Nottingham Guardian - News, news and current reports from politics, business, sport, features and finance in: German, English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and French

Ukraine’s campaign against Russian oil infrastructure has developed into a direct assault on one of Moscow’s most important economic arteries. The focus is not on symbolic targets but on the nodes through which a large share of Russian crude exports is loaded and shipped. Pressure on the Baltic outlets of Primorsk and Ust-Luga is especially significant because they handle a major part of seaborne exports. Add the after-effects of the disruption around Novorossiysk, interruptions in the Druzhba corridor on Ukrainian territory, and growing pressure on tankers linked to Russia’s shadow fleet, and the picture becomes larger than a handful of dramatic fires. What is under attack is the export chain itself: storage, loading, routing, maritime dispatch and ultimately cash flow.Current estimates indicate that roughly 40 percent of Russia’s oil export capacity has at times been disrupted or temporarily knocked offline. That amounts to around 2 million barrels per day that failed to reach the market as planned or had to be rerouted with delay and higher cost. For the Kremlin, this matters because oil is not merely a commodity; it remains one of the pillars of federal revenue. When terminals go down, ships queue, cargoes must be reassigned and transport risks rise, the economic impact widens even if part of the volume is later recovered. The strikes therefore hit the area where Russia, despite sanctions, price caps and alternative shipping arrangements, has tried hardest to preserve hard-currency income.What makes the Ukrainian approach notable is that it is designed less for one-off spectacle than for repeated operational disruption. Every hit on port infrastructure, pumping systems, storage tanks or loading chains can create bottlenecks far beyond the point of impact. A delay of only a few days can alter tanker rotations, export schedules, settlement timing and production planning. The fact that one facility may resume operations relatively quickly does not remove the vulnerability exposed by the pattern. Moscow is being forced to reshuffle volumes, test alternative routes and absorb added risk at nearly every step of the process. That is a structural problem for an export model that depends heavily on a limited set of maritime hubs.

Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes was sent to the exit after two-thirds of an inning while other pitchers and new technology created a historic Thursday of Major League Baseball season openers.

Italy will face Bosnia and Herzegovina for a place at the 2026 World Cup after beating Northern Ireland 2-0 on Thursday, as Wales and the Republic of Ireland suffered agonising penalty shootout defeats in their qualifying play-off semi-finals.

Gennaro Gattuso said Thursday that Italy still have a mountain to climb with Bosnia and Herzegovina standing between the Azzurri and the World Cup finals.

Goalkeeper Matej Kovar saved two penalties in a shootout to take the Czech Republic past Ireland in their World Cup 2026 qualification play-off in Prague on Thursday.

Wales' World Cup dream was ended by defeat on penalties as Bosnia and Herzegovina set up a play-off final against Italy after coming from behind in Cardiff.

Kylian Mbappe moved to within one goal of equalling France's all-time scoring record with the opener in a 2-1 win over Brazil as two of the leading World Cup contenders faced off in a glamour friendly in the United States on Thursday.

Italy's bid to end a 12-year World Cup absence will continue after beating Northern Ireland 2-0 on Thursday to reach the play-off final.

An oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico affecting hundreds of kilometers of coastline was caused by "illegal dumping" from a ship and exacerbated by seepage from natural sources, Mexican authorities said Thursday.

Viktor Gyokeres scored a hat-trick as Sweden brushed Ukraine aside 3-1 on Thursday to set up a showdown with Poland for a spot at the 2026 World Cup.

OpenAI has put plans for a sexually explicit chatbot on hold indefinitely, the company said Thursday, amid mounting concerns about the societal and reputational risks of releasing such a product.

Ilia Malinin pulled off a stunning short programme on Thursday, a month after his Winter Olympics collapse, to boost his hopes of a third consecutive world figure skating title as Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin won pairs gold.

Jurgen Klopp believes Mohamed Salah will leave Liverpool as one of the "all-time greats", with his "unmatched numbers" likely to prove tough to top for future generations at Anfield.

World number two Jannik Sinner cruised into the ATP and WTA Miami Open semi-finals on Thursday while American fourth seed Coco Gauff powered her way to the women's final.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday pushed back his deadline for strikes on Iran's energy assets to April 6, saying it was at Tehran's request and that talks were "going very well."

South Africa said Thursday it has been excluded from the G7 summit in France in June, after initially being invited, with Pretoria first blaming US pressure on Paris before later backtracking.

Oil prices jumped and equities slid Thursday as hopes for a peace deal between the United States and Iran wavered, with US President Donald Trump threatening to "obliterate" the country even as he claimed negotiations to end the conflict were ongoing.

England manager Thomas Tuchel says he has been "a degree unfair" on Trent Alexander-Arnold after excluding the Real Madrid right-back despite naming a 35-man squad for friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.

New Zealand's Lydia Ko fired a 12-under par 60 to seize a one-stroke lead over South Korea's Kim Hyo-joo in Thursday's first round of the LPGA Ford Championship.

Arctic sea ice reached its lowest level ever recorded, statistically tying last year's record, a leading US climate observatory for this geopolitically significant region said on Thursday.

The Oscars will leave Hollywood after celebrating their centenary, organizers said Thursday, as they announced a long-term deal to hold the gala in downtown Los Angeles.

US President Donald Trump denied Thursday he was desperate for a deal to end the Middle East war, insisting that Tehran was keen to come to the table despite the Islamic republic's cool response to an American peace plan.

Nigeria's Lagos state has taken out a $7.5 million flood insurance policy to cover millions of people, the Insurance Development Forum said Thursday, as the country's economic capital faces rising sea levels and floods linked to climate change.

Peruvian presidential hopefuls are touting cash bounties for killing criminals and jungle prisons encircled by Amazonian vipers as they look to tap widespread public anger over rising violence ahead of the April 12 election.

Turkey kept their hopes of a first World Cup appearance since 2002 alive as Ferdi Kadioglu scored a second-half winner in a 1-0 victory over Romania in their play-off semi-final on Thursday.

Jannik Sinner dominated Frances Tiafoe for a 6-2, 6-2 victory on Thursday to reach the semi-finals of the ATP and WTA Miami Open.

The United States launched a broadside at the hamstrung World Trade Organization as its main gathering opened Thursday, while China rushed to the WTO's defence, making the case for rules-based global trade.

Ghanaians in the streets of the capital Accra were full of pride -- and already looking toward future "justice" -- Thursday after the United Nations recognised the transatlantic slave trade as "the gravest crime against humanity."

San Diego FC's billionaire owner Mohamed Mansour on Thursday said his Egyptian compatriot Mohamed Salah would be an "asset," as speculation builds over the Liverpool forward's next club.

For the first time more than half of Parmesan cheese was exported, as Italy's population declines and consumers watch their spending, producers said Thursday.

Business leaders are warning that the United States lacks the infrastructure to alleviate a global LNG shortage caused by the US-Israel war on Iran, which has kept a fifth of the world's energy supplies from leaving the Gulf.

US President Donald Trump denied being "desperate" to make a deal with Iran Thursday, as he mixed threats with diplomacy in a push to wrap up his war in the Middle East.