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China denies fuelling Russia-Ukraine war tensions, says it supports peace

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China denies fuelling Russia-Ukraine war tensions, says it supports peace

Comments come after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia and China of attempting to undermine Swiss peace summit.

China has said it believes “all efforts” should be recognised in supporting peace measures around the Russia-Ukraine war, rejecting accusations from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that it was trying with Russia to undermine this month’s planned peace summit in Switzerland.

China has never “fanned fire or fuelled the flames”, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday after she was asked about the peace summit that is scheduled to take place on June 15-16.

Mao said China’s position on the peace conference was “open and transparent”.

“We believe that we can get the understanding and support of all parties,” she added.

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More than 80 delegations have confirmed they will attend the summit in Burgenstock that Switzerland hopes will lay the groundwork for a peace process more than four years after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking in Singapore on Sunday, Zelenskyy said China and Russia were putting pressure on other countries and their leaders not to attend the upcoming talks. He did not say which ones.

“Russia, using Chinese influence in the region, using Chinese diplomats also, does everything to disrupt the peace summit,” he said at a news conference at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a closely-watched security forum.

China maintains it is neutral in the war, although it has deepened ties with Moscow since the invasion. Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing last month where he enjoyed a ceremonial welcome and sipped tea with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Its trade with Russia has grown, easing the economic impact of Western-led sanctions. US, Ukrainian and other intelligence agencies say there is evidence that Chinese parts are winding up in Russian weaponry, even if China is not directly arming its neighbour.

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The Swiss had been hoping China would attend the peace conference, but Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made clear last week that Beijing would not participate.

Beijing has been calling for a peace conference with “equal participation” of all sides, including Russia, which has not been invited.

Ukraine’s peace plan calls for the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, the restoration of its 1991 post-Soviet borders and bringing Russia to account for its actions.

China has also released a peace plan that Putin last month said showed Beijing understood the conflict’s “root causes” and “global geopolitical meaning”. The 12-point plan got a lukewarm reception when it was first released a year after the Russian invasion, with analysts noting a lack of concrete proposals.

“There is still a clear gap between the arrangements for the meeting and the demands of the Chinese side, as well as the general expectations of the international community,” Mao said. “This makes it difficult for China to participate in the meeting.”

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Trump vows Iran will not charge Strait of Hormuz tolls, but says US might

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Trump vows Iran will not charge Strait of Hormuz tolls, but says US might

United States President Donald Trump has pledged there will be no tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz, unless they are collected by his own country.

Trump’s statement, made in a Saturday afternoon post on Truth Social, is the latest sign that a recently signed memorandum of understanding (MOU) may be unravelling.

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“There will be NO TOLLS in the Hormuz Strait for 60 days during the Cease Fire Period, and there will be NO TOLLS after the 60 day period has expired,” Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America.”

Since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran on February 28, Iran has successfully used the Strait of Hormuz as a pressure point, closing the strategic waterway to traffic.

But under the terms of Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum, the strait is supposed to reopen for an interim period of 60 days. During that time, Iran is barred from charging vessels for passage.

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On Saturday, however, Iran’s joint military command said it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, citing a “clear breach” of the memorandum’s commitments.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), the agency that oversees military operations in the region, denied that report and maintained that the traffic continues to flow through the waterway.

The Strait of Hormuz has long been a flashpoint in the conflict between the US and Iran. Nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and natural gas is transported through the strait, as well as about 30 percent of the global fertiliser trade.

Closure of the strait has caused global fuel costs to soar and has tested agricultural sectors across the world.

Trump had responded to Iran’s chokehold over the strait by imposing a US naval blockade on Iran’s ports in the region.

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But that naval blockade was lifted under the terms of Wednesday’s memorandum. The deal also paused fighting on all fronts in the regional conflict, including in Lebanon.

The memorandum, though, was not intended as a long-term deal. It serves as a launching point for negotiations on key issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear programme.

Several points of divergence also went unaddressed in the memorandum. Nowhere does the memo say that future tolls cannot be collected from the strait after the 60-day period expires.

Before the war, there was no charge for passage through the strait. Trump himself said in an interview with The New York Times that the waterway should remain “permanently toll-free”.

But he appeared to reverse course in Saturday’s post, once again floating the possibility that the US could extract tolls in the strait, while barring Iran from doing so.

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No fees should be levied, Trump wrote, “unless they are imposed by and for the United States of America, should the deal not be completed”.

He explained that such a charge would compensate the US “for services rendered as the Guardian Angel to the countries of the Middle East for purposes of both past, present, and future reimbursement of costs”.

Trump used similar language in his New York Times interview earlier this week, floating the US becoming “the guardian of the Middle East” in exchange for 20 percent of its revenue.

Saturday’s post is not the first time Trump has mused about the US imposing tolls in the strait, either.

In April, for instance, he discussed the idea with reporters, saying, “What about us charging tolls? I’d rather do that than let them have them. Why shouldn’t we? We’re the winner. We won.”

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There has been no indication that Trump’s plans have been officially presented to countries in the region, many of whom have struck a careful balance in their dealings with both the US and Iran during the war.

Iranian officials, meanwhile, have repeatedly said they will not rule out imposing tolls in the strait, framing the issue as a matter of sovereignty and regional negotiation. The strait sits between Iran and Oman.

Further discussions are expected on the matter in the coming weeks.

But such negotiations have been thrown into jeopardy amid ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, which threaten to violate Wednesday’s ceasefire memorandum.

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Iran claimed that Saturday’s closure of the strait was a result of new Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, which killed dozens of people after the ceasefire was announced.

Iranian officials have also said that any upcoming talks should focus on proper implementation of the initial memorandum, and that the 60-day negotiating period stipulated in Wednesday’s deal would begin after that was settled.

Pakistan, a top mediator between the US and Iran, has said that follow-up talks are set to begin in Switzerland on Sunday.

Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that an Iranian delegation, led by parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, has already arrived for the negotiations.

On the US side, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Vice President JD Vance are expected to attend.

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Vance departed for Switzerland late Saturday.

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Video: Moscow Tanker Blast Most Likely Russian Missile, Video Shows

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Video: Moscow Tanker Blast Most Likely Russian Missile, Video Shows

new video loaded: Moscow Tanker Blast Most Likely Russian Missile, Video Shows

A dramatic explosion that caused the lid of an oil tanker to fly into the sky during a Ukrainian aerial assault on Moscow was most likely caused by a Russian air defense missile, verified video shows.

By James McManagan, Paul Sonne, Malachy Browne and Jackeline Luna

June 19, 2026

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Man charged with attempted murder, released after allegedly forcing toddler into crocodile enclosure at zoo

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Man charged with attempted murder, released after allegedly forcing toddler into crocodile enclosure at zoo

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A man was released from custody on Friday after he was charged with attempted murder for allegedly forcing a 3-year-old boy into a crocodile enclosure at a zoo.

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Cambridgeshire police said that the man, who remains unidentified, wasn’t fit to be interviewed.

The boy suffered critical injuries in the incident at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Huntingdon, England, north of London.

The 30-year-old man will remain on bail until Sept. 30, pending further inquiries.

GEORGIA MOM’S WALMART TRIP DEVOLVES INTO ‘TUG-OF-WARRING’ IN DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO SAVE HER SON

A crocodile rests inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst, a farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)

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“The man, who is not known to the victim, was ​assessed as ​not being ⁠fit for interview,” police said in a statement.

The boy is in stable condition, after reportedly suffering a broken arm and pelvis.

He was saved from the crocodile by Tracey Johnson, the wife of the zoo’s owner.

MOTHER JUMPS INTO WATER TO SAVE 4-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER WHO FELL BETWEEN CRUISE SHIP AND DOCK

 “I know Tracey very well and she’s a lovely lady and it’s nothing more than I’d expect from her,” a local told BBC News. “She’d always put her own life at risk to save someone else. She’s an extraordinary lady and very brave.

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The villager added that Johnson put herself in “immense danger” during the rescue.

The owners said their tropical house would remain closed until further notice.

Crocodiles rest inside an enclosure at Johnsons of Old Hurst farm and zoo in Old Hurst, Cambridgeshire, Britain, on April 14, 2026. (Dorota Dee Trajdos/Reuters)

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the boy and his family following the incident that occurred today,” the owners wrote on social media.

Johnsons of Old Hurst is a farm and zoo north of London in Huntingdon, England. (Google Maps)

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Huntingdonshire district councillor Charlotte Lowe said she couldn’t “fathom how it’s happened because they’ve got all the right protection and safety equipment, for want of a better word, in there,” The Guardian reported.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the Cambridgeshire Constabulary for comment.

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