🇺🇸 US Army eases fitness test standards for women, older troops

After three years of complaint and debate, the Army has scrapped its move to have a physical fitness test that is gender- and age-neutral, and will now allow women and older soldiers to pass while meeting some reduced standards.

The decision comes after a study by the RAND research organization confirmed that men were passing the new six-event fitness test at a much higher rate than women, and that older soldiers were struggling with their scores in the expanded, more difficult, test developed in 2019.

The new test, however, has met widespread criticism, as women and older soldiers, including some in senior positions, had difficulty passing. Guard and Reserve soldiers will have until April 2023 to take the test without consequences, and then results will start to count. The test is administered once a year.

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💰 Nancy Pelosi's husband just bought $2.2 million worth of Tesla stock

Paul Pelosi, the husband of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, purchased nearly $2.2 million worth of Tesla stock, according to a new congressional financial disclosure. He's made tens of millions of dollars in stock trades during the past few years, congressional records indicate.

Under current laws, members of Congress and their immediate family are required by law to disclose all individual stock trades within 30- to 45-days of making a purchase or sale.

Pelosi came under intense criticism after she rejected the idea of barring members of Congress and their spouses from trading individual stocks while in office following the investigation.

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📡 ZTE’s probation for selling US-made products to Iran and North Korea comes to an end

The Chinese telecommunications company had been under supervision by the US government after pleading guilty to illegally selling American-made equipment in Iran and North Korea in 2017. ZTE incurred a $1.2 billion fine as a result of violating US sanctions against both countries.

US District Judge Ed Kinkeade did not punish ZTE for visa fraud, the subject of a separate case currently underway in Georgia. Despite ending a five-year legal saga, this ruling doesn’t change restrictions banning government officials in the US from using ZTE and the China-based Huawei products.

The Federal Communications Commission also has plans to rip and replace both ZTE and Huawei telecommunications equipment in a move that will cost $5.6 billion.

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‼️ Sputnik finds documents on UK training Ukrainian soldiers for fighting in Donbass

A Sputnik correspondent found a cache of documents in the liberated city of Volnovakha in the Donetsk Region, among which was a certificate confirming that Ukrainian serviceman Borys Kazarian had completed junior sergeant training courses with the participation of British instructors.

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🌔 NASA is looking for a second company to develop a human moon lander alongside SpaceX

NASA will give another company a chance to send a lander to the moon, nearly a year after the agency announced that SpaceX beat competitors, including Blue Origin and Boeing, for the opportunity.

Under the new plan, the agency will open a second competition for a lander system to all American companies other than SpaceX, with the aim of having a second lander prepared to fly by 2026 or 2027.

The winner of the second contract, dubbed the Sustaining Lunar Development contract, alongside SpaceX, “will pave the way to future recurring lunar transportation services for astronauts at the Moon,” NASA said.

Further details on the value of the contract will be coming next week, after President Joe Biden announces the fiscal year 2023 budget.

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🦠 Steve Wilhite, the creator of the GIF, died at age 74 due to complications from COVID-19.

The GIF allowed slow modem connections of the 1980s to transfer images more efficiently. Today, they are a mainstay of communication on the internet.

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A residential building in the city of Volnovakha, Donetsk Region, has been left in ruins after the Ukrainian military took shelter there, firing from British grenade launchers.

A Sputnik correspondent found a UK-issued training certificate for Ukrainians who fought in the Donbass in the courtyard of this house.

It turns out that the Royal Tank Regiment, the oldest tank unit in the world, took part in the training of Ukrainian soldiers

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⚡️ North Korea fires 'what could be a ballistic missile', Japan says

⚡️ Ukrainian military fires 15 Grad rockets and five 120mm mortars at Donetsk, DPR says

North Korea fires suspected long-range ballistic missile, Seoul says

⚡️ Over 402,000 Donbass refugees have already arrived in Russia, Emergency Services say

🇬🇧🇺🇦UK instructors trained Ukrainian soldiers who fought in Donbas in weapons use and navigation, according to a document found by a Sputnik correspondent in the liberated city of Volnovakha in the Donetsk Region.

A certificate confirmed that Ukrainian serviceman Borys Kazarian had completed junior sergeant training courses with the participation of British instructors. The training consisted of four modules: "weapons training", "navigation", "medical training" and "pairs movement."

Russian servicemen have defused more than 12,000 explosive objects while demining farmland in the Kherson region, the Russian Defence Ministry says

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Russia's Defence Ministry has published footage of Su-34 bombers destroying Ukrainian Army military equipment and warehouses for weapons

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❗️ Ankara urges West to supply Turkey with F-35 Fighters & Patriot Systems without preconditions

⚡️ Russia's Defence Ministry reports that Russian military experts have uncovered new facts proving the direct involvement of the US Department of Defense in the development of biological weapons components in Ukraine

The MoD will soon present original documents showing the Pentagon's direct involvement. According to the documents, the main goal of the project was to conduct a molecular analysis of especially dangerous infections in order to obtain new strains of anthrax.

The US Department of Defense also worked with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to test unregistered medicines on the Ukrainian military

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⚡️ Moon says N.Korea's Kim violated moratorium on ICBM launches

📌 The Russian Defence Ministry has provided a briefing on the Ukraine op:

▪️ The Russian armed forces have taken control of the city of Izyum in the Kharkov region;

▪️ Air and sea-based high-precision long-range weapons have hit the military facilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces over the past 24 hours;

▪️ As a result of strikes, 13 anti-aircraft missile launcher systems were destroyed, including 9 S-300 and 4 Buk-M1 systems, a formation headquarters, and a missile and artillery weapons depot, as well as a temporary deployment point of the nationalist battalion;

▪️ Operational-tactical and army aviation hit 60 military assets of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

▪️ The warplanes and air defence units of the Russian Aerospace Forces have shot down 2 Ukrainian drones near Kharkov;

▪️ In total, 257 drones, 202 anti-aircraft missile systems, 1,572 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 160 multiple launch rocket systems, 633 field artillery and mortars, as well as 1,379 units of special military vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been destroyed during the operation

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