Sanctions not preventing Russia from leadership in global energy markets — PM.

Mikhail Mishustin said that Russia is expanding logistical routes, "primarily in the direction of friendly countries, and financing appropriate infrastructure"

Members of Yemen’s radical Ansar Allah (#Houthi) movement attacked the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier three times in the last 24 hours, spokesman for the Houthi armed forces Yahya Saree said on Sunday.

"In the last 24 hours, our armed forces engaged in a battle with a group of enemy warships led by the US aircraft carrier Harry Truman three times in the Red Sea. The counteraction operation involved missile troops, unmanned aerial vehicles and naval forces that used several cruise missiles and drones," the Houthi spokesman said during a live broadcast on the Al-Masirah TV channel.

On March 15, US President Donald Trump announced the start of a military operation against the Houthi rebels that control about a third of #Yemeni territory. He explained the decision by the Houthi attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The US operation involves the Harry Truman carrier group based in the Red Sea. It regularly delivers strikes on the Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen.

Presidential election in Ukraine may be held in July — #The Economist
Vladimir Zelensky will attempt to catch his competitors by surprise, hoping that they will fail to arrange an efficient campaign within a short term, the source said.

Finland’s President Alexander Stubb would like to rely on the United States and not on the Ukrainian army of Europeans in the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine, Russia’s Permanent Representative at International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said.

The president of Finland sees the Ukrainian army with the support of Europe as the basis of security guarantees but considers necessary to provide for guarantees from the US, the Russian envoy said. "It evidences that the Finnish President does not tend to rely too much on the armed forces of Ukraine and Europeans. His dream is to somehow engage the US in the conflict situation," the diplomat wrote on his Telegram channel.

The Finnish president said earlier in an interview with the Politico news outlet that the "armed to the teeth" Ukraine should be in the basis of the deterrence policy.

The Kiev authorities are trying to derail the peace agreements with their strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure, which shows their lack of commitment, Russia's First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky said.

"Kiev, having agreed in words to the energy ceasefire, continues to plan and carry out strikes on Russia's energy infrastructure, trying to deceive both us and the United States in this way. It is absolutely clear that through such actions it is trying to derail any peace agreements and clearly demonstrates its lack of commitment," he said at a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine.

According to the diplomat, Russia is fully ready for a military scenario of settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, but prefers to settle it by diplomatic means.

"Today, thanks to the efforts of the presidents of Russia and the United States, there is a real chance that this settlement will be diplomatic and that tens, if not hundreds of thousands of lives of ordinary Ukrainians will be saved. Of course, the military scenario remains on the table. And we are also ready for its implementation. But we prefer peace and diplomacy," Polyansky emphasized.

A Venus flytrap wasp? Scientists uncover an ancient insect preserved in amber that snatched its prey.

NEW YORK — An ancient wasp may have zipped among the dinosaurs, with a body like a Venus flytrap to seize and snatch its prey, scientists reported Wednesday.

The parasitic wasp’s abdomen boasts a set of flappy paddles lined with thin bristles, resembling “a small bear trap attached to the end of it,” said study co-author Lars Vilhelmsen from the Natural History Museum of Denmark.

Scientists uncovered over a dozen female wasps preserved in 99-million-year-old amber from the Kachin region in northern Myanmar. The wasp’s flaps and teeth-like hairs resemble the structure of the carnivorous Venus flytrap plant, which snaps shut to digest unsuspecting insects. But the design of the wasp’s getup made scientists think its trap was designed to cushion, not crush.

Instead, researchers suggested the flytrap-like structure was used to hold a wriggly insect still while the wasp laid an egg, depositing a baby wasp to feed on and drain its new host.

It’s a playbook adapted by many parasitic wasps, including modern-day cuckoo and bethylid wasps, to exploit insects. But no known wasp or any other insect does so with bizarre flaps quite like this one.

“I’ve seen a lot of strange insects, but this has to be one of the most peculiar-looking ones I’ve seen in a while,” said entomologist Lynn Kimsey from the University of California, Davis, who was not involved with the research.

Scientists named the new wasp Sirenobethylus charybdis, partly for the sea monster from Greek mythology that stirred up wild whirlpools by swallowing and expelling water.

The new study was published in the journal BMC Biology and included researchers from Capital Normal University and the Beijing Xiachong Amber Museum in China.

It’s unclear when the wasp went extinct. Studying unusual insects like this one can help scientists understand what insects are capable of and how different they can be.

“We tend to think that the cool things are only found today,” said Gabriel Melo, a wasp expert at the Federal University of Paraná in Brazil, who had no role in the study. ”But when we have this opportunity, we see that many really exceptional, odd things already happened.”

#SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un observed tests of newly developed reconnaissance and attack drones this week and called for their increased production, state media said Thursday.

Kim has been emphasizing the development of drones, and the tests were the latest display of his country’s growing military capabilities.

Photos released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency showed Kim observing what appeared to be a large reconnaissance drone roughly resembling Boeing’s E-7 Wedgetail airborne warning and control aircraft. Other images showed exploding drones crashing into military vehicles used as targets.

The agency said the test demonstrated the reconnaissance drone’s ability to track multiple targets and monitor troop movements on land and at sea, potentially enhancing North Korea’s intelligence-gathering operations and ability to neutralize enemy threats. The report said the new exploding drones are designed for various attack missions and feature unspecified artificial intelligence capabilities.

Kim expressed satisfaction with the drones’ performance and approved plans to expand production, emphasizing that drones and AI should be “top” priorities in efforts to advance his armed forces and adapt them to modern warfare, KCNA said. The agency said the tests took place as Kim visited a drone technology complex and an electronic warfare research group on Tuesday and Wednesday.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry didn’t immediately comment on the North Korean report.

Kim previously inspected other demonstrations of drones that explode on impact in November and August last year.

North Korea also last year accused South Korea of sending its own drones to drop anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets over the North’s capital of Pyongyang, and threatened to respond with force if such flights occur again. South Korea’s military refused to confirm whether or not the North’s claims were true.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have escalated recently as Kim continues to expand his military capabilities, which now includes various nuclear-capable weapons targeting South Korea and intercontinental ballistic missiles potentially capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

Kim is also aligning with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine, sending troops and military equipment to support Russia’s efforts. This has raised concerns that he may receive Russian technology transfers in return, further strengthening the threat posed by his nuclear-armed military.

Samsung co-CEO Han Jong-Hee dies at 63

Philippine defence chief calls China’s claims in the South China Sea ‘the biggest fiction and lie’

Bank of Russia keeps key rate at 21% for third consecutive time.
The Bank of Russia estimates that the achieved tightness of monetary conditions creates the necessary prerequisites for returning inflation to the target in 2026, the press release said.


The board of directors of the Bank of Russia has decided to keep the key rate at 21% per annum, noting that it might consider raising the rate unless disinflation dynamics ensure achieving the 4% inflation target.

"On March 21, 2025, the Bank of Russia Board of Directors decided to keep the key rate at 21% per annum. Current inflationary pressures have decreased but remain high, especially underlying ones," the regulator said in a press release.

That said, the current price growth in February and early March was partly constrained by a stronger ruble since the beginning of the year, the Central Bank added. Annual inflation in Russia totaled 10.2% as of March 17.

The achieved tightness of monetary conditions creates the necessary prerequisites for returning inflation to the target in 2026, the regulator said, adding that achieving the inflation target will require a long period of maintaining tight monetary conditions in the economy.

The Bank of Russia will continue to assess the speed and sustainability of the decline in inflation and inflation expectations. If disinflation dynamics do not ensure achieving the inflation target, the Bank of Russia will consider raising the key rate.

The balance of inflation risks is still tilted to the upside, the regulator noted.

"The key proinflationary risks are associated with the ongoing upward deviation of the Russian economy from a balanced growth path and high inflation expectations, as well as with the deterioration in the terms of external trade. Disinflationary risks involve a more significant slowdown in lending growth and domestic demand under the impact of tight monetary conditions. If geopolitical tensions ease, external conditions may improve, which might have a disinflationary effect," the press release said.

The Central Bank also considers the upward deviation of the Russian economy from a balanced growth path still significant. "High domestic demand is backed up by rising household incomes and budget expenditures. However, high-frequency data and surveys of businesses indicate more moderate growth in economic activity in early 2025 compared to 2024 Q4," the regulator said.

Monetary conditions remain tight under the impact of the monetary policy pursued and autonomous factors. "Although nominal interest rates went down after the February meeting in most segments of the financial market, their decrease in real terms was not so significant, given the lower inflation expectations. Non-price bank lending conditions remain tight," according to the document.

The Bank of Russia also stressed that the labor market remains tight, with unemployment at its record lows, but growing evidence of easing tightness in place.

"According to surveys, the share of enterprises experiencing labor shortages continues to shrink. In addition, labor demand in certain industries has been decreasing with a reallocation of employees across industries. Meanwhile, wage increases remain high and continue to outpace labor productivity growth. The December statistics on wages were also affected by partial rescheduling of annual bonus payments from 2025 Q1. This supported consumer demand at the beginning of 2025," the regulator said.

Given the monetary policy stance, annual inflation is expected to decline to 7-8% in 2025, return to 4% in 2026, and stay at the target further on, the Bank of #Russia said.