CIA director John Ratcliffe reportedly on Moscow visit

Unannounced trip reported by US media is said to be Ratcliffe’s first known visit to Russia as CIA chief

The CIA director, John Ratcliffe, has made an unannounced visit to Moscow, US media reported, after flight data showed an American military aircraft flew to the Russian capital, where a US diplomatic motorcade was later spotted.

CBS News quoted sources familiar with the situation as confirming Ratcliffe’s trip, saying it was his first known visit to Russia as CIA chief. Axios separately confirmed the visit, quoting a US official.

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CIA director John Ratcliffe reportedly on Moscow visit

Unannounced trip reported by US media is said to be Ratcliffe’s first known visit to Russia as CIA chief

The CIA director, John Ratcliffe, has made an unannounced visit to Moscow, US media reported, after flight data showed an American military aircraft flew to the Russian capital, where a US diplomatic motorcade was later spotted.

CBS News quoted sources familiar with the situation as confirming Ratcliffe’s trip, saying it was his first known visit to Russia as CIA chief. Axios separately confirmed the visit, quoting a US official.

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VW workers boo boss as he urges them to ‘pull together’ amid job cuts

Oliver Blume faces workforce at German HQ as carmaker struggles against Chinese competition and US tariffs

The chief executive of Volkswagen has faced boos and whistles of protest at the company’s headquarters after telling thousands of workers that a comprehensive reorganisation, which could include job losses and factory closures, is vital for its future.

As Oliver Blume urged more than 10,000 workers on Tuesday to “pull together”, saying drastic restructuring measures at the struggling manufacturer were essential, they held up banners and shouted slogans, including: “Our jobs are not your balance sheet adjustments”.

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UK officials prepare for potential Trump talks as Burnham plans New York trip

PM known to be keen to attend UN general assembly after meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine

UK officials are making preparations for a potential meeting between Andy Burnham and Donald Trump after the prime minister said he hoped to attend next month’s UN general assembly in New York.

Burnham is known to be particularly keen to attend the annual gathering after meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Monday, when he pledged to help drum up more international support for Ukraine.

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UK officials prepare for potential Trump talks as Burnham plans New York trip

PM known to be keen to attend UN general assembly after meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine

UK officials are making preparations for a potential meeting between Andy Burnham and Donald Trump after the prime minister said he hoped to attend next month’s UN general assembly in New York.

Burnham is known to be particularly keen to attend the annual gathering after meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Monday, when he pledged to help drum up more international support for Ukraine.

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Europe’s heatwaves threaten insurers’ earnings, rating agency S&P says

Rise in claims linked to heat-related deaths and illness, especially among older people, could drive up premiums

Europe’s intense heatwaves could hit insurers’ earnings as companies face a rise in claims linked to heat-related deaths and worsening health conditions, the rating agency S&P has said.

While a long summer of extreme heat will have increased drought and wildfire-related claims, the rating agency said there would also be fallout for life and health insurers, and for the reinsurers who provide financial protection to insurance companies.

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At least 35,000 excess deaths recorded in Europe’s back-to-back heatwaves

True figure likely to be much higher as it only covers about half of continent and does not include August totals

At least 35,000 more people died during Europe’s four record-breaking, back-to-back heatwaves this summer than would normally be expected, according to incomplete figures from barely half the continent.

Excess mortality in three of the EU’s larger countries – Germany, France and Spain – alone has already exceeded 25,000, according to the provisional national figures, and experts say the toll will rise significantly once August totals are consolidated.

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‘Fix that little spot’: Danish PM hits back at unsolicited beauty tip from cosmetic surgeon

Mette Frederiksen, who received message on returning from Ukraine, advises women to embrace self-acceptance

Sick of getting unsolicited beauty tips on social media, the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, rebuffed a male cosmetic surgeon’s offer to “fix” her and advised women in similar situations to embrace self-acceptance.

Frederiksen, a Social Democrat and Denmark’s second female prime minister, posted on Instagram that she had just returned from a trip to Ukraine, where she was subjected to air raid sirens, when she found a message proposing some help with her appearance.

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Vuelta a España: giant hail forces stage three abandonment in Pyrenees

  • Huge hailstones prompt organisers to act 15km from end

  • Riders seen heading into hotel on route to take cover

A torrential hailstorm in the French Pyrenees forced the abandonment of the ⁠third stage of the Vuelta a España on Monday.

With 15 kilometres (9.32 miles) remaining of the 174km route ⁠from Gruissan to Font-Romeu, the ​skies darkened as the peloton neared the top of the Col de Mont-Louis and huge hailstones began ⁠bouncing off the tarmac and pelting the riders.

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Guns, axes, explosives: violent museum heists are on the rise, says Europol

EU police agency says shift could point to involvement of new criminal networks focused on specific artefacts

Robberies at European museums are becoming increasingly violent, with thieves sometimes brandishing guns, assaulting staff and using sledgehammers, axes and even explosives to smash their way into buildings and display cases, according to a report by Europol.

The EU police agency said that while museum thefts were generally seen as a non-violent form of organised property crime, member states had detected a recent shift “towards violent and forceful methods” that could point to the involvement of new criminal networks focused on specific cultural artefacts.

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Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon price rises in western Europe ‘highest in world’

World’s largest streaming services have also increased subscription costs repeatedly in US, research finds

Subscribers to Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video in western Europe have faced higher price increases than in any other market in recent years, according to research.

Over the past four years the world’s largest subscription video streaming services have dramatically changed their business models introducing lower-priced, basic advertising tiers to attract new subscribers, while also increasingly monetising users willing to pay more for a premium experience.

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French police accused of rising use of violence to stop Channel crossings

NGO criticises ‘human cost’ of UK-funded crackdown on attempts to set off from French beaches in small boats

People trying to cross the Channel to the UK have reported an increase in French police use of violence on beaches to prevent them from getting into dinghies, according to a French NGO.

Utopia 56, which works on beaches from where migrants attempt Channel crossings, says so far this year 2,720 people have reported being victims of French police violence, compared with 1,954 over the same period last year, when crossings overall were much higher.

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Russia withdraws ambassador to UK as Kremlin raises pressure over Ukraine support

Embassy in London says Andrey Kelin left last month after seven years in diplomatic post

Russia has withdrawn its ambassador to the UK, it has emerged, as the Kremlin continues to try to put pressure on Britain over its support for Ukraine.

Andrey Kelin left last month after seven years in the diplomatic post, according to the Russian embassy in London.

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Holding election in wartime would risk destroying Ukraine, says Zelenskyy

President sharply criticises proposal, saying ‘elections right now are a tsunami for the state that will split Ukraine’

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said holding elections in Ukraine during wartime would risk splitting the country at a time when Russia is amassing ballistic missiles and considering whether to mobilise an extra 300,000 soldiers.

The Ukrainian president, responding for the first time to a demand made by the sacked former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov, sharply criticised an idea that he said was impractical given Russia appeared to have no interest in a ceasefire.

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The ‘ordinary’ woman accused of assassinating a Russian commander in Crimea

Friends close to Margarita Reutt are shocked she could allegedly plant bomb that killed Ukrainian defector Robert Shageev, while others recall a stubborn grit to see any plan through

It was just after dawn in Sevastopol when a powerful explosion tore through a quiet square in a residential district of the Russian-occupied Crimean port city.

Hidden inside a rubbish bin, a bomb containing the equivalent of about 500g of TNT detonated on 13 August as Robert Shageev, the deputy commander of a Russian Black Sea fleet submarine brigade, walked past in naval uniform. He was killed on the spot.

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Seventeen-year-old girl killed in sword attack at school in Sweden

Three other people wounded after 18-year-old man wielding sword assail students in Fagersta school

A 17-year-old girl has been killed after a teenager brandishing a sword attacked students at a school in Sweden, police have confirmed.

Three other people were wounded in the incident during classes in the central town of Fagersta on Friday afternoon, including two boys aged 12 and 17 who sustained minor injuries.

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Seventeen-year-old girl killed in sword attack at school in Sweden

Three other people wounded after 18-year-old man wielding sword assail students in Fagersta school

A 17-year-old girl has been killed after a teenager brandishing a sword attacked students at a school in Sweden, police have confirmed.

Three other people were wounded in the incident during classes in the central town of Fagersta on Friday afternoon, including two boys aged 12 and 17 who sustained minor injuries.

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‘Embryonic’: lost novel by French film-maker Éric Rohmer is republished

English translation of Élisabeth, the New Wave director’s 1946 book about young lovers in prewar Paris, receives rave reviews as precursor to auteur’s cinematic work

In the dog days of the second world war, 24-year-old Maurice Schérer wrote a tale of young lovers in prewar small-town France. He described lazy August swims in the Marne River east of Paris. He wrote about age-gap affairs and semi-incestuous flirtations. Schérer gallantly used a nom de plume, Gilbert Cordier, to shield his Catholic family from scandal, but he needn’t have bothered as his concerns were unfounded. The finished novel, Élisabeth, barely made a ripple and quickly slipped out of print. Undeterred, Scherer adopted a second pseudonym – Éric Rohmer – and decided to try his luck as a film-maker instead.

Now – eight decades on from its first publication, 16 years on from its author’s death – Élisabeth belatedly returns from the cold. Republished in an English-language translation by Aaron Kerner, Rohmer’s book has been greeted with glowing reviews, hailed as a lost modernist classic and a crucial origin story for the award-winning director of Claire’s Knee, The Green Ray and My Night at Maud’s. “It would be a rewarding, exciting read even if the identity of its author were unfamiliar,” wrote Richard Brody in the New Yorker. The fact that it’s by Rohmer? That’s the icing on the cake.

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Former British and French diplomats urge action over Israel’s ‘erasure’ of Palestine

In letter to Macron and Burnham, more than 100 senior figures accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing and call for measures including trade ban

More than 100 French and British former diplomats have said Palestine is being erased in front of the world’s eyes and called for urgent action including trade and arms sales bans to press Israel to accept a Palestinian state.

An unprecedented joint letter dispenses with diplomatic language by accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing and warning that the world no longer sees Israel as a genuine democracy.

Uphold the decisions of the international court of justice and the international criminal court.

Suspend the EU-Israel association agreement and the UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement for breach of human rights provisions.

Suspend arms transfers to and from Israel and all bilateral military cooperation.

Insist on unrestricted aid access to Gaza, led by the UN Relief and Works Agency, other UN agencies and international NGOs, with consequences for non-compliance, and access too for journalists, diplomats and parliamentarians.

Ban all trade with settlements, including goods, investment, insurance and other financial services.

Warn potential bidders for the “red line” E1 settlement or other settlement financing/construction that their interests in and with the UK and France will suffer.

Make it an offence for British and French citizens to buy property on stolen Palestinian land and remove charitable status from “charities” funding settlements.

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Former British and French diplomats urge action over Israel’s ‘erasure’ of Palestine

In letter to Macron and Burnham, more than 100 senior figures accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing and call for measures including trade ban

More than 100 French and British former diplomats have said Palestine is being erased in front of the world’s eyes and called for urgent action including trade and arms sales bans to press Israel to accept a Palestinian state.

An unprecedented joint letter dispenses with diplomatic language by accusing Israel of ethnic cleansing and warning that the world no longer sees Israel as a genuine democracy.

Uphold the decisions of the international court of justice and the international criminal court.

Suspend the EU-Israel association agreement and the UK-Israel trade and partnership agreement for breach of human rights provisions.

Suspend arms transfers to and from Israel and all bilateral military cooperation.

Insist on unrestricted aid access to Gaza, led by the UN Relief and Works Agency, other UN agencies and international NGOs, with consequences for non-compliance, and access too for journalists, diplomats and parliamentarians.

Ban all trade with settlements, including goods, investment, insurance and other financial services.

Warn potential bidders for the “red line” E1 settlement or other settlement financing/construction that their interests in and with the UK and France will suffer.

Make it an offence for British and French citizens to buy property on stolen Palestinian land and remove charitable status from “charities” funding settlements.

Continue reading...