UN chief Guterres warns tensions between major powers at ‘historic high’
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (C) and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L) at the U.N. Security Council meeting at the U.N. headquarters in New York on April 24, 2023.
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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the world’s multilateral system is under greater strain than at any time since the formation of the United Nations in 1945 and the urgency of global challenges requires swift and bold action.
Sitting next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a U.N. meeting chaired by Russia, Guterres said, “Tensions between major powers are at an historic high, so are the risks of conflict, through misadventure or miscalculation.”
He added, “It is time to deepen cooperation and to strengthen multilateral institutions, to find common solutions to common challenges.”
— Sam Meredith
Russian forces focused on preparing for anticipated Ukrainian offensive, UK says
A residential building on Pershotravneva Street that was destroyed by an airstrike from Russian forces on April 22, 2023, in Izium, Ukraine.
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Britain’s Defense Ministry said in its latest intelligence update that Russia’s average daily casualty rate was estimated to have fallen by around 30% through April.
CNBC has not been able to independently verify the figures. The estimate comes after what the ministry described as “exceptionally heavily” Russian casualties over the period from January to the March.
“Figures released by the Ukrainian General Staff suggest a reduction from a daily average of 776 Russian casualties in March, to an average of 568 so far in April. Defence Intelligence cannot verify Ukraine’s exact methodology, but the general trend is likely accurate,” Britain’s Defense Ministry said in a statement via Twitter.
“Russia’s losses have highly likely reduced as their attempted winter offensive has failed to achieve…
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