![China accuses U.S. of "creating panic" over Ukraine crisis and dismisses sanctions against Russia as ineffective](https://cbsnews3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2022/02/04/f6461ba8-a1b5-4e5e-b34a-035f3a759f8f/thumbnail/1200x630/f233ac8b1672274bf3efcc59bcbff268/putin-xi-ap22035309764994.jpg)
China accuses U.S. of "creating panic" over Ukraine crisis and dismisses sanctions against Russia as ineffective
CBSN
Beijing — China on Wednesday accused the United States of "raising tensions" and "creating panic" over the Ukraine crisis, shortly after Washington announced new sanctions against Moscow and said it would continue to supply weapons to help bolster Ukraine's defenses against a potential Russian invasion.
Beijing has trod a cautious line on Ukraine as Moscow has massed thousands of troops along the neighboring nation's borders. China criticized the West for imposing more sanctions after Russia ordered troops into two breakaway Ukrainian regions that Moscow now recognizes as independent.
President Joe Biden earlier stressed that the penalties were only a "first tranche," adding that more sanctions would come if Russian President Vladimir Putin extended his country's military grip beyond the two territories in the eastern Donbas region.
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Sydney, Australia — A shark bit and killed a 17-year-old girl swimming off an eastern Australian island on Monday, officials said, in the country's third reported fatal attack in just over five weeks. Paramedics rushed to Woorim Beach in Queensland to treat the teenager, who had sustained serious injuries to her upper body, an ambulance service spokesperson said.
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Tel Aviv — American-Israeli dual national Keith Siegel was among three hostages released by militants in the war-torn Gaza Strip on Saturday, more than 15 months after they were taken captive by Hamas. Siegel was freed in Gaza City about two hours after Israelis Yarden Bibas and Ofer Calderon were released in the southern city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military confirmed Siegel's transfer from militants to Red Cross personnel.
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Six Americans who had been detained in Venezuela in recent months were freed by the government of President Nicolás Maduro after he met Friday with a Trump administration official tasked with urging the authoritarian leader to take back deported migrants who have committed crimes in the United States.