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Germany

Extra! G7 Gets Green In Germany

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Die Welt, June 9, 2015

"G7 agrees to ambitious climate goals," reads the front page of German daily Die Welt"s Tuesday edition.

The Group of Seven talks have ended in the German mountain resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen with a photo op worthy of the Sound of Music (which was filmed in the nearby Austrian Alps).Â

The scenic surroundings blended well with the progress the Group made on climate change, a priority in light of the upcoming COP21 climate negotiations in Paris.  While no member countries committed to specific actions, the Group announced a goal of keeping overall climate warming from passing 2 degrees Celsius. The group also announced a long-term goal of eliminating fossil fuel emissions completely by the end of this century.Â

The conflict in Ukraine remained a major issue for the G7 — which was the G8 before expelling Russia over Putin's annexation of Crimea in 2014.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that all seven members were committed to keeping sanctions on Russia in place until a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine is reached. Â

ABOUT THE SOURCE:Â Die Welt ("The World")Â is a German daily founded in Hamburg in 1946, and currently owned by the Axel Springer AG company, Europe's largest publishing house. Now based in Berlin, Die Welt is sold in more than 130 countries.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

That Man In Mariupol: Is Putin Using A Body Double To Avoid Public Appearances?

Putin really is meeting with Xi in Moscow — we know that. But there are credible experts saying that the person who showed up in Mariupol the day before was someone else — the latest report that the Russian president uses a doppelganger for meetings and appearances.

screen grab of Putin in a dark down jacket

During the visit to Mariupol, the Presidential office only released screen grabs of a video

Russian President Press Office/TASS via ZUMA
Anna Akage

Have no doubt, the Vladimir Putin we’re seeing alongside Xi Jinping this week is the real Vladimir Putin. But it’s a question that is being asked after a range of credible experts have accused the Russian president of sending a body double for a high-profile visit this past weekend in the occupied Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

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Reports and conspiracy theories have circulated in the past about the Russian leader using a stand-in because of health or security issues. But the reaction to the Kremlin leader's trip to Mariupol is the first time that multiple credible sources — including those who’ve spent time with him in the past — have cast doubt on the identity of the man who showed up in the southeastern Ukrainian city that Russia took over last spring after a months-long siege.

Russian opposition politician Gennady Gudkov is among those who confidently claim that a Putin look-alike, or rather one of his look-alikes, was in the Ukrainian city.

"Now that there is a war going on, I don't rule out the possibility that someone strongly resembling or disguised as Putin is playing his role," Gudkov said.

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