World News Roundup: Russian newspaper blames army death toll report on hackers; China searches for victims, flight recorders after first plane crash in 12 years and more

Amid the devastation caused by Russia's unceasing bombardment of Ukrainian cities, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy highlighted the death of a 96-year-old survivor of Nazi concentration camps, killed in his flat by shelling in Kharkiv. Kremlin accuses U.S. of state-level 'banditry', denies cyber attack plans The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected U.S. warnings that it may be preparing to conduct cyber attacks in response to Western sanctions, and said it did not engage in "banditry".

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Russian newspaper blames army death toll report on hackers

A Russian newspaper has accused hackers of planting fake news on its website after a report briefly appeared there saying nearly 10,000 Russian soldiers had been killed in Ukraine. The incident marked the second apparent breach within a week of the tightly controlled war narrative that the Kremlin promotes through loyal Russian media.

China searches for victims, flight recorders after first plane crash in 12 years

Rescuers combed heavily forested mountain slopes in southern China on Tuesday, using shovels and torches in their hunt for victims and flight recorders from a China Eastern Airlines jet that crashed with 132 people on board. About 600 soldiers, firefighters and police marched to the crash site, a patch of about 1 sq km in a location hemmed in by mountains on three sides, after excavators cleared a path, state television said.

Biden says Putin could use chemical, biological weapons in Ukraine

Ukraine's military warned the public on Tuesday of more indiscriminate Russian shelling from bogged-down Russian troops, and U.S. President Joe Biden issued his strongest warning yet that Russia is considering using chemical weapons. Amid the devastation caused by Russia's unceasing bombardment of Ukrainian cities, President Volodymyr Zelensky highlighted the death of a 96-year-old survivor of Nazi concentration camps, killed in his flat by shelling in Kharkiv.

Kremlin accuses U.S. of state-level 'banditry', denies cyber attack plans

The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected U.S. warnings that it may be preparing to conduct cyber attacks in response to Western sanctions, and said it did not engage in "banditry". U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday told businesses to do more to protect themselves against possible cyber attacks by Russia, warning there was "evolving intelligence" that Moscow was exploring options on that front.

Spain's truckers strike expands, prompting food shortages

Three Spanish truckers unions on Tuesday dismissed a government aid package and joined a spontaneous one-week strike against rising fuel prices that is likely to aggravate a shortage of food products in supermarkets across the country. The three truckers unions opted to join the strike after they decided a 500 million euro ($550.45 million) government support package offered on Monday was vague and not enough to compensate for the soaring price of diesel.

Japan protests Russian halt to World War Two peace treaty talks

Japan reacted angrily on Tuesday after Russia withdrew from peace treaty talks with Japan and froze joint economic projects related to the disputed Kuril islands because of Japanese sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia and Japan have not formally ended World War Two hostilities because of their standoff over islands, seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War Two, just off Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido.

Ukraine appeals to Russia over plight of devastated Mariupol

Ukraine appealed to Russia on Tuesday to allow humanitarian supplies into Mariupol and to let desperate civilians out of the besieged city which President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said had been devastated by Russian bombardments. Mariupol, a port city on the Azov Sea that was home to 400,000 people before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, has been under siege for weeks. City officials say it has no food, medicine, power or running water.

Russia sentences Kremlin critic Navalny to nine years in prison -court

A Russian court on Tuesday sentenced jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to nine years in prison on fraud charges, in a ruling that will keep President Vladimir Putin's most prominent opponent out of active politics for years ahead. Navalny, who was also found guilty of contempt of court, is already serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence at a prison camp east of Moscow for parole violations related to charges he says were trumped up to thwart his political ambitions.

Shanghai's local COVID cases hit daily record as Jilin outbreak persists

China's financial hub Shanghai on Tuesday reported a fifth consecutive daily record for locally transmitted COVID-19 asymptomatic cases as the highly infectious Omicron variant complicates efforts to stop the virus from spreading. Although small compared with the number of infections in many outbreaks overseas, the rise is significant as Shanghai redoubles its efforts to implement China's "dynamic clearance" policy designed to curb each flare-up.

Canada's Trudeau strikes deal to keep Liberals in power till 2025-source

Canada's ruling Liberal Party and opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) political parties have reached a tentative agreement that would see the NDP support Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government to keep it in power until 2025, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. The deal would see the left-leaning NDP back the centre-left Liberals in confidence votes, including the next four budgets, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp reported late on Monday.

(With inputs from agencies.)