Bono sings ‘Stand By Me’ at Kyiv bomb shelter

PTI, May 9, 2022, 8:26 AM IST

U2 frontman Bono performed in a Kyiv subway station that serves as a bomb shelter on Sunday, showing his support for Ukrainians trying to fend off the Russian invasion.

The Irish singer has tweeted that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “invited us to perform in Kyiv as a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and so that’s what we’ve come to do”.

Bono, alongside guitarist the Edge, sang the Ben E King song “Stand By Me” in the Khreschatyk metro station. He was joined by another singer in Ukrainian military fatigues.

He also visited Bucha, a town outside Kyiv where hundreds of bodies were found after Russian troops withdrew last month. The town is considered a possible war crimes site.

___ Rome: Italian Premier Mario Draghi told fellow G-7 leaders during a meeting via video call that a sixth package of sanctions must go forward against Russia.

His office shared details of the call in a Sunday evening statement. Draghi’s office says he told other world leaders “at the same time, we must make every effort to help reach as soon as possible a cease-fire and to give new thrust to peace negotiations.

He also pressed for continued commitment by the G-7 grouping to help poor countries at risk of a food crisis. Exports of grain from Ukraine and Russia cover much of the needs of other nations, especially in Africa. The war is threatening Ukraine’s grain production, and the fighting in and around Black Sea ports makes food shipments impossible.

The premier’s office says the G-7 leaders reiterated their committment to diversify energy sources to reduce dependent on Russian supplies. Italy, heavily dependent on Russian natural gas when the war began, has since secured several agreements for alternative gas supplies from other countries. But Hungary’s objections last week to proposed sanctions on Russian oil have complicated European Union efforts.

Washington: The United States has announced new sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

The penalties include cutting off Western advertising from Russia’s three biggest television stations, banning US accounting and consulting firms from providing services to any Russian and more restrictions on Russia’s industrial sector. Those additional restrictions included cutting off Moscow from wood products, industrial engines, boilers, bulldozers and more.

The US also says the Group of Seven leading industrialised powers have committed to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil. The US announced its own ban on Russian oil and energy products in March but the US had few Russian energy imports compared to Europe.

The new round of sanctions will hit three of Russia’s most popular television stations – Channel One Russia, Russia-1 and NTV — which the US says have been forefront of spreading misinformation about Russia invasion of Ukraine.

The US says it has imposed some 2,600 visa restrictions on Russian and Belarusian officials and issued a new visa restriction policy that applies to Russian military officials and authorities suspected of human rights abuses or corruption.

The US also sanctioned 27 executives from Gazprombank, a bank that facilitates sales by Russia’s energy giant Gazprom.