INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia said its forces were ''tightening the noose& around the besieged Ukrainian port of Mariupol on Friday and concern grew over mass
civilian casualties as the United States again warned China against aiding Moscow in its invasion.Russia&s advance in Ukraine has largely
stalled, and its troops, frustrated by fierce Ukrainian resistance, have blasted residential areas to rubble
On Friday, missiles landed near Lviv, a western city where thousands have fled for refuge, Reuters reported.In Mariupol, the scene of heavy
bombardment, officials estimated 80% of the city&s homes had been damaged and that 1,000 people may still be trapped in makeshift bomb
shelters beneath a destroyed theatre.Nearly 5,000 Ukrainians were evacuated from Mariupol on Friday, officials said, and residents reported
seeing dead bodies along the roadside as they fled the city.We were careful and didn''t want the children to see the bodies, so we tried to
shield their eyes,& said Nick Osychenko, the CEO of a Mariupol TV station who fled the city with six members of his family.We were nervous
It was frightening, just frightening.Ukraine said it had rescued 130 people from the basement of a Mariupol theatre that was flattened by
Russian strikes two days ago
Russia denied hitting the theatre and says it does not target civilians.China is the one big power that has yet to condemn Russia&s assault,
and Washington fears Beijing may be considering giving Moscow financial and military support, something that both Russia and China deny,
Reuters reported.In a video call that lasted around two hours, US President Joe Biden warned China&s President Xi Jinping on Friday of
&implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia& in Ukraine, the White House said.The White House later said
that sanctioning Beijing, the world&s largest exporter, was an option, though it did not detail what constituted material support, Reuters
reported.The mayor of Mariupol confirmed to the BBC that fighting had reached the centre of the city, where some 400,000 people have been
trapped for over two weeks, sheltering from bombardment that has cut electricity, heating and water supply.Regional Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko
said around 35,000 people had managed to leave the city in recent days, many on foot or in convoys of private cars, but near-constant
shelling was preventing humanitarian aid from getting in.Jakob Kern, emergency coordinator for the crisis at the U.N
World Food Programme (WFP), said Ukraine&s &food supply chain is falling apart& with insecurity and fear of attack hindering the movement of
goods.WFP buys nearly half of its wheat from Ukraine to feed people in global crisis zones, and Kern said the war could cause &collateral
hunger& in poor countries worldwide.The post Russia ‘tightening noose& on Mariupol; Biden tells China not to fuel assault first appeared
