President Hassan Rouhani warns the UK about the “consequences” of its recent seizure of an Iranian supertanker.

“I remind [this] to the Britons,” Rouhani cautioned on Wednesday, “You are the ones initiating insecurity, and will come to realize its consequences in the future.”

Rouhani, who was addressing a government meeting in Tehran, called the action “very juvenile, heinous, and wrongful” and “to their [Britain’s] detriment,” noting that all international efforts should instead be focused on ensuring maritime security.

Oil tanker Grace 1 was stormed by British marines and Gibraltar port agencies last week as it was believed to have been carrying oil to Syria in possible violation of European Union sanctions against the Arab country.

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin is confident that Russia should achieve leading positions in the development of high technologies, guaranteeing the country's sovereignty.

"The global competition for possessing high technologies has already unfolded, and our goal is not to waste time, do everything to become one of the leaders, to guarantee Russia’s technological sovereignty, a worthy place among the leading players in promising, new markets," he said at the ceremony of exchanging documents concluded between the Russian government and large companies.

Putin thanked the government and large companies with state participation for the signed agreements on the development of key high-tech areas. According to him, "these areas determine the future economy not only for Russia, but also for global economy." We expect to see leadership from our largest companies - in terms of technology, personnel, finance," the president noted. He referred to global experience, which "shows that up to 80% of successful research and development is provided by the corporate sector."

MOSCOW-  The high-level Astana talks meeting on Syria will be held in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan in the beginning of August, followed by a summit in Turkey, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters on Wednesday, according to Itar Tass.

"The very beginning of August will see a regular Astana talks international meeting on Syria held in Nur-Sultan. We have some new developments, namely representatives of Lebanon and Iraq will take part for the first time as observers, in the same status as Jordan," he said answering a TASS question. "This is a new and important element. The Astana talks summit in Turkey will be held after the Nur-Sultan meeting."

"We need specific agreements to consolidate them at the highest political level during the summit," Bogdanov specified, Tass said.

LONDON - Britain’s ambassador to Washington quit on Wednesday after days of stinging criticism from Donald Trump, leading to accusations that Boris Johnson, the favorite to be the next British prime minister, had “thrown him under the bus”, Reuters reported.

Memos from Kim Darroch in which he described the Trump administration as inept were leaked to a British Sunday newspaper, infuriating the U.S. president, who launched a Twitter attack on both the envoy and outgoing British Prime Minister Theresa May, who had given Darroch her full support.

As the spat between the two close allies intensified, Trump said he would no longer deal with the “very stupid” Darroch and called May “foolish”, according to Reuters.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called upon the US-led coalition, purportedly fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, to address the harm to civilians during its alleged military operations Syria, according to Press TV.

The New York-based rights organization reported on Tuesday that the alliance has not thoroughly investigated the attacks that killed civilians or created a program for compensation, or other assistance to civilians who suffered harm from its operations.

It cited field investigations into 4 unlawful coalition airstrikes in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province from 2017 and 2018, where no compensation or condolence payments were made to the victims. The aerial raids reportedly killed 63 civilians and damaged and destroyed property.