Murphy beats Fan Zhengyi; O’Sullivan leads by five Judd Trump sees off Gary Wilson to reach second round Shaun Murphy clawed back a 36-point deficit in the deciding frame to secure a nail-biting 10-9 win over the Chinese qualifier Fan Zhengyi in the first round of the World Snooker Championship. The pair traded blows throughout a thrilling second session and Fan moved to the verge of victory after taking the first chance in the last – but Murphy, who won the title in 2005, drew on all his years of experience to nudge home with a superb break of 50. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/jHimX21 via IFTTT
Building of artillery positions and roads suggest fresh military efforts likely from the north, says Ukrainian president. What we know on day 1,514
Infrastructure preparations suggest Russia is again trying to involve its ally Belarus in the war, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday. The Ukrainian president made his remarks, posted on Telegram, in response to what he said was an intelligence report issued by Ukraine’s top commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi. “According to intelligence, road construction in areas leading to Ukraine and the establishment of artillery positions are going on in the Belarusian border area,” Zelenskyy wrote. “We believe that Russia will once again try to involve Belarus in its war.” He said Ukraine had issued instructions to warn the Belarusian leadership of “Ukraine’s readiness to defend its land and independence”. Zelenskyy also said intelligence showed that Russia was “attempting ... to carry out a regrouping of forces - most likely to compensate for a shortage of personnel”. “In this regard, it becomes more evident why the armed forces increased their activity on the territory of Belarus.” He did not provide further evidence. Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, one of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, allowed his territory to be used for part of Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s wartime experience in the Black Sea could help to ensure freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz. “Decisions made regarding Hormuz now will determine how other aggressive actors perceive the possibility of creating problems in other straits and on other fronts,” he said in remarks to a video conference attended by 50 countries and chaired by France and Britain. “We need to be as specific and clear as possible so that in six months we don’t find ourselves in the same situation as in Gaza, where much still needs to be done.” Zelenskyy, whose remarks appeared on the Telegram messaging app, said that in the course of four years of war with Russia, Ukraine had “already carried out a very similar mission in the Black Sea”. He said: “Russia also attempted to blockade our sea and we have experience in escorting merchant vessels, demining, defending against air attacks and the overall coordination of such operations.” Ukraine, he said, had sent specialists throughout the Middle East to help countries benefit from its experience in defending against Russian drones, many designed in Iran. “We can also contribute to maritime security,” Zelenskyy said. Ukraine has clinched security cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and says it is in talks with Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain.
A fire broke out at an oil terminal in southern Russia’s Krasnodar region, prompting a large firefighting operation, the region’s emergency operational headquarters said early on Saturday. Officials said 224 firefighters and 56 vehicles were battling the blaze at the terminal in Tikhoretsk, north-east of the region’s main town, Krasnodar. No casualties were reported and there was no indication as to what may have caused the fire. Syskyi said this week that Ukrainian forces were seeking to reduce Russia’s offensive capabilities by keeping up a high pace of strikes on military, defence-industrial and other facilities. In March, Ukraine struck 76 such targets including 15 facilities in the oil-refining industry, the top commander said.
Serbia’s Russian-owned NIS oil company has secured a 60-day sanctions waiver from the US. The waiver will allow NIS, which operates Serbia’s only oil refinery, to continue importing crude oil until the sale of the Russian majority stake to Hungary’s MOL. The previous one-month waiver expired on Friday. The US imposed sanctions on NIS in October last year as part of wider measures targeting Russia’s energy sector over the war in Ukraine, and demanded divestment of Gazprom Neft and Gazprom, its Russian majority owners. Serbian energy minister Dubravka Djedovic Handanovic called the latest move a sign of progress in the negotiations on the change of ownership between the Hungarian MOL and the Russian Gazprom Neft.
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