Trump and Putin had another, undisclosed conversation at G20

US President Donald Trump and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had another, previously undisclosed conversation at this month's G20, the White House has confirmed.
They spoke towards the end of a formal dinner but the White House has not revealed what was discussed.
President Trump has condemned media revelations of the talks as "sick".
The two leaders' relationship is under scrutiny amid allegations of Russian interference in the US election.
US intelligence agencies believe Moscow tried to tip the election in Mr Trump's favour, something denied by Russia. Mr Trump has rejected allegations of any collusion.
The extra conversation happened during a private meal of heads of state at the G20 summit in Hamburg earlier in the month.
Mr Trump left his seat and headed to Mr Putin, who had been sitting next to Mr Trump's wife, Melania, US media said. The US president was alone with Mr Putin, apart from the attendance of the Russian president's official interpreter.
Mr Trump had been seated next to Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's wife, so the US interpreter at the dinner spoke Japanese, not Russian. No media were in attendance.

Analysis: Uncomfortable questions raised

Jonathan Marcus, BBC News defence and diplomatic correspondent
Given the poor state of relations between Washington and Moscow and the controversy surrounding Russia's efforts to interfere with the US presidential campaign, each and every encounter between Mr Putin and Mr Trump is bound to be carefully scrutinised.
Thus the apparently impromptu discussion between the two men at the G20 dinner inevitably raises many questions. What was President Trump seeking to do in approaching the Russian president? Were matters of substance discussed? If so, why was no formal note taken? And why did the US president have to rely upon a Russian official for translation?
This is all highly unusual, especially at a time when relations between the two countries are laden with so many problems.
Mr Trump also appeared unaware of another dimension - the message that his tete-a-tete would send to other leaders in the room, who must have watched the US president's gambit with some unease.
The length of the talks has been disputed.
Ian Bremmer, president of the US-based Eurasia Group, who first reported them in a newsletter to clients, said: "Donald Trump got up from the table and sat down with Putin for about an hour. It was very animated and very friendly."
No-one else was nearby, so the topics of discussion were not known, he said.
Mr Bremmer had not been at the dinner but said details were given to him by unnamed attendees who, he said, were "flummoxed, confused and startled" by the turn of events.
Mr Bremmer told Bloomberg he had never before seen "two major countries with a constellation of national interests that are as dissident while the two leaders seem to be doing everything possible to make nice-nice and be close to each other".
In a statement, a senior White House official said there was no "second meeting", just a brief conversation after dinner.
At the earlier, formal meeting, their first face-to-face encounter, Mr Trump said he had repeatedly pressed Mr Putin about the allegations of interference in the US vote.
"I said, 'Did you do it?' He said, 'No, I did not, absolutely not.' I then asked him a second time, in a totally different way. He said, 'Absolutely not.'"
There are congressional investigations, and one by a special counsel, into the allegations of Russian interference in the US election and possible collusion with the Trump team.
On Tuesday, the Senate intelligence committee said it wanted to interview Mr Trump's son, Donald Jr, and other members of the Trump team, over a meeting they had with a Russian lawyer in June last year.
Mr Trump Jr said he had attended the meeting with Natalia Veselnitskaya as he was promised damaging material on Hillary Clinton, but it did not materialise.
On Wednesday, Ms Veselnitskaya told Russia's RT television channel she would be willing to testify before the Senate on the matter
Meanwhile, the White House said Mr Trump would nominate former Utah governor Jon Huntsman as ambassador to Russia, a key post for a president who promised to improve relations with Moscow.
Mr Huntsman, who served as ambassador to China and Singapore, needs to have his name confirmed by the Senate.
The suspicions over Russian interference are likely to play a significant factor in his confirmation process, correspondents say


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Second Australian senator quits over dual citizenship

An Australian senator who made history by breastfeeding in parliament has resigned after learning she holds dual citizenship.
Larissa Waters, from the minor Greens party, was born in Canada.
Under Australia's constitution, a person cannot run for federal office if they hold dual or plural citizenship.
On Friday, another Greens senator, Scott Ludlam, also resigned for having dual citizenship. Both politicians were deputy leaders of the party.
In May, Ms Waters gained international attention by becoming the first politician to breastfeed in Australia's federal parliament.

'I was unaware'

Ms Waters said she only discovered her citizenship status following the case of Mr Ludlam, who had recently learned he was a New Zealand national.
Holding back tears at a press conference on Tuesday, Ms Waters described her error as an "honest mistake".
"I was devastated to learn that because of 70-year-old Canadian laws I had been a dual citizen from birth, and that Canadian law changed a week after I was born and required me to have actively renounced Canadian citizenship," she said.
The senator, 40, was 11 months old when she left Canada with her Australian parents.
"All of this happened before I could even say my first word," she said.
However, Ms Waters, who was first elected in 2011, said she took "full responsibility".
It is not yet clear whether she and Mr Ludlam will have to repay their Senate salaries and allowances.
"Certainly it is something that may occur and I will face it if it comes," Ms Waters said.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale said he was "gutted" by the resignation of Ms Waters, who had made an "enormous contribution" to Australia.
The party leader said he was taking immediate action to ensure the mistake would not be repeated.
"It has been a terrible month, there is no other way of sugar-coating it," he said.
According to Australia's constitution, politicians must relinquish foreign citizenships before standing for office.


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North Korean defector 'appears in propaganda video'


South Korean intelligence officials are investigating whether a prominent defector from the North has been kidnapped back to Pyongyang.
The woman, known as Lim Ji-hyun, fled to South Korea in 2014, where she became a popular TV personality.
However, a woman resembling her appeared in a propaganda video in the North's capital on Sunday - prompting speculation she may have been abducted.
In the video, she says she was lured away and forced to slander the North.
She says that she voluntarily returned across the border.
Ms Lim had been a popular face on South Korean television, appearing on both talk shows and reality TV programmes.
The authorities have not yet confirmed if the woman in the propaganda video is Ms Lim. However, they believe Ms Lim is back in North Korea.
The propaganda video was released on Youtube by the North Korean Uriminzokkiri website on Sunday.
In the video, the woman introduces herself by another name, Jeon Hye-Sung.
She is shown in conversation with an interviewer and Kim Man-bok, another former defector who also returned to the North.
She says she was lured to the South by the "fantasy" that she could "eat well and make lots of money" and claims that she was forced into slandering her own country.
She describes how in the South everything was judged by money, how she was struggling to make ends meet and was asked to discredit the North on several TV shows.
She said she was now living back with her parents again after returning to the North last month.
"I felt really lonely in South Korea and I missed my parents," she said in the video.
JoongAng Ilbo newspaper reports that the defector had thanked her fans as recently as April for a birthday party, calling it "possibly the happiest birthday of my life".
Her fan club announced on Sunday it would shut.
Intelligence officials are investigating how Ms Lim might have re-entered North Korea.
Some North Korean defectors have speculated that she may have been abducted on the China-North Korean border while attempting to smuggle out family members, the Korea Times reports.
The BBC's Karen Allen in Seoul says that fake propaganda videos do circulate in North Korea but the authorities in Seoul have confirmed they are taking this seriously and are investigating her case.
Over the past decade, tens of thousands of North Koreans have defected from the authoritarian state into South Korea.
The unification ministry in Seoul told the BBC that since 2012 only 25 returned.
Some North Korean defectors have described difficulties in adapting to life in the South - many miss their families in the North, or struggle to find suitable jobs.


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Spain football chief Angel Maria Villar Llona arrested

The president of the Spanish Football Federation and his son have been held as part of a corruption investigation, police in Spain say.
Angel María Villar Llona was arrested on suspicion of embezzling funds, El Pais and Efe news agency reported.
Mr Villar, a former Spain international footballer, has been president of the association since 1988.
His son Gorka was among a number of other people also arrested during a number of raids early on Tuesday.
Spain's High Court told Reuters that one of its investigating magistrates and anti-corruption prosecutors were leading the probe.
Spanish media report that the allegations centre on the falsification of documents and skimming profits from international football matches.
There has been no comment yet from Mr Villar, 67, or his lawyers.

'You really have balls'

In Villar's time as president of the federation, Spain's men's football team has won two European championships as well as the 2010 World Cup, becoming one of football's dominant forces.
He has also served on the council of football's world governing body Fifa for the past 29 years, but was reprimanded by Fifa for failing to comply with its internal inquiry into the 2018/22 World Cup bidding process.
Michael Garcia, who conducted the investigation, wrote that Mr Villar told him: "Well, you really have balls" when the American lawyer refused to reveal who had made allegations against Mr Villar. He also demanded Mr Garcia drop the case "for your own good".
Richard Conway, the BBC's sports news correspondent, said the Spaniard's arrest is significant and a clear signal that the many issues surrounding officials who presided over world football in recent decades continue.
Mr Villar was acting president of Uefa, Europe's footballing body, while its chief Michel Platini was under investigation. He lost out on the presidency in an election last year.
Uefa and Fifa said they were aware of the reports.
Gorka Villar served as the director-general of the South American football confederation Conmebol before standing down last year.
Before standing down, he had been accused of extortion by a number of Uruguyan football clubs.


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Kenya TV election debate has just one candidate


A TV debate for Kenyan politicians hoping to become deputy president in next month's elections went ahead even though only one candidate took part.
Muthiora Kariara, a political novice who is running with independent presidential candidate Japheth Kaluyu, answered questions for about an hour.
Some of the candidates were not allowed to take part because they arrived late.
Political parties have accused the organisers of failing to consult them in the planning of the event.
The main candidates for deputy president, the current holder of the office William Ruto and Kalonzo Musyoka of the opposition National Super Alliance, boycotted the debate.
Viewers who tuned in saw a stage set with six podiums at the Catholic University of East Africa in Nairobi - but only one of them occupied.
BBC Africa reporter James Copnall says Muthiora Kariara did not look overawed, even when the moderators appeared to struggle to pronounce his name.
He took part in what became a solo question and answer session broadcast live to the nation - perhaps the best political advertising a newcomer could wish for, our correspondent adds.


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Justine Damond's fiance 'heartbroken' over police shooting

The "heartbroken" American fiancé of an Australian shot dead by a US police officer has said they have received almost no information from officials.
Don Damond said his wife-to-be, Justine Damond, was gunned down after calling police to report a possible sexual assault in their quiet neighbourhood.
He said they were "desperate" to find out how Saturday's shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, happened.
The officers' body cameras were not turned on at the time.


The shooting happened in a relatively affluent area, where violent crime is rare.
Mr Damond told a news conference outside his home on Monday evening: "Our hearts are broken and we are utterly devastated by the loss of Justine.
"As you know it was Justine who called 911 on Saturday evening, reporting what she believed was an active sexual assault occurring nearby.
"Sadly her family and I have been provided with almost no additional information from law enforcement regarding what happened after police arrived."
Mr Damond continued: "Our lives are forever changed as a result of knowing her. She was so kind and so darn funny."
Forty-year-old Ms Damond was living in Minneapolis with her fiancé, whose surname she had already adopted.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune, citing three sources with knowledge of the incident, reported that Ms Damond was dressed in her pyjamas and approached the driver's side door to talk to the officer at the wheel after police arrived.
The officer in the passenger seat, identified by local media as Mohamed Noor, drew his gun and shot Ms Damond through the driver's window, the newspaper reported.
Mr Noor's lawyer, Tom Plunkett, confirmed on Monday that his client had fired his weapon, killing Ms Damond.
Ms Damond's stepson, Zach, railed against police in a Facebook video.
"America sucks," he said. "These cops need to get trained differently. I need to move out of here."
The Department of Public Safety's Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said an investigation is under way and authorities are looking into whether there is any video of the incident.
Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau called Damond's death "tragic" in a statement on Monday.
"I've asked for the investigation to be expedited to provide transparency and to answer as many questions as quickly as we can," she said.
The two officers involved in the shooting are on paid administrative leave.
Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges said she was "heartsick and deeply disturbed".

She told a news conference: "I share the same questions other people have about why we don't have body camera footage of it, and I hope to get answers to that in the days coming."
Ms Damond, nee Justine Ruszczyk, taught meditation classes at the Lake Harriet Spiritual Community in Minneapolis.
She studied to be a veterinarian before relocating to the US, where she is believed to have been for at least the last three years.
According to her website, she is a "qualified yoga instructor, a personal health and life coach and meditation teacher".
About 200 neighbours, family members and residents gathered for a vigil on Sunday night where she died.
Over the past few years the US has seen a series of civilian killings at the hands of police that have caused widespread concern and criticism.


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Russia hacking row: Moscow demands US return seized mansions


Russia has been pressing demands that the US give it access to two diplomatic compounds seized in the US last year.
After high-level talks between both sides, one Russian official involved said the row had "almost" been resolved.
Russia has been angered by the move, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov calling it "daylight robbery".
In December the US expelled 35 Russian diplomats and shut the compounds over suspicions of meddling in US elections.
The talks saw US Undersecretary of State Thomas Shannon host Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in Washington on Monday.
Mr Ryabkov sounded upbeat after three hours of talks with the American diplomat.
He was asked by reporters if the spat over the diplomatic compounds had been settled, and he replied: "Almost, almost."
US officials did not comment and there has been no official press briefing.
The meeting was meant to have been held in June in St Petersburg, but was cancelled after the US government added 38 individuals and organisations to its list of sanctions over Russian activity in Ukraine.
Before the talks Russia made clear it was demanding restored access to the facilities.
"We consider it absolutely unacceptable to place conditions on the return of diplomatic property, we consider that it must be returned without any conditions and talking," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Mr Lavrov said that this was not the way decent and well-brought-up people behaved.
"How can you seize property which is protected by a bilateral, inter-governmental, ratified document and, to return it, act according to the principle 'what is mine is mine, and what is yours we'll share'?" he said during a visit to Belarus.
Last week Russia said it was considering "specific measures" in retaliation, including the expulsion of 30 US diplomats and seizure of US state property.
Ex-President Barack Obama acted against Russia after US intelligence sources accused Russian state agents of hacking into Democratic Party computers to undermine Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Which compounds were seized?

  • The US seized a Russian diplomatic property on Maryland's Eastern Shore - a sprawling 45-acre (18.2-hectare) retreat. The facility, acquired during the Cold War, was used by Russian diplomats for recreation, such as tennis and swimming. But it also had sophisticated communications, and US officials said it doubled as a spying outpost
  • The other diplomatic property is a New York mansion at Glen Cove, Long Island. It has 49 rooms and is similarly surrounded by woods. Like the Maryland mansion, its location is ideal for eavesdropping on US communications, US officials say
President Donald Trump's team is under investigation over alleged Russian collusion during last year's presidential campaign. The Kremlin has denied interfering in the election.
The Obama sanctions came on top of existing Western sanctions imposed because of Russia's role in the Ukraine conflict.
At the time Mr Putin refrained from tit-for-tat retaliation - unlike in previous diplomatic spats. Mr Trump had been elected to succeed President Obama just weeks before.
Russia says President Trump presented "no plan to resolve the crisis" when the issue was raised at the G20 meeting in Hamburg on 7 July.
Russia would retaliate if no compromise was reached at the meeting between Mr Ryabkov and Mr Shannon, the Russian newspaper Izvestia reported.

Analysis: Retaliation threat

Barbara Plett Usher, BBC News, Washington
Russian officials welcomed the tone of the recent meeting between the two presidents.
But the political climate in Washington has only grown more toxic, with the ongoing inquiries into allegations of Russian meddling in the presidential election, and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.
That makes any concessions to Moscow controversial.
Russia's threat to expel some American diplomats if it does not get its property back would further complicate the strained relationship.


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