit system.
The family of an African refugee killed by a Michigan police officer during a traffic stop demanded that authorities fire the officer and file criminal charges against him.
Commercial truck traffic from Chihuahua to Texas will resume after the Mexican and U.S. sides reached an agreement on border security. Texas Governor Greg Abbott last week ordered the state’s Department of Public Safety to conduct “enhanced safety inspections” of vehicles to deter illegal immigration, a move to counter the “open borders” policies of President Joe Biden.
A wealthy former Democratic Party activist was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for giving fatal doses of methamphetamine to two men he invited to his suburban Los Angeles home for sex in “party and play” sessions . | | | | | | | | | | | Video of the day  Dog therapy brings solace to displaced Ukrainian children | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
