Europe

VLADIVOSTOK, April 29 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has authorized oil and oil product supplies to friendly countries under contracts signed before Feb. 1, according to a decree published on Friday.

The decree, which takes effect from Friday, amended a previous one Putin signed at the end of last year that banned Russian oil and oil product supplies to foreign entities if their contracts directly or indirectly involved a price cap imposed by Western countries.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A massive fire erupted at an oil depot in Crimea after it was hit by two of Ukraine’s drones, a Russia-appointed official there reported Saturday, the latest in a series of attacks on the annexed peninsula as Russia braces for an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of Sevastopol, a port city in Crimea, posted videos and photos of the blaze on his Telegram channel.

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III lives in a palace, travels in a chauffeur-driven Bentley and is one of Britain’s richest men, but he’s similar to many of his subjects in one very basic way: His family life is complicated — very complicated.

There’s a second wife, an embarrassing brother, and an angry son and daughter-in-law, all with allies who aren’t shy about whispering family secrets in the ears of friendly reporters.

London, Apr 28 (PTI) An Indian-origin businessman based in London has been sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months after pleading guilty to fraud by abusing the government’s COVID-19 Bounce Back Loan scheme, the UK’s Insolvency Service said on Friday.

Rajesh Dhirajlal Vaghela, 46, from Stanmore in north London, received a 25,000 pounds loan before closing his business in an effort to avoid repaying the taxpayer loan.

MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/: Moldova's leadership has effectively destroyed its language and is now chipping away at its own sovereignty, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/: Russia’s Central Bank has kept the key rate at 7.5% per annum for the fifth consecutive time, noting that it would consider the necessity of key rate hike to stabilize inflation at the targeted level of 4% at its forthcoming meetings.

BELGRADE, April 28. /TASS/: Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic has promised the Serbs that the country will not join NATO as long as he remains the head of state.

"Serbia today is one of the few countries with its own policies. It’s independent and free-thinking," Vucic said while addressing a crowd of local residents in Sokobanja on Friday. "As long as I am president, and this will [last] another four years, and as the commander-in-chief, I guarantee you that Serbia will not join NATO or any other military bloc."

MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that introduces life imprisonment for high treason and increases penalties for terrorism, according to the document published on Friday.

The bill contains a number of amendments to the Russian Criminal Code that tighten penalties for terrorism-related crimes and offenses against the constitutional order and state security. Thus, the document introduces life imprisonment for high treason (compared to the current maximum penalty of 20 years).

MINSK, April 28. /TASS/: The conflict in Ukraine is serving to revitalize the most dangerous scenarios involving a direct clash between nuclear powers, which could bring about devastating consequences, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said on Friday.

ST. PETERSBURG, April 28. /TASS/: Russia won’t isolate itself, but rather will expand relations with friendly countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the Council of Legislators on Friday.

"We are not going to isolate ourselves. On the contrary, we will expand pragmatic, equitable, mutually beneficial relations that are nothing less than partnerships with friendly countries in Eurasia, Africa, Latin America," he said.