(Reuters) - Ukrainian troops have been forced to withdraw from some parts of Bakhmut in the face of a renewed Russian assault on the ruined battlefield city, Britain said on Friday, with Moscow pressing to achieve a victory before Ukraine's expected counteroffensive.
RUSSIA
* Norway's security police said 15 Russian diplomats expelled this week had sought to recruit sources, conduct so-called signal intelligence and to buy advanced technology.
* Russia will conduct missile launches and torpedo tests as part of a surprise inspection of its Pacific naval fleet, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday.
* Russia's ambassador to the United States said Washington had threatened retaliation after Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained on espionage charges, and suggested it might be time to cut the number of U.S. journalists in Russia.
* China's defence minister Li Shangfu will visit Russia from April 16-19, and meet Russian military officials, the Chinese defence ministry said. U.S. officials have expressed concern China might supply arms to Russia, something Beijing has denied.
* China only wants to promote talks in Ukraine and will not do anything to add fuel to the fire, China's foreign minister, Qin Gang, said earlier.
* The FBI on Thursday arrested Jack Douglas Teixeira, a 21-year-old member of the U.S. Air National Guard, over the leaks online of classified documents that embarrassed Washington with allies around the world by revealing its spying on allies and purported Ukrainian military vulnerabilities.
ECONOMY
* Russia's economy ministry revised higher its 2023 gross domestic product (GDP) forecast on Friday to growth of 1.2% from a contraction of 0.8%, news agencies reported.
* Russian transportation group FESCO FESH.MM said it has opened a direct air route to import electronic goods from Hong Kong to Moscow as Russian businesses seek to end their reliance on Western supply chains.
* Hungary abandoned a Budapest-based Russian bank this week because U.S. sanctions had "ruined" it, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday, adding that Hungary would comply with sanctions on Russia but continue to speak out against them.
* Switzerland has made it clear that it does not want to be seen as a haven for the evasion of sanctions on Russia, and is working with the U.S. and other partners on such issues, a senior U.S. Treasury official said.
* Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said it was critically important for Ukraine to begin reconstruction this year, and said Kyiv had identified a priority funding gap for that of $14 billion.
DIPLOMACY
* U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will meet with his counterparts in Sweden and Germany next week, including hosting a Ukraine-related defense meeting with top officials from nearly 50 countries, the Pentagon said.
SPORT
Ukraine has banned its national sports teams from competing in Olympic, non-Olympic and Paralympic events that include competitors from Russia and Belarus, the sports ministry said in a decree.
(Compiled by Reuters editors)