State Dept: Biden White House Backs Sale of F-16s to Turkey But Congress Must Be Onboard

The US State Department supports the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, but Congress has to also be on board since it is not solely up to the department to decide on the issue, spokesperson Ned Price said.

Price added that the State Department will continue to look for ways to deal with the issue of F-16 jets for Turkey together with Congress.

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Survey: 40% of Millennials Have at Least One of Their Monthly Bills Paid for by Their Parents

At least 2/5 of millennials say their parents are paying for one or more of their monthly bills. The most common of which is housing. At least 24% of millennials receive help from their parents for rent while 17% get help with their mortgage.

A new survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Chartway Credit Union found that American adults between the ages of 26 and 41 are receiving some form of help from their parents.

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Finns Ready for NATO Without Sweden While PM Promises 'Hand in Hand' Accession

The majority of Finns are ready to join NATO without Sweden, according to a survey commissioned by the Finnish daily newspaper Ilta-Sanomat and the Finnish opinion institute Taloustutkimus.

53 percent of the respondents answered that Finland's NATO accession must not depend on neighboring Sweden's timetable. By contrast, merely 28 percent said that Finland should join NATO at the same time as Sweden, while 19 percent had no opinion on the matter.

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Scholz: Berlin Carefully Weighs All Arms Deliveries to Kiev in Bid to Prevent Russia-NATO Escalation

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Thursday that Berlin, when deciding on military aid for Ukraine, carefully considers all the decisions not to go too far and prevent an escalation between Russia and NATO.

"All our steps we carefully considered... We have been thinking about how to prevent escalation... to prevent the war from turning into a war between Russia and NATO. Otherwise, it would have been terrible. Therefore, we are all doing and are responsible for making sure that such escalation does not happen," Scholz told a meeting with German nationals in Marburg town in the state of Hesse when asked about Berlin's decision not to send fighter jets and German soldiers to Kiev to prevent escalation with Russia.

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📌 LIVE UPDATES: One Person Killed by Terrorist Attack in Energodar, Zaporozhye Region

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🇷🇺 🇨🇫 CAR's Army Defeated Most Armed Groups With the Support of Russian Instructors, Ambassador Says

The military of the Central African Republic (CAR), with the support of Russian military instructors, has defeated most of the illegal armed groups in the country, Russian Ambassador to CAR Alexander Bikantov has told Sputnik.

🗣 "As for the illegal armed groups, as a result of the successful defensive actions of the CAR army with the support of Russian instructors, most of the gang formations have been defeated and have essentially turned into small criminal groups engaged in looting and violence. Their leaders remain abroad," Bikantov said.

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🇨🇳🇺🇸🗣“The ballon cannot belong to China” or “So… why hasn’t it been shot down? This is our airspace”

🤔 Social media users reacted differently to a suspicious balloon hovering over the United States, with some of them expressing curiosity while others are worried about the ongoing event.

👀 The US military has been watching a reconnaissance balloon for several days, which they say belongs to China. The Pentagon said the balloon has flown over a number of secret US facilities.

▪️ The country's authorities decided not to shoot down the balloon ”because of the possible risks to people”.

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Norway Preparing for Its Largest Military Drill of the Year

Preparations are underway for the international drill Joint Viking, billed as this year’s highlight for Norway, as some 750 soldiers from the US Marine Corps as well as Dutch and UK forces are already in place.

The biennal international exercise Joint Viking includes land, navy, and air forces, as well as allied contributions. This year's edition is expected to host a total of 10,000 Norwegian and allied soldiers.

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📹 Russia's MoD has published footage showing firing from the latest T-90M "Proryv" tanks

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🥴 President Joe Biden, who on Thursday spoke on the 30th anniversary of the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, said more than half the women in his administration are women.

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⚡️ Latest statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️ Security of Crimea is provided for, while Donbass is not fully protected, so Russia's special operation continues;

▪️ Russia values relations with Serbia and hopes that bilateral relations will further develop;

▪️ The Kremlin is well aware of the pressure the West is exerting on Belgrade and with what efforts Serbia has to endure this pressure;

▪️ EU embargo on Russian oil products will lead to a further imbalance in world markets.

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Brazilian Lawmaker Claims He Was Asked to Join Bolsonaro Camp's Effort to Overturn Election

Senator Marcos do Val said on Thursday that when he sat down with Bolsonaro at the urging of former lawmaker Daniel Silveira in December, he was asked to pressure the head of the electoral court into incriminating himself in a conversation meant to be recorded.

The legislator who reportedly set up the meeting was taken into police custody.

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🐶🇵🇹 A dog named Bobi from Portugal got into the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest dog on the planet - in May he will turn 31

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Beijing Says Speculation Related to 'Chinese Spy Balloon' Over US Inappropriate

Speculation on the topic of a "Chinese spy balloon" allegedly detected over the United States will not contribute to the resolution of the issue until all the details are established, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Friday.

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EU Leaders Set to Pour Cold Water on Zelensky's Dream of Joining Brussels Bloc

European Union leaders are set to dampen Ukraine's hopes of fast-track membership of the bloc while its conflict with Russia continues.

British media reported on Friday that Charles Michel, president of the European Council made up of leaders of the 27 member states, will discreetly inform Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that his repeated demand for an express ride to EU membership cannot be met.

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Blinken Failed to Offer Steps to End Violence in Middle East, Palestinian Foreign Minister Says

As part of his official trip to the Middle East, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged both Israel and Palestine to ensure the de-escalation of tensions, but eventually left the region without offering any concrete measures to amend the situation, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki told Sputnik.

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Daily training of Russian drafted military personnel at one of the training grounds before being sent to the special operation zone (video courtesy of Russian MoD)

At the training ground, soldiers work out scenarios for a real battle. They are instructed how to shoot and move as part of the units.

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❗️ Russian MoD’s latest statements on the Ukraine crisis:

▪️ The attacks launched by Russia’s Operational-Tactical Aviation and artillery have resulted in the neutralization of the troops and hardware of units from the 103rd Territorial Defence Brigade and 92nd Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kharkov region and in the LPR. Up to 40 Ukrainian personnel, one armored fighting vehicle and 1 US-manufactured AN/TPQ-50 counterbattery warfare radar have been eliminated.

▪️ The artillery strikes and the offensive operations conducted by the Russian Armed Forces have resulted in the neutralization of units from the 66th Mechanized, 25th Airborne, and 80th Airborne Assault brigades of Ukraine in the LPR and the DPR. Over 70 Ukrainian personnel, 2 armored fighting vehicles, 1 infantry fighting vehicle, 1 D-20 howitzer, and 1 US-manufactured M-777 artillery system have been eliminated.

▪️ The offensive operations conducted by the Russian Armed Forces have resulted in it gaining more advantageous lines and positions. Up to 40 Ukrainian personnel, 1 Msta-B howitzer, as well as 1 US-manufactured AN/TPQ-37 counterbattery warfare radar have been eliminated.

▪️ The artillery and units of the Russian Armed Forces have neutralized the units from 108th and 110th territorial defense brigades in Zaporozhye region. The enemy has lost over 20 Ukrainian personnel, 1 US-manufactured M-777 artillery system, 2 D-20 howitzers, and 1 D-30 howitzer.

▪️ The Operational-Tactical Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of Russia have neutralized 86 AFU artillery units at their firing positions, manpower and hardware in 103 areas.

▪️ Fighter Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces has shot down 1 MiG-29 Ukrainian Air Force jet in Kherson region.
Air defense units have shot down seven Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in Kharkov region, in the DPR, in the LPR, as well as in Kherson region.

▪️ Some 382 airplanes, 206 helicopters, 3,008 unmanned aerial vehicles, 403 air defense missile systems, 7,723 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 1,004 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 3,988 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 8,255 units of special military hardware have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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South Korea, US Stage Another Joint Air Drills to Improve Military Cohesion

South Korea and the United States staged joint air drills for the second time this week, involving American F-22 and F-35B stealth fighters, to improve operational capabilities, the South Korean air force said on Friday.

The previous joint air maneuvers over the Yellow Sea took place on Wednesday and involved one B-1B strategic bomber and several F-22 and F-35B stealth fighters of the US Air Force alongside South Korean F-35A fighters.

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❗️ The Canadian Department of National Defense announced late Thursday that a high-altitude surveillance balloon was being monitored by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, a joint US-Canadian military entity. The statement did not provide any information about the balloon or confirm if it was the same one detected in the US.

“Canadians are safe and Canada is taking steps to ensure the security of its airspace, including the monitoring of a potential second incident,” it said, without elaborating.

The Canadian intelligence agencies are reportedly collaborating with their US counterparts to safeguard against foreign intelligence threats, but the statement did not mention China specifically.