Moscow has been hit by a heatwave this week, with temperatures reaching a 120-year record high due to the effects of the climate emergency, Russia’s weather service has said
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Britain acknowledges surprise at speed of Russian reaction to warship
Kremlin summons UK ambassador as Boris Johnson says HMS Defender’s deployment ‘wholly appropriate’
British officials acknowledged they were taken by surprise by the speed of the Russian reaction to HMS Defender’s 36-minute passage through Crimean waters on Wednesday as the British ambassador to Moscow was summoned to the Kremlin.
Although a Russian response to the Royal Navy warship’s passage within the 12-mile territorial limit was anticipated, the UK Ministry of Defence did not expect the Kremlin to speedily declare that warning shots had been fired.
Continue reading...UK-Russian naval dispute: both sides will claim victory
Analysis: Royal Navy ship sailing near Crimea may also be test of Beijing reaction to territorial reach
British ministers will have been under no illusions that the decision to sail HMS Defender into disputed waters off the coast of Russian-annexed Crimea would provoke a reaction from the Kremlin.
A dispute about whether warning shots were fired or not is beside the point – although if they were, they were miles out of range. Because even if the west considers Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, to be still part of Ukraine, the Russians do not and will act accordingly.
Continue reading...Royal Navy ship off Crimea sparks diplomatic row between Russia and UK
MoD and Moscow disagree over whether shots were fired at destroyer near disputed territory
Britain was unexpectedly embroiled in a diplomatic and military dispute with Russia on Wednesday after Royal Navy destroyer HMS Defender briefly sailed through territorial waters off the coast of the disputed territory of Crimea.
The warship sailed for about an hour in the morning within the 12-mile limit off Cape Fiolent on a direct route between the Ukrainian port of Odesa and Georgia, prompting Russian complaints and a disagreement about whether warning shots were fired.
Continue reading...WHO voices concerns over Sputnik V Covid vaccine plant
WHO reports issues with quality control data and test results as Slovakia announces it is offloading 160k doses
The World Health Organization has said it has concerns about the methods used at one plant producing the Sputnik V vaccine, as Slovakia announced it would sell or donate 160,000 of the 200,000 doses it has ordered of the Russian shot.
The WHO, which along with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is reviewing Sputnik V for eventual approval, said in a report on Wednesday it had issues with the integrity of quality control data and test results at one of the four production sites it had seen.
Continue reading...Assad forces’ shelling in Syria causes 5,000 civilians to flee
At least 31 people killed since start of June amid government attacks on Idlib area
About 5,000 civilians in the north-west of Syria have been forced to flee their homes after more government shelling targeting the contested area, a local aid agency said.
At least 31 people have died since the beginning of June, victims of Bashar al-Assad’s forces hitting civilian buildings in southern Idlib province. The buildings included a hospital, displacement camp school, and a White Helmets headquarters. The number of dead includes three children and a civil defence worker who was killed in an attack on the town of Qastoun on Saturday.
Continue reading...Moscow sees hottest June day for 120 years with more to come
Temperatures reach 34.7C in Russian capital as weather bureau blames climate change
Moscow has sweltered through its hottest June day for 120 years after the temperature hit 34.7C with even hotter weather expected over the coming days.
Russia’s weather service, Roshydromet, which blamed climate change for the soaring temperatures.
Continue reading...UN warns of worst ‘cascade of human rights setbacks in our lifetimes’
Rights chief calls for concerted global action, citing recent violations in China, Russia and Ethiopia
The UN rights chief has called for concerted action to recover from the worst global deterioration of rights she had seen, highlighting the situation in China, Russia and Ethiopia among others.
“To recover from the most wide-reaching and severe cascade of human rights setbacks in our lifetimes, we need a life-changing vision, and concerted action,” Michelle Bachelet told the opening of the UN Human Rights Council’s 47th session.
Continue reading...Denmark roar past Russia to set up Euro 2020 last-16 clash with Wales
Few teams have ever deserved to make progress as much as Denmark did on a thrilling night in Copenhagen. Players who, just nine days ago, were traumatised to see Christian Eriksen suffer cardiac arrest in the middle of their first match produced a momentous performance on the same pitch, emerging as glorious victors over Russia to set up a last 16 showdown with Wales.
Mikkel Damsgaard and Yusuf Poulsen ignited celebrations before Artem Dzyuba put them on pause by converting a penalty and news filtered through that the group’s other match, between Belgium and Finland, was not going the way the Danes needed. But that changed as Group B reached a dramatic climax and Denmark confirmed second spot thanks to magnificent goals by Andreas Christensen and Joakim Mæhle.
Continue reading...Why can’t world leaders agree that a nuclear war should never be fought? | Jane Kinninmont
Biden and Putin must persuade other nuclear states that such a conflict ‘should never be fought’
Meeting last week, the US and Russian presidents issued a joint statement declaring: “a nuclear war should never be fought and could never be won”. This consciously echoes what Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev said in a landmark summit in 1985, when the US and USSR started to step up nuclear arms control, and gradually reduced the world’s fear of nuclear catastrophe.
Many reports of the Biden-Putin summit have not even mentioned this joint statement, because it sounds like simple common sense. Who wants a nuclear war?
Continue reading...Biden warns Russia over cyber attacks, says Putin doesn’t want cold war – video
Joe Biden warned Russian president Vladimir Putin that the US has significant cyber capability as he looked to pressure his counterpart over cyberattacks. The US leader says Putin wasn't seeking to intensify confrontation with the west after the two held "good and positive" talks. "I think that the last thing he wants now is a Cold War,” Biden said
Continue reading...Biden rejects Putin’s ‘ridiculous comparison’ between Capitol rioters and Alexei Navalny – video
Joe Biden has responded to Vladimir Putin comparing his jailing of political opponents such as Alexei Navalny with the charges filed against those who carried out the Capitol Hill riots. 'I think that’s a ridiculous comparison,' Biden told reporters after meeting with the Russian president in Geneva. During his own press conference after the summit, Putin used that comparison to deflect a question about why so many of his critics are either imprisoned or dead
Continue reading...Biden apologises for being ‘short’ with reporter at Putin summit press conference – video
Speaking to reporters by Air Force One in Geneva, Joe Biden has expressed regret for some sharp words to a journalist who questioned him about the success of his summit with Vladimir Putin. Frustrated by a question from CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins at the end of his press conference, he told her she was 'in the wrong business'. Biden later apologised for being 'short', adding: 'To be a good reporter, you’ve got to be negative. You’ve got to have a negative view of life ... you never ask a positive question'
Continue reading...Biden warns US will hit back if Russia continues with cyber strikes
US president hails ‘good and positive’ talks but added ‘proof of the pudding is in the eating’
The US will retaliate if Russia continues to carry out malicious cyber-attacks against American targets, Joe Biden said on Wednesday, after holding “good and positive” talks in Geneva with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.
Speaking after their first face-to-face summit, Biden said he had made clear the Kremlin had to “abide by the rules of the road” or face unspecified consequences. Putin was aware the US possessed “unrivalled” cyber capacities, Biden stressed.
Continue reading...Little left to chance in carefully-curated Geneva summit
Meeting goes as well as could be expected as Biden and Putin speak language of diplomacy – but hardly one of affection
Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin hadn’t even sat down before tensions boiled over at the 18th-century Villa La Grange, a fine Swiss manor house besieged on Wednesday by a 21st-century press pool. The two men looked cordial enough as they shook hands for the first time as leaders. But the sun-struck journalists behind them pushed and shouted, some knocked to the floor, as they fought to get in to the leaders’ only joint appearance of the day.
“The media scuffle was the most chaotic your pooler has seen at a presidential event in nine years,” wrote a US reporter from inside the melee, which erupted as the press pack tried to follow the two leaders into the villa. “Russian security yelled at journalists to get out and began pushing journalists. Journalists and White House officials screamed back that the Russian security should stop touching us.”
Continue reading...Five things we learned from the Biden-Putin summit in Geneva
Cool normality helped exorcise ghost of 2018’s disastrous Helsinki summit but what else was achieved?
1) The weird and unpredictable Trump era is over. In 2018 Donald Trump held a disastrous summit with Putin in the Finnish capital Helsinki. The then US president said he believed Putin’s assurances that Moscow did not interfere in the 2016 US election with a joint press conference that was so humiliating for America that Trump’s senior adviser Fiona Hill considered bringing it to a close by whacking a fire alarm or faking a medical emergency.
In Geneva, by contrast, cool normality was on display. Biden was well prepared for the US-Russia summit. He cut a relaxed figure, telling Putin he wanted a “predictable” relationship after a period defined by rogue Kremlin behaviour. The summit flowed along conventional diplomatic lines: a handshake, several hours of intensive talks and separate press conferences afterwards. The ghost of Helsinki was exorcised. There will be an agreed record of what was discussed, unlike in 2018 when Trump met Putin alone, without aides or even Trump’s own interpreter. We don’t know what was said.
Continue reading...Finland 0-1 Russia: Euro 2020 – live!
- Miranchuk’s classy finish secures vital Group B win
- Euro 2020 overview: group tables, results, fixtures
- Get in touch! Email Daniel your thoughts or tweet @unitedrewind
That was a classic Sven affair: “first half good, second half not so good.” I don’t think either of these have it in them to win a knockout tie, but there’s a fair chance at least one of them gets a go. Finland are probably done getting points – I can’t see a way they take anything off Belgium – but Russia will fancy themselves against Denmark, who I daresay will fancy themselves against Russia.
Miranchuk’s brilliant goal is enough, and Russia are on the board. Group B is goiong to be a tight one.
Continue reading...Biden-Putin summit live: leaders reach second stage of tense talks
Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will talk for four-five hours before making separate press appearances
- First session, with Antony Blinken and Sergey Lavrov, concludes
- Talks amid tensions expected to focus on regional conflicts, climate, Covid
A Russian state-owned media agency has shared a photo of Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin’s expanded bilateral meeting, which started about an hour ago.
Первые кадры с расширенных переговоров Президентов России и США Владимира Путина и Джозефа Байдена
@rian_ru pic.twitter.com/y5nwV4Uu3s
Away from Geneva, the Guardian’s Sam Levine reports on the rise in threats against election officials:
One in three election officials feel unsafe in their jobs, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Brennan Center for Justice. One in five election workers said threats to their lives were a concern related to their job.
Related: How Republicans came to embrace the big lie of a stolen election
Continue reading...Joe Biden meets Vladimir Putin at Geneva summit – video
The meeting got off to a frosty start as Putin told Biden in front of a chaotic press pool jostling to put questions to the leaders that their two countries had 'a lot' of issues that required talks at the highest level. 'I think it's always better to meet face to face,' Biden said, adding that he hoped they could find 'predictable and rational ways to disagree'
Continue reading...Putin and Biden meet for talks in Switzerland – in pictures
After shaking hands for the cameras, the US president, Joe Biden, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, plunged into hours of face-to-face talks on Wednesday at a lush lakeside Swiss mansion. It was a highly anticipated summit at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries
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