Reuters World News - From Russia with(out) love

Episode Date: February 14, 2023

Love in a time of war - how dating has been hit by Russia's conflict in Ukraine. How old is too old to be president? We’re in Cameroon to find out why not everyone is celebrating the president’s 90th birthday. Bakhmut is under heavy fire again after Russia launched its spring offensive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Ukraine, the city of Bakhmut is under heavy artillery fire. It's a huge assault, spearheaded by a private military force with close ties to Vladimir Putin. The last week has seen intense fighting around the city. Capturing Bakhmut is a prime objective for the Russian president, giving Moscow a new foothold in the Dynetsk region. Here's NATO Secretary-General, Ian Stoltenberg. I think the reality is that we have seen this.

start already. Because we see what Russia does now, President Putin do now, is to send in thousands of thousands of more troops accepting a very high rate of casualty. It's Tuesday, February 14th, Valentine's Day. While the fighting continues on the ground in Ukraine, later we'll take you to Russia, where war and conscription have upended dating life and romance. At first, he was feeling really scared, I guess, and that's why. That's why he moved for a few months to Turkey. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes. I'm Kim Vinal in London.

The impacts of the war are also being felt today in the tiny country of Moldova, which neighbors Ukraine. There, Russia is being accused of plotting a coup by the president, Maya Sandu. Days after the country's government resigned, Sandu says Moscow planned, Sandhu says Moscow planned to bring down Moldova's leadership, to stop it from joining the European Union and use it in the war against Ukraine. Russia has rejected the accusations. In Turkey and Syria, rescuers are starting to wind down the search for survivors, more than a week after a catastrophic earthquake.

Dramatic moments like this rescue of two teenagers on Tuesday are, less likely, as organizations like the White Helmets say the search for survivors will soon stop. The quake's known to have killed at least 37,000 people. Now the humanitarian phase, the urgency of providing shelter, psychosocial care, food, schooling, and a sense of the future for these people. That's our obligation now. United Nations Aid Chief Martin Griffith speaking in Aleppo, northern Syria. The conflict there has prevented aid from reaching key areas. President Bashar al-Assad has agreed to allow UN aid deliveries

to opposition-held areas through two border crossings from Turkey for three months. But it's unclear if they'll make it through. A source from Hayatare al-Sham, an Islamist group which controls much of Syria's northwest, told Reuters it would not let in shipments from government-held areas. I just wanted to make sure we address this from the white, House. I know there have been questions and concerns about this, but there is no, again, no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent takedowns. Well, that clears that up then.

White House Press Secretary Corrine John Pierre ruling out extraterrestrials as the source of a series of unidentified objects of a North American airspace. The military has taken out three UFOs since shooting down what it says was a giant Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina. Beijing denies that it was spying. And it's now accusing the United States of flying high-altitude balloons over its airspace without permission. The White House has denied that charge. A gunman's opened fire at Michigan State University's main campus, killing three people and injuring five, some severely. The shooter has been confirmed dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot roughly four hours after the

violence began. Our resident expert on all things business and finance, Carmel Crimmons, joins me now in the studio this morning. Hi, Carmel. Hey, Kim. Let's start with the US. We are expecting inflation data. Is this going to ease the pressure on the Fed to continue lifting interest rates? We want to see how well the Fed's inflation fighting campaign has gone. We had red-hot labor market data. So now the market wants to see how the inflation figures themselves are actually doing. So it's a key focus for the market this week. In fact, probably the key focus. And then over in Japan, Kazio Oweida officially nominated as the next governor of the Bank of Japan. What should we expect from him? That's right. He told reporters today he'd do his best. He certainly got a challenge ahead of him.

We had GDP figures out today and it showed that the Japanese economy rebounded very weekly. It's going to be very difficult to get the BOJ back on a more normal path for interest rates if the economy itself is struggling. Carmel Crimmons, thank you so much. It's Valentine's Day. And while some of you might have romantic plans, over in Russia, the dating scene has been hit by mobilization. President Vladimir Putin called up 300,000 men last year to fight in Ukraine, and tens of thousands more have left the country or are lying low. That has impacted all aspects of daily life in the country. It's also affected lonely hearts looking for love.

Alona Kostrova in Moscow sent us this special Valentine's Day voice note about what it's like to date right now. My name is Alona. I'm living in Russia, Moscow. I'm working in marketing. And I'm single about for two years, I guess. I would say that dating before was bad and now it's bad again. In Moscow, for example, there are a lot of IT guys and guys who work in the government structure and so on,

so they are like staying here and keep living here safely. There was a guy who were like supposed to meet like in the nearest future. And all of that happened around the mobilization announcement. and he disappeared for some time. I didn't write him anything. I wrote only in a month, I guess, after that. And I was asking, like, are you okay? Maybe anything happened or what?

And he told me that he's really freaking out. And he could not leave the country. That's why he didn't go outside for, like, shopping, grocery shopping or, like, even to throw out the trash. But for Alona, the mobilization has offered some relief. This guy who will talk about, he's, like, perfectly safe, and he's, like, in Moscow, and I'm glad he's okay. But in September, I met him online on Tinder, and he was keep, like, calling me from different numbers and texting me from different numbers. In a week after that, it was mobilized.

that, I guess that, shift his focus from me. But maybe there is some, you know, cross about the mobilization after all. Putin's partial mobilization hasn't just hit singles. Spare a thought for Russian newlyweds, Alexander and Vavara, from Russia without love. Alexander was working in Estonia when Vavara. got his draft summons. He decided to cancel his flight home to Russia and miss his own wedding. Alexander was able to stay in Tallinn and make the most of his Estonian permanent residency.

But what about his bride to be? Vavara couldn't get an Estonian visa. Time for Plan C. The pair flew to Georgia separately for a whistle-stop wedding in just 24 hours. Alexander told Reuters, it's just like Vegas. But now there's no honeymoon period. Alexander is back in Estonia, and Varvara is still applying to join her husband full-time. How old is too old to be president? Well, in Cameroon, President Paul Beer has just turned 90.

Some say he's too old for the job, as they watch the economy stagnate and the civil war rage on. Bait Felix is Reuters' bureau chief for West and Central Africa. He's been following the festivities organized in Cameroon for the reclusive leader's birthday. Hi, Bait. Hey there. So, do Cameroonians feel there is much to celebrate right now? Depends on who you are.

For those close to power, yes, there is, you know, you're getting resources from the state, and there is a lot to celebrate, like, people from his village that we saw yesterday night, celebrating with him when he arrived for his 90th birthday. But for a majority of the youth, of the country, There is little to celebrate. There is high unemployment. The system has been in place for 40 years and they've seen little change that they can celebrate.

90 seems very old to be president. Is he equipped to deal with the challenges that the country is facing right now? For a president, you know, at the head of a country, it's facing so many crises. You would want to see someone who is active, who is, you know, at the forefront of some of this crisis. But he is generally just absolutely. I cannot remember the last time he held a cabinet meeting.

I cannot remember the last time he addressed like a specific issue. And just he goes for months without even being seen in public. Thank you so much, Bait Felix. Thank you very much. And that's it for this edition of Reuters World News. We'll be back again tomorrow. In the meantime, you can find more trusted news at Reuters.com.