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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❗️EXCLUSIVE: Russian Sports Minister #Oleg_Matytsin denounces the politicization of sports and the discrimination at the global level.

💭 “We believe it is absolutely unacceptable for states to interfere so malignantly and aggressively. And today we see that all of us together, both federations and states, must safeguard true values and help the International Olympic Committee to defend these positions of independence.”

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Catch our Fault Lines show where we provide updates and analysis on all the most vital stories! Here's our line-up for today:

🔺To kick things off, we’ll be discussing the situation in the US banking system, as well as all the news around Ukraine
🔺Next, we’ll touch upon the ultimatum that the US issued to TikTok
🔺Finally, we turn our attention to France where Macron imposed a controversial pension reform with no vote

More trending stories coming your way! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 7am EST|4am PST|1pm CET via the website or app!

📻Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

🚇 Earlier this month, during the launch of the Big Circle Line of the Moscow Metro, Vladimir Putin said that he intends to show Xi Jinping the line personally, or, "at least, to the delegation [of China].”

▪️The new underground line is said to be the longest circle subway line in the world: it includes 31 stations and spans a whopping 70 kilometers (43 miles) of railway.

❓What do you personally expect from Xi’s state visit to Moscow? Let us know in the comments below.

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Biden Official to Visit Honduras After Tegusigalpa's Pivot Towards 'Official Ties With China'

The announcement that Honduras is shifting towards strengthening ties with China and other countries has spurred the United States on to making intense diplomatic efforts in Central America.

The Biden administration's special presidential adviser for the Americas, has been sent to Panama and Honduras this month.

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UK's Johnson Re-selected as Tory Candidate for Next General Election

"'Tonight the Uxbridge and South Ruislip selection committee re-adopted Boris Johnson as our parliamentary candidate," the constituency's Conservative spokesman was quoted as saying.

The Privileges Committee is investigating whether Johnson misled Parliament about parties at 10 Downing during the COVID-19 lockdowns while he was in office. If the allegations are proved, Johnson could face a 10-day suspension from the House of Commons and potentially lose his parliamentary mandate. The UK's next general election must be held by January 2025.

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❗️Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️The Russian Army eliminated more than 135 Ukrainian servicemen in the Donetsk direction;

▪️The Russian military eliminated more than 70 Ukrainian servicemen, an infantry combat vehicle, and a Ukrainian howitzer in the Krasny Liman direction.

▪️The Russian Army eliminated over 65 Ukrainian servicemen and two D-30 howitzers in the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions;

▪️Russian air defense systems destroyed five HIMARS multiple-launch rocket system projectiles, a Tochka-U ballistic missile, and 14 Ukrainian UAVs;

▪️The Russian Army eliminated an ammunition depot in the Kupyansk direction;

▪️Russian forces eliminated up to 25 Ukrainian servicemen and an Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer in the Kherson direction;

▪️The Russian Air Force hit two Ukrainian radar stations.

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❗️US Silicon Valley Bank's former holding company files for bankruptcy protection