French President Emmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian COVID-19 test when he arrived to see President Vladimir Putin this week, to prevent Russia getting hold of Macron's DNA, two sources in Macron's entourage told Reuters reut.rs/3rFYGWZ 1/5
As a result, the visiting French head of state was kept at a distance from the Russian leader during lengthy talks on the Ukraine crisis in Moscow 2/5
Observers were struck by images of Macron and Putin sitting at opposite ends of 4-meter-long table during their talks, with some diplomats and others suggesting Putin might be wanting to send a diplomatic message 3/5
But two sources, who have knowledge of the French president's health protocol, told Reuters Macron had been given a choice: either accept a PCR test done by the Russian authorities and be allowed to get close to Putin, or refuse and abide by more stringent social distancing 4/5
'We knew very well that meant no handshake and that long table. But we could not accept that they get their hands on the president's DNA,' one of the sources said, referring to security concerns if the French leader was tested by Russian doctors reut.rs/3rFYGWZ 5/5
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Russia said it had detained a citizen of Uzbekistan who had confessed to planting and detonating a bomb that killed Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov in Moscow a day earlier on the instructions of Ukraine's security service 1/9 reut.rs/41Yg643
Kirillov, who was chief of Russia's Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Protection Troops, was killed outside his apartment building along with his assistant when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off 2/9reut.rs/3ZJSX2s
Ukraine's SBU intelligence service, which accused Kirillov of being responsible for the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian troops, something Moscow denies, took responsibility for the killing 3/9
Firefighters in Malibu, California, are making some progress in containing a raging wildfire, but it continues to threaten several structures and force residents to flee 1/6
The Franklin Fire is burning in the steep, rugged terrain northwest of Los Angeles 2/6 reut.rs/4ffSWsO
No deaths or injuries from the wildfire have been reported. Officials say the cause remains unknown. Anthony Marrone, Los Angeles County Fire Chief gave an update ⬇️ 3/6
Syrians awakened to a hopeful if uncertain future, after rebels seized the capital Damascus and President Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia, following 13 years of civil war and more than 50 years of his family's brutal rule 1/10 reut.rs/4iojhYr
The lightning advance of a militia alliance spearheaded by Hayat al-Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate, marked one of the biggest turning points for the Middle East in generation 2/10
Moscow gave asylum to Assad and his family, Russian media reported and Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, said on his Telegram channel 3/10
Russian presidential aircraft and funds were used in a program that took children from occupied Ukrainian territories, stripped them of Ukrainian identity and placed them with Russian families, according to a report by Yale's School of Public Health 1/6reut.rs/3CR1mcs
The US State Department-backed research identified 314 Ukrainian children taken to Russia in the early months of the war in Ukraine as part of what it says was a systematic, Kremlin-funded program to 'Russify' them 2/6
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his child rights' commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the alleged war crime of deportation of Ukrainian children 3/6reut.rs/3B1oKUi
World leaders rushed to congratulate Republican Donald Trump after he claimed victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the US presidential election, which would cap a stunning political comeback four years after he left the White House reut.rs/3NY78vo
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy: 'I appreciate President Trump’s commitment to the “peace through strength” approach in global affairs. This is exactly the principle that can practically bring just peace in Ukraine closer' reut.rs/3UHeXcp
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: 'Congratulations on history's greatest comeback! Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America' reut.rs/4fhyxEs
The US Justice Department has opened 12 investigations into possible civil rights abuses by police departments since Democratic President Joe Biden took office, but has not secured even one binding settlement to implement reforms in any of them 1/9 reut.rs/40mKyni
After winning office following a wave of mass protests in 2020 over police killings of Black people, the Biden administration highlighted 'pattern or practice' investigations of alleged systematic civil rights violations by state or local police as critical to police reform 2/9
Attorney General Merrick Garland got off to a swift start, in April 2021 launching investigations into the Minneapolis and Louisville police departments, which became the focus of widespread protests after white police officers killed George Floyd and Breonna Taylor 3/9