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(Reuters) - Russian lawmakers on Tuesday gave the first stamp of approval to a bill that would allow Russian entities to take over foreign companies that have left the market in opposition to Moscow's actions in Ukraine, the government's online portal showed. Scores of foreign companies have announced temporary shutdowns of stores and factories in Russia or said they were leaving for good since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24. The bill, passed in the first reading by the lower house of parliament, or Duma, would allow the state development bank VEB or other...

A Russian senator attempted to justify what he described as the Russian military's "difficulty" in Ukraine by saying that his country is fighting against one of the "strongest and best-trained armies." Frants Klintsevich, who made the remarks recently during an appearance on Russian state TV, said Ukraine has an elite military made up of "Russian soldiers and officers with exactly the same mentality as ours," according to a translation provided by a journalist with the BBC. Recent reports from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and remarks from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have indicated that Russia is losing...

President Joe Biden could lower prices at the pump for consumers if he would remove some of the barriers to oil and gas projects, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy said. "Alaska is awash in energy, but not able to capitalize on it," Dunleavy said in a news release. The governor's comments come as oil prices rose to $134 a barrel days after Biden announced a ban on Russian oil imports. Gas prices are averaging $4.33 a gallon nationwide and are higher in Alaska, where a gallon of gas costs $4.72, according to AAA. Dunleavy criticized the Biden administration for not defending...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Ukraine's two leading suppliers of neon, which produce about half the world's supply of the key ingredient for making chips, have halted their operations as Moscow has sharpened its attack on the country, threatening to raise prices and aggravate the semiconductor shortage. Some 45% to 54% of the world's semiconductor-grade neon, critical for the lasers used to make chips, comes from two Ukrainian companies, Ingas and Cryoin, according to Reuters calculations based on figures from the companies and market research firm Techcet. Global neon consumption for chip production reached about 540 metric tons last year, Techcet estimates. Both...

The glamorous foreign minister of a breakaway region of Moldova is calling on Vladimir Putin to make her country his next conquest in eastern Europe. Few may have heard of Transdniestria, the unofficial and fictitious-sounding statelet whose head of international relations is 36-year-old Nina Shtanski. However, senior Western figures are alarmed that following the annexation of Crimea it is step two in a Kremlin masterplan to redraw the frontiers of Europe. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2587559/Nato-alarm-woman-minister-urges-Putin-invade-country-Military-commander-speaks-concerns-threat-breakaway-region-near-Moldovan-border.html#ixzz2wtZKhnz8 Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook