Europe

PARIS (AP) — As France elects a president, Paris-based artist Vincent Aïtzegagh is going to ground, escaping to a bucolic village to avoid what for him — and millions of other left-wing French voters — is a painful, even impossible, electoral choice. For the first time in his life, the 65-year-old has decided to not vote at all in the decisive ballot this Sunday.

“I am fleeing,” he says. “Because it stinks.”

ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — New satellite images show apparent mass graves near Mariupol, where local officials accused Russia of burying up to 9,000 Ukrainian civilians to conceal the slaughter taking place in the ruined port city that’s almost entirely under Russian control.

21 April 2022; MEMO: After an eight-year legal battle, a Swiss court has recognised the statelessness of Palestinian refugees from Syria and acknowledged their right to protection. The landmark case could open the door for other Palestinians to secure basic rights as refugees that have been denied to them since their ethnic cleansing by Israel.

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/: Russian-Ukrainian talks are accompanied by Kiev’s aggressive rhetoric and the Ukrainian delegation’s stance still wiggles from side to side, the director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s second department of the CIS countries, Alexey Polishchuk, told TASS in an interview.

"At the ongoing negotiations the Ukrainian delegation’s stance is wiggling from side to side. Just as before, the negotiating process is accompanied by aggressive rhetoric in Kiev and in the West, Western arms supplies and the sending of instructors and mercenaries," he said.

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/: Russia has all necessary financial resources, there is no threat of default, Governor of the Bank of Russia Elvira Nabiullina said on Thursday.

"Russia has all necessary financial resources, there is no threat of default," she said.

According to the Russian Ministry of Finance, as of February 1, 2022, Russia's external public debt amounted to $59.5 bln, including debt on external bonded loans - $38.97 bln. In total, Russia has 15 active bonded loans with maturities from 2022 to 2047.

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/: A number of people killed in a fire at the Central Research Institute of the Aerospace Defense Forces in the Russian city of Tver climbed to seven, at least 25 sustained injuries, a source in the local emergencies service told TASS on Thursday.

"We confirm a number of seven deaths at the moment," the source said adding that the number of casualties may increase. The source stated earlier that five people were killed in the fire killed and more 25 injured.

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/: The State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, voted for appointment of Elvira Nabiullina to the office of the Chairperson of the Bank of Russia for the next tenure.

Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced the candidacy of Nabiullina to the State Duma on March 18. A special resolution was passed on the initiative of State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin for Nabiullina to present a report on Central Bank’s operations in the past year before consideration of her nomination for reappointment.

BERLIN, April 21. /TASS/: Germany cannot send heavy weapons to Ukraine from the Bundeswehr’s own supplies, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Thursday during a live broadcast by RTL and n-tv channels.

STOCKHOLM, April 21 (Reuters) - Sweden will speed up its review of security policy, which includes a view on possible NATO membership, with the result to be published in mid-May rather than at the end of that month, Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on Tuesday.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has left Sweden and neighbouring Finland - neither of which is a member of NATO - scrambling to react to a more threatening security environment.

April 21 (Reuters) - Russia on Thursday expanded an entry ban on U.S. officials to include U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris and 28 other American officials, businesspeople and journalists.

The sanctions list, published by the Russian foreign ministry, included Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Deputy Defence Secretary Kathleen Hicks and Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, among others.

"These individuals are denied entry into the Russian Federation indefinitely," the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.