🔺A coalition of countries is needed to counter US hegemony in the world, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said
🔺The times of the empires are over, Maduro claimed at the High-Level Dialogue between the Communist Party of China
🔺‘I'm telling you, he did it’: Seymour Hersh slams Biden as Nord Stream bomber

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Seoul, Tokyo Agree to Resume 'Shuttle Diplomacy' After Fence-Mending Summit

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida have agreed to resume "shuttle diplomacy" and take steps towards resolving a trade dispute after their fence-mending summit in Tokyo.

The South Korean president and his wife are scheduled to tour Japan on March 16-17, a trip that marks the first visit of a South Korean leader to the Land of the Rising Sun in 12 years.

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'Our Banking System is Sound': Yellen Tells Congress 'Decisive' Actions Stabilized Financial Markets

While the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates in an attempt to quell historically high inflation, the aggressive rate hikes have also devalued bonds into which investors have sunk large quantities of capital, increasing uncertainty as to how much cash banks can actually produce on demand.

Less than a week after two of the country’s largest bank collapses in history, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Congress the country’s banking system was not at risk.

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📹 Combat training of upgraded BRM-1KM reconnaissance vehicles in the rear area of the special military operation (video courtesy of Russia's MoD)

▪️ The armored vehicles can engage targets at ranges of over 1,500 m using 30 mm automatic guns with 7.62-mm PKT coaxial machine guns. The operator works using a modern computerized fire control system.

🔎 The search for targets for further engagement is carried out with the help of a portable radar. The station makes it possible to detect moving enemy ground objects at a distance of more than 5 km, as well as to determine the coordinates and characteristics of the target.

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Chancellor Scholz Claims Germany 'Independent' From Russian Fuel After 8 Months

According to the head of government, Berlin has successfully phased out Russian energy resources.

"In just eight months, we became independent from Russian gas, Russian oil and Russian coal. In just eight months we totally changed our energy supply with the help of new compounds and liquefied gas terminals. And nobody had to freeze," Olaf Scholz said during a Bundestag session

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Credit Suisse Crisis May Trigger Domino Effect and Eventual Capital Flight From Europe

Credit Suisse, a global investment bank and financial services firm, will borrow over 50 billion Swiss Francs ($53.7 billion) from Swiss National Bank (SNB) after investors sent its shares down by as much as 30% on Wednesday.

The Swiss lender's shares plunged after SNB, its top shareholder, ruled out providing it with fresh funding earlier this week. The development shattered the markets, which were already anxious over the collapse of California’s Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last week.

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US Nuclear Plant Reveals Facility Spilled 400,000 Gallons of Radioactive Water

Local officials indicated the leak "poses no health and safety risk to the local community or environment," and that it has not reached the Mississippi River nor any drinking water sources. The Minnesota plant sits some 35 miles upstream from the river, which provides 23% of the nation's drinking water.

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🇫🇷 The leader of France's Eurosceptic party The Patriots, Florian Philippot, said that the French authorities may "slow down" the decision on the delivery of heavy weapons to Ukraine.

💬 "Everything is possible. However, I think this issue is becoming an increasingly difficult one for the French government since the French are increasingly in favor of negotiations and stopping arms shipments to Ukraine, as we can see from opinion polls," Philippot said when asked whether Paris would decide to supply Kiev with heavy arms.

The politician said that it would not be easy for Paris to send weapons and funds to Ukraine because of the current situation in France with the pension reform and the crisis in the healthcare system. He added that many French are already wondering why the government has no money for pensions, but there are always funds for military aid to Ukraine.

💬 "I think the authorities will slow down the decision on the issue; they just would not have any other choice ... The French are forcing the authorities to 'slow down,' to send fewer weapons and money [to Ukraine]," the politician noted.

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🇪🇨 Ecuador's lawmakers file impeachment motion against president Lasso

A group of 58 lawmakers of the Ecuadorian National Assembly, the parliament's lower house, have handed over to National Assembly President Javier Virgilio Saquicela Espinoza a motion to impeach incumbent President Guillermo Lasso, who is accused of corruption and administrative irregularities, the National Assembly said.

Earlier this month, the National Assembly approved a report of a legislative commission that recommended launching an impeachment process against Lasso because of his suspected involvement in corruption schemes.

The commission's investigation focused on Lasso's alleged involvement in a corruption scheme in state-owned companies, which the prosecutor's office called the Encuentro case, as well as leaked data from a police investigation into drug trafficking. These involve the president's brother-in-law, Danilo Carrera Drouet, and Ecuadorian businessman Ruben Scherres suspected of drug trafficking.

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🇰🇵🇯🇵 The Japanese government has sanctioned three North Korean officials involved in the development of nuclear and missile programs of North Korea in response to Pyongyang's launch of a Hwasong-17 ballistic missile on Thursday, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said.

💬 "These provocative actions, taken with unprecedented frequency, constitute a serious and imminent threat and are totally unacceptable," Matsuno told a briefing.

According to a the ministry's statement, the new sanctions list includes Jon Il Ho, the deputy head of the Munitions Industry Department, Kim Su Gil, the former director of the General Political Bureau of the Korean People's Army, and Yu Jin, a former head of the Munitions Industry Department.

The restrictive measures include a ban on any form of transaction with the three North Koreans and the freeze of all their assets in Japan if found, the statement said.

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🇰🇷🇺🇸 South Korea and the US will hold the Ssangyong amphibious exercise from March 20 to April 3, after a five-year pause, as part of their allied field drills, South Korean news agency reported, citing military officials.

💬 "The upcoming training will demonstrate the South Korea-US alliance's will to realize 'peace through strength,' and we will further strengthen the combined defense posture to defend South Korea," South Korean Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Kim Gye-hwan said.

Moreover, about 40 UK marine troops will participate in the drills this year, the military officials told the news outlet, adding that the military from Australia, France and the Philippines would observe the exercise.

The Ssangyong exercise will take place 272 kilometers (169 miles) southeast of Seoul. As part of the drills, the allies will mobilize division-level amphibious landing forces, 30 vessels, including the allies' amphibious assault ships, 70 aircraft, such as F-35B fighters and AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, as well as about 50 amphibious assault vehicles, the news agency reported.

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❗️The Russian Foreign Ministry’s latest statements on Russia's suspension of its participation in the New START Treaty:

▪️Russia considers US claims that Moscow's suspension of the new START is legally invalid are untenable;

▪️A significant violation of the START treaty by the US gave Russia grounds under the 1969 Vienna convention to suspend it;

▪️If the US is interested in renewing the START treaty and cooperating on arms control, they should stop dabbling in make-believe about Russia’s ‘strategic defeat.’

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❗️Chinese President Xi will pay a state visit to Moscow from March 20-22 at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said:

▪️Both parties will discuss topical issues of further development of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction between Russia and China;

▪️The leaders will also exchange views in the context of deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation in the international arena;

▪️A number of important bilateral documents will be signed following the talks.

❗️The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the following about Xi Jinping’s upcoming state visit to Moscow:

▪️Xi’s trip will be a visit of friendship that will further strengthen mutual trust and understanding between the countries;

▪️The Chinese president visit will be of a peaceful nature, the sides will practice true multilateralism based on the principles of non-alignment and non-targeting of third parties;

▪️Xi will hold an in-depth exchange of views with Putin on bilateral relations, as well as international and regional issues;

▪️China will adhere to an objective position on Ukraine and play a constructive role in advancing negotiations between Moscow and Kiev.

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USAF Reportedly Sent Another Spy Drone to MQ-9 Crash Site Shortly After Incident Over Black Sea

The incident has prompted the US to “take a close look” at its surveillance drone routes, and is generally conduct an assessment of its drone operations in the Black Sea area, the same US officials were quoted as saying. The media report reveals that the Pentagon, together with its European Command, for all their brazen statements about continuing the drone missions, intends to analyze and weigh overall costs and benefits of such surveillance missions.

As part of this assessment, an attempt will purportedly be made to weigh the intelligence value of the particular route, and, accordingly, justify pushing ahead with surveillance flights in an area fraught with further escalation with Russia.

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🇬🇧 The UK’s Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union said in a statement that more than 1,000 of its members working across most of the UK's passport offices will strike starting from 3 April to 5 May. Union members are asking for a 10 percent pay rise.

💬 "This escalation of our action has come about because, in sharp contrast with other parts of the public sector, ministers have failed to hold any meaningful talks with us, despite two massive strikes and sustained, targeted action lasting six months," PCS General-Secretary Mark Serwotka said as quoted by media.

According to the union, the action may have a "significant impact" on the delivery of passports in the run-up to the summer holidays. The offices affected in England, Scotland and Wales will include Durham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newport, Peterborough and Southport. Passport officers in Belfast in Northern Ireland could also join the strike.

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🇹🇷 Turkish media accused Twitter of supporting opposition forces in the country's upcoming general election scheduled for May 14 and creating accounts spreading provocative information about the incumbent government.

Twitter users' timeline in Turkiye displays messages of opposition politicians and journalists, as well as fugitive members of the organization of Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen (FETO) and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), both deemed terrorist by Turkiye, while the page of Erdogan, who is the country's most popular figure, is never showed among "recommended" accounts, the report said.

Ankara has repeatedly restricted access to Twitter for a variety of reasons. In 2020, the platform was blocked on the territory of Turkiye after the company refused to open its office in the country in accordance with the Turkish social media law. The authorities restored access only after Twitter opened the headquarters in March 2021. In January 2023, the head of communications in the Turkish presidential office, Fahrettin Altun, urged Musk to disclose information about Twitter's past interference in Turkiye's domestic political affairs.

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❗️Shoigu nominated the Su-27 pilots for state awards for stopping the US-made MQ-9 UAV from violating the borders of the special operation area

📹 Russia’s Su-35S performing combat sorties as part of the special military operation

During the sorties, the fighter crews practice air patrol tasks, and provide cover for attack aircraft and helicopters during airstrikes on Ukrainian military facilities and equipment.

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