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VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States accused Russia on Thursday of planning to short-circuit Ukrainian democracy by forcing the government from power and dismantling local authorities. "We have information that Russia's planning for its further invasion of Ukraine includes a forced capitulation of Ukraine's democratically elected government, including dissolving all local municipal governments in Ukraine," U.S. Ambassador Michael Carpenter said in an address to the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperating in Europe (OSCE). "New governance structures were to be set up in 'liberated' territories under Russian control," he added in the speech posted online. Without providing evidence, he said Russian officials and pro-Moscow rebels were developing a new government and new constitution. Planning included "a moratorium disallowing legitimate Ukrainian leaders and those supporting Ukraine's legitimate government from any leadership p...

  Fair Observer’s new feature FO° Insights makes sense of issues in the news. Last week, the former Agence France-Presse chief editor Florence Biedermann shared her views on the French presidential elections. The week before, former BBC Africa editor Martin Plaut explained the Tigray War in Ethiopia. This week, our founder, CEO and editor-in-chief explores why India is not lining up against Russia despite American pressure. He describes how historic ties, military equipment, geopolitical imperatives and a trust deficit between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Democrats lie behind India’s foreign policy decision. Watch or read Atul Singh make sense of it all. Atul Singh on India’s Position on the Russia-Ukraine War In this episode, we have our editor-in-chief explain the reasons behind India’s position in this conflict. Why won’t India denounce Russia?  Atul Singh : History, military equipment and the China factor explain India’s reticence on Russia.  His...

  Local authorities in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol have warned that it's vulnerable to epidemics given the appalling sanitary conditions in much of the city and the fact that maybe thousands of bodies remain uncollected. An estimated 100,000 people still live in the city, despite weeks of heavy fighting, and the absence of a centralized water supply. On Thursday, the city council said there was a risk of cholera, dysentery and Escherichia coli -- a bacterial infection that can cause severe stomach pain, bloody diarrhea and kidney failure. The council said there were intolerable living conditions that would worsen as temperatures warmed. "Already the air temperature has reached 20 degrees. So powerful and deadly epidemics could soon break out in the city -- due to the lack of centralized water supply and sanitation, the decomposition of thousands of corpses under the rubble, and a catastrophic shortage of drinking water and food." Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko said: ...

  NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that should Finland and Sweden apply to join the alliance it would be able to "find arrangements" to help the two countries during the interim period before they became formal members. When asked at a news conference about what kind of guarantees and help the alliance could give the countries before they officially joined, Stoltenberg replied: "The reality is that Finland and Sweden are already close to NATO and we work together, we operate together, we exercise together." "And as soon as we take the decision to invite them, that will send a strong political message, that the security of Finland and Sweden matters for all NATO allies," Stoltenberg added. "I am also certain that we will be able to find arrangements for that interim period between Finland and Sweden [applying] and until the formal ratification is finalized in all 30 parliaments. "I am confident that there are ways to bridge th...