| |  |  | The Reuters Daily Briefing | Wednesday, April 13, 2022 by Rossalyn Warren | Hello Here's what you need to know. Biden accuses Russia of genocide in Ukraine, Elon Musk is sued by former Twitter shareholders, and police in New York City search for a gunman who attacked people on a subway. | | | | | Today's biggest stories  A woman walks to board an evacuation train at a station, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine, April 12, 2022. REUTERS/Igor Tkachenko RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AT WAR U.S. President Joe Biden has said for the first time that Russia's invasion of Ukraine amounts to genocide, a significant escalation of the president’s rhetoric. “Yes, I called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian and the evidence is mounting," Biden told reporters.
Biden's administration is also expected to announce as soon as Wednesday another $750 million in military assistance for Ukraine for its fight against Russian forces, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Russia claims more than a thousand Ukrainian marines have surrendered in the besieged port of Mariupol, Moscow's main target in the eastern Donbas region. Their claim has yet to be proven.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy mocked Moscow's insistence that the war against his nation was going well, asking how President Vladimir Putin could have approved a plan that involved so many Russians dying.
French forensic experts have arrived in Bucha near Kyiv to help investigate possible war crimes, and to establish what happened in the town where hundreds of bodies have been discovered since Russian forces withdrew.
And the presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are on their way to Kyiv to meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an adviser to the Polish leader said today.
Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now
|  Elon Musk gestures during a conversation with legendary game designer Todd Howard (not pictured) at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, California, U.S., June 13, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo BUSINESS British consumer price inflation leapt to a 30-year high of 7.0% in March, its highest since March 1992 and up from 6.2% in February, official figures show. The leap reflects the intensifying cost-of-living squeeze faced by British households.
China's overall trade with Russia rose by more than 12% in March from a year earlier in dollar terms, even as Beijing criticized Western sanctions on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Overall trade with Russia increased 12.76% in March to $11.67 billion.
Elon Musk has been sued by former Twitter shareholders who claim they missed out on the recent run-up in its stock price because he waited too long to disclose a 9.2% stake in the social media company.
Big Japanese firms, including Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Tokyo Electric Power, and Mitsubishi Corp, will face resolutions from activist shareholders urging greater commitment to tackling climate change at their annual meetings this year.
And China's top offshore oil and gas producer CNOOC Ltd. is preparing to exit its operations in Britain, Canada and the United States, because of concerns in Beijing the assets could become subject to Western sanctions, industry sources said.
|  Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva gestures as he joins the indigenous people Free Land camp, to express support to their claims, in Brasilia, Brazil April 12, 2022. REUTERS/Adriano Machado WORLD
In the Philippines, authorities struggled to distribute aid to tens of thousands of displaced people sheltering in evacuation centers. On Sunday, a typhoon triggered landslides in coastal provinces, leaving 56 dead and dozens missing.
The Chinese city of Shanghai warned residents that anyone who violates COVID-19 lockdown rules will be dealt with strictly. Millions of residents are confined to their homes and struggling to get hold of daily supplies.
Egypt's state-appointed human rights council has urged prosecutors to investigate whether an economic researcher who authorities say died after being interned in a psychiatric hospital was a victim of forced disappearance.
In Brazil, former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised indigenous people that he would stop illegal mining on their reservations and recognize their land claims if he wins the presidential election in October.
Swiss judges sentenced a banker to three and three-quarters years in prison as it found him guilty of fraud and other counts, in a trial that has gripped the nation. He was a former Swiss 'banker of the year'.
U.S.
In New York City, police and federal agents searched into the early hours of this morning for a gunman who set off smoke bombs and shot fellow passengers aboard a subway car, injuring more than 20 people before he fled the scene. The attack happened yesterday morning during commuter rush.
In Oklahoma, a governor signed a bill that makes it illegal to perform an abortion in the state except in medical emergencies, penalizing those who do with up to $100,000 in fines and 10 years in prison.
U.S. President Joe Biden's public approval rating fell to 41% this week, a blow to his Democratic Party's hopes of retaining control of Congress in November's elections, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.
A U.S. judge declined to jail two men accused of impersonating federal agents. The decision was a blow to prosecutors who had argued that the defendants pose a danger and should be detained.
And Gilbert Gottfried, a stand-up comic with a screwy voice and a penchant for pushing boundaries, has died at age 67, his family confirmed. Gottfried was a former cast member on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" and the voice of a parrot in the Disney film "Aladdin."
| | | | | | | | | | | Video of the day  With hugs, tears and Maori performers, NZ welcomes Australian visitors as curbs ease New Zealand welcomed hundreds of travelers from Australia with emotional scenes on Wednesday as it opened its borders to its trans-Tasmanian neighbour for the first time since mid-2021. | | | | And finally… Argentina hosts the first-ever female World Cup for polo  Argentina's Catalina Lavinia celebrates after winning against Ireland at the Women's Polo World Championship, in Buenos Aires, Argentina April 9, 2022. Picture taken April 9, 2022. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian Some of the world's top women polo players compete this week in Argentina in the sport's first-ever female World Cup, the culmination of years of growing opportunity in a game known for its equestrian allure and high-society sensibilities. | | | Thanks for spending part of your day with us. | | | | | |
