It’s the talk the world was waiting for. U.S President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have completed the “first meeting of its kind” since 2018. Here’s the top 5 outcomes you need to know:

Formal proceedings kicked off the summit, with the President’s exchanging tight smiles and a firm handshake.

1. The US is not against Russia… but for the American people

The summit is being viewed as a milestone event for the two nations, with relations between Russia and the US at an all-time low.

Biden says his agenda is “not against Russia”, but the President is working to defend the American public and America’s democracy.

Biden says “it’s always better to meet face-to-face” and both leaders praised the talks, but it is seen as just a small step towards mending the fractured diplomatic relationship.

Bruce Wolpe, Ticker’s US political contributor and a visiting fellow at the U-S Studies Centre says the world seems “a little bit safer now”.

“If both men understand each other, the chance of making mistakes and things getting out of hand, because they don’t know what the other side is doing… has diminished,” Wolpe told Ticker NEWS.

2. The road to mending fractured diplomatic relations

The leaders began with discussions about nuclear arms control and agreed that they would both return ambassadors to each other’s capitals.

The Russian and American envoys were withdrawn in March following allegations that Russia meddled in the US election.

When the meeting wrapped up, both leaders praised the talks, but it is seen as just a small step towards mending the fractured diplomatic relationship.

Putin says Biden is “an experienced statesman” and believes the two leaders “spoke the same language”.

Biden says Russia does not want “another cold war”, and there is now a genuine prospect to improve relations.

3. Cyber attacks: What President Biden told Putin was ‘off-limits’

Putin says most hackers are based out of the United States, with Biden responding by saying that his country’s critical infrastructure, like water and energy, is “off-limits”.

Putin says his talks with President Biden were “quite constructive,” and that they reached an agreement on cyber security.

Lester Munson, a Senior Fellow at the National Security Institute told TickerNEWS LIVE that following recent ransomeware attacks, cyber security is one of America’s biggest threats.

However, it’s important to mention that cyber security isn’t the most critical threat and the senior fellow says Putin has another agenda.

In the past week, Putin has described Donald Trump as an extraordinary and talented individual.

Munson says Biden has done a ‘better job’ than Trump to “be on the global stage of diplomacy”.

4. The west doesn’t listen to Russia enough

Putin wanted to make it clear that Russia remains a world leader and is an important country with an economy that still matters to the United States and to the world, and that’s why President Biden arranged the meeting.

Emeritus Professor from La trobe university Joseph Camilleri who says the West doesn’t listen to Russia enough.

5. What does this mean for the rest of the world?

Firstly, Biden believes Russia is “being squeezed by china” and it is in Putin’s best interest to engage in a productive relationship with America.

When discussing the fate of Alexi Navalny, Putin says the Russian opposition leader “ignored the law” and denied accusations that he was poisoned by Russian officials.

Biden was also asked why he thought Russia would have any desire to cooperate with the US.

On this, Biden says Russia is in a “very difficult spot right now”, and the country is trying to stay relevant and remain a major power.

The US president was also pressed by reporters who asked why he is so confident that Putin’s behaviour will change.

Wolpe says the message Biden is sending is showcasing “what the United States is all about”

“Both countries need to regard themselves as being on an equal footing,”

PROFESSOR Camilleri.

China has marked a major moment in space history

Launching a spacecraft carrying three astronauts, the mission is now on to complete the country’s space station by the end of next year.

It will be the longest stay in low Earth orbit by any Chinese national.

As part of its plans to have a fully crewed space station by December 2022, China successfully launched the first core module earlier this year.

There is no official announcement yet on when the other sections of the space station will launch, but the module is expected to operate for at least 10 years.

Chinese astronauts have long been excluded from the international space station, due to US political objections and legal restrictions.

The three-month stay for the three men will be the longest for any Chinese astronauts, and one focus will be seeing how they handle their relatively long time in orbit.

During their sojourn on the cylinder-like Tianhe, slightly bigger than a bus, the three men will test the module’s technologies, including its life-support system.

The Tianhe, which means “Harmony of the Heavens”, is a cylinder 16.6 metres long and 4.2 metres in diameter.

The men will also be monitored for how they fare in space physically and psychologically for an extended period of time.

Hong Kong police have raided a pro-democracy newspaper.

200 police carried out a search warrant and 200 entered the Apple Daily headquarters. Police arrested the chief executive, the editor and three other senior executives.

The government says police arrested four men and one woman aged between 47 and 63 for “suspected contravention”, of the nation’s security law.

Update: HK police raid Apple Daily

5 executives were taken away, including Editor-in-Chief Ryan Law and #NextDigital CEO Cheung Kim-hung.

Officers were seen accessing journalists' computers, and all employees were barred from returning to their seats to work.#AppleDailyENG pic.twitter.com/45nsFWmCfE

— Apple Daily HK 蘋果日報 (@appledaily_hk) June 17, 2021

Police made the arrests on suspicion of collusion with a “foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security”.

Meanwhile, this is the second time that police have searched the building. The company’s founder Jimmy Lai, was recently arrested for national security violations. Mr Lai is currently serving a 20-month prison sentence.

The raid follows arrests made at the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre last month.