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Ukraine’s Dnipro reels as Russia, Belarus hold military drills

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Ukraine’s Dnipro reels as Russia, Belarus hold military drills

The toll from a devastating missile strike in Dnipro has risen as extra our bodies are pulled from the particles of one of many deadliest assaults since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started 11 months in the past.

Residents gathered on Monday to observe as cranes eliminated collapsed sections of the Soviet-style residential constructing that was ripped open by the strike in central Ukraine two days earlier.

Ukraine’s emergency providers stated 40 folks had died, together with three kids, and 34 folks had been nonetheless unaccounted for.

Kyiv blamed Moscow for the assault, however the Kremlin stated Russian forces weren’t accountable and pointed to an unsubstantiated principle circulating on social media that Ukrainian air defence methods had brought on the injury.

“The Russian armed forces don’t strike residential buildings or social infrastructure. They strike navy targets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated, suggesting Kyiv’s air defences knocked a Russian missile off target.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated late on Sunday that search operations would go on so long as crucial and condemned Russia’s “cowardly silence” over the assault, however the possibilities of discovering extra survivors appeared slim by Monday afternoon.

Russia, Belarus maintain navy drills

The rising price of the strike got here as Russia and its shut ally Belarus held joint navy drills.

Belarus, one of many solely international locations that has supported Russia with out query all through the battle, allowed Moscow’s forces to launch their invasion from Belarusian territory in February.

Its defence ministry stated the air drive workout routines would contain joint “tactical” flights and each airfield in Belarus could be concerned.

“The train is solely defensive in nature,” Pavel Muraveyko, first deputy state secretary of the Belarusian Safety Council, stated in remarks launched on Sunday by the defence ministry.

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Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Moscow, stated the drills “will focus primarily on patrolling [and] provides throughout operations”.

“They’ve been described as defensive drills, not offensive ones, so that is typically the attitude that’s being mentioned each time this challenge of the drills is being spoken about,” Hashem stated.

“However there are numerous issues with the position Belarus is enjoying with respect to the battle [and] whether or not that is going to have an effect,” he stated.

Emergency personnel have discovered dozens of useless and wounded within the Dnipro residence constructing that was hit on January 14, 2023 [Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters]

In the meantime, UN atomic watchdog chief Rafael Grossi was anticipated in Ukraine on Monday to deploy observer missions at nuclear energy vegetation throughout the nation. Securing and defending nuclear websites have been a key concern all through Russia’s invasion.

“I’m proud to guide this mission to Ukraine, the place we’re deploying in all the nation’s NPPs [nuclear power plants] to offer help in nuclear security and safety,” he stated on Twitter.

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In one other signal the battle is having results far past Ukraine, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht resigned on Monday after months of criticism over Berlin’s stuttering response to the battle in Ukraine.

INTERACTIVE_UKRAINE_CHALLENGER_2_TANKS_JAN15
(Al Jazeera)

Because the practically year-long battle drags on, Ukraine is urgent its Western backers to produce its forces with tanks, particularly the German-designed Leopard mannequin.

Britain this weekend pledged 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, which might make it the primary Western nation to produce the heavy tanks Kyiv has been calling for.

Peskov predicted they might have little impact in Ukraine’s battle effort.

“These tanks are burning and can burn,” the Kremlin spokesman stated.

NATO Secretary Normal Jens Stoltenberg stated in an interview with German media on Sunday that “current pledges for heavy warfare tools are essential – and I count on extra within the close to future.”

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Poland’s prime minister on Monday urged the German authorities to produce a variety of weapons to Kyiv and expressed hope that Berlin would quickly approve a switch of battle tanks.

The Institute for the Research of Battle, a think-tank in Washington, DC, reported indicators of the Kremlin attempting to show its invasion into “a serious standard battle” after months of embarrassing navy reversals.

Russia has been compelled out of many seized territories in current months by a profitable Ukrainian counteroffensive.

“The Kremlin is probably going making ready to conduct a decisive strategic motion within the subsequent six months meant to regain the initiative and finish Ukraine’s present string of operational successes,” the institute stated in a report late Sunday.

It famous that studies indicated the Russian navy command was in “severe preparations” for an expanded mobilisation effort, conserving mobilised personnel for future use whereas in search of to spice up navy industrial manufacturing and reshuffling its command construction.

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Meaning Ukraine’s Western allies “might want to proceed supporting Ukraine in the long term,” the think-tank stated.

Individually on Monday, Ukraine officers stated Russian forces continued to shell the southern metropolis of Kherson, which Ukraine recaptured late final 12 months.

Governor Yaroslav Yanushevych stated one lady was killed in an assault on a residential constructing and Russian forces additionally broken an empty kids’s hospital.

In Crimea, Ukraine’s Black Sea peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014, the Moscow-appointed official answerable for the navy metropolis Sevastopol stated Russian forces downed seven drones over 24-hour interval.

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Max Christie is getting a 4-year, $32 million deal to return to the Lakers, an AP source says

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Max Christie is getting a 4-year, $32 million deal to return to the Lakers, an AP source says

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Promising wing Max Christie is returning to the Los Angeles Lakers with a four-year, $32 million contract, a person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because the Lakers haven’t announced the deal for their former second-round draft pick. ESPN first reported it.

The 21-year-old Christie has averaged 3.8 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.8 assists while playing inconsistently during his first two NBA seasons, but the Lakers clearly believe in his potential.

The Michigan State product is a career 37.8% shooter on 3-point attempts, and he showed promise as a three-and-D wing during his stretches in the Lakers’ rotation last season, including seven starts.

New Lakers coach JJ Redick mentioned Christie prominently when he spoke of the team’s promising young talent ripe for development during his introductory news conference last week.

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Even with two years of NBA experience, Christie is two years younger than Dalton Knecht, the Lakers’ first-round draft pick last Wednesday.

Christie’s brother, Cam, was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers last week.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

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Macron on edge as France’s right-wing National Rally party gains momentum in first round of elections

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Macron on edge as France’s right-wing National Rally party gains momentum in first round of elections

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France’s right-wing National Rally party on Sunday made considerable gains in the country’s first round of elections, putting the centrist President Emmanuel Macron and his supporters on edge. 

Early projections suggest that the National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, stands a good chance of winning a majority in the lower house of parliament for the first time, with an estimated one-third of the first-round vote, nearly double their 18% in the first round in 2022.

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French polling agencies indicated that Macron’s grouping of centrist parties could finish a distant third in the first-round ballot. Their projections put Macron’s camp behind both the National Rally and a new left-wing coalition of parties that joined forces to keep Le Pen”s anti-immigration party from potentially forming the most conservative government since World War II. 

Still, the election’s ultimate outcome remains uncertain, and the decisive final vote will happen next Sunday, July 7. 

BOLIVIA’S PRESIDENT DENOUNCES ‘SELF-COUP’ ACCUSATIONS AS ‘LIES’ AS SUPPORTERS RALLY

French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron leave the voting booth in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, northern France, Sunday, June 30, 2024. (Yara Nardi, Pool via AP)

Earlier this month, Macron dissolved parliament and called for a surprise vote after the National Rally clobbered his party in the European Parliament election. The move was seen as a risky gamble that French voters, complacent about the European election, would be motivated to back moderate forces to keep the National Rally out of power.

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Many French voters are frustrated about inflation and other economic concerns, as well as the leadership of Macron, who is seen as arrogant and out of touch. Le Pen’s anti-immigration National Rally party has tapped that discontent, notably via online platforms like TikTok, and led in pre-election opinion polls.

Voters in Paris had issues from immigration to the rising cost of living on their minds as the country has grown more divided between the right-wing and left-wing blocs, with a deeply unpopular and weakened president in the political center. 

Le Pen called on voters to give the National Rally an “absolute majority” in parliament. She said a National Rally majority would enable the right to form a new government with party President Jordan Bardella as prime minister to work on France’s “recovery.”

Marine Le Pen after voting

Marine Le Pen, with local Mayor Steeve Briois, after voting in the parliamentary election, Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Henin-Beaumont, northern France. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

“Following historic victories for conservatives in the EU elections a few weeks ago, France today reaffirmed the drastic shift we are seeing in Europe away from the failed left-wing playbook in favor of a common-sense conservative agenda centered around lower taxes, a crackdown on illegal immigration, and support for freedom of speech,” Matt Mowers, EU-US Forum founding board member and former State Department official, told Fox News Digital. “Today’s results serve as another major message to bureaucrats in Brussels – Europeans want conservative policies and leaders.”

KENYAN POLICE CONFRONT PROTESTERS DAY AFTER PRESIDENT WITHDRAWS TAX INCREASE BILL

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Turnout on Sunday stood at an unusually high 59% three hours before polls closed – 20 percentage points higher than turnout at the same time in the last first-round vote in 2022.

The first polling projections emerged after final polling stations closed. Early official results were expected later Sunday.

The second round of voting next Sunday will be more decisive, but questions will still remain about how Macron will share power with a prime minister who is hostile to most of his policies.

Jordan Bardella waiting to be interviewed

National Rally President Jordan Bardella waits for the start of an interview on the French TV channel TF1, in Boulogne-Billancourt, outside Paris, on June 20, 2024. (Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images)

In the scenario of a National Rally victory, Macron would be expected to name the party’s president, 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, as prime minister in an awkward power-sharing system known as “cohabitation.” While Macron has said he won’t step down before his presidential term expires in 2027, cohabitation would weaken him at home and on the world stage.

The results of the first round will give a clear picture of voter sentiment, but not necessarily the overall makeup of the next National Assembly. Predictions are difficult because of the complicated voting system, and because parties will work between the rounds to make alliances in some constituencies or pull out of others.

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Bardella, who has no governing experience, said he would use the powers of prime minister to stop Macron from continuing to supply long-range weapons to Ukraine for the war with Russia.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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French far-right leader Marine Le Pen announces her re-election

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French far-right leader Marine Le Pen announces her re-election

Le Pen’s success in Hénin-Beaumont underscores her enduring influence in the region, where she has consistently garnered strong support

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Marine Le Pen, the prominent leader of the French far-right National Rally (RN) party, has announced that she has been re-elected in the first round of the parliamentary election in her stronghold constituency of Hénin-Beaumont.

According to initial results, the three-time presidential candidate won with over 58% of the vote, against nearly 26% for New Popular Front candidate Samira Laala.

In a speech following her victory, Le Pen emphasized the importance of the upcoming second round. “Nothing is certain: the second round is decisive. In order to give Jordan Bardella an absolute majority in the National Assembly and for him to be appointed Prime Minister by Emmanuel Macron in eight days’ time, I invite you to renew your vote,” she urged her supporters.

Le Pen’s success in Hénin-Beaumont underscores her enduring influence in the region, where she has consistently garnered strong support. Le Pen was a candidate in the 11th constituency of Pas-de-Calais, where she has been elected since 2017.

The first-round victory is a significant step for the National Rally as they aim to increase their representation in the National Assembly and push for their broader political agenda.

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The final outcome of the parliamentary election will be crucial in determining the balance of power in France. As Le Pen and her party prepare for the decisive second round, the political stakes remain high, with the potential to reshape the nation’s future direction.

The National Rally, the far-right party led by Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella, has surged to first place in the first round of legislative elections, according to a projection produced by Ipsos Talan today (30 June) after polls closed. The National Rally may have gained 34% of votes cast, according to the poll, a slight decrease from opinion polls last week which put the party and its allies at 36%.

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