NEWSLETTER
Thursday / September 29Sep 29
Friday / February 25
Putin's war
Ukraine's armed forces fought Russian invaders from three sides on Thursday as Moscow launched a land, sea and air offensive in its biggest attack on a European state since WWII.
Explosions and gunfire were heard throughout the morning in the capital Kyiv of Ukraine, a city of 3 million, after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war in a televised speech before dawn.
While Russia collapsed Ukraine's military and civilian infrastructure with intense air strikes and bombardments, according to the UN, 100 thousand people were displaced. The Ukrainian government announced that dozens of people were killed.
As U.S. President Joe Biden seeks to hit Russia with sanctions on banks and state-owned businesses, he announced measures that hinder Russia's ability to do business with major currencies, the dollar, euro, pound and yen.
Biden has described Russian President Vladimir Putin as an aggressor and having a false dream of recreating the Soviet Union.
But amid disagreements between the United States and its allies about how far to go at this point, and criticism that he should do more to address rising inflation in his own country, Biden hesitated to impose personal sanctions on Putin and remove Russia from the SWIFT international banking system, but said these remained as options.
Biden said that if Moscow continues, there is now a complete rupture in US-Russia relations and more sanctions are planned.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the Chernobyl nuclear power plant had been captured by Russian forces.
Taiwan feels threatened
Taiwan's defense ministry said it was watching the crisis closely the day Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense said eight Chinese J-16 fighters and a Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft had breached the air defense defined area northeast of the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands at the far end of the South China Sea.
Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, has complained about the regular conduct of such missions by the Chinese air force in the past two years and fears a similar Chinese attack on Russia by Russia.
US stocks
On Wall Street, the main averages closed higher on Thursday, wiping out investors' sharp declines in the early part of the session due to Russia's attack on Ukraine.
The S&P 500 rose 1.5% to 4,288.70 after falling more than 2.6% at the start of the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 92 points to 33,223.83, clearing the 859 points decline. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 3.3% to 13,473.59 after falling nearly 3.5% at one point in the session.
After the stunning market turnaround, the S&P500 remains in correction territory, more than 10% behind its record close on January 3. Blue-chip Dow is 10% behind record close. The Nasdaq is currently about 16% behind its all-time high.
Amazon, Netflix, Alphabet and Microsoft traded higher, erasing the sharp drops earlier in the day.
Ukraine's armed forces fought Russian invaders from three sides on Thursday as Moscow launched a land, sea and air offensive in its biggest attack on a European state since WWII.
Explosions and gunfire were heard throughout the morning in the capital Kyiv of Ukraine, a city of 3 million, after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war in a televised speech before dawn.
While Russia collapsed Ukraine's military and civilian infrastructure with intense air strikes and bombardments, according to the UN, 100 thousand people were displaced. The Ukrainian government announced that dozens of people were killed.
As U.S. President Joe Biden seeks to hit Russia with sanctions on banks and state-owned businesses, he announced measures that hinder Russia's ability to do business with major currencies, the dollar, euro, pound and yen.
Biden has described Russian President Vladimir Putin as an aggressor and having a false dream of recreating the Soviet Union.
But amid disagreements between the United States and its allies about how far to go at this point, and criticism that he should do more to address rising inflation in his own country, Biden hesitated to impose personal sanctions on Putin and remove Russia from the SWIFT international banking system, but said these remained as options.
Biden said that if Moscow continues, there is now a complete rupture in US-Russia relations and more sanctions are planned.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said the Chernobyl nuclear power plant had been captured by Russian forces.
Taiwan feels threatened
Taiwan's defense ministry said it was watching the crisis closely the day Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense said eight Chinese J-16 fighters and a Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft had breached the air defense defined area northeast of the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands at the far end of the South China Sea.
Taiwan, which China claims as its territory, has complained about the regular conduct of such missions by the Chinese air force in the past two years and fears a similar Chinese attack on Russia by Russia.
US stocks
On Wall Street, the main averages closed higher on Thursday, wiping out investors' sharp declines in the early part of the session due to Russia's attack on Ukraine.
The S&P 500 rose 1.5% to 4,288.70 after falling more than 2.6% at the start of the session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 92 points to 33,223.83, clearing the 859 points decline. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 3.3% to 13,473.59 after falling nearly 3.5% at one point in the session.
After the stunning market turnaround, the S&P500 remains in correction territory, more than 10% behind its record close on January 3. Blue-chip Dow is 10% behind record close. The Nasdaq is currently about 16% behind its all-time high.
Amazon, Netflix, Alphabet and Microsoft traded higher, erasing the sharp drops earlier in the day.
