Six In The Morning Saturday 4 June 2022

 Ukraine claims fight back in key eastern city

Three people killed in shelling in Mykolaiv - mayor

Russian troops continue to shell residential areas of Mykolaiv, with three people killed in attacks this morning, the southern city's mayor has said.

In a post on Telegram channel, Alexander Senkevich said four more people were injured and doctors were battling to save their lives.

According to initial information, three high-rise buildings were damaged, he said.

The BBC is not able to independently verify the report.

You can read more about life in the city here: We are holding on, say Mykolaiv residents

Summary

1. In the key city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine says it has recaptured part of the territory that was lost to Russian forces
2. Previously, the governor of Luhansk Serhiy Haidai had said 70% of the eastern city had fallen to Russia
3. Moscow is increasing air strikes in the eastern Donbas region - the focus of its fight - UK military intelligence says
4. Across the whole of Ukraine, Russian forces are in control of roughly a fifth the territory

Tiananmen anniversary: US hails the ‘brave’ 33 years on as Hong Kong warns against gatherings

US ‘will not forget June 4’, says Blinken, while Taiwain set to be only part of Chinese-speaking world where public commemorations permitted

Reuters and Agence France-Presse

The victims of China’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in and around Tiananmen Square 33 years ago will not be forgotten, the US government has said, as Hong Kong warned against unlawful gatherings and Chinese authorities tightened security around the square in Beijing.

Saturday marks the 33rd anniversary of Chinese troops opening fire to end the student-led unrest in and around the square. Chinese authorities ban any public commemoration of the event on the mainland.

In a statement on Saturday, the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, termed the crackdown “a brutal assault”.

Russian agent linked to radioactive poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko dies from Covid

Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi were alleged to have carried out the assasination of Alexander Litvinenko

Joe Middleton

One of the men accused of poisoning Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko has died from coronavirus.

A British inquiry that concluded in 2016 accused Russian agents Dmitry Kovtun and Andrei Lugovoi of being involved in the murder of the former Russian spy in 2006.

Kovtun died in a Moscow hospital at the age of 56 after contracting the virus, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

Lugovoi, who is now a Russian politician, paid tribute to a “close and faithful friend”, the agency said.

How we can overcome the growing plastic crisis

The planet's plastic emergency is set to worsen dramatically. An OECD report reveals ways to significantly reduce pollution by 2060.

Plastic has long had the planet in its grip. All too often it is found piled up on beaches and floating as "plastic islands" in the ocean. But it also clogs the stomachs of birds and other animals, and has even made it into the human bloodstream.

To date, just 9% of the world's plastic has been recycled. Some 12% has been burned, and the rest has ended up on landfills or in nature.

Saudi Arabia receives 1st foreign Hajj pilgrims since COVID began

A group from Indonesia landed in Medina and is set to travel south to the holy city of Mecca in the coming weeks, reports state media.

A group of Hajj pilgrims from Indonesia has landed in the city of Medina from where they will be travelling to the holy city of Mecca, marking the arrival of the first batch of pilgrims from outside the kingdom after two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to state media.

Saudi Arabia last month announced it would allow one million people – from both inside and outside the kingdom – to perform the Hajj which will take place in July compared with about 60,000 last year and less than 1,000 in 2020.

As drug cartels expand their reach across Latin America, Chile takes a hit

By Daniela Mohor W. for CNN

Updated 0705 GMT (1505 HKT) June 4, 2022

On May 1, Francisca Sandoval, a young Chilean reporter, traveled to a commercial district of the capital, Santiago, to cover a union rally commemorating International Workers' Day. It would be her final report.

During the demonstration, violent clashes broke out between local gangs, protesters, and the police. A group of armed gang members fired shots, leaving three people injured, including Sandoval. The 29-year-old journalist died 12 days later.

Sandoval's death has shed a spotlight on an astronomical rise in lethal violence recorded in the country. Similar incidents have long plagued countries such as Colombia and Brazil, but in Chile it's a fairly new phenomenon. Data ranges across Chile's public entities, however all present alarming figures. Between 2016 and 2021, homicides rose by 40%, according to Chile's Department of Crime Prevention. Meanwhile, the National Prosecutor's office found that murders rose by 66% from 2016-2020.