The harsh sanctions imposed on Russia and the resulting crash of the ruble have the Kremlin scrambling to keep the country's economy running. For Vladimir Putin, that means finding workarounds to the Western economic blockade even as his forces continue to invade Ukraine.

Former Treasury Department officials and sanctions experts expect Russia to try to mitigate the impact of the financial penalties by relying on energy sales and leaning on the country's reserves in gold and Chinese currency. Putin also is expected to move funds through smaller banks and accounts of elite families not covered by the sanctions, deal in cryptocurrency and rely on Russia's relationship with China.

As Russia's war in Ukraine plays out for the world on social media, big tech platforms are facing increased calls to bar Russian state media from using their platforms to spread propaganda and misinformation.

None of the U.S.-owned tech companies have responded with an outright ban of those outlets. Instead they've offered more modest changes: limiting the Kremlin's reach, labeling more of this content so that people know it originated with the Russian government, and cutting Russian state organs off from whatever ad revenue they were previously making.

A 40-mile convoy of Russian tanks and other vehicles threatened Ukraine's capital Tuesday, the sixth day of the war. But even as Russia intensified shelling of the country's second-largest city, the Kremlin has found itself increasingly isolated by tough economic sanctions that have sent its currency plummeting.

After a first, five-hour session of talks between Ukraine and Russia yielded no stop in the fighting, both sides agreed to another meeting in coming days. Ukraine's embattled president, however, said he believed the stepped-up shelling was designed to force him into concessions.

A Tokyo court will hand down a verdict Thursday in the criminal trial of Greg Kelly, an American and former executive at Japanese automaker Nissan. Kelly was charged with financial wrongdoing in under-reporting the compensation of Carlos Ghosn, his former boss and Nissan ex-chairman.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

The Swiss president says Russia's attack on Ukraine is "unacceptable" and Switzerland will adopt European Union sanctions, including asset freezes, targeting Russians – all but depriving well-heeled Russians of access to one of their favorite havens to park their money.

Ignazio Cassis told a news conference Monday that Russia's invasion was intolerable on moral and political grounds. Switzerland's government has been trying to balance its condemnation of Russia's actions with its history of neutrality and as an intermediary between opposing countries.

Mount Lebanon Prosecutor Judge Ghada Aoun on Monday interrogated Bank of Beirut chairman Salim Sfeir and Bank Audi chairman Samir Hanna over a complaint filed by an activist group.

Media reports said Aoun would also interrogate Khalil al-Bitar, who is a member of the board of directors of Bank Audi.

The United Arab Emirates campaigned hard for a seat on the U.N. Security Council in the country's international push to highlight the 50-year anniversary of its formation. But it got more than it bargained for with Russia's war on Ukraine.

The federation of sheikhdoms, home to Dubai's skyscrapers, abstained in a Security Council vote late last week condemning Moscow's invasion. The Emirates now carefully hedges its statements to avoid angering a country crucial to its economy as it tries to shake off the coronavirus pandemic.

Russia's central bank sharply raised its key rate Monday in a desperate attempt to shore up the plummeting ruble and prevent the run of banks amid crippling Western sanctions over the Russian war in Ukraine.

The bank hiked the benchmark rate to 20% from 8.5%. That followed a Western decision Sunday to freeze Russia's hard currency reserves, an unprecedented move that could have devastating consequences for the country's financial stability.

The Cabinet on Friday approved “in principle” the electricity plan devised by Energy Minister Walid Fayyad.

Lebanon has wheat reserves sufficient for one month at the most, with Ukraine accounting for up to 60 percent of the crisis-hit country's wheat market, the economy minister said on Friday.

Concerns about wheat reflect the rippling effect of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Lebanese government is in talks with other countries like the United States, India and Canada to provide wheat amid concerns of global disruption to wheat supply during the crisis, the Minister, Amin Salam, said.