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Good morning for the Financial Times. Today is Monday, April 4th,

and this is your FT News Briefing. The European Union is preparing new sanctions

in response to alleged Russian atrocities in Ukraine. China's property sector has a new struggle,

keeping its accountants. Plus, French presidential elections start next week,

and Emmanuel Macron has a problem, which is that he's the incumbent, so he's no longer

this amazing new fresh blood, you know, somebody who's going to sweep away the old parties,

somebody who's going to be a revolutionary. I'm Joanna Gal, in for Mark Filipino,

and here's the news you need to start your day.

Reports of Russian atrocities in Ukraine could soon lead to new EU sanctions.

The reports are coming from towns on the outskirts of Kiev,

towns that were taken and then abandoned by Russian forces when they retreated.

Here's more from Valentina Pop, in Brussels. She's editor of our Europe Express Newsletter.

Even our reporters have reported horrendous sides of bodies, of people who seem to have been

executed basically by the Russian troops. This is the allegation, but it's confirmed by witness

accounts. There's even drone footage where you could see people trying to flee Kiev in the

first days of the occupation, and they were just shot at by Russian tanks. Human rights watch,

a human rights group that monitors abuses in more zones, has just put out a report on Sunday,

which details all sorts of atrocities, including rape and pillaging.

What kind of sanctions isn't clear yet? Options include a ban on Russian ships from EU ports,

blocking road transport and squeezing more oligarchs. Valentina says the big elephant in the room

...