World

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of wanting to “destroy” the entire eastern region of Donbas, as the last remaining forces in the strategic port of Mariupol prepared Monday for a final defence.

Moscow is pushing for a major victory in the southern city as it works to wrest control of Donbas and forge a land corridor to already-annexed Crimea.

But Ukraine has pledged to fight on and defend the city, defying a Russian ultimatum Sunday that called on the remaining fighters inside the encircled Azovstal steel plant to lay down their arms and surrender.

Ukrainian authorities have urged people in Donbas to move west to escape a large-scale Russian offensive to capture its composite regions of Donetsk and Lugansk.

“Russian troops are preparing for an offensive operation in the east of our country in the near future. They want to literally finish off and destroy Donbas,” Zelensky said in an evening statement.

Mariupol has become a symbol of Ukraine’s unexpectedly fierce resistance since Russian troops invaded the former Soviet state on February 24.

“The city still has not fallen,” Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

“There’s still our military forces, our soldiers. So they will fight to the end,” he told ABC’s “This Week”.

“We will not surrender.”

While several large cities were under siege, he said, not one — with the exception of Kherson in the south — had fallen, and more than 900 towns and cities had been re-captured.

– ‘Last chance to save you’ –

Lugansk governor Sergiy Gaiday said the coming week would be “difficult”.

“It may be the last time we have a chance to save you,” he wrote on Facebook.

Russian forces continued to shell the eastern Lugansk region and two people died in the town of Zolote, he told Ukrainian media earlier in the day.

Two people also died and four were wounded in attacks on the towns of Marinka and Novopol, west of Donetsk — regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram — and an air strike hit an armaments factory in the capital Kyiv.

In the country’s second city of Kharkiv, at least five people were killed and 20 wounded in a series of strikes just 21 kilometres (13 miles) from the Russian border.

Maksym Khaustov, the head of the Kharkiv region’s health department, confirmed the deaths there following a series of strikes that AFP journalists on the scene said had ignited fires throughout the city and torn roofs from buildings.

“The whole home rumbled and trembled,” 71-year-old Svitlana Pelelygina told AFP as she surveyed her wrecked apartment. “Everything here began to burn.”

“I called the firefighters. They said, ‘We are on our way but we were also being shelled.'”

In the eastern city of Kramatorsk, Orthodox Palm Sunday granted its residents some respite before the expected Russian onslaught.

In the Orthodox Svyato-Pokrovsky church, around 40 people — mostly women wearing colourful headscarves — attended the service.

“It’s very hard and scary right now,” said a congregant as she arrived at the red-brick church topped with four gleaming domes.

One young mother, Nadia, said she refused to be evacuated for fear of travelling alone with her two children and leaving her relatives in Kramatorsk.

“We don’t go to the basement each time there’s a (bomb) siren. It’s too stressful for them (the children),” she said. 

“We have our spot in the basement just in case, but we prefer to stay in the house if possible. We dim the lights.”

And in Kharkiv, the city’s metro stations are now home to residents of the eastern metropolis fearful of the battle raging above.

Those impromptu living spaces have become host to makeshift stages, where poets and puppeteers work to lift spirits.

“A person cannot live only with war,” Serhiy Zhadan — a literary celebrity in poetry-obsessed Ukraine — said.

“It is very important for them to hear a word, to be able to sing along, to be able to express a certain emotion.”

– ‘Catastrophe’ –

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk has urged Russian forces to let people flee besieged Mariupol, saying that humanitarian corridors allowing civilians to escape would not open on Sunday after failing to agree terms with Moscow forces.

But Lugansk governor Gaiday said he had proceeded with evacuations.

“At our own peril and risk, we took out several dozen people anyway, but it’s already dangerous,” he told Ukrainian media.

The UN World Food Programme says that more than 100,000 civilians in Mariupol are on the verge of famine and lack water and heating.

And Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov said the city was on “the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe”, saying there was compiling evidence of alleged Russian atrocities there.

“We will hand everything over to The Hague. There will be no impunity.”

The mayor of Bucha — a town near Kyiv where the discovery of dead civilians sparked international condemnation and war crimes accusations — said Russian troops had raped men as well as women and children there.

Zelensky said he had invited his French counterpart to visit Ukraine to see for himself evidence that Russian forces have committed “genocide” — a term President Emmanuel Macron has avoided.

“I talked to him yesterday,” Zelensky told CNN in an interview recorded on Friday but broadcast Sunday.

“I just told him I want him to understand that this is not war, but nothing other than genocide. I invited him to come when he will have the opportunity. He’ll come and see, and I’m sure he will understand.”

Zelensky, describing the situation in Mariupol as “inhuman”, has called on the West to immediately provide heavy weapons.

But Russia has warned the United States this week of “unpredictable consequences” if it sent its “most sensitive” weapons systems to Ukraine.

Its defence ministry claimed Saturday to have shot down a Ukrainian transport plane in the Odessa region, carrying weapons supplied by Western nations.

On Sunday, spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Russian missiles had destroyed ammunition, fuel and lubricant depots in eastern Ukraine and 44 Ukrainian military facilities, including command posts.

Russian air defence systems shot down two Ukrainian MiG-29 aircraft in the Kharkiv region and a drone near the city of Pavlograd, he added.

burs-oho/mtp

A cruise ship docked in Sydney Harbour on Monday for the first time in more than two years, after a 2020 ban sparked by a mass Covid-19 outbreak was lifted.

On a bright morning, the Pacific Explorer made a dramatic entrance, flanked by tugboats spraying plumes of water and with a large banner that read “We’re home” draped across its bow.

Crowds gathered at the base of the Sydney Harbour Bridge to watch the arrival of the ship, which began its 18,000-kilometre (11,000-mile) journey back to Australia nearly a month ago.

International cruise ships were banned from Australian waters in March 2020 after a Covid-19 outbreak that spread from the Ruby Princess ship, which was linked to hundreds of cases of the virus and 28 deaths, many in aged care homes.

The Pacific Explorer and two other cruise ships owned by P&O were moored off the coast of Cyprus for much of the past year waiting for Australia to lift its ban — a reprieve delayed by successive waves of Covid-19.

Bookings for P&O’s Australian cruises are now close to pre-pandemic levels, spokesperson Lyndsey Gordon told AFP.

“We now see the prospect of near normal summer cruise season for 22-23.”

Before the pandemic, some 350 cruise ships travelled to Australia carrying more than 600,000 passengers — making the industry worth Aus$5.2 billion (US$3.8 billion) to the national economy, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.

China’s economy grew 4.8 percent in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday, warning of “significant challenges” ahead as a resurgence of the coronavirus threatens Beijing’s ambitious annual target.

The world’s second-biggest economy was already losing steam in the latter half of last year with a property slump and regulatory crackdowns.

But Beijing’s unrelenting zero-Covid approach to outbreaks in multiple cities this year has clogged supply chains and locked down tens of millions of people — including in the economic dynamos of Shanghai and Shenzhen as well as the northeastern grain basket of Jilin.

China’s gross domestic product growth was 4.8 percent on-year in the first quarter, said the NBS on Monday, a figure that beat analysts’ expectations and up on 4.0 percent in the final months of 2021.

But the data does not entirely take in the gnawing impact of the lockdown in Shanghai, which has left millions stuck at home for several weeks.

Virus restrictions hitting key cities in March also gouged at retail sales, driving up the unemployment rate.

It ups the ante on officials to meet the country’s full-year growth target of around 5.5 percent, in a pivotal political period for President Xi Jinping who is eyeing another term in power at the Party Congress to be held later this year.

“With the domestic and international environment becoming increasingly complicated and uncertain, economic development is facing significant difficulties and challenges,” said NBS spokesman Fu Linghui on Monday.

While China saw an uptick in manufacturing growth earlier this year — with a shot in the arm from spending during the Lunar New Year holiday — curbs on movement struck several parts of the country during March, disrupting businesses and keeping consumers at home.

Industrial production growth eased to 5.0 percent in March, NBS data showed, down from the January-February period.

Meanwhile, retail sales sank 3.5 percent and the urban unemployment rate ticked up to 5.8 percent last month.

“March activity data suggests that China’s economy slowed, especially in household consumption,” Tommy Wu, lead China economist at Oxford Economics, said in a note.

China’s central government is trying to balance “minimising disruption against controlling the latest wave of Covid infections”, he added, but warned of a drag on economic activity into May, if not longer.

Last week, carmakers including XPeng and Volkswagen warned of severe disruptions to supply chains and possibly even a halt on production completely if the lockdown on Shanghai’s 25 million inhabitants persisted.

Major cities struck by Covid outbreaks include southern tech powerhouse Shenzhen, which went into full lockdown for almost a week in March, although it has since been reopened.

On Monday, Shanghai reported its first Covid deaths since the start of its lockdown — all elderly patients — on top of over 22,000 new positive cases.

Shanghai on Monday said three people had died from Covid-19, the first official announcement of deaths from an outbreak which has plunged the megacity into a weeks-long lockdown, sparking widespread anger and rare protests.

Since March, a patchwork of restrictions has kept most of the city’s 25 million residents confined to their homes or compounds, with daily caseloads regularly edging over 25,000.

On Monday city officials revealed the first deaths — all elderly people with underlying conditions. 

They “deteriorated into severe cases after going into hospital, and died after all efforts to revive them proved ineffective,” the city said on an official social media account.

The statement said two of the dead were women aged 89 and 91, while the third was a 91-year-old man. 

The municipal health commission confirmed the deaths.

The eastern business hub posted 22,248 new domestic cases on Monday, according to the municipal health commission.

While relatively low compared to other global outbreaks, the figures extend the pattern of recent weeks which has seen the city log tens of thousands of daily cases, most of which are asymptomatic.

In response, authorities have doubled down on Beijing’s longstanding zero-tolerance approach to the virus, vowing to persist with onerous curbs on movement and isolating anyone who tests positive — even if they show no signs of illness.

Residents in Shanghai — one of China’s wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities — have chafed under the restrictions, with many complaining of food shortages, spartan quarantine conditions and heavy-handed enforcement.

Social media users ripped into authorities for the filmed killing of a pet corgi by a health worker and a now-softened policy of separating infected children from their virus-free parents.

In a rare glimpse into the discontent, videos posted online last week showed some residents scuffling with hazmat-suited police ordering them to surrender their homes to patients.

Other footage and audio clips have indicated increasing desperation, including some showing people bursting through barricades demanding food.

Despite the blowback, China, where the coronavirus was first detected in late 2019, is sticking to its tried-and-tested zero-Covid policy of mass testing, travel restrictions and targeted lockdowns.

But the world’s most populous nation has recently struggled to contain outbreaks in multiple regions, largely driven by the fast-spreading Omicron variant.

The country last reported new Covid-19 deaths on March 19 — two people in the northeastern rust belt province of Jilin — the first such deaths in more than a year.

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

– Russia seeking to ‘destroy’ Donbas: Zelensky –

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia is seeking to destroy the eastern region of Donbas and promises to defend it, starting with the besieged port city of Mariupol. 

“Russian troops are preparing for an offensive operation in the east of our country in the near future. They want to literally finish off and destroy Donbas,” Zelensky says in an evening statement.

– Mariupol will ‘fight to the end’ – 

Ukraine’s prime minister Denys Shmyhal tells ABC’s “This Week” that Mariupol “has not fallen” — adding the encircled forces defending the city from Russian attack will “fight to the end”. 

– Civilian evacuation paused –

Ukraine says it is pausing the evacuation of civilians from the east of the country for a day because of a failure to agree terms with Russian forces.

“As of this morning, April 17, we have not been able to agree with the occupiers on a ceasefire on the evacuation routes. That is why, unfortunately, we are not opening humanitarian corridors today,” Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk states.

– Military plant hit: Russia –

Russia’s defence ministry says it has struck a military plant outside Kyiv, as Moscow intensifies its attacks on the Ukrainian capital.

“During the night, high-precision, air-launched missiles destroyed an ammunitions factory near the settlement of Brovary, Kyiv region,” the ministry says in a statement on Telegram.

– Macron invited to see evidence of ‘genocide’ in Ukraine –

Zelensky says he has invited his French counterpart to visit Ukraine to see for himself evidence that Russian forces have committed “genocide” — a term President Emmanuel Macron has avoided.

“I talked to him yesterday,” Zelensky tells CNN.

“I just told him I want him to understand that this is not war, but nothing other than genocide. I invited him to come when he will have the opportunity. He’ll come and see, and I’m sure he will understand.”

– Five killed in Kharkiv –

A series of strikes in Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the country has left at least five dead and 13 injured, a regional health official tells AFP.

– Pope urges peace during ‘Easter of war’ –

Pope Francis calls for peace in Ukraine during this “Easter of war” as he delivers the traditional Easter Sunday Urbi et Orbi address on St Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

“May there be peace for war-torn Ukraine, so sorely tried by the violence and destruction of the cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” the pontiff says.

– ‘Useless’ talking to Putin: Draghi –

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi complains in a newspaper interview that Western diplomatic efforts to persuade Vladimir Putin to halt the war in Ukraine have so far led nowhere. 

“I am beginning to think that those people are right when they say ‘It is useless to talk to him, it’s just a waste of time’,” Draghi tells the daily Il Corriere della Sera, adding Putin’s goal appears to be “to annihilate the Ukrainian resistance, occupy the country and entrust it to a friendly government”.

– Sanctions and reprisals –

As tit-for-tat sanctions escalate, Russia bans entry to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and several of his senior ministers.

The Kremlin also steps up a crackdown on dissent at home, adding nine prominent Kremlin critics and journalists to its growing list of “foreign agents”.

– No homes to return to: UN –

Many of the nearly five million people who have fled Ukraine will not have homes to return to, the United Nations warns.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, says 4,836,445 Ukrainians have left the country since the Russian invasion on February 24.

The two remaining contenders in the French presidential race return to the fray Monday after a brief Easter pause in campaigning and ahead of a high-stakes televised debate.

President Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen both have low-key meetings Monday, pacing themselves until Wednesday’s face-off, which could turn out to be the key to the campaign.

Last time around in 2017, when the same two candidates faced off at this stage of the campaign, most observers think Macron came off best. He won the election comfortably a few days later.

This time however, Le Pen insists she is better prepared. “In my head, I’m ready to exercise power,” she told TF1 television Sunday night.

Macron was equally confident in his comments to TF1.

“I think I have a winning plan that deserves to be known and I have the feeling that on the far-right side, there is a plan that deserves to be clarified,” he said.

The latest opinion polls still suggest Macron has the edge, giving him scores of between 53 and 55.5 percent to Le Pen’s 44.5 to 47 percent.

But allowing for margins of error, Macron knows there is no room for complacency ahead of next Sunday’s second-round vote.

– ‘Reassure everybody’ –

Le Pen, too, knows what is at stake. 

“I’ve read so much nonsense about my plans over the last few days, so many caricatures — even fake news — that it’s extremely important I can get a moment with all the French people who are interested… so as to be able to reassure everybody,” she said Saturday.

Le Pen has worked hard to present a more moderate face to voters, stressing her plans to tackle rising living costs rather than her usual topics of immigration and Islam.

On Sunday, her team was keen to play down her proposed ban on the Islamic headscarf in public places, which she has said will be punished with fines by the police. This was no longer her priority in the fight against extremism, they said.

They have also hit back at a report that the European Union’s anti-corruption body OLAF had accused her and senior colleagues of having embezzled more than 600,000 euros ($650,000) of EU funding during their time as euro-deputies.

Her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, expressed suspicion at the timing of the release of the story, first revealed by the investigative website Mediapart on Saturday.

– ‘Russian roulette’ –

On Monday, Le Pen will head to Normandy in the north of France on what she is calling her “mission to convince”, before stepping back from campaigning to prepare for the debate.

Macron meanwhile has radio and television interviews lined up.

A string of leading politicians on the left and the right eliminated in the first-round of the election have thrown their weight behind Macron.

But the results of a survey Sunday carried out by Jean-Luc Melenchon, the third-placed radical-left presidential candidate, will give Macron food for thought.

Melenchon garnered 7.7 million votes in the first round: nearly 22 percent of the total. Of his 215,292 supporters surveyed however, only a third intended to back Macron in the second round.

The rest preferred to return a blank or spoiled ballot paper — or just not vote at all.

Melenchon himself, rather than explicitly endorsing Macron, has simply called for “not a single vote for Le Pen”.

Christophe Castaner, the leader of Macron’s Republic on the Move (LREM) group in parliament, played down the significance of the survey.

But he also warned: “Not to choose, is to accept you are playing Russian roulette.”

Mexican electricity reforms at the center of diplomatic tensions with the United States faced a major test as opposing lawmakers prepared Sunday to vote on the proposed constitutional amendment.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wants to strengthen the state-owned electricity provider and roll back the effects of liberalization under previous governments that he says favored private companies.

But his plans have alarmed the United States and Canada, prompting warnings that Mexico is in danger of violating its trade commitments by favoring state-run entities heavily dependent on fossil fuels.

Members of the lower house of Congress began a marathon debate on the contentious reform bill on Sunday morning, with a vote expected by the early hours of Monday.

Lopez Obrador lacks the two-thirds majority in the Chamber of Deputies needed to amend the constitution, putting him in danger of a high-profile political setback.

The president of the lower house, Sergio Gutierrez Luna, accused the opposition of wanting to remain “imperialist lackeys” at the service of foreign companies.

But Jorge Romero of the conservative National Action Party argued that the bill would put the country “back 50 years” in efforts to protect the environment.

Lopez Obrador’s Morena party and its allies only have 277 seats out of a total of 500 in the Chamber of Deputies, and the opposition bloc has said it will vote against the bill.

“It would represent a big defeat for Morena and Lopez Obrador because it is one of the central axes of their project to nationalize energy,” Jose Antonio Crespo, a political analyst at the Center for Research and Teaching in Economics, told AFP.

The United States has warned that Mexico’s reforms risk bringing “endless litigation” that would impede investment and undermine joint efforts to fight climate change.

Canada and Spain are also concerned about the consequences for their energy companies that have invested in Mexico.

The changes would ensure that the state-owned Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) has at least 54 percent of the electricity market — a move the government says is needed to prevent soaring power prices.

A defeat for the constitutional reform bill does not, however, necessarily mean the end of Lopez Obrador’s electricity industry changes.

Mexico’s Supreme Court this month endorsed a reform aimed at strengthening the CFE that was approved by Congress in 2021 but has become bogged down in legal challenges.