Ukraine-Russia war latest: Russia putting up 'powerful resistance' against Ukraine counter-offensive - The Telegraph

Russia is putting up a “powerful resistance” on the southern front, Kyiv has warned.

Ukraine reported progress in its newly-launched counteroffensive despite contending with strong resistance from Russian troops, including on the southern front.

“There is a gradual but steady advance of the armed forces... At the same time, the enemy is putting up powerful resistance” on the southern front, Ganna Malyar, the Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister, said in a briefing, adding the troops had advanced in the east as well.

Around Bakhmut, “the enemy is pulling up additional reserves and is trying with all its might to prevent the advance of Ukrainian forces,” she said, noting that despite this they had advanced more than three kilometres in the area.

Ukrainian forces have recaptured seven settlements and more than 100 square kilometres of territory, said Oleksiy Gromov of the Ukrainian armed forces’ general staff.

Russia claims to have repelled all Ukrainian assaults.

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2023-06-15 10:46:32Z
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Italy mourns and asks who will succeed Berlusconi - BBC

Reuters

By Sofia Bettiza

BBC News, Milan

Italy is marking the death of ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with a spectacle befitting the grand soap opera of his life.

The one-time cruise singer who led Italy with no prior political experience built a media empire and had a string of wives and girlfriends.

The Archbishop of Milan led Berlusconi's state funeral in the city's grand cathedral.

Italy is holding a day of national mourning.

All Italian and European flags on public buildings have been lowered to half-mast.

The square outside the cathedral filled up with thousands of people waving Forza Italian flags and AC Milan flags, clapping and chanting: "Silvio will always be our president."

This kind of tribute is unprecedented for a former prime minister. A state funeral is a privilege usually reserved for popes, war heroes and serving ministers.

Milan is a city deeply associated with Silvio Berlusconi - this is where he was born and where he started his career, selling vacuum cleaners.

Maxi-screens have been set up in the main square, which filled during the morning with people coming to say a final farewell.

Behind the scenes, a true succession story is also playing out.

During his lifetime, Berlusconi amassed a vast empire that spanned media, real estate, finance, cinema and sport - as well as a powerful political party that is part of Italy's current government.

He was one of Italy's richest men. According to Forbes, his business assets are worth about €6bn (£5.15bn).

But he never publicly indicated who should lead his business empire after his death and there are also big questions over the future of the Forza Italia party he created.

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Berlusconi has two children from his first marriage and three from his second. All of them have stakes in Fininvest, his holding company.

The future of his business interests will likely depend on how he has chosen to distribute the 61% stake he had in Fininvest.

Will there be equal shares for all, or more for the two eldest children, Marina and Pier Silvio, who have held management roles in the empire since the early 1990s?

Olycom Spa/Shutterstock

Other valuable assets are undoubtedly Berlusconi's numerous luxurious villas. They could be tricky to pass on to his offspring in an equal way.

His Villa San Martino in Arcore, north-east of Milan, covers 3,500 sq m and dates back to the 18th Century. He also has homes at Lake Maggiore, in Rome, Cannes, the Caribbean and elsewhere.

The jewel in Berlusconi's crown of properties is Villa Certosa, a mansion in Sardinia that he bought in the 1970s.

He hosted world leaders there, from Vladimir Putin to George W. Bush. It has 126 rooms and looks like a theme park - including a fake volcano that erupts lava. Its value is estimated at €259m.

• Comeback king who led Italy four times
• How Silvio Berlusconi changed Italy
• How Berlusconi paved the way for populist politics

People close to the family have described Berlusconi as "the glue" who kept his children united.

There has been no dispute so far over who takes over the empire - that is expected to fall to his oldest child Marina, 56, considered closest of the five to her father.

The big question is whether that family unity can be maintained now that Berlusconi has gone, and what impact that might have on the future of his business empire.

His death could prove disastrous for the future of his political party. Can Forza Italia survive without its charismatic creator - or could it fall apart in a matter of months?

He was the ultimate populist leader, and unsurprisingly, the party he created was entirely shaped around his persona.

His right-hand man, foreign minister Antonio Tajani, has categorically denied its future is at risk: "It's unthinkable that the party would disappear."

But Forza Italia's share of the vote had already slipped to 8% in last September's general election.

Many Italians who backed the party did so because they were Berlusconi loyalists and it will be tricky to appoint a successor they will warm to.

In reality, party members will probably look to the Berlusconi family to make a decision.

Will the two eldest, Marina and Pier Silvio, want to keep investing in their father's political creation, or will they turn off the financial tap and cut their losses?

ANSA via ZUMA Press/Shutterstock

Without their financial support, Forza Italia has no chance of surviving. Berlusconi heavily funded his party - reportedly injecting it with nearly €100m.

There is some speculation that Marina could succeed him as leader, but for now this remains a rumour. She is seen as more of a behind-the-scenes operator.

Another unknown is Berlusconi's partner Marta Fascina, who is 53 years his junior. She's an MP in his party and has said several times that "her passion is politics and she grew up with the myth of Silvio Berlusconi".

Berlusconi's eldest daughter reportedly blocked his plan to marry her last year. So there is a cloud over Ms Fascina's future role in her late partner's party.

Nicola Marfisi/AGF/Universal Images Group via Gett

One thing is certain: if Forza Italia does fracture, it would be a big problem for the other members of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition government.

Political instability looms after Wednesday's day of national mourning.

In a country so well-known for regular political crises, a government collapse triggered by the disintegration of one of the coalition partners does not seem such an unlikely scenario.

Until now, Berlusconi's children have avoided the limelight. But his death might force them to emerge from the shadows to take the reins of his empire.

Berlusconi had health problem for years so it is likely he and his children had thought all of this through.

They might opt for an easy transition heralded by their eldest sister Marina, rather than get into a succession battle which could go wrong.

Related Topics

• Silvio Berlusconi
• Italy

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2023-06-14 13:37:21Z
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Russian nuclear weapons 'more powerful than Hiroshima bomb' arrive in Belarus - The Telegraph

Belarus has begun taking delivery of tactical nuclear weapons from Russia, including some that are three times more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945.

It is believed to be the first time Moscow has moved such weapons – shorter-ranged and less powerful nuclear weapons that could potentially be used on the battlefield – outside Russia’s borders since the fall of the Soviet Union.

“We have missiles and bombs that we have received from Russia,” Alexander Lukashenko, the Belarusian president, said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 Russian state TV channel.

“The bombs are three times more powerful than those [dropped on] Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” he said, speaking on a road in a forest clearing with military vehicles parked nearby and what appeared to be a military storage facility in the background.

Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, on Friday said Moscow, which will retain control of the tactical nuclear weapons, would start deploying them in Belarus after special storage facilities to house them were made ready.

Alexander Lukashenko is said to be a close ally of Vladimir Putin Credit: SPUTNIK/REUTERS

The Russian leader announced in March that he had agreed to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, pointing to the US deployment of similar weapons in several European countries over many decades.

The US has criticised Putin’s decision but has said it has no intention of altering its own stance on strategic nuclear weapons and has not seen any signs that Russia is preparing to use an atomic weapon.

The Russian step is nonetheless being watched closely by the US and its allies as well as by China, which has repeatedly cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.

Mr Lukashenko, a close Putin ally, told Russian state TV that his country had numerous nuclear storage facilities left over from the Soviet-era and had restored several of them.

He played down the idea that Russian control of the weapons was an impediment to using them quickly if he felt such a move was necessary, saying he and Putin could pick up the phone to each other “at any moment”.

Mr Lukashenko, who has allowed his country to be used by Russian forces attacking Ukraine, says the nuclear deployment will act as a deterrent against potential aggressors.

Speaking on Wednesday, he said his country would enter the conflict in Ukraine if it was attacked, Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported.

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2023-06-14 11:28:00Z
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Special counsel Jack Smith stared at Trump throughout court appearance, report says - The Independent

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Special Counsel Jack Smith reportedly stared down former President Donald Trump throughout the entirety of Mr Trump’s arraignment in Miami on Tuesday.

Hugo Lowell of The Guardian and other journalists reported that Mr Smith sat in the front row during Mr Trump’s arraignment on federal charges related to his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021 and “stared towards the former president for essentially the entire appearance.”

Mr Smith was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland to oversee the Department of Justice’s investigation into Mr Trump’s handling of classified documents and his attempts to overturn the reuslt of the 2020 presidential election.

Already, he has led an historic investigation: Mr Trump last week became the first former president ever indicted on federal charges just months after he became the first former president ever to be indicted at all when he was charged in New York over his alleged role in the payment of hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Mr Trump is facing 37 felony counts in connection to his handling of the documents and his alleged efforts to impede the government’s efforts to reacquire them. He has pleaded not guilty.

“Adherence to the rule of law is a bedrock principle of the Department of Justice and our nation’s commitment to the rule of law sets an example for the world,” Mr Smith told reporters at a press conference last Friday. “We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone.”

Mr Trump has not taken kindly to Mr Smith’s efforts. Shortly before his arraignment, he took to Truth Social to call the special counsel a “thug.”

“This is the Thug, over turned consistently and unanimously in big cases, that Biden and his CORRUPT Injustice Department stuck on me,” the former president wrote. “He’s a Radical Right Lunatic and Trump Hater, as are all his friends and family, who probably “planted” information in the “boxes” given to them. They taint everything that they touch, including our Country, which is rapidly going to HELL!”

Mr Smith has already had a decorated career at the Justice Department. He led the department’s public integrity unit from 2010 to 2015, taking part in investigations into former Sen John Edwards of North Carolina and former Gov Bob McDonnell of Virginia.

He then moved to become the assistant US attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee and briefly served as acting US attorney before moving into private law with the Hospital Corporation of America before becoming chief prosecutor for the special court in The Hague.

In the courtroom in Miami, Mr Smith reportedly cut an intimidating figure.

Mr Trump and Mr Smith will likely lock horns again in the coming months as this case and the Justice Department’s investigation into the efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 election unfold. In the meantime, Mr Trump remains the frontrunner for the Republican nomination for president — a fact that could complicate the ongoing prosecutions of him.

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2023-06-14 09:13:28Z
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Belarus starts receiving tactical nuclear weapons from Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko says - Sky News

Belarus has started to receive tactical nuclear weapons from Russia, its leader has said.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Russian state TV that his country is taking delivery of the weapons, some of which he said were three times more powerful than the atomic bombs the US dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

Lukashenko said Tuesday that "everything is ready" for the Russian nuclear weapons' deployment, adding that "it could take just a few days for us to get what we had asked for and even a bit more."

Asked later by a Russian state TV host whether Belarus had already received some of the weapons, Lukashenko responded coyly by saying: "Not all of them, little by little."

"We have missiles and bombs that we have received from Russia," he said.

Putin hints at another attempt to take Kyiv - Ukraine war latest updates

It comes after Mr Lukashenko seemed to contradict Vladimir Putin over their potential use.

More on Belarus

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The Russian leader had emphasised that Moscow will retain control of their use, but Mr Lukashenko said he wouldn't hesitate to use them if Belarus faced aggression.

Image: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lukashenko speak earlier in June

The deployment is Moscow's first move of such warheads - shorter-range less powerful nuclear weapons that could potentially be used on the battlefield - outside Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union.

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It's a development that is being watched closely by the United States and its allies as well as by China, which has repeatedly cautioned against the use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war.

Lukashenko also said separately on Tuesday that the nuclear weapons would be physically deployed on the territory of Belarus "in several days" and that he had the facilities to host longer-range missiles too if ever needed.

Read more:
Could Putin be using the war in Ukraine to annex Belarus by stealth?
US reacts cautiously as Russia agrees deal to move nuclear weapons to Belarus

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3:14

Russia 'invading Belarus by stealth'

Ostracised by much of Europe and the West, Belarus and Russia have deepened ties as the war in Ukraine has continued.

Moscow has been quietly increasing its influence and control over Belarus with a possible view, some say, of eventually making the former Soviet country part of Russia.

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2023-06-14 05:54:35Z
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Australia bus crash: Driver going too fast in Hunter Valley, police say - BBC

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By Tom Housden

BBC News, Sydney

The man driving a bus in Australia that crashed, killing 10 and injuring at least 20, was allegedly going too fast in foggy conditions, police say.

The bus was carrying passengers returning from a wedding on Sunday when it overturned at a roundabout near the town of Greta in New South Wales (NSW).

Many of the victims are connected to tight-knit rural sporting clubs, local media have reported.

The crash is one of Australia's deadliest road incidents.

Brett Andrew Button, 58, has been charged with multiple counts of dangerous driving and negligence, after being arrested on Monday.

He was allegedly driving "in a manner that was inconsistent with the conditions", the NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Commander told reporters on Tuesday.

"He lost control of that vehicle... obviously the speed was too quick for him to negotiate that roundabout," Acting Assistant Commissioner David Waddell added.

Fourteen people injured in the crash in the Hunter Valley wine region remain in hospital, with two in a critical condition, police say.

They have not formally identified any of the victims, but the mayor of Singleton said many lived in the small town.

"I know we'll never get over it," Sue Moore told the BBC.

Some local families have been at the side of injured people in hospital in Newcastle and Sydney, Ms Moore said, and others are planning funerals while reeling from "the worst possible thing that could ever happen in their lives".

"As far as I know, one lot of parents are leaving two kids orphaned," she said.

A junior doctor, Rebecca Mullen, was among those killed, said NSW Health Minister Ryan Park."This has made a very dark day even darker for NSW Health," he said.

EPA

Tasmanian man Kane Symons also died in the crash, his former surf club confirmed on social media.

Posting on behalf of his family, the Carlton Park Surf Lifesaving Club described Mr Symons as "an amazing athlete... a great bloke and a mate to many".

"We adored him and he will be truly missed," they said.

Pop-up mental health clinics have been set up in Singleton and the nearby town of Cessnock to support the local community, and Ms Moore said discussions are under way to fundraise for the victims' families.

Mr Button is also a Hunter Valley local, and is clearly hurting along with the victims' relatives, a magistrate said when he faced court on Tuesday morning.

"I see before me a man suffering," Magistrate Robyn Richardson said, granting him bail.

The Cessnock Local Court heard Mr Button had committed seven driving offences over the past 30 years, but did not have a criminal record.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday said the "horrific tragedy" had rocked the country, particularly because people "associate weddings with love and... celebrations".

"Of course, the scars will last for such a long, long period of time," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The crash site was "still an active crime scene", police said on Monday, with forensics officers working through the wreckage.

The Hunter Valley in NSW is known for its vineyards and native bushland, making it a popular spot for wine lovers and group outings or celebrations.

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2023-06-13 08:12:53Z
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What time is Trump's arraignment and will it be live-streamed? - The Independent

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Former president Donald Trump is expected to surrender to authorities at a federal courthouse in Miami, Florida on Tuesday (13 June) on 37 charges related to his retention of classified documents.

On Monday afternoon, Mr Trump left his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey, and boarded his private plane to make his way down to Florida.

It is the second time Mr Trump will be arraigned, the first being earlier this year when he was indicted in New York on 34 felony charges related to business fraud.

Unlike his previous indictment and arraignment, this one is on the federal level via the Department of Justice.

In most cases, criminal defendants are handcuffed, fingerprinted and photographed for a mug shot before appearing before the court. It is unclear if the procedure will remain for Mr Trump as authorities in New York only took his fingerprints.

Like last time, cameras will not be allowed in the Wilkie D Ferguson Jr courthouse during the former president’s arraignment. However, news reporters who manage to get a seat at the hearing will be allowed to use electronic devices but only in text function and not verbatim.

“News reporters are not authorized to record or transmit in any way audio, still photography, or video from anywhere inside courthouses nor from inside courtrooms, including any lobby areas, of any building housing a federal court,” the Southern District of Florida court website says.

Mr Trump’s hearing is set to begin at 3pm ET.

Though the former president can change his mind, he likely will enter a not-guilty plea deal as he has vocally expressed his innocence. During that time, Mr Trump will most likely stand next to his lawyer until the judge gives him permission to speak.

Several questions about the arraignment remain, including which judge will be overseeing the hearing and who will represent Mr Trump in court.

After the hearing, Mr Trump is expected to return to New Jersey after his arraignment on Tuesday and will deliver remarks at his golf club in Bedminster later in the evening.

As of Monday afternoon, authorities in Miami are preparing for potential protests and rallies that could turn violent.

Miami mayor Francis Suarez said the city is enacting plans to “make sure that everyone has a right to peacefully express themselves and exercise their constitutional rights” in “an obviously peaceful manner”.

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2023-06-13 07:39:52Z
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