World

Stocks, oil prices extend losses on recession fears

19 Dec 2022

Stock markets dropped further Friday on prospects of more aggressive rises in interest rates to fight inflation, renewing concerns over the global economy entering recession next year.

After a healthy rally in recent weeks fueled by signs that price rises were slowing, the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England this week dampened the holiday cheer by hiking borrowing costs again by sizable amounts and warning of more pain.

While inflation in many leading economies has started coming down — helped by a drop in energy costs — it still remains at or near multi-decade highs.

Observers have warned that economies could be heading for a period of stagflation where prices keep rising but growth stalls.

“In a nutshell, it is all about fears over a sharper economic slowdown in 2023 than previously expected,” noted Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index trading group.

“While macro data have been weak of late, there was still hope that the downturn might be short-lived and that a recession might be avoided in some regions altogether, amid signs of inflation peaking in some regions like the US.”

The latest rate hikes came as data showed US and UK retail sales dropping in November as consumers — key drivers of growth — feel the pinch from high prices and rate hikes.

– Recession on horizon? –

Eurozone and London shares all closed firmly in the red.  

Wall Street stocks meanwhile extended losses too, with major indices ending about one percent lower.

OANDA analyst Craig Erlam said the prospect of a “Santa rally” was fading.

“Going into December, there was growing optimism that policymakers could be a source of optimism going into the new year but instead, they’ve taken on the role of grinch, bringing a swift end to the celebrations,” he added.

Earlier, Asia had also seen losses, with Tokyo closing down 1.9 percent.

On the upside, Hong Kong rose on progress in talks over allowing US officials to audit Chinese firms listed in New York, easing concerns about a possible delisting of some big names such as Alibaba and Tencent.

The news provided a little more help to Hong Kong traders, whose sentiment has been lifted also by China’s shift away from the economically damaging zero-Covid policy as well as moves to open the city further to overseas visitors.

And a report in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post said the border with mainland China would be fully reopened next month, providing another much-needed boost to the beleaguered economy.

However, the mood was soured a little by a US decision to put 36 Chinese companies including top producers of advanced computer chips on a trade blacklist, severely restricting their access to any US technology.

– Key figures around 2230 GMT –

New York – Dow: DOWN 0.9 percent at 32,920.46 (close)

New York – S&P 500: DOWN 1.1 percent at 3,852.36 (close)

New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 1.0 percent at 10,705.41 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.3 percent at 7,332.12 (closing)

Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.7 percent at 13,893.07 (closing)

Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.1 percent at 6,452.63 (closing)

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.8 percent at 3,804.02 (close)

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.9 percent at 27,527.12 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 19,450.67 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,167.86 (close)

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.4 percent at $74.29 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 2.7 percent at $79.04 per barrel

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0589 from $1.0628 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2140 from $1.2178

Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.22 pence from 87.27 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 136.68 yen from 137.78 yen

Stocks, oil prices extend losses on recession fears

17 Dec 2022

Stock markets dropped further Friday on prospects of more aggressive rises in interest rates to fight inflation, renewing concerns over the global economy entering recession next year.

After a healthy rally in recent weeks fueled by signs that price rises were slowing, the US Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England this week dampened the holiday cheer by hiking borrowing costs again by sizable amounts and warning of more pain.

While inflation in many leading economies has started coming down — helped by a drop in energy costs — it still remains at or near multi-decade highs.

Observers have warned that economies could be heading for a period of stagflation where prices keep rising but growth stalls.

“In a nutshell, it is all about fears over a sharper economic slowdown in 2023 than previously expected,” noted Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index trading group.

“While macro data have been weak of late, there was still hope that the downturn might be short-lived and that a recession might be avoided in some regions altogether, amid signs of inflation peaking in some regions like the US.”

The latest rate hikes came as data showed US and UK retail sales dropping in November as consumers — key drivers of growth — feel the pinch from high prices and rate hikes.

– Recession on horizon? –

Eurozone and London shares all closed firmly in the red.  

Wall Street stocks meanwhile extended losses too, with major indices ending about one percent lower.

OANDA analyst Craig Erlam said the prospect of a “Santa rally” was fading.

“Going into December, there was growing optimism that policymakers could be a source of optimism going into the new year but instead, they’ve taken on the role of grinch, bringing a swift end to the celebrations,” he added.

Earlier, Asia had also seen losses, with Tokyo closing down 1.9 percent.

On the upside, Hong Kong rose on progress in talks over allowing US officials to audit Chinese firms listed in New York, easing concerns about a possible delisting of some big names such as Alibaba and Tencent.

The news provided a little more help to Hong Kong traders, whose sentiment has been lifted also by China’s shift away from the economically damaging zero-Covid policy as well as moves to open the city further to overseas visitors.

And a report in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post said the border with mainland China would be fully reopened next month, providing another much-needed boost to the beleaguered economy.

However, the mood was soured a little by a US decision to put 36 Chinese companies including top producers of advanced computer chips on a trade blacklist, severely restricting their access to any US technology.

– Key figures around 2230 GMT –

New York – Dow: DOWN 0.9 percent at 32,920.46 (close)

New York – S&P 500: DOWN 1.1 percent at 3,852.36 (close)

New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 1.0 percent at 10,705.41 (close)

London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.3 percent at 7,332.12 (closing)

Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.7 percent at 13,893.07 (closing)

Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.1 percent at 6,452.63 (closing)

EURO STOXX 50: DOWN 0.8 percent at 3,804.02 (close)

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 1.9 percent at 27,527.12 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.4 percent at 19,450.67 (close)

Shanghai – Composite: FLAT at 3,167.86 (close)

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 2.4 percent at $74.29 per barrel

Brent North Sea crude: DOWN 2.7 percent at $79.04 per barrel

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0589 from $1.0628 on Thursday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2140 from $1.2178

Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.22 pence from 87.27 pence

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 136.68 yen from 137.78 yen

US to begin refilling oil reserve after huge Biden release

19 Dec 2022

The US Energy Department announced Friday a plan to add oil back to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) after a historically large release undertaken by the Biden administration.

The policy marks a significant shift after President Biden authorized the biggest-ever release earlier this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which sent oil prices to $120 a barrel.

The plan represents “an opportunity to secure a good deal for American taxpayers by repurchasing oil at a lower price than the $96 per barrel average price it was sold for, as well as to strengthen energy security,” the Department of Energy (DOE) said in a news release. 

The agency said it will buy up to three million barrels of oil under a pilot program designed to attract sellers who can lock in prices.

The SPR currently holds 382 million barrels of crude, down some 216 million barrels from its level before September 2021.

A Biden official said in October that the administration planned to purchase oil to refill the reserve as soon as prices hit around $67-72 a barrel.

Crude prices have fallen significantly from their peak levels earlier in the year. On Friday, US benchmark West Texas Intermedia dropped 2.4 percent to $74.29 a barrel.

The DOE announcement noted that gasoline prices have dropped by more than $1.80 a gallon from their June 2022 apex and now stand at the cheapest level since September 2021.

Nature at risk of 'cascading' species extinction: study

17 Dec 2022

Climate change and habitat degradation will cause extinctions that cascade through communities of animals and plants and drive dramatic biodiversity loss, according to new research published on Friday.

The study, in the journal Science Advances, found that chain-reaction extinctions are unavoidable and predicted Earth’s ecosystems will see average biodiversity loss of between six and 10 percent by 2050, depending on different carbon emissions scenarios. 

By 2100, losses of animals and plants could rise to as much as 27 percent, they found in their research that used virtual Earths to map out thousands of food webs.

The authors said their modelling suggested that the biggest changes will come before mid-century, predicting “the bleakest time for natural communities might be imminent and that the next few decades will be decisive for the future of global biodiversity”.

With life on Earth under threat from human destruction, overexploitation and pollution, scientists have warned that a million species are facing extinction in what many fear heralds the planet’s sixth mass extinction event.

Climate change is expected to dramatically accelerate the losses, with impacts of warming ranging from the effects of extreme weather, to changes in behaviour and habitat.

But authors of the new study said previous modelling has not included estimates for co-extinctions, based on the “cascading effect” of losses on interdependent species.

The researchers in Australia and Europe built hundreds of virtual Earths each populated with more than 33,000 vertebrate species in thousands of food webs across the planet –- “massive computer latticeworks of ‘who eats whom’,” said co-author Corey Bradshaw, a professor at Flinders University.

They then simulated different climate change scenarios and projections of habitat degradation — like deforestation — to predict local biodiversity loss, the proportion of animals lost in a given area.

– ‘Life support’ –

The virtual worlds allowed researchers to watch as species moved around and adapted to new environmental conditions and the implications of individual extinctions across food webs.

They found that climate change would be responsible for the greatest proportion of extinction events.

“If you look out your window in 87 years, on average you’ll see nearly 30 percent fewer animal species than you do today based on the business-as-usual climate scenario,” Bradshaw told AFP.

The study found the greatest threat was in places with the greatest biodiversity — 36 highly-vulnerable areas containing the most unique species. 

“This is because the erosion of species-rich food webs makes biological communities more susceptible to future shocks,” said Bradshaw, adding it was “a case of the rich losing their riches the fastest.” 

The research comes as a UN summit in Montreal attempts to seal a historic “peace pact with nature” and end the rampant destruction.  

Global efforts to curb global warming have often eclipsed efforts to tackle the devastation being wrought on nature, but experts have increasingly warned that the two crises are inextricably linked.  

“In many ways, biodiversity loss from climate change is far more serious than what climate change will do to human societies, because biodiversity is the very fabric of the Earth’s life-support system that makes our lives possible,” said Bradshaw.  

“The imperative of massive and rapid emissions-reduction policies is made much more urgent knowing this.”

US probing GM's autonomous driving unit after incidents

17 Dec 2022

US authorities opened a preliminary investigation into General Motors’ Cruise autonomous driving program following sudden stop incidents, according to a notice seen Friday by AFP.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reviewing two types of incidents that result in Cruise vehicles “becoming unexpected roadway obstacles,” said the notice.

Cruise began offering first-in-the-nation commercial driverless taxi service to the public in part of San Francisco in June. 

While there have been no fatalities from the incidents, the investigation comes on the heels of an ongoing NHTSA probe into Tesla’s “Autopilot” driver-assistance system.

The agency received three incident reports in which Cruise vehicles were struck by another auto from the rear following a “hard braking maneuver,” according to the notice.

The agency has also been alerted to “multiple” cases where unmanned Cruise vehicles became “immobilized,” stranding passengers in unsafe locations or becoming an impediment to others on the road.

“Immobilization may cause other road users to make abrupt or unsafe maneuvers to avoid colliding with the immobilized Cruise vehicle, by, for example, diverting into oncoming lanes of traffic or into bike lanes,” said the notice, which also cited the risk of delay to emergency response vehicles.

The review by NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation covers around 242 vehicles and aims to determine the frequency of the incidents and their safety consequences.

A Cruise statement highlighted that the service has run nearly 700,000 fully autonomous miles “in an extremely complex urban environment with zero life-threatening injuries or fatalities,” while there are more than 40,000 deaths annually on US roads, Cruise said.

“There’s always a balance between healthy regulatory scrutiny and the innovation we desperately need to save lives, which is why we’ll continue to fully cooperate with NHTSA or any regulator in achieving that shared goal,” Cruise said.

Cruise recalled 80 vehicles earlier this year to upgrade software following an incident in June in which one of its cars was hit from the rear by another vehicle after breaking sharply while making an unprotected left turn.

Two people were slightly injured, according to a report submitted to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

Pristine Colombian island in tug of war over coast guard base

19 Dec 2022

Just off Colombia’s Pacific coast lies a dot of an island that is postcard perfect: mountains, lush jungle, pristine beaches, humpback whales and other animals that find the place irresistible.

Enter the Colombian military, which is building a US-financed coast guard station on Gorgona Island, and a spat erupts — one that is challenging Colombia’s new leftist president, Gustavo Petro, to make good on promises to fight climate change and be an environmental champion.

Environmental groups filed a class action lawsuit last month asking a judge to suspend construction of the base, which the navy says will help it fight drug trafficking and other crime.

“But even better would be for Dr Petro to fulfill the promises he made as a candidate,” said Jorge Robledo, a former senator serving as spokesman for the conservation groups who filed the suit.

“If the president, who is commander in chief of the armed forces, wants to end this project he can do it in a second,” said Robledo.

He said Petro, who took office in August, has to fulfill the ambitious conservation and climate change program he campaigned on.

The navy says the coast guard base will give it a tactical advantage in fighting drug trafficking and environmental crimes like poaching.

“If the project is not carried out, the ones who come out winning are the criminals,” coast guard commander Javier Bermudez told AFP.

Gorgona — the name comes from the snake-haired gorgons of Greek mythology — is situated in a maritime corridor used to smuggle drugs northward.

Bermudez said three environmental impact studies have been done to assess the risk posed by the base.

-Fragile ecosystem –

Some say the protected nature reserve set up on and around Gorgona Island is as rich in biodiversity as the Galapagos islands off the coast of Ecuador.

Colombians know it for a darker reason, however: it used to house a prison where prisoners deemed to be the most dangerous were sent and tortured. That facility operated from the 1960s until 1984.

These days the island 60 kilometers (40 miles) off the southwestern coast of Colombia is better known for its tourists, who are lured by its coral reefs, exotic fauna and thick forests.

Felipe Guhl, a biologist at the University of the Andes, said the base construction work will surely harm the island, which is only 11 kilometers long and four kilometers wide.

He called Gorgona a fragile biological sanctuary where any kind of human intervention will hurt the coral reefs, fish and animals. 

In 2015 the government agency that grants environmental certification approved construction of the base, which will feature a 132 meter dock, a radar installation and housing for military personnel.

The project is receiving financing from the United States, which is the main partner of Colombia — the world’s top cocaine producer — in fighting drug trafficking.

The navy says that in waters near the island a variety of crimes are committed in addition to drug smuggling: contraband, illegal fishing, deforestation, poaching, sea pollution and others.

“Why build a base on the island when it could just as well be on the coast?” Guhl asked. “A 60-kilometer distance from the island to land should not make much of a distance what with the technology that we have today” when it comes to surveillance, he said.

– ‘Environmental authority’ –

Some 6,400 tourists visit the island every year, and have to make an awkward disembarkation because it has no dock at present, said Daniel Agudelo, who runs the nature parks on Gorgona and says the base project is feasible.

Commander Bermudez of the coast guard said the base is needed to fight crime.

“We cannot have protected areas made out of paper. We need the work of police to exercise that environmental authority,” he said.

But Guhl said the project must be halted because “from a biological standpoint, Gorgona Island is a treasure.” 

Musk faces backlash as Twitter suspends journalists

16 Dec 2022

Twitter owner Elon Musk drew anger and stern warnings from the UN and EU on Friday after suspending the accounts of half a dozen prominent journalists — accusing them of endangering his family.

Journalists from CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post were cut off from the platform without warning, provoking the newest controversy since Musk took over the company on October 27.

“News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying,” EU commissioner Vera Jourova posted on Twitter, warning the influential platform could face hefty fines through European laws.

“Elon Musk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon,” she added.

The spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres called it a “dangerous precedent at a time when journalists all over the world are facing censorship, physical threats and even worse.”

The latest controversy began when Musk on Wednesday suspended @elonjet, an account that tracked flights of his private jet.

Musk said the move was necessary after a car in Los Angeles carrying one of his children was followed by “a crazy stalker” and seemed to blame the tracking of his jet for the incident.

Some of the journalists had reported on the affair, including tweets linking to the suspended @elonjet account, which Musk said amounted to “assassination coordinates” against he and his family.

In a chat hosted live on Twitter, Musk provided no evidence for his claim but told some of the suspended reporters that on Twitter “everyone’s going to be treated the same… they’re not special because you’re a journalist.”

Pressed further on his allegations, Musk ended the conversation. Twitter Spaces, the feature where the chat took place, was then suspended.

Media organizations criticized the move sharply and opened the door to re-evaluating their relationship with Twitter, which has become an essential tool for journalism over the past decade.

“The impulsive and unjustified suspension of a number of reporters, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, is concerning but not surprising,” the news organization said in a tweet.

“Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who uses the platform.”

The New York Times said in a statement it also wanted answers from Twitter regarding the “questionable” suspension of journalists.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which defends the freedom of the press around the world, decried a “Kafkaesque nightmare” for journalists that depend on Twitter.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said Twitter “should immediately restore these reporters’ accounts.”

“If confirmed as retaliation for their work, this would be a serious violation of journalist’s right to report the news without fear of reprisal,” added Jodie Ginsberg, the president of the CPJ.

– Twitter exodus? –

Twitter has lurched from one controversy to the next since Musk took control after paying $44 billion, mainly by selling shares in Tesla, his successful electric car company. 

The billionaire’s talk of unfettered speech has scared off major advertisers and caught the attention of regulators.

Musk has reinstated the account of former US president Donald Trump and lashed out against the outgoing key advisor for the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Anthony Fauci, a frequent target of vitriol on right-wing media.

CNN has reported that Twitter’s former head of trust and safety fled his home after baseless attacks on Twitter content moderation, endorsed by Musk.

Meanwhile, a purge initiated by Musk at Twitter left more than half of its 7,500 employees on the sidelines and now many of them are taking the SpaceX and Tesla tycoon to court.

Musk at one point signaled he was going to war with Apple over the App Store, only to later tweet that it was a “misunderstanding.”

Market tracker Insider Intelligence forecast that Twitter will experience an exodus of users.

“There won’t be one catastrophic event that ends Twitter,” said Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg.

“Instead, users will start to leave the platform next year as they grow frustrated with technical issues and the proliferation of hateful or other unsavory content.”

Musk faces backlash as Twitter suspends journalists

16 Dec 2022

Twitter owner Elon Musk drew anger and stern warnings from the UN and EU on Friday after suspending the accounts of half a dozen prominent journalists — accusing them of endangering his family.

Journalists from CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post were cut off from the platform without warning, provoking the newest controversy since Musk took over the company on October 27.

“News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying,” EU commissioner Vera Jourova posted on Twitter, warning the influential platform could face hefty fines through European laws.

“Elon Musk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon,” she added.

The spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres called it a “dangerous precedent at a time when journalists all over the world are facing censorship, physical threats and even worse.”

The latest controversy began when Musk on Wednesday suspended @elonjet, an account that tracked flights of his private jet.

Musk said the move was necessary after a car in Los Angeles carrying one of his children was followed by “a crazy stalker” and seemed to blame the tracking of his jet for the incident.

Some of the journalists had reported on the affair, including tweets linking to the suspended @elonjet account, which Musk said amounted to “assassination coordinates” against he and his family.

In a chat hosted live on Twitter, Musk provided no evidence for his claim but told some of the suspended reporters that on Twitter “everyone’s going to be treated the same… they’re not special because you’re a journalist.”

Pressed further on his allegations, Musk ended the conversation. Twitter Spaces, the feature where the chat took place, was then suspended.

Media organizations criticized the move sharply and opened the door to re-evaluating their relationship with Twitter, which has become an essential tool for journalism over the past decade.

“The impulsive and unjustified suspension of a number of reporters, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, is concerning but not surprising,” the news organization said in a tweet.

“Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who uses the platform.”

The New York Times said in a statement it also wanted answers from Twitter regarding the “questionable” suspension of journalists.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which defends the freedom of the press around the world, decried a “Kafkaesque nightmare” for journalists that depend on Twitter.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said Twitter “should immediately restore these reporters’ accounts.”

“If confirmed as retaliation for their work, this would be a serious violation of journalist’s right to report the news without fear of reprisal,” added Jodie Ginsberg, the president of the CPJ.

– Twitter exodus? –

Twitter has lurched from one controversy to the next since Musk took control after paying $44 billion, mainly by selling shares in Tesla, his successful electric car company. 

The billionaire’s talk of unfettered speech has scared off major advertisers and caught the attention of regulators.

Musk has reinstated the account of former US president Donald Trump and lashed out against the outgoing key advisor for the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Anthony Fauci, a frequent target of vitriol on right-wing media.

CNN has reported that Twitter’s former head of trust and safety fled his home after baseless attacks on Twitter content moderation, endorsed by Musk.

Meanwhile, a purge initiated by Musk at Twitter left more than half of its 7,500 employees on the sidelines and now many of them are taking the SpaceX and Tesla tycoon to court.

Musk at one point signaled he was going to war with Apple over the App Store, only to later tweet that it was a “misunderstanding.”

Market tracker Insider Intelligence forecast that Twitter will experience an exodus of users.

“There won’t be one catastrophic event that ends Twitter,” said Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg.

“Instead, users will start to leave the platform next year as they grow frustrated with technical issues and the proliferation of hateful or other unsavory content.”

Kyiv warns of long cuts after Russian missiles batter grid

16 Dec 2022

A fresh barrage of deadly Russian strikes battered Ukraine on Friday, worsening dire conditions for Ukrainians and provoking accusations of “war crimes” from the European Union.

The strikes knocked out water and electricity services in several regions in a country already enduring near freezing temperatures.

The national energy provider warned Ukrainians it could take longer to restore electricity after dozens of Russian missiles targeted key infrastructure sites in the north, south and centre of the country.

“Priority will be given to critical infrastructure: hospitals, water supply facilities, heat supply facilities, sewage treatment plants,” Ukrenergo said in a statement Friday.

Residents of the capital wrapped in winter coats crammed into underground metro stations after air raid sirens rang out early Friday: the ninth wave of Russian aerial bombardments since October.

“I woke up, I saw a rocket in the sky,” Kyiv resident 25-year-old Lada Korovai said. “I saw it and understood that I have to go to the tube.”

“We live in this situation. It’s a war, it’s real war,” she told AFP.

The aerial onslaught is the latest brought by Russian forces to target what Moscow says are military-linked facilities. They follow a series of embarrassing battlefield defeats for Russia.

– ‘Biggest’ missile attack of invasion –

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell denounced the “indiscriminate terror” of the attacks.

“These cruel, inhumane attacks aim to increase human suffering and deprive Ukrainian people, but also hospitals, emergency services and other critical services of electricity, heating and water,” said Borrell in a statement.

“These bombings constitute war crimes and are barbaric. All those responsible shall be held accountable.”

Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, was left without electricity, its mayor said, although regional officials said they planned to have power restored by midnight.

In the central city of Kryvyi Rig, where Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky was born, the airstrikes hit a residential building.

“A 64-year-old woman and a young couple died. Their little son still remains under the rubble of the house,” the region’s governor Valentyn Reznichenko said, adding that 13 others had been wounded.

Oleksandr Starukh, head of the frontline Zaporizhzhia region, which houses Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, said they had been targeted by more than a dozen Russian missiles.

Kyiv meanwhile “withstood one of the biggest missile attacks since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Regional officials said their air-defence forces had shot down 37 out of 40 missiles.

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the water supply had been disrupted and that the metro had stopped running so people could shelter underground.

The Kyiv metro is a vital resource for the capital, which had a pre-war population of three million. It has been used as a city-wide bomb shelter since the Russian invasion.

– ‘Survive winter’ –

About half of Ukraine’s energy grid has been damaged in sustained attacks and the national provider warned Friday of emergency blackouts because of the “massive” wave of Russian attacks.

In Ukrainian-held Bakhmut — an eastern city at the epicentre of the war — some residents received wood stoves distributed by volunteers, AFP journalists said.

Bakhmut resident, 85-year-old Oleksandra was braving the cold to collect medication at a nearby pharmacy in the Donetsk region city.

“I’ll survive winter. I’ll just walk more to get warm,” the old woman told AFP. 

In the south, fresh Russian shelling in Kherson, recently recaptured by Ukraine, killed one person and wounded three more.

Kherson has been subjected to persistent Russian shelling since Moscow’s forces retreated in November and power was cut in the city earlier this week.

On Thursday, Russian attacks killed 14 people, the deputy head of the Ukrainian presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko said. 

In the Russian-controlled region of Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, Moscow-installed officials said shelling from Kyiv’s forces had killed eight and wounded 23.

– Putin to visit Belarus –

“The enemy is conducting barbaric shelling of cities and districts of the republic,” the Russian-installed leader of Lugansk Leonid Pasechnik said on social media.

Moscow has said the strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure are a response to an explosion on the Kerch bridge connecting the Russian mainland to the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

The Kremlin has said it holds Kyiv ultimately responsible for the humanitarian impact of the strikes for refusing to capitulate to Russian negotiation terms.

But Ukrainian defence officials said this week that its forces had shot down a swarm of more than a dozen Iranian-made attack drones launched at Kyiv, a sign that Western-supplied systems are having an impact.

Separately on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced he would visit Belarus next week for talks with his counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko.

Minsk said the pair would hold one-on-one talks as well as wider negotiations with their ministers on “Belarusian-Russian integration”. 

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told AFP Friday: “We have to understand that President Putin is ready to be in this war for a long time and to launch new offensives.”

Meanwhile the European Union on Friday imposed a fresh round of sanctions on Moscow, including restricting the export of drone engines to Russia or countries like Iran looking to supply Moscow weapons.

Musk faces backlash as Twitter suspends journalists

16 Dec 2022

Twitter owner Elon Musk drew anger and stern warnings from the UN and EU on Friday after suspending the accounts of half a dozen prominent journalists — accusing them of endangering his family.

Journalists from CNN, the New York Times and the Washington Post were cut off from the platform without warning, provoking the newest controversy since Musk took over the company on October 27.

“News about arbitrary suspension of journalists on Twitter is worrying,” EU commissioner Vera Jourova posted on Twitter, warning the influential platform could face hefty fines through European laws.

“Elon Musk should be aware of that. There are red lines. And sanctions, soon,” she added.

The spokesman for UN chief Antonio Guterres called it a “dangerous precedent at a time when journalists all over the world are facing censorship, physical threats and even worse.”

The latest controversy began when Musk on Wednesday suspended @elonjet, an account that tracked flights of his private jet.

Musk said the move was necessary after a car in Los Angeles carrying one of his children was followed by “a crazy stalker” and seemed to blame the tracking of his jet for the incident.

Some of the journalists had reported on the affair, including tweets linking to the suspended @elonjet account, which Musk said amounted to “assassination coordinates” against he and his family.

In a chat hosted live on Twitter, Musk provided no evidence for his claim but told some of the suspended reporters that on Twitter “everyone’s going to be treated the same… they’re not special because you’re a journalist.”

Pressed further on his allegations, Musk ended the conversation. Twitter Spaces, the feature where the chat took place, was then suspended.

Media organizations criticized the move sharply and opened the door to re-evaluating their relationship with Twitter, which has become an essential tool for journalism over the past decade.

“The impulsive and unjustified suspension of a number of reporters, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, is concerning but not surprising,” the news organization said in a tweet.

“Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who uses the platform.”

The New York Times said in a statement it also wanted answers from Twitter regarding the “questionable” suspension of journalists.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which defends the freedom of the press around the world, decried a “Kakaesque nightmare” for journalists that depend on Twitter.

Musk’s tenure as boss of Twitter has been “a disaster for the right to information”, RSF said.

– Twitter exodus? –

Twitter has lurched from one controversy to the next since Musk took control after paying $44 billion, mainly by selling shares in Tesla, his successful electric car company. 

The billionaire’s talk of unfettered speech has scared off major advertisers and caught the attention of regulators.

Musk has reinstated the account of former US president Donald Trump and lashed out against the outgoing key advisor for the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic, Anthony Fauci, a frequent target of vitriol on right-wing media.

CNN has reported that Twitter’s former head of trust and safety fled his home after baseless attacks on Twitter content moderation, endorsed by Musk.

Meanwhile, a purge initiated by Musk at Twitter left more than half of its 7,500 employees on the sidelines and now many of them are taking the SpaceX and Tesla tycoon to court.

Musk at one point signaled he was going to war with Apple over the App Store, only to later tweet that it was a “misunderstanding.”

Market tracker Insider Intelligence forecast that Twitter will experience an exodus of users.

“There won’t be one catastrophic event that ends Twitter,” said Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmine Enberg.

“Instead, users will start to leave the platform next year as they grow frustrated with technical issues and the proliferation of hateful or other unsavory content.”

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