No time to waste with aid, U.S. defense secretary says - The ...

Alleged Russian sting operation uncovers ‘The Sims 3,’ guns, grenadeRussian governor says ammunition depot possibly on fire in Belgorod areaRetropolis: Putin’s crackdown on dissent recalls brutal Soviet-era repressionRussia accused of ‘gas blackmailing’ after suspending delivery to Poland, BulgariaA shelter in Ukraine saved hundreds of cats and dogs — and a lion The latest on key battlegrounds: Putin agrees ‘in principle’ to Mariupol evacuationsU.S. monitoring blasts reported in Moldova breakaway region bordering UkraineVideo: Mariupol workers clear rubble as fight continues at steel plantPutin agrees to U.N. help in evacuations from Mariupol’s Azovstal plantFires burn in Siberia, but Russian firefighting assets are in Ukraine Wimbledon official defends decision to ban players from Russia, BelarusGermany aims to find an alternative to Russian oil ‘within days’Putin calls suspension of Russian Olympic gold medalist ‘absurd’Ukrainians hold Chernobyl vigil on anniversary of disaster Cold War-era missiles are going to Ukraine. Alleged Russian sting operation uncovers ‘The Sims 3,’ guns, grenadeRussian governor says ammunition depot possibly on fire in Belgorod areaRetropolis: Putin’s crackdown on dissent recalls brutal Soviet-era repressionRussia accused of ‘gas blackmailing’ after suspending delivery to Poland, BulgariaA shelter in Ukraine saved hundreds of cats and dogs — and a lion The latest on key battlegrounds: Putin agrees ‘in principle’ to Mariupol evacuationsU.S. monitoring blasts reported in Moldova breakaway region bordering UkraineVideo: Mariupol workers clear rubble as fight continues at steel plantPutin agrees to U.N. help in evacuations from Mariupol’s Azovstal plantFires burn in Siberia, but Russian firefighting assets are in Ukraine Wimbledon official defends decision to ban players from Russia, BelarusGermany aims to find an alternative to Russian oil ‘within days’Putin calls suspension of Russian Olympic gold medalist ‘absurd’Ukrainians hold Chernobyl vigil on anniversary of disaster Cold War-era missiles are going to Ukraine. Her students denounced her to the authorities, and she was fired under a new law banning “false information about the military.” The Gen episode is one of at least four known cases of teachers criticizing the war and being fired or prosecuted after their students complained about them to their parents or the authorities.Russia will suspend the delivery of natural gas to Poland and Bulgaria this week, energy officials in the two countries said Tuesday, announcing a significant escalation in the economic tension between Moscow and the West over the war in Ukraine.Russia’s state-controlled gas company, Gazprom, informed Poland and Bulgaria — both NATO and European Union members — that it would halt deliveries beginning Wednesday, the first such disruptions since Russian President Vladimir Putin said “unfriendly countries” would have to pay for natural gas in rubles instead of other currencies. A Russian missile also struck a bridge in the nearby Odessa region of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian authorities.Hannah Knowles contributed to this report.The United States is monitoring events in the Eastern European country of Moldova, the Pentagon said Tuesday, after the breakaway region of Transnistria bordering Ukraine said explosions over the past two days hit a radio center and a security headquarters.The reports of explosions could stoke fears about the scope of Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine, and prompted Moldova’s president to convene a meeting of the country’s security council as she vowed to prevent an escalation.Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking in Germany, said the United States is examining the cause of the explosions and is “not really sure of what’s that all about.”“Certainly,” he said, “we don’t want to see any spillover. All we’ve worked for,” said resident Nina Serbak.Russian forces continued to attack the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works, where Ukrainian fighters remain holed up, according to Ukrainian presidential aide Oleksiv Arestovych on Monday.Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed “in principle” for the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to participate in the evacuation of civilians from the Azovstal iron and steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, the United Nations said in a statement Tuesday following his meeting with U.N. Secretary General António Guterres.During the rare encounter between the Russian and U.N. leaders at the Kremlin, Putin said he had given the order to not conduct additional assault operations at the plant, where the last defenders of the besieged city are sheltering along with civilians.