A deadly Russian police raid on alleged Azerbaijani crime ring has prompted a major diplomatic flare up between the two nations

The relationship between Russia and Azerbaijan has rapidly deteriorated in the aftermath of a Russian police raid on a suspected ethnic organized crime gang, which resulted in the deaths of two suspects.

Baku has retaliated with multiple hostile steps, targeting Russian journalists and artists and detaining a group of the country’s nationals it had portrayed as a “crime ring” as well.

Here is how the events unfolded:

Russian police bust organized crime ring

Last week, Russian police raided a suspected ethnic Azerbaijani crime ring in the city of Yekaterinburg. The raid was a part of the investigation into a string of murders dating back to the early 2000s and believed to be gang assassinations and contract killings.

During the raid, two elderly suspects, identified as brothers Gusein and Zieddin Safarov, ended up dead. It has been established that one of the suspects succumbed to heart failure, the Russian authorities have stated.

Six suspects, all of whom are Russian citizens, have been taken into pre-trial custody under the case. After the international scandal erupted, the probe into the alleged organized crime group was transferred to the central office of the Russian Investigative Committee.

Azerbaijan plays ethnic card

The raid and the death of the suspect have invoked fury in Azerbaijan, with multiple politicians and public figures demanding retaliation against Moscow and accusing the Russian authorities of targeting the alleged crime group based on its ethnicity rather than anything else.

Shortly after the incident, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture canceled multiple events involving Russian performers, while the country’s parliamentary delegation scrapped its scheduled visit to Moscow. On Monday, the national food safety agency reported the destruction of some 639 kilograms of onion rings imported from Russia, claiming they were contaminated with bacteria.

On Tuesday, Baku officially accused the Russian law enforcement of beating the Safarov brothers to death. The bodies of the suspects had been transferred to Azerbaijan for burial and local medical examination allegedly showed both men succumbed to severe blunt force trauma.

Baku targets Russian journalists

On Monday, police in Baku raided the office of Russian news agency Sputnik, arresting two senior editors. The agency has been accused of operating “through illegal financing,” and the journalists - the head of the editorial office, Igor Kartavykh, and Editor-in-Chief Evgeny Belousov - ended up placed under pre-trial detention for four months.

During the raid, Azerbaijani police also detained an editor with the Russian video news agency Ruptly, who was filming outside the Sputnik’s office. The journalist, Aytekin Guseynova, spent only some 20 minutes filming before ending up in police custody.

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Azerbaijani ambassador Rakhman Mustafaev shortly after the raid on Sputnik, citing “Baku’s hostile actions and the unlawful detention of Russian journalists.” The envoy, in turn, handed the ministry a note condemning the alleged “torture and degrading actions” of Russian law enforcement.

Azerbaijan finds Russian ‘crime ring’

On Tuesday, Azerbaijani police arrested eight Russian nationals, claiming they were members of a group involved in cybercrime and drug trafficking from Iran. The latter country, however, maintains an extremely strict stance on illicit drug trade, which is a capital offense.

The suspects were transferred to a Baku court in a heavily armed police convoy. All the Russian nationals appeared to have been severely beaten up, with multiple visible bruises and blood, footage from the court circulated by local media suggested. All the suspects were placed into pre-trial detention for four months.

Russian media reports, however, identified two of the suspects as IT specialists who had left the country in the wake of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. Another detainee was reportedly identified as a Russian tourist, who was in Azerbaijan on a trip.

A new law in Denmark subjects 18-year-old females to the draft starting July 1

Women in Denmark are now subject to conscription, following a change to the relevant law made by the country’s parliament a few weeks ago.

The move comes as NATO, of which Denmark is a member, increases its military readiness, citing a perceived threat from Russia after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. At the bloc’s summit in The Hague last week, member states agreed to ramp up defense spending.

In May, the European Union approved a €150 billion ($171 billion) borrowing plan to support its own military buildup.

The Kremlin has consistently dismissed allegations of hostile intent toward Western nations as “nonsense” and fearmongering.

The newly adopted Danish legislation mandates “full equality between men and women in relation to military service.” It requires that “women who turn 18 on or after 1 July 2025 will have to… draw a [draft] lottery number and thus could be ordered to serve military service if there are not enough volunteers.” Female conscripts will serve under the same conditions as men.

The bill also extends the mandatory service period from four to eleven months, according to media reports.

Denmark’s armed forces rely on both volunteers and conscripts, who are called up when volunteer numbers fall short. Roughly 4,700 Danes completed military service in 2024, with women accounting for approximately 24% of that figure.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen unveiled plans to conscript women in March, framing the decision as part of a push for “full equality between the sexes.”

Latvia, another NATO member, is planning to conscript women by 2028. It reintroduced mandatory service in 2023 after scrapping it in 2006.

Norway and Sweden have already implemented gender-neutral conscription, in 2015 and 2018 respectively.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has also proposed reinstating the draft for men, which was abolished in 2011.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said he will oppose any agreements to end the fighting

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said that the war in Gaza must continue until “a decisive victory” is achieved, rejecting calls for a ceasefire or negotiated settlement.

Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, Smotrich said Israel was “in the midst of a campaign against a crushed terrorist organization” and warned that there would be “no greater danger” to the country’s future than halting the operation prematurely.

“This war must end in a decisive victory for many generations to come, without agreements, without mediators,” he said.

The remarks come amid growing internal divisions within the Israeli cabinet over the future of Operation Gideon’s Chariots. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to reconvene his security cabinet later this week, after several failed attempts to reach consensus on a path forward.

Mediators Egypt and Qatar have been pushing a new deal that would pause fighting for 60 days in exchange for the release of some Israeli hostages and expanded humanitarian access to Gaza. The earlier US-backed ceasefire framework, brokered in January, collapsed in March when Israel resumed military operations.

Last week, Israel’s military chief, Eyal Zamir, said that the current phase of the ground operation was close to achieving its goals. Israel has intensified its offensive in recent weeks following stalled talks over the fate of the remaining captives held by Hamas. Around 20 hostages are believed to still be alive.

The war was triggered by Hamas on October 7, 2023, with an attack that left some 1,200 Israelis dead and took about 250 hostage. Israel’s response has been a sustained bombardment of Gaza, with much of the enclave now in ruins.

According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, over 56,000 Palestinians – mostly civilians – have been killed since the war began. The UN says more than 400 were killed while seeking aid after the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began operating in late May, following a three-month Israeli blockade.

On Monday, multiple Israeli media outlets reported that the IDF acknowledged civilian casualties near aid distribution points, while disputing the accuracy of the figures released by Hamas.

The conversation is the first phone call between the leaders since September 2022

Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first phone call in nearly three years on Tuesday, discussing key issues including the Ukraine conflict and Iran’s nuclear program. 

The Kremlin released an official statement following the phone conversation between Putin and Macron. Below is the full text of the readout, detailing their discussions.

Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron.

The two leaders had a detailed discussion on the state of events in the Middle East in light of the conflict between Iran and Israel, as well as the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron emphasised that Russia and France, as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, bore particular responsibility for upholding peace and security, in the Middle East or elsewhere, as well as for preserving the global non-proliferation regime. In this regard, it was noted that respecting Tehran’s legitimate right to develop peaceful nuclear technology and continue fulfilling its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which includes cooperating with the IAEA, was crucial.

The two leaders spoke in favour of settling the crisis around Iran’s nuclear programme and any other differences arising in the Middle East exclusively via political and diplomatic means. They agreed to maintain contact in order to coordinate their stances if necessary.

When discussing the situation surrounding Ukraine, Vladimir Putin reiterated that the Ukraine conflict was a direct consequence of the policies pursued by the Western countries, which had for years been ignoring Russia’s security interests, creating an anti-Russia staging ground in Ukraine, and condoning the violations of rights of Ukraine’s Russian-speaking citizens, and at present were pursuing a policy of prolonging hostilities while supplying the Kiev regime with a variety of modern weaponry.

Speaking about the prospects of a peaceful settlement, the President of Russia has confirmed Russia’s stance on possible agreements: they are to be comprehensive and long-term, provide for the elimination of the root causes of the Ukraine crisis, and be based on the new territorial realities. 

Aluminum, copper and nickel shipments have surged this year, according to trade data

Beijing has increased purchases of Russian metals as Moscow pivots toward Asia amid Western sanctions, Bloomberg has reported, citing customs data.

The US and its allies have been targeting Russian base metals in an effort to cut the country’s revenues amid the Ukraine conflict. China has become a key buyer of Russian commodities, with overall trade between the two countries hitting historic highs last year, exceeding $240 billion.

Imports of Russian aluminum jumped nearly 56% year-on-year to almost one million tons between January and May, while copper purchases surged 66% and nickel imports more than doubled, according to Trade Data Monitor, cited by the outlet on Monday.

The report noted that while Russian producers Rusal and Norilsk Nickel are not under Western sanctions, their access to global trading platforms has been restricted.

In April 2024, the US and UK barred the London Metal Exchange (LME) and Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) from accepting new Russian-origin aluminum, copper, and nickel and barred imports of the metals. Washington had earlier imposed 200% duties on Russian-made aluminum products, while Canada enacted a full ban on imports of Russian aluminum and steel.

Earlier this year, the EU introduced a phased ban on Russian aluminum, setting a 275,000-ton quota that runs through February 2026.

The Kremlin has condemned the sanctions as “illegal,” warning they will backfire on those imposing them. The measures triggered spikes in global metal prices, with aluminum seeing its biggest surge on the LME in decades. Moscow has redirected exports to Asia and the Middle East amid the shift away from Western markets.

People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Norilsk Nickel began boosting sales to China in the second half of 2024. The company is also reportedly working with a unit of Chinese gold giant Shandong Gold to expand copper cathode shipments to the country.

Sanctioned producers such as Russian Copper and UMCC may also be shipping metal to China, the sources said.

Norilsk Nickel’s chief executive, Vladimir Potanin, has said the company plans to relocate some copper smelting operations to China to safeguard exports from sanctions pressure on financial transactions.

The foreign aid agency has failed to advance America’s interests, the US Secretary of State has said

Washington has formally shut down its foreign aid agency USAID, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced, branding the organization inefficient and a failure in its core mission.

Long the primary vehicle for funding political and development projects abroad, USAID had “fallen well below” its obligations to advance US interests, Rubio said in a statement on Tuesday. With more than $715 billion in inflation-adjusted spending over the decades, the agency promoted “anti-American ideals and groups,” including DEI, censorship, and regime change operations, while fostering an “NGO industrial complex,” he added.

”This era of government-sanctioned inefficiency has officially come to an end… As of July 1st, USAID will officially cease to implement foreign assistance,” Rubio stated, adding that the State Department has officially absorbed the agency’s functions.

US President Donald Trump launched the process of dismantling USAID shortly after returning to office in January, after accusing the organization – often criticized by conservatives as promoting liberal causes – of being run by “radical lunatics” and facilitating corruption “at levels rarely seen before.”

As part of Trump’s broader federal waste-cutting initiative, thousands of USAID employees were fired or placed on leave, and billions in aid contracts were frozen or scrapped entirely. The effort has been led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a new body tasked with reducing bureaucratic overhead across federal programs.

The consequences of USAID’s closure have drawn concern from health experts and development advocates.

In addition to funding NGOs abroad, USAID played a key role in financing global healthcare programs. Critics warn its dismantling could have long-term effects on global health and development.

According to a study published Monday in The Lancet, the funding cuts could result in over 14 million preventable deaths by 2030 from diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria. The authors noted that between 2001 and 2021, USAID-backed programs were estimated to have saved over 91 million lives in low- and middle-income countries.

Poland’s prime minister has announced the reinstatement of temporary checks on the borders with Germany and Lithuania

Poland has decided to temporarily reintroduce border controls along its frontiers with Germany and Lithuania to stop the flow of illegal migrants. All three nations are part of the Schengen Area, which allows free travel across most of the bloc.

The EU has been grappling with a refugee crisis since at least 2015, largely caused by upheavals in the Middle East and Africa, and later by the Ukraine conflict. Warsaw has previously accused German police of “dumping” thousands of migrants back across the Polish border. Some activists have organized self-styled ‘citizen border patrols’ along the German frontier.

“We remain advocates for freedom of movement in Europe, but only on condition that there is the shared will of all neighbors… to minimize the uncontrolled flow of migrants across our borders,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. He stated that temporary border controls would similarly be implemented on Poland’s border with Lithuania.

In 2023, neighboring Germany, the EU’s top destination for asylum seekers, introduced temporary controls on its borders with Poland and the Czech Republic to stem the flow. Most of the people entering Poland travel on to western Europe, where benefits for asylum seekers are more generous. Berlin has since repeatedly renewed the controls.

Under the Schengen agreement, participant nations are allowed to temporarily reintroduce border controls in emergency situations, with the Covid-19 outbreak having been one recent instance.

Tighter national migration and border control policies could lead to the destruction of the EU, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned in May.

Commenting on the restoration of control on the Polish-Lithuanian border, Tusk accused the Baltic state, as well as neighboring Latvia, of having lax border controls. The lapses have supposedly allowed illegal migrants to cross over from non-EU Belarus, and subsequently to enter Poland.

Since 2021, Warsaw has accused Minsk and Moscow of deliberately orchestrating the flow of illegal migrants into EU states. Russia and Belarus have denied the allegations.

Both crew members operating the SU-34 fighter-bomber are said to have ejected and survived

A Russian SU-34 medium-range fighter-bomber crashed during a training flight in the country’s Nizhny Novgorod Region on Tuesday, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has reported. Both the pilot and the navigator who operated the twin-seat aircraft are understood to have ejected and are reportedly alive.

According to the ministry’s statement quoted by Russian media, “during landing, the release system of one of the landing gear legs failed.” The pilot made several attempts at fixing the issue while in flight, before deciding to abandon the aircraft.

The crew proceeded to divert the warplane away from populated areas and ejected, Russian military officials said, noting that the SU-34 was not carrying any ordnance. The incident reportedly resulted in no casualties or damage on the ground.

“A rescue team has been flown to the crash site to evacuate the crew to their home air base. According to the information from the site, both members are alive,” the ministry stated.

In early April, a Russian Tu-22M long-range strategic bomber crashed in Irkutsk Region. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the four crew managed to eject, but the pilot did not survive the landing. Military officials named a technical failure as the suspected cause of the crash.

Several weeks before, a Russian SU-25 fighter jet was lost during a training flight in far-eastern Primorsky Region. The pilot ejected and was evacuated to safety.

The Russian and French presidents have discussed the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine, the Kremlin press service has said

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron by telephone, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday. It is the first phone contact between the leaders since September 2022. 

The conversation revolved around the situation in the Middle East, as well as the Ukraine conflict.

During the call, Putin told Macron that the Ukraine conflict was “a direct consequence of the policies pursued by Western states, which for many years ignored Russia’s security interests,” and had established an “anti-Russian bridgehead” in the country, the press service stated.

The Russian leader reiterated Moscow’s approach to any settlement, stating that it must “be comprehensive and long-term, address the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis and be based on new territorial realities.”

Putin and Macron also discussed the situation in the Middle East, namely the recent escalation between Israel and Iran. The two leaders agreed that diplomacy was the way forward, the Kremlin press service noted, adding that they agreed to maintain contact for the sake of “possible coordination of the positions.”

Both countries share a “special responsibility” to maintain “peace and security,” as well as to preserve the “global nuclear non-proliferation regime,” the two men agreed, according to Moscow.

“In this regard, the importance of respecting Tehran’s legitimate right to develop peaceful nuclear energy and continuing to fulfill its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, including cooperation with the IAEA, was emphasized,” the Kremlin press service said.

France has long asserted itself as one of Kiev’s key backers in the conflict with Moscow. Paris has committed more than €3.7 billion ($4.1 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine since the escalation of the conflict in February 2022, according to the Kiel Institute’s aid tracker.

Macron has also repeatedly floated the idea of deploying French soldiers to Ukraine. While the deployment never materialized, Paris repeatedly signaled that troops could be sent after the end of hostilities to act as a deterrent against Russia. Moscow has firmly opposed Western forces in Ukraine in any role, warning the it could trigger an all-out war between Russia and NATO.

In recent months, however, Macron has softened his stance, admitting back in May that the French have done “the maximum we could” to help and could no longer supply Ukraine with weapons. Last week, the French president said that NATO’s European members have no wish to “endlessly” arm themselves and should “think about” restoring dialogue with Russia “right now” in order to negotiate broader European security as part of a potential Ukraine peace deal.

The incident took place during a US operation against the powerful criminal organization, the Department of Justice has revealed

A hacker working for Mexico’s most powerful drug cartel accessed the phone records and geolocation data of a senior FBI agent assigned to the US Embassy in the country, according to the latest report by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of the Inspector General.

The incident took place in 2018, when the FBI was working on a high-profile case gathering evidence against notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin Guzman Loera, nicknamed “El Chapo,” the longtime leader of the Sinaloa cartel.

The cyber operative hired by the gang also managed to tap into Mexico city’s CCTV network, allowing the cartel to monitor the agent’s movements and identify individuals he met with, some of whom were later intimidated or killed, the report stated.

Under Guzman’s leadership, the Sinaloa cartel became the main supplier of drugs to the US, trafficking vast quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, and marijuana.

Guzman was arrested in Mexico in 2016 and extradited to the US. In 2019, a federal court in Brooklyn sentenced him to life in prison plus 30 years. He is now serving his sentence in ADX Florence, the most secure federal prison in the US.

His capture did not bring an end to the cartel; power shifting to other leaders and the flow of drugs north has continued unabated.

Recent advances in surveillance technology and their availability to criminal groups and “less-sophisticated nations” are now viewed as an “existential” threat by US intelligence agencies like the FBI and CIA, the DOJ report stated.

After returning to office in January, US President Donald Trump has taken a hardline approach toward Mexico’s role in the drug trade.

In one of his first moves, he designated several Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa Cartel, as Foreign Terrorist Organizations — a move that could open the door to expanded military or intelligence operations.

Last week, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on three Mexican financial institutions accused of laundering cartel money, presumably cutting them off from the American financial system.

Trump has also floated the possibility of missile strikes on cartel drug labs inside Mexico. Meanwhile, the CIA is reportedly conducting drone surveillance missions deep into Mexican territory to monitor cartel operations.

The policies have strained US–Mexico relations. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has criticized the lack of evidence behind some of Washington’s actions and warned against violating the country’s sovereignty.

The environment minister has said the proposal would only worsen urban heat

France’s environment minister on Tuesday rejected a plan by former leader of the National Rally party Marine Le Pen to install air conditioners nationwide to protect citizens during increasingly hot summers, Politico has reported.

Agnes Pannier-Runacher claims that AC units could make heatwaves worse by blowing out hot air on to the street, according to the outlet.

France is battling extreme temperatures as a powerful heatwave grips southern Europe. The country has closed dozens of schools and issued health alerts. Soaring temperatures have also scorched Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece.

”The government wants ordinary people to suffer the heat while the so-called French elites benefit from air conditioning,” Le Pen said in a post on X on Monday.

She voiced outrage over the conditions students are facing in the heat and pledged to launch a major air conditioning plan if elected. Earlier this year, the three-time presidential candidate was sentenced to four years in prison for embezzlement – two suspended and two under house arrest – and banned from holding office for five years, barring her from the 2027 presidential race.

Minister for Ecological Transition Agnes Pannier-Runacher reportedly called Le Pen’s air conditioning plan an “inadequate adaptation” to climate change and said it would contribute to overheating cities.

“When you cool a room, you need heat to obtain the cold – which means you’re necessarily heating another area,” she told reporters on Tuesday. “You’re heating up the streets, which increases hot spots.”

A 2020 study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters warned that traditional air conditioning systems that vent hot air outdoors can raise urban temperatures by several degrees. “Although it is an efficient solution for households that can afford it, AC makes the situation worse for households who cannot or do not want to adopt it,” the study said.

Despite this, Le Pen’s party doubled down on the proposal. “Our goal is to install air conditioners as widely as possible – in administrations, schools, retirement homes and private homes,” National Rally lawmaker Frederic Falcon said in a statement.

France has historically seen limited adoption of air conditioning, as many view it with skepticism. Concerns include its high energy consumption, association with bourgeois luxury, and the unsubstantiated belief that it circulates poor-quality air.

Government policy has prioritized other cooling measures such as planting trees, installing reflective surfaces and improving building insulation, particularly in public spaces and strategic infrastructure.

Timur Ivanov has been found guilty of embezzlement and fraud

Russia’s former deputy defense minister, Timur Ivanov, has been sentenced to 13 years in a penal colony after being found guilty of embezzling state funds, the Moscow City Court announced on Tuesday.

The 49-year-old, arrested in April 2024, previously held senior roles in Russia’s energy and construction sectors. Before his appointment as deputy defense minister in 2016, Ivanov led the state contractor Oboronstroy and worked at several major firms. In his government role, he oversaw large-scale military construction projects.

The court found Ivanov and his former subordinate Anton Filatov guilty of embezzling 216.6 million rubles ($2.8 million) during the 2015 purchase of two ferries, carried out by Oboronstroy on behalf of the Defense Ministry for the Kerch Strait crossing. The pair was also convicted of stealing and laundering 3.9 billion rubles ($50 million) that had belonged to the now-bankrupt Interkommerz Bank.

Both men have denied any wrongdoing. In his final statement, Ivanov insisted that the ferry deal was lawful and had even earned him a state award. He argued that even if there were grounds for prosecution, they bore no relation to the current charges.

Filatov was sentenced to 12 and a half years in a penal colony and fined $318,000 – he claimed the case had been based on investigative errors and “speculative” conclusions.

Ivanov, who also faces two separate bribery charges, was fined $1.2 million and stripped of state honors, including the title of Merited Builder of Russia. The court also approved the seizure of more than $32 million worth of his assets, including real estate, vehicles, and bank holdings.

According to RBK, the defense intends to appeal the verdict, citing procedural violations and a lack of direct evidence.

Ivanov was among a number of top military officials arrested following a major reshuffle at the Defense Ministry last year.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has condemned the prosecution in Moldova of regional head Yevgenia Gutsul as politically motivated repression

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has denounced the Moldovan authorities’ efforts to imprison the leader of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, Yevgenia Gutsul, calling it an example of “European anti-values in action.”

Gutsul, who was elected as Gagauzia’s governor in July 2023, was detained on March 25 while attempting to leave Moldova. Authorities have accused her of illegally financing the banned Euroskeptic SOR party. She has denied the charges and called the case politically motivated. The Moldovan Prosecutor’s Office requested a nine-year prison term for her on Tuesday.

In addition, authorities have called for a five-year ban on Gutsul holding public office.

“The European anti-values are in action. From a hardworking country, Brussels is forging a liberal dictatorship,” Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel.

Gutsul’s arrest has triggered protests outside the courthouse in Chisinau, with supporters calling the proceedings a politically driven attempt to neutralize opposition in the region. In October 2024, the EU also sanctioned Gutsul for “promoting separatism,” maintaining “close ties with Russia,” and allegedly threatening Moldova’s sovereignty.

President Maia Sandu’s government, in power since 2020, has pursued rapid integration with the European Union and NATO. Opposition figures, including former President Igor Dodon and members of the Victorie party, have accused the government of repressing dissent and abandoning Moldova’s traditional ties with Russia.

Gutsul has appealed to foreign leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan to intervene. In a March letter, she urged Putin to exert pressure on Moldovan authorities for her release.

Russian officials and opposition groups in Moldova have warned that the central government is increasingly using law enforcement to suppress political rivals and religious institutions. In recent months, clashes between police and Orthodox Christian demonstrators at protests have drawn additional criticism from pro-traditionalist factions.

Gagauzia, a largely Russian-speaking autonomous region in southern Moldova, has historically favored closer ties with Russia and has opposed Moldova’s integration with the European Union. In a 2014 referendum, more than 98% of voters in the region supported joining the Russia-led Customs Union.

The rapper has advised the tech billionaire to “slow down” on making new children

Veteran American rapper Snoop Dogg has slammed Pavel Durov for fathering more than 100 children, claiming that the Telegram founder and CEO was “dropping litters” rather than making babies.

Durov told French newspaper Le Point last month that he is the official father of six children with three different partners, but that he also has over 100 other kids in 12 countries through sperm donations.

Snoop Dogg, himself a father of four, addressed the Telegram CEO in a post on X on Monday, writing: “Yo, Pave Durov, heard U got 106 kids now??”

“Neffew you not havn babies you droppn litters... slo down,” the musician advised, including a cat and dog emojis and the #PuppyLove hashtag in his post.

@snoopdogg takes a dogg to know a dogg, I can give you some tips 😉 best discussed where privacy is king. I’ll hit you on TG.

— Pavel Durov (@durov) June 30, 2025

Durov replied a few hours later, writing that it “takes a dogg to know a dogg, I can give you some tips.”

However, the tech billionaire suggested that X, which is owned by Elon Musk, was not the proper platform to address the topic.

“Best discussed where privacy is king. I’ll hit you on TG [Telegram],” he told Snoop.

In the same interview with Le Point in mid-June, Durov announced that he plans to leave his fortune to his numerous children. However, the 40-year-old clarified that they will not have access to their inheritance until 30 years from now.

Forbes estimates the wealth of the Russian-born Telegram CEO at $17.1 billion, making him the 134th richest person in the world.

Why Trump managed to settle the conflict in the Middle East but not in Eastern Europe

US President Donald Trump secured his image as a “peacemaker” by swiftly de-escalating tensions in the Israel-Iran conflict. However, the methods he employed have little to do with the system of international law that the West swears by when condemning Russia’s own military operation.

So, why has the situation in the Middle East become calmer while the Ukraine crisis rages on? Perhaps the answer lies in a comment Trump made during a NATO summit, when he said that “something needs to be done” about Ukraine because the situation is “completely out of control”. Out of US control, to be precise.

Why was the Middle East crisis easier to handle for Trump? 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proved to be a more predictable partner for Trump. Unlike Ukraine, Israel cannot depend on consistent support from Europe; for the past several years, Europe has assessed the actions of the Israeli military with increasing restraint and sometimes outright criticism. Tel Aviv didn’t have another external ‘guardian’, and this significantly strengthened Washington’s position. The loss of US support would have jeopardized Israel’s entire security architecture, and a conflict with the White House was a risk Netanyahu couldn’t afford to take.

The asymmetrical goals of the parties also played an important part. Israel declared that it wanted to eradicate the Iranian regime – an ambitious yet unrealistic goal. In contrast, Iran didn’t seek to escalate the conflict; it aimed to maintain internal stability and minimize losses – a goal Tehran successfully achieved, but one that Israel may have failed at.

Nevertheless, both sides managed to save face. Netanyahu announced the destruction of key facilities of Iran’s nuclear program. Although leaks published in the American media have suggested that Tehran evacuated sensitive materials ahead of time, Iran officially acknowledged some of the damage.

Whether this statement was made as a strategic move for de-escalation or as an acknowledgment of real losses is of secondary importance. The key point is that both Israel and Iran have chosen not to escalate the conflict further. 

It’s likely that both sides calculated the risks involved. Israel did not anticipate such a strong retaliatory response and realized it could not destabilize the Islamic Republic on its own. Iran, for its part, was probably unprepared for a war that could draw in the US. Washington, meanwhile, had no desire to get embroiled in a full-blown Middle Eastern campaign. Trump managed to propose a way out: de-escalation without a formal agreement, but with terms that allowed each party to claim victory.

What makes the Ukraine crisis more complex?

The Ukraine crisis isn’t just a bilateral issue; it involves many players. Beyond the US, the European Union has become a key player. According to Member of the European Parliament Csaba Demeter, the EU contributes €134 billion of the total €267 billion in aid – about 10% of the EU’s seven-year budget. 

It’s understandable that Brussels is reluctant to abandon its pursuit of “Russia’s strategic defeat,” even if it doesn’t explicitly state this. Many of the EU’s diplomatic moves, like proposals for an unconditional ceasefire, demonstrate an effort to regroup rather than seek compromise.

Unlike Trump, European elites still consider the Ukraine crisis manageable. While in the Middle East they were concerned about the destabilization of energy markets and thus favored de-escalation, in Ukraine the EU actively supports the continuation of the conflict. Just recall how German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly stated that Ukraine must negotiate from a position of strength – a stance he uses to justify Berlin’s willingness to supply Kiev with long-range weapons. French President Emmanuel Macron has echoed that line, consistently emphasizing his country’s role in arming Ukraine’s military.

Trump has fewer tools at his disposal compared to the situation with Israel. Sure, he can say that this isn’t his war; but if Ukraine loses, it will go down in his biography as “the second Afghanistan.” That’s why the US is hesitant to leverage its influence: a thorough audit of the billions of dollars in aid provided to Ukraine hasn’t been initiated yet, despite corruption allegations growing louder in Kiev. Such an audit could significantly impact Zelensky’s behavior and push him toward negotiations.

The question of Zelensky’s legitimacy also remains: Zelensky’s presidential term expired in May 2024, a fact that Moscow has often noted. Currently, there are no signs that Trump is ready to instigate a political process, but perhaps his calls for “doing something” also pertain to this aspect.

Why Trump can’t pressure Russia like Israel and Iran?

Unlike the conflict that has flared up in the Middle East, the Ukraine conflict is not just a temporary crisis; it poses a long-term challenge to the framework of European security. The Israeli-Iranian standoff hasn’t changed the balance of power in the region, but the Ukrainian conflict has reshaped Eastern Europe in the political, military, and psychological sense. Neither side is willing to return to how things were before.

The process of constructing a new security system on the European continent that accommodates the interests of all parties involved is a fundamental task; a simple ceasefire won’t solve these issues. Russia has made it clear that it will not settle for a temporary ceasefire that merely looks like peace. Long-term guarantees are needed to prevent the conflict from recurring, which means Kiev must reassess both its foreign and domestic strategies. For now, neither the EU nor Washington has demonstrated any real willingness to head in that direction.

While he understands the complexity of the situation, Trump is cautious about getting involved in negotiations. He has expressed frustration with both sides, as if saying – I tried, but no one was interested.  This approach has allowed the US to shift responsibility for the crisis onto Europe, implying: now it’s your war – you go find a solution.

Brussels recognizes this signal and is doing everything it can to keep Washington focused on Ukraine. But as time goes on, it becomes increasingly clear that Trump does not want to take on the role of chief mediator in this conflict. He has not provided any clear signals regarding a long-term strategy. His position remains chaotic and reactive, making it even harder to predict the future actions of the United States.

The chief editors of Sputnik Azerbaijan have been remanded in pre-trial detention for four months

A Baku court on Tuesday ordered the pre-trial detention of Igor Kartavykh, head of Sputnik Azerbaijan’s editorial office, and Editor-in-Chief Evgeny Belousov for four months.

The Russian journalists were arrested a day before during a police raid on the Russian news agency’s office in the Azerbaijani capital. The country’s authorities claimed the agency has been operating “through illegal financing,” while Sputnik dismissed the allegations as “absurd.”

During the raid, Azerbaijani police also detained an editor with the Russian video news agency Ruptly, who was filming outside Sputnik’s office. 

According to Azerbaijani media, a total of seven suspects have been detained in the case involving the Russian journalists. However, only the senior editors ended up in pre-trial custody. The case reportedly involves multiple offenses, including fraud, illegal business dealings and money laundering.

Shortly after the raid on the Sputnik office, Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Azerbaijani Ambassador Rakhman Mustafaev, citing “Baku’s hostile actions and the unlawful detention of Russian journalists.”

In February, Baku had moved to effectively halt Sputnik’s operations, giving accreditation to just a single journalist. The outlet, however, told RT that it had never received a formal prohibition, and the foreign ministers of the two countries have been discussing issues related to the agency’s work.

The hostile move against the Russian news agency comes amid a new flare-up in relations between Moscow and Baku. The tensions were sparked by a police raid on a suspected ethnic organized crime group in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, composed of Russian nationals of Azerbaijani origin.

The raid came as a part of an investigation into a string of murders, dating back to the early 2000s, believed to be gang assassinations committed by members of the crime ring. Two elderly suspects died during the police operation, with the preliminary assessment indicating that at least one of them suffered heart failure.

The incident sparked outrage among Azerbaijani politicians and public figures, who demanded retaliation against Russia and accused it of targeting the suspected crime ring based on the ethnicity of its members.

Earlier on Tuesday, Baku officially accused Russian law enforcement of deliberately killing the detainees, claiming both of them succumbed to blunt force trauma.

The US president has also suggested getting DOGE to investigate the billionaire, noting that he has received a lot of subsidies

US President Donald Trump has said that he might entertain the idea of deporting Elon Musk and could consider getting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to look into the billionaire’s government contracts.

The president’s comments come amid a very public falling out between him and Musk, who was until recently one of Trump’s staunchest supporters. Last month, Musk stepped down as the head of DOGE after heavily criticizing Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget bill, which includes a $5 trillion debt ceiling increase.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump was asked if he would look at deporting Elon Musk – a naturalized US citizen – to his native South Africa, to which the president replied: “I don’t know, we’ll have to take a look.”

“We might have to put DOGE on Elon,” the president added, noting that “DOGE is the monster that might have to go back and eat Elon.” Trump further pointed out that Musk had been getting a “lot of subsidies.” 

“Elon’s very upset that the [Electrical Vehicle] mandate is going to be terminated,” Trump said, stating that “not everybody wants an electric car.”

Earlier, Trump also posted on his Truth Social platform that Musk “knew, long before he so strongly endorsed me for president, that I was strongly against the EV Mandate.” The president said that electric cars are “fine” but objected to having everyone forced to own one.

Trump suggested in his post that without subsidies, Musk could end up having to “close up shop and head back home to South Africa.” This, according to Trump, could save the US “a fortune,” as Musk would no longer be engaged in any rocket launches, satellites, or electric car production.

”Perhaps we should have DOGE take a good, hard, look at this? BIG MONEY TO BE SAVED!!!” Trump wrote.

Meanwhile, Musk has continued to attack Trump’s budget bill, claiming that it undermines his work with DOGE to cut federal spending.

“Every member of Congress who campaigned on reducing government spending and then immediately voted for the biggest debt increase in history should hang their head in shame,” Musk wrote on X on Tuesday. “They will lose their primary next year if it is the last thing I do on this Earth,” he warned.

Musk also reiterated calls to establish a new “America Party” to serve as an alternative to the “Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a voice.”

Pretoria says it is negotiating for a maximum tariff rate of 10% from Washington as a worst-case scenario

South Africa has asked the US for an extension on a looming tariff deadline, as the two countries continue negotiating a trade agreement. Relations have been strained between Pretoria and Washington since US President Donald Trump took office in January.

The South African Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) announced the move on Tuesday, ahead of a July 9 deadline when a 31% tariff on South African exports to the American market is set to take effect.

The duty forms part of the global “reciprocal tariffs” announced by Trump in April, aimed at countering what he described as foreign nations exploiting the openness of the US market and “ripping off” the American people. Implementation of the measure was paused for 90 days to allow for negotiations.

Earlier, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa described the measure as “punitive tariffs,” arguing that they “serve as a barrier to trade and shared prosperity.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the DTIC said its officials had met with US Assistant Trade Representative for Africa Connie Hamilton and reiterated calls for an extension of the 90-day deadline to allow Pretoria and other African governments to prepare their proposed deals in line with a new trade framework.

According to the ministry, President Ramaphosa first presented the proposed framework at a meeting with Donald Trump at the White House in May. During the visit, Trump confronted him over claims of “genocide” against white farmers – an allegation that prompted the US president to halt all federal funding to South Africa and expel the country’s ambassador to Washington, accusing him of being “anti-American.”

Pretoria hopes to reach an agreement that would exempt key exports such as vehicles, auto parts, steel and aluminum from the tariff hike. In exchange, the country has offered to import liquefied natural gas from the US, the DTIC stated.

“South Africa is also seeking the maximum tariff application of 10%, as a worst-case situation,” it added.

South African Trade Minister Parks Tau has urged domestic industries to “exercise strategic patience and not take decisions in haste,” adding that the government would “use every avenue to engage the US government to find an amicable solution to safeguard South African interests in the US market.” 

Pretoria is the largest beneficiary of Washington’s flagship African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which grants eligible sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the US market. After China, the US is South Africa’s second-largest bilateral trading partner. The citrus industry – one of the country’s key agricultural export sectors – could lose up to 35,000 jobs if the tariffs are implemented, officials cited by Reuters have warned.

S. Jaishankar has refuted Donald Trump’s claims on mediation between the South Asian neighbors

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has refuted US President Donald Trump's assertion of using trade as leverage to negotiate a ceasefire between India and Pakistan during a military showdown in May.

Trump has repeatedly said that the US mediated between the South Asian neighbors when they were involved in a 4-day confrontation and offered more trade with both countries if they ceased hostilities. 

“I think the trade people are doing what the trade people should be doing, which is negotiate with numbers and lines and products and do their trade-offs,” Jaishankar told Newsweek in an interview, when asked if trade talks were linked to the recent conflict in the subcontinent. “I think they are very professional and very, very focused about it.”

The US and India are engaged in negotiations and racing to meet a July 9 deadline set by Trump, after which reciprocal tariffs will be imposed if an agreement is not reached. Speaking about the military confrontation with Pakistan, Jaishankar said that he was in the room when US Vice President J D Vance spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the night of May 9, “saying that the Pakistanis would launch a very massive assault on India if we did not accept certain things.”

He added that Modi told Vance that there would be a response from India. “This was the night before and the Pakistanis did attack us massively that night, we responded very quickly thereafter,” he said. 

The Indian foreign minister who is in Washington for a meeting of foreign ministers of the so-called Quad, comprising India, the US, Japan, and Australia, said trade talks between New Delhi and Washington were progressing.

“We are in the middle, hopefully more than the middle, of a very intricate trade negotiation…we do think today that in trade, there will have to be some give and take,” Jaishankar said in the Newsweek interview. “Just as people in the US have an opinion about India, Indians too have an opinion about the US. There will be some sort of middle ground, we just have to wait and watch the space for the next few days.”

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Washington and New Delhi were “finalizing” a trade deal.  

US-India Trade Deal Being Finalised, Announcement 'Very Soon' - White House pic.twitter.com/0BqcaYjGNV

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) July 1, 2025

A potential trade agreement, however, still faces roadblocks.

On Monday, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told newspaper Financial Express that even as the deal talks are on, India has stated that agriculture and dairy must be excluded from any tariff agreement.