Connect with us

News

Russian missiles bombard cities across Ukraine | CNN

Published

on

Russian missiles bombard cities across Ukraine | CNN


Kyiv, Ukraine
CNN
 — 

Russia launched a barrage of missile strikes at Ukrainian cities on Monday because it ramped up its assaults on infrastructure services throughout the nation.

Explosions and air raid sirens have been heard in Kyiv early on Monday and 80% of residents have been left with out water – with many dropping electrical energy, too – following energy outages brought on by Russian strikes, the capital’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, mentioned on Telegram.

One of many strikes hit an power facility that powered 350,000 residences within the capital, Klitschko mentioned, including that emergency providers have been trying to revive energy and “stabilize the scenario as quickly as attainable.”

Assaults on essential infrastructure within the central areas of Cherkasy and Kirovohrad, the japanese area of Kharkiv, and the southern area of Zaphorizhzhia have been additionally reported.

Advertisement

The wave of strikes comes after Russia accused Ukraine of attacking town of Sevastopol in Crimea over the weekend. Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014 and has managed the territory since then.

Klitschko urged residents of the capital to fill up on water from retailers and pumping stations after an assault on a close-by energy facility.

“At present, because of harm to the power facility close to Kyiv, 80% of the capital’s shoppers stay with out water provide,” he mentioned on Telegram. “Simply in case, we ask you to fill up on water from the closest pumps and factors of sale. Specialists are doing all the things attainable to return water to the residences of Kyiv residents.”

He later mentioned the availability can be returned to the east financial institution of the capital, and a part of the west financial institution, inside hours. He added that energy to the Desnianskyi district had been “partially restored.”

Advertisement

The water provide in Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second-largest metropolis – was additionally affected after an infrastructure facility was hit, whereas most subway prepare providers have been halted, mayor Ihor Terekhov mentioned on Telegram.

“The blow fell on a essential infrastructure facility, ensuing within the subway and floor electrical transport being de-energized,” he mentioned. “In the intervening time, we now have managed to launch the Kholodnohirsko-Zavodska (subway) line, and we now have changed trolleybuses and trams with buses.”

Terekhov mentioned engineers have been “doing all the things attainable to renew water provide to the houses of Kharkiv residents as quickly as attainable.”

Two missiles hit Kharkiv on Monday morning, the mayor had beforehand mentioned on Telegram.

And within the central metropolis of Kryvyi Rih, one missile hit an industrial enterprise, mayor Oleksandr Vilkul mentioned on Telegram.

Advertisement

“In the course of the morning missile assault, two missiles have been shot down (because of the Air Protection Forces), and one cruise missile hit an industrial enterprise,” he mentioned. There have been no casualties reported.

Monday’s strikes hit 10 areas and broken 18 services, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal mentioned on Telegram.

“Their goal was not army services, however civilian essential infrastructure,” Shmyhal mentioned. “Missiles and drones hit 10 areas, the place 18 services have been broken, most of them energy-related.”

He mentioned “a whole bunch of settlements in seven areas” had misplaced energy and engineers have been “working at full capability” to restore the harm.

Ukraine’s air drive mentioned Russia had launched greater than 50 cruise missiles into Ukraine on Monday, and mentioned it had intercepted 44 of them.

Advertisement

“At 7:00 a.m. on October 31, the Russian occupiers launched a number of waves of missile assaults on essential infrastructure services in Ukraine,” the Air Power Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine mentioned.

“Greater than 50 X-101/X-555 cruise missiles have been launched from the Tu-95/Tu-160 strategic aviation missile-carrying plane north of the Caspian Sea and the Volgodonsk area (Rostov area). 44 cruise missiles have been destroyed” by the Ukrainian army, the air drive assertion added.

A minimum of 10 Russian missiles have been shot down over Kyiv early on Monday, regional police chief Andrii Nebytov mentioned on Telegram.

“The police of the Kyiv area at the moment are discovering particles from downed rockets of the occupiers in varied areas of the area,” he mentioned. “Air protection forces shot down at the least 10 enemy missiles.”

Oleksii Kuleba, head of Kyiv area army administration, mentioned the strikes “hit essential infrastructure targets” and two individuals had been injured, one severely.

Advertisement

Moscow defended the assaults. The Russian Protection Ministry mentioned on Telegram Monday that it had focused Ukraine’s “army command and power programs.”

“The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continued strikes with high-precision, long-range air and sea-based weapons towards Ukraine’s army command and power programs,” it mentioned. “All assigned objects have been hit.”

In current weeks, Russia has launched a barrage of assaults on Ukraine’s energy and heating infrastructure.

Even earlier than Monday’s strikes, the scenario was grave. On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned that about 4 million Ukrainians had energy restrictions after assaults on power infrastructure that day.

The assault on infrastructure is all a part of a much bigger plan by President Vladimir Putin, Melinda Haring, deputy director of the Eurasia Heart on the Atlantic Council, instructed CNN final week.

Advertisement

“Putin’s sport plan is apparent: he desires to make this winter the coldest and darkest in Ukraine’s historical past,” she mentioned.

“He’ll proceed to strike infrastructure grids in order to knock out Ukraine’s energy and warmth. His kamikaze drone assaults are supposed to break the desire of the Ukrainian individuals and to spark panic.”

Monday’s assaults come after Russia suspended its participation in a United Nations-brokered grain deal seen as key to addressing the worldwide meals scarcity. Moscow introduced it was leaving the deal on Saturday, blaming Ukraine for a drone assault on Crimea. Kyiv accused Russia of inventing “fictitious terrorist assaults” and utilizing the deal as “blackmail.”

Advertisement

News

Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by quarter-point but signals slower pace of easing

Published

on

Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by quarter-point but signals slower pace of easing

Stay informed with free updates

The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point but signalled a slower pace of easing next year, sending the dollar racing higher and US stocks lower. 

The Federal Open Market Committee voted on Wednesday to reduce the federal funds rate to 4.25-4.5 per cent, its third cut in a row. The decision was not unanimous, with Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack casting a dissenting vote, with a preference for holding rates steady.

Officials’ economic projections released alongside the rate decision pointed to fewer reductions than previously forecast for 2025, underscoring policymakers’ concern that cutting borrowing costs too quickly could undermine efforts to cool price growth across the world’s biggest economy. Policymakers also lifted their projections for inflation.

Advertisement

Fed chief Jay Powell said that following Wednesday’s cut, the central bank’s policy settings were “significantly less restrictive” and could now be “more cautious” as they consider additional easing. He also characterised the December decision as a “closer call” than at previous meetings.

Inflation was moving “sideways”, Powell added, while risks to the labour market had “diminished”.

Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley said the Fed’s forecasts for 2025 were “much more hawkish than we anticipated”.

US government bonds fell in price after the Fed decision, with the policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yield rising 0.08 percentage points to 4.33 per cent. The dollar jumped 1 per cent against a basket of six peers, while Wall Street’s S&P 500 share index dropped 1 per cent.

The Fed’s goal is to apply enough pressure on consumer demand and business activity to push inflation back to the US central bank’s 2 per cent target without harming the jobs market or the economy more broadly.

Advertisement

Officials now expect to cut the benchmark rate by half a percentage point next year to 3.75-4 per cent, down from the full percentage point reduction predicted in September’s “dot plot”. Four officials pencilled in one or no additional cuts next year.

Most saw the policy rate falling to 3.25-3.5 per cent by the end of 2026, also higher than in the forecast from three months prior. 

Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.

They also raised their forecasts for inflation once food and energy prices are stripped out to 2.5 per cent and 2.2 per cent in 2025 and 2026, respectively, while they predicted the unemployment rate would steady at 4.3 per cent for the next three years.

“In considering the extent and timing of additional adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate, the committee will carefully assess incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks,” it said.

Advertisement

In a sign that the Fed is preparing to skip rate cuts at forthcoming meetings, the FOMC amended its language regarding future changes to its policy settings in its statement.

Some content could not load. Check your internet connection or browser settings.

Wednesday’s decision was not the first this year that was opposed by a Fed official, after Michelle Bowman cast a dissent to September’s half-point reduction. That was the first time a governor voted against a decision since 2005.

The quarter-point cut was widely expected by financial markets, but came amid debate among officials over how quickly inflation was retreating towards the Fed’s 2 per cent target. The core personal consumption expenditures price index, the central bank’s preferred inflation gauge that strips out food and energy prices, rose at an annual rate of 2.8 per cent in October.

The Fed kicked off a new rate-cutting cycle in September with a bumper half-point cut, but fears about the labour market have ebbed since then and the economic outlook has brightened. That healthy state of the US economy has changed the calculus for officials as they try to settle on a “neutral” rate that neither constrains growth or drives it too high.

The central bank has described recent cuts as a “recalibration” of policy that reflects its success in knocking inflation from a peak of about 7 per cent in 2022.

Advertisement

On Wednesday, Powell said the Fed was in a “new phase in the process”, suggesting that the bar for future cuts would move higher as rates approached estimates of neutral.

Fed officials raised that estimate for the neutral rate again, with a majority now pencilling it in at 3 per cent. This time last year, they gauged it was 2.5 per cent.

The Fed meeting came just weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House, having vowed to raise tariffs, deport immigrants and slash taxes and regulations. Economists recently polled by the Financial Times said the policy combination could trigger a new bout of higher inflation and hit growth.

Additional reporting by Eva Xiao in New York

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

A Peek Inside What Trump’s Presidential Library May Look Like

Published

on

A Peek Inside What Trump’s Presidential Library May Look Like
Opinion

Trump loves to slap his name on any building but does he even need a presidential library when he keeps all his valuable documents in the bathroom?

Opinion

A photo illustration of President Donald Trump.

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty
Nell Scovell

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.

Continue Reading

News

2024 Was the Most Intense Year for Tornadoes in a Decade

Published

on

2024 Was the Most Intense Year for Tornadoes in a Decade

In late April, a slow-moving storm over Texas and Oklahoma spawned an outbreak of 39 tornadoes. That event was just a fraction of the more than 400 tornadoes reported that month, the highest monthly count in 10 years. And the storms kept coming.

Through November, there were more than 1,700 tornadoes reported nationwide, preliminary data shows. At least 53 people had been killed across 17 states.

Monthly accumulated tornadoes

Not only were there more tornadoes reported, but 2024 is also on track to be one of the costliest years ever in terms of damage caused by severe storms, according to the National Center for Environmental Information. Severe weather and four tornado outbreaks from April to May in the central and southern United States alone cost $14 billion.

We will not know the final count of this year’s tornadoes until next year — the data through November does not yet include tornadoes like the rare one that touched down in Santa Cruz., Calif., on Saturday. That’s because confirming and categorizing a tornado takes time. After each reported event, researchers investigate the damage to classify the tornado strength based on 28 indicators such as the characteristics of the affected buildings and trees. Researchers rate the tornadoes using the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF) from 0 to 5.

Advertisement

But 2024 could end with not only the most tornadoes in the last decade, but one of the highest counts since data collection began in 1950. Researchers suggest that the increase may be linked to climate change, although tornadoes are influenced by many factors, so different patterns cannot be attributed to a single cause.

The year’s worst storms

In May, a mobile radar vehicle operated by researchers from the University of Illinois measured winds ranging 309 to 318 miles per hour in a subvortex of a tornado in the outskirts of Greenfield, Iowa. The event, an EF4, was among the strongest ever recorded.

NASA tracked the line of destruction of the tornado over 44 miles.

Image by Vexcel Graysky, May 28, 2024.

Advertisement

NOAA estimated the damage caused by the Greenfield tornado to be about $31 million. While most tornadoes this year were not as deadly or destructive, there were at least three more EF4 storms, described by NOAA as devastating events with winds ranging from 166 to 200 miles per hour. These violent tornadoes caused severe damage in Elkhorn-Blair, Neb., and in Love and Osage Counties in Oklahoma.

Here are the footprints of 1,644 buildings in the United States that were destroyed or severely damaged by tornadoes this year, according to data from FEMA and Vexcel, a private company that uses aerial imagery to analyze natural disasters.

While losses from tornadoes occur on a regular basis every year, extreme events such as hurricanes can also produce tornadoes with great destructive capacity. In October, more than 40 tornadoes were reported in Florida during Hurricane Milton, three of them category EF3. According to the The Southeast Regional Climate Center, EF3 tornadoes spawned by hurricanes had not occurred in Florida since 1972.

A vulnerable region

Advertisement

Tornado detection systems have improved, especially since the 1990s, allowing scientists to count tornadoes that might have gone undetected in previous years, said John Allen, a climate scientist focused on historic climatology and analysis of risk at Michigan State University. That plays a role in the historical trend showing more tornadoes in recent decades.

Change in tornado activity

Confirmed tornadoes in each county from 2002-22 compared with 1981-2001

While this year’s worst storms were concentrated in the Midwest, many counties across the South have seen an increase in tornado activity in the past 20 years, compared with the prior two decades. These same counties’ demographic conditions, including low incomes and large mobile home populations, make them especially vulnerable to major disasters.

“It only takes an EF1 to do significant damage to a home, an EF2 would throw it all over the place,” Dr. Allen said.

Advertisement

Prof. Tyler Fricker, who researches tornadoes at the University of Louisiana, Monroe, said we will inevitably see more losses in the region.

“When you combine more intense tornadoes on average with more vulnerable people on average, you get these high levels of impact — casualties or property loss,” Dr. Fricker said.

“If you have enough money, you can protect yourself,” he added. “You can build out safe rooms. You can do things. That’s not the case for the average person in the Mid-South and Southeast.”

The C.D.C. identifies communities in need of support before, during and after natural disasters through a measure called social vulnerability, which is based on indicators such as poverty, overcrowding and unemployment. Most counties in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi are both at high risk by this measure and have experienced an increase in tornadoes in the last 20 years, relative to the 1980s and 1990s.

County risk vs. change in tornado activity

Advertisement

In the states with the most tornadoes this year, most counties have better prepared infrastructure for these kinds of events.

Source: C.D.C. and NOAA

Note: Change in tornado activity compares tornado counts from 2002-22 with 1981-2001.

Stephen M. Strader of Villanova University, who has published an analysis of the social vulnerabilities in the Mid-South region and their relationship to environmental disasters, said the most vulnerable populations may face a tough year ahead. While two major hurricanes had the biggest impact on the region this year, La Niña will influence weather patterns in 2025 in ways that could cause more tornadoes specifically in the vulnerable areas in the South.

Advertisement

Although not completely definitive, NOAA studies suggest that EF2 tornadoes, which are strong enough to blow away roofs, are more likely to occur in the southeastern United States in La Niña years.

“Unfortunately, a La Niña favors bigger outbreaks in the southeast U.S.,” Dr. Strader said. “So this time next year we might be telling a different story.”

Sources and methodology

Damage costs estimates of tornado-involved storms as reported by NOAA as of Nov. 22.

Building footprints and aerial imagery are provided by Vexcel.

Advertisement

The first map shows preliminary tornado reports from January through October 2024, the latest available data from NOAA.

Historical tornado records range from 1950 to 2023 and include all EF category tornadoes as reported by NOAA. The historical activity change map counts tornadoes in each county from 1981 to 2001, and that number is subtracted from the total number of tornadoes recorded in each county from 2002 to 2022 to get the change in the most recent 20 years compared to the previous 20.

The Social Vulnerability index is based on 15 variables from the U.S. Census and is available from the C.D.C..

Continue Reading

Trending