Russia is more united than ever, Putin tells allies after failed mutiny

President also told leaders from China, Pakistan and India that Russia would stand up to western sanctions

Vladimir Putin has said that Russia remains “united as never before” in the wake of the failed mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group and claimed the country continued to flourish in the face of heavy western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine.

In an address from the Kremlin to a virtual gathering of leaders from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a group founded by Russia and China to counter western influence, the Russian president attempted to rebuff any suggestion that he had been weakened by last week’s chaotic but short-lived rebellion led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

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Fears for Libyan oil production amid military threats

Gen Khalifa Haftar warned of military action unless oil revenues are divided fairly

Fears have been raised of a damaging oil shutdown in Libya with implications for global energy markets after Libya’s strongman in the east, Gen Khalifa Haftar, warned of military action unless oil revenues are divided fairly within the next two months.

With the country long divided between two governments in the east and west and little prospect of presidential elections designed to reunify the country at least until next year, politicians in the east have threatened to put oil revenues under judicial control preventing the revenue reaching the Central Bank from the National Oil Corporation (NOC), the state-run oil firm.

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Spanish police arrest 15 after long investigation into alleged people-smuggling gang

Operation allegedly involved moving people from Syria to Spain on a circuitous route via Sudan and north Africa

Spanish police have broken up what they say is an organised criminal gang involved in a highly unusual people-smuggling operation involving the moving of migrants from Syria to Spain on an 8,000km trip via Sudan.

A year-long investigation, which was coordinated by Europol and involved dozens of police officers from France, Norway and Germany, uncovered a network of alleged people-smuggling cells across north Africa and northern Europe as well as the main nerve centre of the gang in southern Spain.

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Millions under US heat warnings as record temperatures to continue | First Thing

Further extreme conditions expected during 4 July holiday, as thunderstorms and intense heat continue across the country

Good morning.

Millions across the US have been caught up in dangerous weather conditions over the weekend and are braced for further extreme conditions ahead of today’s 4 July holiday, as thunderstorms and intense heat continue to affect much of the country.

What else is happening? Many midwest cities are also dealing with the aftermath of severe rain and flooding. Weekend thunderstorms in Chicago flooded streets and highways as nearly nine inches of rain fell in some areas of the city in just a few hours, affecting trains as well as motorists. Many in the midwest are without power after the weekend storms.

What’s happening in North Carolina? PFAS pollution from a Chemours plant in North Carolina has widely contaminated the soil, water and air for hundreds of square miles around the company’s Fayetteville Works plant, and residents have said their exposure to the chemicals is behind elevated cancer levels and other serious health problems. Residents have also said they suspect their pets have gotten sick from exposure to the chemicals.

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France brings back women and children held in camps in Syria

Twenty-five children and 10 adults sent to camps for suspected jihadists repatriated to France

France has repatriated 25 children and 10 women who were held in prison camps for suspected jihadists in north-east Syria, the fourth such operation in a year, the foreign ministry has said.

The minors would be handed over to childcare services while the adults would be handed over to the relevant judicial authorities, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

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Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin thanks China and India for support during Wagner mutiny; Nato extends Stoltenberg’s mandate for year

Vladimir Putin addresses virtual summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation; Jens Stoltenberg to stay in post until October 2024

Oleksiy Danilov has described recent days of battle as “fruitful” for Ukraine in terms of destroying the resources of the Russian forces. In a post to social media, the secretary of Ukraine’s national security and defence council described Ukraine as acting “calmly” and “wisely’ in its counteroffensive. He posted:

At this stage of active hostilities, Ukraine’s defence forces are fulfilling the number one task – the maximum destruction of manpower, equipment, fuel depots, military vehicles, command posts, artillery and air defence forces of the Russian army.

The last few days have been particularly fruitful. Now the war of destruction is equal to the war of kilometres. More destroyed means more liberated. The more effective the former, the more the latter. We are acting calmly, wisely, step by step.

This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.

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US investigators zone in on Trump election-plot lawyer John Eastman

Experts say Eastman, faces possible disbarment in California, under increasing scrutiny in federal and state inquiries

John Eastman, who was in the vanguard of lawyers plotting schemes involving “fake electors” and other ploys to help Donald Trump thwart Joe Biden’s win in 2020, is now under close scrutiny in federal and state investigations of Trump’s drives to stay in power, and faces possible disbarment in California, say former prosecutors.

The former California law professor is one of several lawyers whose legal stratagems have been heavily examined by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s accelerating investigation into Trump and his allies’ efforts to block Biden from taking office.

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Thousands of Palestinians flee Jenin refugee camp after major Israeli raid

Deputy governor says about 3,000 have left, to be housed in schools and shelters, as Arab states condemn military operation

Several thousand Palestinians have fled their homes in the Jenin refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank after the launch of the biggest Israeli military operation in the area in two decades, Palestinian officials say.

“There are about 3,000 people who have left the camp so far,” the Jenin deputy governor, Kamal Abu al-Roub, told the AFP news agency on Tuesday, adding that arrangements were being made to house refugees in schools and other shelters in Jenin city.

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Tuesday briefing: How the killing of a teenager sparked fierce unrest on the streets of France

In today’s newsletter: The death of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk triggered five nights of riots in Paris and beyond – but they had been brewing for years

Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition

Good morning. Apologies if this is the second time you are receiving this email – due to some technical gremlins some people received yesterday’s newsletter on Labour for a second time. Below is today’s First Edition on France.

After a tumultuous week in which the country was shaken by five nights of serious disorder, destruction and – at times – violence, the rioting has subsided and the streets are largely calm.

Palestinian territories | Israel has launched a major aerial and ground offensive into the West Bank city of Jenin, its biggest military operation in the Palestinian territory in years, in what it described as an “extensive counter-terrorism effort”. At least eight Palestinians were killed and 50 injured, 10 seriously, in the attack that began at about 1am on Monday.

Hong Kong | China has accused the UK of protecting fugitives after the British foreign secretary criticised Hong Kong’s decision to offer HK$1m bounties for the arrest of eight democracy activists based overseas. The Chinese embassy in London called on British politicians to stop using “anti-China Hong Kong disruptors to jeopardise China’s sovereignty and security”.

Fuel | The UK energy secretary has accused fuel retailers of using motorists as “cash cows”, after a consumer watchdog found that drivers were paying more for petrol and diesel than before the Covid pandemic because of “weakened” competition.

UK politics | Sue Gray was found to have apparently breached the civil service code by discussing a role with Keir Starmer without telling her Whitehall bosses, a Cabinet Office investigation has found.

D-day | Leon Gautier, the last surviving member of the French commando unit that waded ashore on D-day alongside allied troops to begin the liberation of France, died on Monday. He was 100 years old.

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High levels of toxic chemicals in pets living near US manufacturing plant

Researchers alarmed by results of study of dogs and horses living close to Chemours factory in North Carolina

Pets living near a PFAS manufacturing plant in Fayetteville, North Carolina have concerning levels of the toxic chemicals in their blood, and show evidence of health effects linked to exposure, new research finds.

PFAS were present in all 32 dog and 31 horse blood samples checked, and the findings provide evidence that human and animal exposures to the chemicals impacts their bodies, said Scott Belcher, a North Carolina State University researcher and co-author.

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Trump said president under indictment would create ‘constitutional crisis’

Former president made comments in 2016 days before election he won, and predicted Hillary Clinton would face criminal trial

The election of a president under indictment and facing criminal trial would “create an unprecedented constitutional crisis” and “cripple the operations of government”, Donald Trump said.

But the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, who faces 71 criminal counts in state and federal cases and is expected to face more, was not speaking about himself – or speaking this year.

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Robert De Niro’s grandson Leandro De Niro Rodriguez dies aged 19

Actor’s eldest daughter, Drena, makes announcement on Instagram but family has not released details about cause of death

Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, the grandson of actor Robert De Niro, has died at the age of 19, family members announced on Monday.

De Niro’s eldest daughter, Drena, posted on Instagram to say her son had died. She said the family had lost a “sweet angel”.

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‘History repeats itself’: Israeli attack turns Jenin into war zone once again

Old traumas are revived in West Bank city that was scene of some of worst fighting in second intifada

In Jenin’s centre and at the main entrance to the city’s refugee camp, the ground shook with the boom of explosions; rounds of artillery and machine gun fire drowned out ambulance sirens and shouts and screams. Roads were littered with bullet casings and broken glass, and the air was filled with teargas and plumes of black smoke from burning tyres, set alight to block Israeli access and vision.

Jenin, a poverty-stricken city in the north of the occupied West Bank, witnessed some of the worst fighting of the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising, of the 2000s. Two decades later, full-scale warfare has returned to the city’s streets, bringing old traumas to the surface for older generations and opening the eyes of younger ones.

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Ursula von der Leyen says ‘direction of travel’ is EU membership for Ukraine

European Commission head is seeking to curb Russian influence in central and eastern Europe

The EU has said it will be impossible to envisage a future for the bloc without Ukraine and Moldova as members, in part to reduce Russian influence in east and central Europe.

While other countries such as Romania and Bulgaria took 11 years to become members of the EU, joining in 2007, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, hinted the future of the new accession candidates will be swiftly decided.

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US warns against efforts to interfere with Guatemala election result

Frontrunner Sandra Torres alleged votes were manipulated after centrist Bernardo Arevalo claimed surprise runner-up spot

The US has issued a warning over possible efforts to interfere with Guatemala’s presidential election result, after the country’s top court ordered ballots from the first-round vote be reviewed, setting up the potential for a recount.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Washington had endorsed findings from observers over the vote’s validity, and said undermining the outcome would be a “grave threat to democracy with far-reaching implications”.

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Hong Kong issues arrest warrants for eight overseas democracy activists

Warrants criticised as ‘indictment’ of judiciary with three of those targeted, including Nathan Law, thought to be in UK

Hong Kong police have issued arrest warrants for eight overseas activists days after the third anniversary of the introduction of a national security law that granted authorities sweeping extraterritorial powers to prosecute acts or comments made anywhere in the world that it deems criminal.

Supt Steve Li Kwai-wah, a police officer, told a press conference on Monday that Nathan Law, Anna Kwok, Finn Lau, Dennis Kwok, Ted Hui, Kevin Yam, Mung Siu-tat and Yuan Gong-yi, high-profile pro-democracy activists, former lawmakers and legal scholars, “have encouraged sanctions … to destroy Hong Kong”.

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Taps run dry on Thai island as tourism boom worsens water shortage

Public urged to use water sparingly on Koh Samui, as authorities say they don’t want it to become ‘a disaster zone’

Authorities on Koh Samui are working to tackle a water shortage that has left taps running dry often for months, saying they do not want the Thai island to become a “disaster zone”.

A lack of rain and a resurgence in tourism has put intense pressure on supplies, prompting Sutham Samthong, a deputy mayor of Koh Samui, to urge the public to use supplies sparingly.

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Will El Niño on top of global heating create the perfect climate storm?

Rising temperatures in north Atlantic and drop in Antarctic sea ice prompt fears of widespread damage from extreme weather

“Very unusual”, “worrying”, “terrifying”, and “bonkers”; the reactions of veteran scientists to the sharp increase in north Atlantic surface temperatures over the past three months raises the question of whether the world’s climate has entered a more erratic and dangerous phase with the onset of an El Niño event on top of human-made global heating.

Since April, the warming appears to have entered a new trajectory. Meanwhile the area of global sea ice has dropped by more than 1 million sq km below the previous low.

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Vietnam bans Barbie film over disputed map of China’s South China Sea claims

Scene shows map of China’s controversial ‘nine-dash line’ – repudiated in international ruling

Vietnam has banned Warner Bros’s Barbie film from domestic distribution over a scene featuring a map that shows China’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea, state media have reported.

The U-shaped “nine-dash line” is used on Chinese maps to illustrate its claims over vast areas of the South China Sea, including swathes of what Vietnam considers its continental shelf, where it has awarded oil concessions.

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International Energy Agency warns of higher bills this winter

Fatih Birol says China’s economic recovery combined with harsh winter could pile pressure on gas supplies

The head of the International Energy Agency has said energy prices may spike again this winter, forcing government to subsidise bills – just days after state support for UK households fell away.

Fatih Birol said a rapid improvement in the Chinese economy, coupled with a harsh winter, could put pressure on gas supplies and push up bills for consumers.

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