Hamas’ political bureau official Bassem Naim (pictured left) told Al Jazeera that the group informed mediators that it is “not ready to discuss any further proposals” on the Gaza ceasefire as Israel keeps ignoring Hamas’ key demands – a permanent ceasefire, total withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes.
“We believe it is not about a ceasefire, it is about [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu using the negotiations as a cover to gain more time to continue his plans for the complete bombardment of the rest of the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, and to relieve international pressure,” Naim underlined.
In addition, the Hamas official urged Western countries, especially the United States, to put more pressure on Netanyahu and prevent him from endangering the entire Middle East region. NN Audio File:
Oil prices are set to end this week flat after gaining around 3% last week amid robust demand and growing supply unease.This week, these factors were tempered by the prospect of a ceasefire in the Middle East and a stronger U.S. dollar that normally puts oil traders in mind of weaker demand. Profit-taking after last week’s gains also served to dampen prices.Reuters earlier today cited data from consultancy FGE that showed onshore inventories of crude oil and fuels had fallen by 12 million barrels in the first half of the month. This was a much steeper decline than the seasonal average of some 6 million barrels for the period between 2015 and 2019.“We expect oil markets to remain tight in the short term, while geopolitical risks are also likely to create some bouts of volatility,” a Standard Chartered analyst told Bloomberg. Supply disruptions in Russia continued to apply upward pressure to prices although in the last two days this was offset by the dollar’s rally. A perception of lower U.S. gasoline demand also helped temper prices, even though inventories of the fuel booked another weekly decline, per the EIA’s latest inventory report. On the other hand, there are indications that global oil inventories are in a stronger-than-usual decline, which might deepen worry about the sufficiency of supply. Meanwhile, sentiment towards oil demand may be about to change more broadly as attendants at the CERAWeek conference raised questions about peak demand forecasts that keep diverging from reality. Aramco’s chief executive earlier this week called for an end to the rush to phase out oil and gas, substituting it with adequate investment. Vitol’s chief executive Russell Hardy said his company had pushed back its forecast for peak oil demand in light of slowing EV sales growth.
MOSCOW, March 23 (Reuters) – If Ukraine is found to be behind Friday’s attack that killed at least 93 people near Moscow there should be a clear answer on the battlefield, the RIA news agency quoted Russian lawmaker and former general Andrei Kartapolov as saying on Saturday.Russia has arrested 11 people including four suspected gunmen in connection with the shooting rampage at a concert hall near Moscow, the Kremlin said on Saturday. Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Friday that Kyiv had nothing to do with the attack.
Russia intercepted some Moscow attack suspects en route to Ukraine
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) alleged that the individuals responsible for the recent concert hall attack in Moscow were heading towards the Ukrainian border at the time of their arrest, Interfax news agency reported.
The FSB further claimed that the suspects may have had connections within Ukraine.
Ukraine already denied any involvement in the incident, which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for, although an investigation into the attack is ongoing.
Column of an oil refinery installation is on fire in the Samara region after the fall of a drone, emergency services told RIA Novosti. “Preliminarily, there are no victims, fire crews are working,” they explained.Earlier in the Kursk region, the danger of a drone attack was announced. Also, the enterprise of Starooskolsky urban district of Belgorod region was attacked by UAVs.
Senior Ukrainian officials defended Kyiv’s attacks on oil infrastructure deep within Russian territory following a report that US officials had warned against the operation because of surging oil prices and the prospect of Kremlin retaliation.Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna said refineries in Russia are legitimate targets providing resources to President Vladimir Putin’s war machine. Even as the strikes appeared to stop this week, the official was queried on the report in the Financial Times at a conference in the Ukrainian capital Friday. “We understand the calls by American partners,” Stefanishyna responded during a panel discussion at the Kyiv Security Forum. “At the same time, we fight with the capabilities, resources and practices that we have today.” Ukrainian forces attacked more than a dozen refineries inside Russia with explosive-laden drones this month, prompting the country’s daily oil refining rate to fall to the lowest weekly level in ten months. The successful attacks contrast with fighting on the front line, where the balance is shifting in Russia’s favor — though the damage to oil facilities poses a risk to world markets.US officials, who have long warned Kyiv against widespread strikes on Russian territory, told counterparts in Ukraine’s State Security Service, or SBU, and military intelligence that the attacks risk driving up the global oil price and provoking a response by Moscow on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, the FT reported, citing unidentified officials familiar with the discussion. Another official, Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said the report on the US request was “fictional” — and that Ukraine has the right to destroy Russia’s “instruments of war.”
“Nobody after two years of large-scale war can dictate conditions of waging this war to Ukraine,” Podolyak said on Dozhd TV.
After the Ukrainian attacks last week, the strikes ceased after the weekend, with Russia reporting no new refinery hits after the last one took place on Sunday. The SBU declined to comment on whether the US requested a halt to the attacks .Russia meanwhile on Friday staged the largest missile and drone barrage against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure since the start of the invasion. The attack damaged the nation’s biggest hydro power plant in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia, a crucial nerve center for power generation, particularly in the winter months. NN audio:
Digital World Acquisition Corp’s shareholders voted on Friday in favor of the company merging with former United States President Donald Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG).The merger proposal was first announced around two and a half years ago. TMTG could go public and start trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol DJT as soon as next week. Trump could gain over $3 billion from the deal. However, he won’t be able to sell his shares for the first six months. In the meantime, New York Attorney General Letitia James is preparing to potentially seize the ex-head of state’s golf course and private estate “Seven Springs.” NN: Talk about a charmed life. All his money problems are solved.
Russia and China vetoed on Friday a resolution at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), sponsored by the United States, calling for an “immediate and sustained ceasefire” in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The veto came amid accusations from Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzya, who criticized the resolution’s language and accused US officials of politicizing the issue for misleading reasons.The objective of the resolution was to protect civilians and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to over two million Palestinians affected by the conflict. The vote saw 11 members in favor, three against, and one abstention.
US envoy urges ‘immediate and sustained ceasefire’ in Gaza
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Friday that her country “wants to see an immediate and sustained ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip along with the agreement that would provide the release of all the hostages held by Hamas. Speaking before the UN Security Council (UNSC), Thomas-Greenfield pointed out that “every day without a ceasefire leads to more needless suffering.”Furthermore, the diplomat called on all UNSC members to back the resolution on Gaza, proposed by the US, that “condemns Hamas for its horrific attacks and sexual violence, that makes clear that all civilians – Israeli and Palestinians – should be able to live without fear of violence, and stresses that a ground offensive in Gaza poses a great threat to civilians.” NN: No cookie today. No piece in the valley for now.
Russia’s average daily oil refining rate fell to the lowest weekly level in ten months after a flurry of Ukrainian drone attacks hit several major facilities.Refiners processed 5.03 million barrels a day of crude from March 14 to 20, according to a person with knowledge of industry data. That’s down more than 400,000 barrels a day from the average for the first 13 days of the month, according to Bloomberg calculations based on historical data. With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in its third year, Kyiv is using drones to target its enemy’s key industry, seeking to curb fuel supplies to the front line and cut the flow of petrodollars into Kremlin coffers. The attacks this year have targeted 13 major refineries and two smaller plants, taking offline between 480,000 and 900,000 barrels a day of processing capacity, according to a Bloomberg survey.
The Dnipro hydroelectric power plant (HPP), a crucial component of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, ceased operations on Friday due to significant damage following a missile strike. Ihor Syrota, the director of Ukrhydroenergo, reported extensive damage to the plant’s turbine hall, rendering both stations of the Dnipro HPP inoperative. The incident is part of a broader series of attacks on Ukraine’s energy system, described by the Ministry of Energy as the largest in recent times.The national energy company Ukrenergo has announced emergency shutdowns in six regions, and the Ukrainian energy holding DTEK noted serious damage to thermal power plants across the country, leading to widespread power outages.
One of the two high-voltage lines supplying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with electricity, “Dneprovskaya,” went down in the morning on Friday, the plant administration announced on its Telegram channel According to the report, the power plant is now supplied with electricity by a reserve line of 330 kV and there are no safety threats.It was also noted that the radiation at the plant and the surrounding area is unchanged and is at the level corresponding to the normal operation of power units and does not exceed natural background values. Earlier, different Ukrainian media outlets reported that repeated explosions were heard in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia.
Russian strike targets Ukraine’s largest dam
A Russian strike hit the DniproHES dam in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine’s largest, on Friday, Ukraine’s state hydropower company Ukrhydroenerho said. The attack has led to a fire at the station. “There is currently a fire at the station. Emergency services and energy workers are working on the spot, dealing with the consequences of numerous airstrikes,” stated Ukrhydroenerho, which runs Ukraine’s network of dams. Despite the severe damage, there is reportedly no risk of a breach. The incident is part of what Ukraine’s Energy Minister, Herman Halushchenko, described as the largest recent attack on the nation’s energy infrastructure, aiming to cause a widespread failure of the energy system.In the western Khmelnytskyi region, a local official reported to public broadcaster Suspilne that one person was killed and more were injured due to the strikes. Additionally, the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, announced that the city’s traffic light system had been disrupted following attacks on power facilities.