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News From Russia: What You Missed Over the Weekend

Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

OPEC deal

OPEC agreed to raise oil output from July, with Saudi Arabia pledging a "measurable" supply boost but giving no specific numbers.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said his country would add 200,000 barrels per day in the second half of this year. OPEC and non-OPEC countries will pump an extra 1 million barrels per day in coming months, after months of underproduction.

Deadly storm

At least one person was killed and tens of thousands left without electricity as a powerful storm raged through the Siberian city of Barnaul.

The casualty of the storm was a construction worker crushed under a toppled crane. Local emergency officials warned thunderstorms, hail and gale force winds could continue into Monday.

Full fan zone

Moscow City Hall has asked football fans to avoid the official FIFA fan zone Monday when the Russian team takes on Uruguay. Officials fear the potential for overcrowding around the giant outdoor screens.

Entrance into the 25,000-capacity fan zone would be restricted for the “most popular matches, which will decide the outcome of the tournament,” the mayor’s office said. Russian fans’ interest in their national squad piqued after its two unexpected victories ensured Russia’s advance to the knockout stages of the World Cup.

To the teeth

Russian police are the world’s most armed law enforcement agency with 2.4 million guns, far outnumbering the number held by police in China (1.9 million) and India (1.7 million,) new research revealed.

Law enforcement accounts for 23 million, or 2 percent, of the more than 1 billion guns in the world overall, the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey estimates. Eighty-five percent, or 857 million, of the world’s guns are in civilian hands, followed by 133 million housed in military arsenals.

Social mediator

Putin asked young Russians who celebrated graduation to “not limit yourselves with only ‘Likes’ on social media,” urging young Russians instead to be active participants in their own futures.

The social media-oriented message was omitted from the Kremlin’s partial English-language transcript.

Egyptian and Chechen friendship

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov awarded Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah honorary Chechen citizenship, much to the dismay of human rights advocates.

Reuters contributed reporting. 

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