Bedugul Coffee: Russia attacks center of Kyiv with drones

Monday, October 17, 2022

by Sharon Kimathi

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Here's what you need to know.

U.S companies are charging employees for job training if they quit, new British finance minister Jeremy Hunt reverses nearly all of Prime Minister Liz Truss's mini-budget, and Iran may face new sanctions if its involvement in Russia's war on Ukraine was proven

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A view shows a street after a Russian drone strike, which local authorities consider to be Iranian-made unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) Shahed-136, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine October 17, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Russia attacked the center of Kyiv with drones and shelled other cities around the country, the second time in a week it has unleashed strikes across Ukraine while its forces face setbacks on the battlefield.

European Union foreign ministers are expected to agree on a mission to train 15,000 Ukrainian troops from next month and an extra 500 million euros worth of funding for arms deliveries to Kyiv when they meet in Luxembourg.

Oil output at the giant Exxon-led Sakhalin-1 Russian Pacific project collapsed following the U.S. major's refusal to accept local insurance for tankers after Western insurers pulled out due to sanctions, several industry sources told Reuters.

The European Union prepared to slap sanctions on Iran over a human rights crackdown and several ministers warned of separate, new sanctions if Tehran's involvement in Russia's war on Ukraine was proven.

Here's what you need to know about the conflict right now

Licensed esthetician Simran Bal, who was taken to court by her former employer to repay $1900 in trainings they required her to attend, poses for a portrait outside the King County District Court in Shoreline, Washington, U.S., October 13, 2022. Bal, whose case was dismissed, says she was already licensed for services the trainings covered. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson

U.S.

Dozens of people and advocates in healthcare, trucking, retail and other industries recently complained to U.S. regulators that some companies are charging employees large sums of money for training once they quit.

Parlement Technologies, the parent company of social media app Parler, said that it will be acquired by rapper Kanye West, who legally changed his name to simply Ye last year.

U.S. President Joe Biden will take on a potential 2024 presidential rival, Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis, in a November campaign event for the Democratic candidate for governor, Charlie Crist.

The U.S. Justice Department moved to dismiss an antitrust indictment against two former Pilgrim's Pride Corp executives who were the remaining defendants in a conspiracy prosecution that has failed to secure any convictions.

New York City police asked the public to help identify a suspect who shoved a subway rider in front of an oncoming train this weekend, the latest attack in the largest U.S. transit system.

WORLD

Right-wing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and leftist former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attacked each other’s records in office in the first debate of the second round of Brazil's election.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ordered an investigation into the Unification Church after the assassination of former premier Shinzo Abe in July revealed close ties between it and ruling party lawmakers.

Members of India's opposition Congress party voted to elect its first head in nearly 25 years from outside the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty of leaders, with a veteran loyal to the family expected to win.

South Korea's troops kicked off their annual Hoguk defense drills, designed to boost their ability to respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats amid simmering tension over both sides' military activities.

Eight prisoners died as a result of a fire at Tehran's Evin prison over the weekend, Iran's judiciary said, doubling the death toll from the blaze which has increased pressure on a government struggling to contain mass protests.

BUSINESS & MARKETS

British finance minister Jeremy Hunt, seeking to quell a bond market rout, listed tax changes that he said would raise an extra 32 billion pounds ($36.16 billion) a year and scaled back the government's energy price cap scheme.

China's state banks stepped up their intervention to defend a weakening yuan, with banking sources telling Reuters these banks sold a high volume of U.S. dollars and used a combination of swaps and spot trades.

The European Commission is set to propose this week a last-resort "dynamic" price cap for natural gas in the European Union and mandatory limits on the degree to which traded prices can fluctuate in a single day, according to a draft proposal.

More large British companies view borrowing as expensive than at any time in the past decade, due partly to financial market turmoil caused by the government's "mini-budget", according to a recent survey.

Goldman Sachs is planning a major reorganization to combine its biggest businesses into three divisions with its storied investment banking and trading businesses being merged into a single unit, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Credit Suisse has agreed to pay $495 million to settle a case brought against it in the United States, the latest pay-out related to past blunders that have battered the Swiss bank's reputation.