May 25, 2022

*) Biden says 'we have to act' after Texas school shooting US President Joe Biden has delivered an urgent call for new restrictions on firearms after a gunman shot and killed at least 19 children at a Texas elementary school. Biden spoke Tuesday night from the White House barely an hour after returning from a five-day trip to Asia that was bracketed by mass shootings in the US. He pleaded for action to address gun violence after years of failure - and bitterly blamed firearm manufacturers and their supporters for blocking legislation in Washington. *) Zelenskyy: Situation in Donbass is very difficult Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said Russia is using everything at its disposal in the fight for four cities in the eastern Donbass region. "The situation in the Donbass now is very difficult," Zelenskyy said in his address to the nation. "Practically the full might of the Russian army, whatever they have left, is being thrown at the offensive there,” he said. Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian army is fighting back, but "it will take time and a lot more effort by our people to overcome their advantage in the amount of equipment and weapons." *) Russian parliament okays foreign companies bill The Russian parliament has given preliminary approval to a bill that would allow the government to appoint new management of foreign companies that pulled out of Russia after its assault on Ukraine. The new law would transfer control over companies that left Russia not for economic reasons but because of "anti-Russian sentiment in Europe and the US. State news agency T-A-S-S said foreign owners would still be able to resume operations in Russia or sell their shares. *) World Bank says no new financing for Sri Lanka without policy framework The World Bank has said it is not planning to provide any new financing to cash-strapped Sri Lanka until an adequate economic policy framework has been put in place. In a statement, the multilateral development bank said it was repurposing resources from previously approve