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KYIV — Fierce fighting is raging for control of the centre of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, the longest-running and bloodiest battle of Moscow's invasion, Russian and Ukrainian forces said Monday.

Ukraine said that Russia's Wagner mercenary group, which has claimed to be leading Moscow's charge for the industrial city, was pushing forward in the city that has been the epicentre of fighting for months. 

"Wagner assault units are advancing from several directions, trying to break through our troops' defensive positions and move to the centre of the city," the Ukrainian military said in a morning briefing.

"In fierce battles, our defenders are inflicting significant losses on the enemy," it added.

Ukraine has said its strategy with the defence of Bakhmut is to degrade Russia's ability to launch any further offensive in the coming months and buy time to ready its bid to recapture ground.

Analysts are divided over the strategic significance of Bakhmut as a military prize but the city has gained important political stature, with both sides pouring significant resources into the fight.

Bakhmut municipal officials on Monday told Ukrainian media that there were still more than 4,000 people living in the town, including 33 children. 

Wagner head YevgenyPrigozhin also acknowledged that his forces were coming up against determined resistance as they sought to wrest control of the city's centre.

"The situation in Bakhmut is difficult, very difficult. The enemy is battling for every metre," Prigozhin said in a post on social media.

"The closer we are to the city centre, the more difficult the battles get and the more artillery there is... Ukrainians are throwing endless reserves [at the fight]," Prigozhin said.

Kyiv has cautioned the city's fall would give Russian forces a clear path deeper into the Donetsk region, which the Kremlin claimed to have annexed to Russia last year.

Russia has reported painstaking gains around Bakhmut in recent weeks, making progress on encircling the city, but it has not made significant territorial gains in months.

The capture of the city would provide the Kremlin with a military win to sell to its domestic audience.

NATO warned last week that Bakhmut could fall within a matter of days while Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to continue to hold the city “as long as possible”.

Zelensky on Monday published a decree posthumously awarding the highest state honour to a soldier killed by Russians after being taken prisoner near Bakhmut.

The soldier, Oleksandr Matsievsky, was videoed apparently being gunned down by Russian forces for saying “Glory to Ukraine”, in a video that went viral. 

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now more than a year old, has seen arms imports into Europe almost double in 2022, driven by massive shipments to Kyiv, which has become the world’s third-largest arms destination, researchers said Monday.

“The invasion has really caused a significant surge in demand for arms in Europe, which will have further effect and most likely will lead to increased arms imports by European states,” Pieter Wezeman, a senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told AFP.

Russia’s attack has had “devastating” consequences for children in residential institutions, with thousands transferred to occupied territories or to Russia, Human Rights Watch also said Monday.

“This brutal war has starkly shown the need to end the perils faced by children who were institutionalised,” said Bill Van Esveld, associate children’s rights director at the New York-based organisation.

At least several thousand children have been transferred to Russia or occupied territories, the report said.

NEW YORK — The US banking system has been gripped in recent days by a series of convulsions that has seen the collapse of three banks and authorities undertaking extraordinary measures to reassure depositors.

It all began Wednesday night with a liquidation announcement from the small regional Silvergate Bank, a favourite among the cryptocurrency crowd. 

The California business was swept up in several crypto mishaps, particularly the implosion of exchange platform FTX, before facing a wave of sudden withdrawals.

Later that same night, medium-sized institution Silicon Valley Bank announced it was facing a huge run of unexpected withdrawals.

SVB, a key lender to startups across the United States since the 1980s and the country’s 16th-largest bank by assets, had been hit by the tech sector slowdown as cash-hungry companies rushed to get their hands on their money.

SVB — along with other banks — was also dealing with the effects of the Federal Reserve’s policy U-turn as the US central bank has moved aggressively over the last year to counter inflation by hiking interest rates. 

Banks typically borrow money under short-term instruments while loaning using long-term vehicles.

Ordinarily, this dynamic is beneficial because interest rates on long-term instruments are higher than those on short-term bonds.

But because of the volatility unleashed by the Fed’s policy pivot, there has been an “inversion” of the bond yield curve.

Run on deposits 

The extent of SVB’s trouble emerged in a presentation last Wednesday. 

While the bank emphasiaed the strength of its balance sheet and the relatively low proportion of its loans compared to its deposits, it also announced a capital increase of $2.25 billion and revealed that after an emergency sale of a portfolio of financial securities worth $21 billion it still came out with a loss of $1.8 billion. 

The announcement spooked investors and clients, and sparked a run on deposits. 

On Thursday alone, SVB saw an estimated $42 billion of withdrawal orders.

It was not able to honour all those requests, and posted a negative cash position of nearly $1 billion by the end of the day.

On the stock market, SVB tanked by 60 per cent.

Trading was halted on Friday before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took over the bank and said it would protect insured deposits — those up to $250,000 per client.

But the FDIC’s guarantee only covered about four percent of the bank’s deposits, with most accounts well over that limit and clients left uncertain as to whether they would be able to recover their money in full. 

The biggest US banks are considered stable, in part because of strict requirements enacted after the 2008 financial crisis.

But other mid-sized and regional institutions have been pressured by worries of a similar run on deposits to that suffered by SVB. 

Shares in the New York Signature Bank, California PacWest and the Arizona-based Western Alliance all dropped 20 per cent on the day. 

Averting panic 

With SVB’s future, and billions in deposits up in the air, officials from the Fed, the FDIC and the Treasury raced to craft a solution, hoping to avert a potential financial panic before financial markets opened in Asia.

To stop one bank’s failure from spreading into a systemic banking crisis, the three federal agencies announced on Sunday that SVB depositors would have access to “all of their money” starting on Monday, March 13, and that American taxpayers will not have to foot the bill. 

The same statement revealed that Signature Bank, the 21st-largest in the country, was automatically closed on Sunday and that its customers would benefit from the same measures as those at Silicon Valley Bank.

In a potentially major development, the Fed announced it would make extra funding available to banks to help them meet the needs of depositors, which would include withdrawals. 

On Monday, President Joe Biden praised the “immediate action” by regulators while trying to offer reassurances.

“The bottom line is this: Americans can rest assured that our banking system is safe. Your deposits are safe,” Biden said.

PARIS — Thousands of tonnes of garbage have piled up on streets across the French capital after a week of strike action by dustbin collectors against government pension reforms, city hall said on Sunday.

Three incineration plants outside the capital have been hit by the work stoppages that have left entire pavements covered in black bags and overflowing bins.

The capital's household waste agency Syctom said it has been re-routing dustbin lorries to other storage and treatment sites in the region and has yet to resort to calling in the police.

City hall employees have for the last week been picking up rubbish in just half of Paris's districts. The strike has hit some of the most exclusive areas including the 5th, 6th and 16th arrondissements.

Other districts are served by private firms which have not gone on strike.

According to the hard-left CGT union, refuse collectors and drivers can currently retire from 57 years of age, but would face another two years of work under the reform plans which still grant early retirement for those who faced tough working conditions.

Life expectancy for the garbage workers is 12-17 years below the average for the country as a whole, the CGT says.

Out on the streets, 18-year-old student Christophe Mouterde told AFP the dustbin collectors were among "the first victims of this reform... often they have started work young... in a job that's more difficult than for other people in offices".

Pastry chef Romain Gaia, who works in the 2nd district where bins are not being collected, said, "It's terrible, there's rats and mice".

But he still offered support for the garbage workers despite the smelly mountains of rubbish nearby.

"They are quite right to strike," said the 36-year-old. "Normally they have no power, but if they stop work they really have [power]."

The reform's headline measure and the cornerstone policy of President Emmanuel Macron's second term in office is a hike in the general minimum retirement age to 64 from 62, seen by many as unfair to people who start working early.

KYIV — The head of Russian paramilitary group Wagner said on Saturday his fighters were near the centre of Bakhmut as a top Ukrainian commander insisted it was important to "buy time" ahead of an upcoming counteroffensive.

British intelligence said in an update the frontline in the fight for Bakhmut, the longest and bloodiest battle of Moscow's one-year invasion, had shifted — but any further Russian advance in the devastated town could be "highly challenging".

Some military experts have questioned the sense of the continued fight for Bakhmut, but Ukrainian officials say that the town's fall could lead to further Russian advances in the east.

In a video released on Saturday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of Russian mercenary group Wagner, said that his forces were close to the administrative centre of Bakhmut.

Standing on the rooftop of a high-rise building in what is said to be Bakhmut, Prigozhin is seen pointing towards a building in the distance.

"This is the building of the town administration, this is the centre of the town," he said.

"It is one kilometre and two hundred metres away," said Prigozhin, who was clad in full military gear.

Speaking as artillery boomed in the background, Prigozhin said that the most important thing now was to receive more ammunition from the army and "move forward."

Wagner has been spearheading offensives against cities in eastern Ukraine including Bakhmut. Both sides have suffered heavy losses.

Earlier this week Wagner said its fighters had captured the eastern part of Bakhmut.

‘Necessary to buy time’ 

The commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, said on Saturday the fight for Bakhmut helped win time in preparation for a future counteroffensive.

“The real heroes now are the defenders who are holding the eastern front on their shoulders, and inflicting the heaviest possible losses sparing neither themselves nor the enemy,” Syrsky was quoted as saying in a statement.

“It is necessary to buy time to build reserves and launch a counteroffensive, which is not far off.”

The military said that Syrsky was at “the most important area” of the frontline but did not provide further details.

British military intelligence said that the Bakhmutka River in the centre of Bakhmut now marked the front line.

“Ukrainian forces hold the west of the town and have demolished key bridges over the river, which runs north-south through a strip of open ground 200 metres-800 metres wide,” the British defence ministry said.

“This area has become a killing zone, likely making it highly challenging for Wagner forces attempting to continue their frontal assault westwards.”

Prigozhin, an ally of President Vladimir Putin, has been entangled in a power struggle with the defence ministry.

He has several times claimed battlefield victories ahead of Russia’s army, criticised Russia’s top brass and accused the military of not sharing ammunition with his ragtag forces.

On Saturday he said he was ready to ask Russia’s top commanders for forgiveness but at the same time appeared to mock Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

He said they were “outstanding military commanders” and added that Russia’s greatest military leaders including Georgy Zhukov and Alexander Suvorov “could have learnt” from them.

“I absolutely — totally — support all their initiatives,” Prigozhin added.

Shelling of Kherson 

The Russian army kept shelling the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, killing three people and wounding another two, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday.

“Russian terrorists are shelling Kherson again,” said Andriy Yermak, the head of Ukraine’s presidential office.

He posted a picture of firefighters next to a charred car.

Several cars were damaged as a result of the shelling.

Galyna Kolisnyk, 53, said the Russians struck when she was in a store.

“When we entered, literally five minutes later this tragedy happened,” she told AFP.

“Explosions began, our car got hit,” she said. “This is horrible.”

Kherson is the capital of one of the four regions — along with Donetsk, Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia — that Russia claims to have annexed but does not fully control.

Despite Russia’s retreat from the city of Kherson late last year, it has been regularly pounded by Moscow’s troops.

Donetsk’s separatist mayor Alexei Kulemzin said on Saturday that as a result of Ukrainian shelling two people including a young boy were killed.

ROME — More than 1,000 migrants were brought to safety at two Italian ports after the overcrowded boats they were on encountered problems in the Mediterranean, the coastguard said on Saturday.

The rescues came the same day as a body was discovered of the 74th victim of the deadly shipwreck nearly two weeks ago — that of a female child between five and six years of age, according to news agency AGI.

The February 26 shipwreck, which occurred just off the shore of Calabria, has drawn sharp criticism of the right-wing government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni for its failure to intervene timely to save the boat.

The coastguard said on Saturday it was wrapping up a large rescue operation that began Friday after three boats were spotted drifting off Italy's coasts. One was south of the Calabrian city of Crotone and two further south off Roccella Ionica.

Coastguard videos showed a large fishing boat pitching violently back and forth in nightime rough seas with dozens of people visible on the deck. Other images showed inflatable rescue boats approaching another fishing vessel packed with people.

Those 487 migrants onboard the first boat were safely brought to the port of Crotone at about 0200 GMT Saturday morning, the coastguard said.

Another rescue operation in which 500 migrants were brought to safety aboard a coastguard ship was wrapping up, it said. News agency ANSA had earlier reported that the ship had docked at the port of Reggio Calabria.

A third boat carrying 379 people was rescued by two coastguard patrol boats and the migrants transferred to a Navy ship headed to the Sicilian port of Augusta, it said.

Italy’s defence ministry said it had begun to air transfers of migrants away from the crowded migrant centre on the island of Lampedusa, which it said was now over capacity.

The recent shipwreck has put the government on the defensive. On Thursday, Meloni held a cabinet meeting at Cutro, near the disaster site, and announced a new decree that included stiffer prison sentences for human traffickers, but no new measures to help save lives.

Her far-right Brothers of Italy party, which won elections last year, had promised to curb arrivals, but Italy has recently seen a sharp rise in the number of migrants attempting to reach its shores via the dangerous Mediterranean crossing.

The interior ministry says more than 17,500 people have arrived by sea so far this year — almost three times the number for the same period last year.

TOKYO, Japan — Japanese offered tearful prayers on Saturday on the anniversary of the deadly tsunami that triggered the Fukushima disaster, but public support for nuclear power is growing as memories of the 2011 meltdown fade.

A minute’s silence was observed nationwide at 2:46pm (05:46 GMT), the precise moment when a 9.0-magnitude quake — the fourth strongest in Earth’s recorded history — devastated north-eastern Japan 12 years ago.

The undersea quake unleashed a tsunami that left around 18,500 people dead or missing and overwhelmed cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, leading to the worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl.

All of Japan’s nuclear reactors were taken offline after the disaster and the majority remain out of action today.

But the global energy crisis sparked by the war in Ukraine has caused electricity bills to soar in Japan, inspiring a government push to reboot reactors as polls show that public views on nuclear power are softening.

On Saturday, TV footage showed people who lost loved ones to the tsunami laying flowers, offering prayers and bowing in front of graves.

“Hi guys, it’s been 12 years,” public broadcaster NHK showed Fumiko Sugawara, 73, telling the grave of her family members, including her husband.

“We’re surviving, so please watch over us,” said the resident of Kesennuma, a city flattened when huge waves rushed ashore.

No deaths have been directly ascribed to the nuclear accident, after which around 165,000 people fled their homes in the area either voluntarily or under evacuation orders.

Most areas around the plant have since been declared safe after extensive decontamination work, but many former residents have chosen not to return.

With Japan now facing its most severe energy crunch in decades, the government wants to speed up the revival of its nuclear industry.

Opinion shifting 

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has called for seven reactors approved by Japan’s nuclear safety watchdog to resume operations, and for the nation to consider building “next-generation” reactors with new safety mechanisms.

Recent opinion polls by major newspapers the Asahi Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun show that a majority of people support restarting the reactors for the first time since 2011.

“The government will continue to spearhead efforts toward the safe and steadfast decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant — a process crucial to recovery,” Kishida said at the Fukushima memorial service.

“It is our responsibility to promote efforts to build a disaster-resistant country.”

Mistrust of nuclear power still runs deep among campaigners who accuse TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima plant, of safety lapses that upended local communities.

In January, Tokyo’s high court upheld the acquittal of three former TEPCO executives, again clearing them of professional negligence over the disaster.

But in a separate civil verdict last year, the trio — plus one other ex-official — were ordered to pay a whopping 13.3 trillion yen ($97 billion) for failing to prevent the accident.

The enormous compensation sum is believed to be the largest ever for a Japanese civil case, although lawyers acknowledge it is well beyond the defendants’ capacity to pay.

The government also plans to start releasing more than a million tonnes of treated water from the stricken Fukushima plant into the sea this year.

A combination of groundwater, rainwater that seeps into the area, and water used for cooling, it has been filtered to remove various radionuclides and kept in storage tanks on site, but space is running out.

The water release plan has been endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency but faces staunch resistance from local fishing communities and neighbouring countries.