Morning digest: Fourth phase of U.P. Assembly polls today; Biden announces sanctions against Russian oligarchs and banks, and more

A select list of stories to read before you start your day

Said to be a Bharatiya Janata Party stronghold, 60 Assembly constituencies spread over nine districts will vote in the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls on Wednesday.

U.S. President Joe Biden ordered heavy US financial sanctions against Russian banks and oligarchs on Tuesday, stepping up the West’s confrontation with Moscow, even as Russian lawmakers authorised President Vladimir Putin to use military force outside their country.

The Election Commission on Tuesday lifted restrictions on large political rallies and allowed roadshows for the remaining phases of the Uttar Pradesh and the Manipur Assembly polls.,

A committee constituted by the Union Home Ministry in December to study the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA from Nagaland, slated to submit a report within 45-days, as claimed by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, is yet to conclude its findings.

Russia faced the prospect of harsh new Western sanctions on Tuesday after President Vladimir Putin recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine and ordered the deployment of troops there, deepening Western fears of a major war in Europe.

Mafia–don–turned politician, Atiq Ahmad, who has been a five–term MLA in Uttar Pradesh and Lok Sabha MP from Phulpur, may now be lodged in jail in Gujarat, but his shadow looms large on the poll narrative in the area in the form of a government–run bulldozer.

Most of the countries are looking for a diplomatic solution to the escalating Ukraine-Russia crisis, said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the Ministerial Forum for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, in Paris on Tuesday.