https://www.laestrella.com.pa/economia/220329/ucrania-anuncia-liberacion-irpin-afueras

Ukrainian forces “liberated” the town of Irpin, on the outskirts of kyiv, Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky said in television remarks on Monday.

“The armed forces are advancing, the police are advancing, and immediately there are full sweeps in the streets… So the city has been liberated, but it is still dangerous to be there,” Monastyrsky said.

The city’s mayor, Oleksandr Markushin, had announced on Telegram on Monday that Russian troops had been expelled from this strategic location, located at the northwestern entrance to kyiv.

The main checkpoint on the road leading to Irpin was reopened on Monday following the mayor’s announcement. The post was closed for two weeks to the media following the death of an American journalist.

Despite the announcement, the fighting continued in the area and AFP journalists at the scene heard about twenty loud projectile explosions in the forest where the 6-kilometer highway passes.

Russian forces have subjected the city to heavy bombardment as they try to encircle the capital, kyiv, an offensive for now stalled.

Russian oligarch Abramovich and Ukrainian negotiators suffered possible ‘poisoning’

Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who is trying to mediate between Moscow and kyiv to end the war in Ukraine, as well as two Ukrainian negotiators, have suffered symptoms that point to possible “poisoning,” the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. .

After a meeting in the Ukrainian capital this month, the billionaire owner of the English soccer club Chelsea and at least two senior officials from the Ukrainian negotiating team “showed symptoms”, the newspaper writes, citing “people familiar with this situation”.

The symptoms described, including red and watery eyes, peeling of the face and hands, later improved “and their lives are not in danger,” adds the WSJ.

A source familiar with the matter confirmed the report to AFP, stating: “Unfortunately this happened, which was reported by the Wall Street Journal.”

The newspaper’s sources spoke of possible poisoning and suspected hardliners in Moscow who they say want to sabotage talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.

A relative of Abramovich, however, said for his part that he was not sure of the identity of those who would have targeted the group, specifies the Wall Street Journal, also stating that Western experts could not determine the cause of the symptoms.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak did not confirm the incident and advised to follow “only official information”.

“All members of the negotiating team are working normally today,” he said. “There is a lot of speculation about the information in the media and various conspiracy theories.”

The newspaper confirms in any case that the Russian oligarch, considered close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and already subject to sanctions by the European Union and the United Kingdom after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, began traveling between Moscow and Ukraine as part mediation to end the conflict.

According to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, several Russian businessmen, including Abramovich, had offered to help Ukraine.

“It was not intended to kill, it was just a warning,” Christo Grozev, a researcher at the open source collective Bellingcat, told the Journal after studying the incident.

Bellingcat tweeted that the three men who experienced symptoms “only consumed chocolate and water in the hours before symptoms appeared.”

The Wall Street Journal revealed last week that the Ukrainian president had asked his US counterpart, Joe Biden, not to sanction Abramovich, arguing that he could play a role in Ukraine-Russia peace negotiations.

And, in fact, the billionaire’s name does not appear at this time on the list of oligarchs sanctioned by Washington, expanded several times since the Russian offensive launched on February 24, the last one last Thursday.

Biden plans to raise taxes on the rich in the US and more aid for the OTA

A similar proposal was considered last year as part of negotiations on the “Build Back Better” plan, a vast environmental and social spending bill.

AFP

Washington

President Joe Biden wants to spend more next year on “fighting Russian aggression” in Ukraine and crime in the United States, according to his proposed budget released Monday, which also proposes raising taxes on the wealthiest.

The White House budget proposal for 2023 (covering the period from October 1 to September 30), a total of $5.8 trillion, details the Biden administration’s spending priorities for the coming year.

“It sends a clear message that we value fiscal responsibility, security at home and abroad, and the investments necessary to continue our equitable growth and build a better United States,” the president said when presenting the plan.

But it is only a request addressed to Congress, which ultimately holds the keys to government funds, and the package will be subject to numerous amendments in both chambers, which are narrowly controlled by Democrats and are divided into a series of topics.}

The Biden administration proposes a “minimum tax” that “would only apply to the richest 0.01% of households – those with more than 100 million dollars – and more than half of the income would come from billionaires alone”, the White House said in a statement.

“This would guarantee that in one year they pay at least 20% of their total income in income taxes,” he added.

The left wing of Biden’s Democratic Party has long called for a tax on the income of billionaires to fight inequality.