The US state of California’s power grid operator has declared an energy emergency, warning that it may institute rolling blackouts to curb a surge in demand, which has hit all-time record highs as residents crank up the AC to escape an unprecedented heat wave.

Ukraine has said it found no evidence of being attacked with such weapons, despite Washington’s assertion The US is peddling false information when claiming that Russia used North Korean missiles to attack Ukrainian targets, Moscow’s envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told a Security Council meeting on Wednesday.

With Kiev’s defenses unraveling, the narrative surrounding the country’s leader has suddenly changed in Western media By Glenn Diesen, Professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway and an editor at the Russia in Global Affairs journal. Follow him on Twitter @glenndiesen.