| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Tuesday, April 19, 2022 by Linda Noakes | Hello Here's what you need to know. Ukrainians deported to Russia from besieged Mariupol dream of home, U.S. airlines drop mask requirements, and central banks prep for a synchronized asset cull | | | | | Today's biggest stories  Residents gather in a courtyard near a heavily-damaged block of flats in Mariupol, Ukraine, April 18, 2022 RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AT WAR Russian forces tried to push through Ukrainian defences along almost the entire front line in eastern Ukraine, launching what President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the "Battle of the Donbas" - the long-awaited second phase of the war.
A "very large part of the entire Russian army is now focused on this offensive," Zelenskiy said in a video address. "No matter how many Russian troops they send there, we will fight. We will defend ourselves."
Russian forces have seized the city of Kreminna in eastern Ukraine and Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the city, the regional governor said. Meanwhile, Russia called on Ukrainian forces and foreign fighters holed up in the Azovstal metallurgical plant in the port city of Mariupol to lay down their arms by noon Moscow time if they wanted to live.
Mila Panchenko found herself on a station platform in southwest Russia after lack of food and water forced her to hand herself over to pro-Russian forces to escape Mariupol. We spoke to fleeing Ukrainians who have been deported to distant parts of Russia.
Britain is not going to be looking at how to help Russia, a senior minister said when asked about the prospect of swapping pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk for two British fighters who were captured in Ukraine by Russian forces.
Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now
| BUSINESS European shares fell while yields on 10-year U.S. inflation-linked bonds were close to turning positive for the first time in two years, as the prospect of aggressive Fed tightening to rein in inflation kept investors on edge.
Major central banks, already plotting interest rate hikes in a fight against inflation, are also preparing a common pullback from key financial markets in a first-ever round of global "quantitative tightening" expected to restrict credit and add stress to an already-slowing world economy.
Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said the damage to the economy from a weakening yen at present is greater than the benefits accruing to it, making the most explicit warning yet against the currency's recent slump versus the dollar. So what would a Japanese currency intervention look like?
Johnson & Johnson suspended its sales forecast for COVID vaccines due to a global supply surplus and demand uncertainty and cut its adjusted profit expectation, sending the drugmaker's shares down nearly 3%.
Netflix is expected to report its slowest quarterly revenue growth in nearly eight years today, but the focus will be on its forecast in the run-up to new seasons of popular titles including 'Stranger Things' and 'Ozark'.
A fledgling class of crypto that feasts on risk is outshining a wider market paralyzed by war and inflation. Coins backed by gold are newer variants of 'stablecoins', which are typically pegged to the dollar to tame volatility. The largest, Pax Gold or PAXG, has jumped 7.4% in 2022, while main rival Tether Gold has leapt 8.5%.
|  A delivery worker carries parcels at an entrance to a residential compound under lockdown in Shanghai, China April 18, 2022 IN OTHER NEWS The Chinese city of Shanghai pleaded for public cooperation with a massive new push to test most of the population for COVID as it tries to bring community transmission down to zero after nearly three weeks of lockdown. We look at why President Xi Jinping is sticking with his stance despite anger and economic headwinds.
The Biden administration will no longer enforce a U.S. mask mandate on public transportation, after a federal judge in Florida ruled that the 14-month-old directive was unlawful, overturning a key White House effort to reduce the spread of COVID.
Israel shot down a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said, the first such attack in months as tensions over a flashpoint Jerusalem shrine drew angry pro-Palestinian rhetoric from Jordan and U.S. mediation efforts.
Thousands of South African soldiers will help with relief efforts in KwaZulu-Natal province, where more than 440 people have died in floods and mudslides and dozens more are missing.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will apologize to parliament today as he faces lawmakers for the first time since he was fined by police for breaking his own COVID lockdown rules, a government official said.
Voting in the second and final round of East Timor's presidential election began, with Nobel laureate, Jose Ramos-Horta, the clear frontrunner in the poll. Here's a guide to Asia's youngest democracy, also known as Timor Leste.
| | | | | | | | | | | Quote of the day “There is a different kind of tipping point that we seem to have hit — an emotional or psychological tipping point among consumers.” Venkat Srinivasan Director of the Center for Collaborative Energy Storage Science at the U.S. government’s Argonne National Laboratory Soaring battery costs fail to cool electric vehicle sales | | | | Video of the day  'Smart' chopsticks enhance the taste of food These chopsticks could make mealtimes more enjoyable for people who have to eat bland food due to health concerns. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
