Authorities in Singapore have announced that they intend to expand the use of police patrol robots across the city following five years of trials

The "integration of robotics" improves the operational efficiency and capabilities of Singaporean crime-fighting, a high-ranking police official reportedly said.

These 1.7-meter-tall mobile contraptions fitted with cameras and speakers afford additional surveillance capabilities to the police force and can help set up a cordon or warn off bystanders at a scene before officers arrive.

Police robots were first deployed in Singapore in 2018 during the Chingay Parade, and two robots were deployed this April at the Terminal 4 of the Changi Airport as part of the local police force patrol operations, according to media reports.

“The operationalization of patrol robots at Changi Airport Terminal 4 since April represents a significant milestone in our exploration of robotics in policing,” Superintendent Lim Ke Wei of the Airport Police said as quoted by one Singaporean newspaper.“

"These patrol robots operate autonomously alongside our officers, providing additional eyes on the ground," Lim added.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸 Musk says Biden should 'do his own tweets'

US billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has ironically called on the team of US President Joe Biden to give the US leader the password to his page on Twitter, so he can post there himself.

💬 "Please give him the password, so he can do his own tweets. Please, I’m begging you!" Musk said on Twitter on Saturday, in response to a post on Biden’s account saying "It’s about time the super-wealthy start paying their fair share."

Musk added in another comment that he agreed that elaborate tax-avoidance schemes should be made illegal, "but acting upon that would upset a lot of donors, so we will see words, but no action."

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Spin Me Round: Earth’s Spin Shifted Due to Human Groundwater Consumption, Study Says

🌍 Earth spins once roughly every 24 hours at an axial tilt of 23.4°, currently declining in a 41,000-year cycle.

In 2016, it was found that water might alter how the Earth rotated, but up until now, the precise role of groundwater in these rotational shifts had not been studied.

Humans have extracted such a large mass of water from the ground that the Earth tilted nearly 80 centimeters east between 1993 and 2010 alone, according to a new study

👉 READ MORE

Subscribe to @sputnik_africa

🔸 Sputnik Africa | TikTok | Odysee | Twitter 🔸

📹🤪 French President Emmanuel Macron proved he can down a bottle of beer in the dressing room after Toulouse won the French Rugby Championship

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Former US Vice President Mike Pence stands for military support to Ukraine

The Republican presidential precandidate Mike Pence considers support for Ukraine necessary, as he expects that if Kiev is defeated, the Russian Army will cross the border of one of the NATO countries, forcing the US military to fight for their allies.

In an interview with a US outlet, Pence also noted that skepticism among Americans about military support for Ukraine is "a reflection of a lack of confidence in President Joe Biden as commander in chief."

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Antony Blinken and Qin Gang have held substantive and constructive talks in Beijing during which Blinken told Qin that the US would protect the interests and values of the American people

"Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken held candid, substantive, and constructive talks today with People’s Republic of China (PRC) State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing," the US Department of State said.

Blinken has said that the United States "will always stand up for the interests and values of the American people" and cooperate with its allies to advance their vision "for a world that is free, open, and upholds the international rules-based order," the statement read.

The statement added that Blinken's meetings with Chinese officials in Beijing would continue on June 19.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The US is skeptical about UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace's candidacy for the post of NATO secretary general 

A UK newspaper reported that the US has reservations about Wallace, with some in the military unhappy with the way he has set the pace on the Ukraine issue.

The newspaper also reported that the European Union would not accept a candidate from a country that is not part of the bloc. Wallace would need a firm decision from US President Joe Biden in favor of his candidacy in order to become secretary general against the background of such a position in the EU, The Guardian noted.

Current Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was due to retire on October 1, 2022, but in March 2022 the leaders of the alliance decided to extend his mandate until September 30, 2023.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The Chinese Embassy in the UK called on London to cease all contacts with Taipei

"The British side allowed certain figure from the Taiwan region to visit the UK and arranged for relevant official to meet with said person. This move seriously violates the one-China principle and the basic norms of international relations," the embassy spokesperson said in a statement.

The document read that the meeting sent a "seriously wrong signal" to Taiwan's independence separatist forces and interfered in China's internal affairs, adding that Beijing strongly deplored and firmly opposed the move.

"China urges the UK to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and basic norms governing international relations, stop any official exchanges with the Taiwan authorities, and stop emboldening separatist forces for 'Taiwan independence'. We want to make it clear to the UK side that any actions that undermine China's interests will be met with resolute responses," the statement said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Swiss residents in a referendum approved the introduction of a minimum tax rate of 15% for large multinational companies

According to the referendum results, 78.45% voted in favor of the initiative and 21.55% against.

In April, Switzerland decided to join a project of 140 countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the G20 on minimum taxation of large multinational enterprises. The aim of the project is to make such companies pay at least 15% income tax in each jurisdiction if their annual turnover exceeds 750 million Swiss francs ($839 million).

The Swiss Federal Tax Office estimates that the revenue from the additional tax would be 1-2.5 billion Swiss francs.
Swiss citizens also supported the text of the federal climate law, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland to zero by 2050.

About 59% voted in favor of the law, while almost 41% voted against it.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The restoration of the Kakhovka HPP can only start once Ukrainian troops are pushed away to a safe distance

"Of course, after achieving the goals of the special military operation, or even earlier, when we drive the enemy to a safe distance, we will begin to restore the Kakhovka HPP. There is no other way - the ecology and economy of the left bank of the Kherson region and northern Crimea are strongly tied to it. This is a fundamental issue. However, it is clear that specific plans and projects will be drawn up later," acting Kherson Governor Vladimir Saldo told Sputnik.

Earlier, the head of the Kherson regional government, Andrey Alekseyenko, said that the death toll from the flooding of Kherson Region after the Kakhovka HPP damage had gone up to 35.

The upper part of the Kakhovka power plant on the Dnepro River was damaged overnight from June 5 to June 6. It was not destroyed completely, but its crumbling caused an uncontrollable outflow of water to towns on the Russian-controlled eastern bank of the river and the Ukrainian-held western bank.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Viktor Orban slammed the EU’s newly-adopted quotas for the equitable resettlement of migrants from the Middle East

"Brussels is calling for mandatory migrant quotas once again. The Soros-empire strikes back," Orban tweeted.

In early June, the European Commission adopted a new action plan on combating illegal sea migration, under which it would speed up the redistribution of irregular migrants across all of the EU to ease the burden of frontline member states. Not all EU member states are ready to accept migrants under quotas, however.

Europe has been experiencing a major migrant crisis since 2015 due to the influx of thousands of refugees from Middle Eastern and North African countries. Migrants have been trying to reach EU states using various routes, including via Italy, Greece, Turkey and the Balkans.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Belgorod Region, Russia has been shelled by the Armed Forces of Ukraine

💬 "According to preliminary data, seven people were injured, including one child with a broken collarbone ... All the victims are in a moderate condition," the Governor of Belgorod Region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, wrote on Telegram.

▪️Additionally, five residential buildings and four private houses were damaged in the shelling, the official added.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Antony Blinken has made little progress in promoting Washington's agenda in his talks with Chinese officials in Beijing

Antony Blinken arrived in Beijing on June 18 in what became his first visit to China in his current role and also the first US Secretary of State visit to Beijing since 2018. It took the Biden administration almost six months to put this visit back on the schedule as it was originally set for February.

Blinken has already met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, who said on Sunday that China-US relations were at their lowest point.

The US media reported on Sunday that the ambiguity following the talks indicates little substantive progress on Blinken’s agenda items, which include concerns over Taiwan, jailed US citizens in China and Beijing’s stance on Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.

Blinken and Qin Gang are said to be "inching toward an off-ramp from months of rancor" but Beijing maintains its "stern" stance on key issues.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Footage showing the combat work of the assault units of the Marine Corps of the Pacific Fleet

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 "Scarlet Sails", a holiday dedicated to graduation, was held in Mariupol. The event was attended by the mayor of the city, who said that this holiday is becoming a significant tradition for residents of Mariupol

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Ukrainian troops who have attempted to advance in the south Donetsk direction have lost over half of personnel

"In the south Donetsk direction, subunits of the Vostok group of forces, with the support of artillery and aviation, inflicted fire damage on the enemy, who was trying to conduct offensive operations. Motorized rifle units thwarted two enemy attacks in the Novodonetsk area. A tank, armored fighting vehicles and more than half of the advancing manpower were destroyed," a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson said.

Two Ukrainian attacks in the direction of Ravnopol were repelled and an attempt by the enemy to conduct reconnaissance by force in the Zaporozhye direction was thwarted, the spokesperson added.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Skyrora, a private space company based in the UK, will be testing its new 3D-printed rocket engines this summer for potential orbit launches

The engines, made using Skyrora’s own Skyprint 2 machine, will be tested at a facility in Midlothian, Scotland, the largest rocket testing facility in the United Kingdom, UK broadcaster said on Monday.

The weekly tests will take place over the summer.

Skyrora, which has received funding from the UK and EU space agencies, plans to scale up production if the 3D-printed engine trials are successful and will then conduct more tests of its three-stage launch vehicle, Skyrora XL.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗🇧🇩 Bangladesh has filed a formal application to join BRICS

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service received information about the decision of the State Inspectorate for Nuclear Regulation of Ukraine to send a batch of irradiated fuel from the Rovenskaya NPP for reprocessing

▪️ This fuel was moved in two containers to the storage site at Chernobyl without the IAEA being notified.

▪️ All this can be explained by the intentions of Ukraine to continue work on a dirty nuclear bomb, the Foreign Intelligence Service noted.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇨🇳 🇺🇸 Xi Jinping meets US Secretary of State Blinken in Beijing

The Pentagon is trying to obtain populations of small animals that carry HIV and hepatitis B, and cultures of mosquitoes infected with the hepatitis B virus have already been obtained, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, a Russian senior military official, said

▪️ He also noted the high technical level of US readiness for the use of infected vectors - this is evidenced by the presence of a patent for a drone designed to spread infected mosquitoes via the air.

▪️ The flooding of the territories of the Kherson region planned by Kiev can form foci of West Nile fever transmitted by mosquitoes, Igor Kirillov added

Subscribe to @SputnikInt