Bloomberg News announced Friday it was suspending the work of its journalists in Russia and CNN said it will stop broadcasting in the country.

The moves by Bloomberg and CNN come after Russian lawmakers passed legislation that criminalizes independent reporting.

"We have with great regret decided to temporarily suspend our news gathering inside

Civilians will start being evacuated from the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol Saturday, city officials said, after surrounding Russian forces announced a ceasefire to allow its population to leave.

Mariupol, a southern city of about 450,000 people on the Azov Sea, will begin evacuations at 0900 GMT, city hall announced on social media in a message

Italy said Friday that it seized the yacht of a Russian oligarch who is seen as close to President Vladimir Putin and is subject to EU sanctions.

"Italy's police has just seized 'Lady M Yacht', a 65 million euros ($70 million) vessel belonging to Alexey Alexandrovits Mordaschov located in Imperia (Liguria) — in compliance with the recent EU sa

The U.S. and Russian armed forces have set up a direct phone line to reduce the risks of "miscalculation" amid the war in Ukraine, the Pentagon said Friday.

The "deconfliction line" between U.S. European Command and the Russian Ministry of Defense was established earlier this week, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.

"I don't have any information