🔺The 2003 US invasion of Iraq undermined Washington's influence in the Middle East by inadvertently strengthening the role of other regional and outside actors, such as Iran and China
🔺Raising the prospect of friction with China: Taiwan’s president is going to visit the United States this month
🔺Africa is one of the leaders of the new multipolar world, Putin said at the Russia-Africa International Parliamentary Conference

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Japanese PM's Ukraine Visit: Putting On a Good Face for the West and Avoiding Damage?

Alexander Panov, professor at the Diplomacy Department at MGIMO Russia, chief research fellow of the Institute for US and Canadian Studies, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary and former Russian ambassador to Japan, shared his opinion about Kishida's visit to Ukraine with Sputnik.

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Expanding NATO's Eastern Flank: Why Does US Set Up Permanent Army Garrison in Poland?

Among NATO members, Poland has the longest border with Ukraine (over 500 km or 300 miles). The launch of the US Army’s garrison in Poland comes amid the ongoing Ukrainian conflict as Russia continues its special military operation.

The Polish Ministry of National Defense has rolled out a permanent US military garrison in the country. What is this garrison all about and are there any other such US troops deployed in Europe.

👉Find out here

Against All Odds: Reconciliation Over Graves and German-Russian Rapprochement Continues

An agreement on war graves of fallen soldiers in Russia and Germany was signed in 1992.

For more than 30 years, the German War Graves Commission has been able to recover more than 475,000 of the approximately 1.4 million fallen German soldiers in Russia, who were buried in 22 large cemeteries, Denis Deriabkin, head of the Reburial Service for Remains of German Soldiers in Russia, told Sputnik.

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🗣 Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, has pushed against any attempt to 'freeze' the Ukraine conflict through a ceasefire, saying it will mean an unfinished war for Europe.

💬 "Any attempt to 'freeze the conflict', protract it, 'cease fire' will mean one thing - an unfinished war smoldering in the heart of Europe and constant erosion of the foundations of global security," Podolyak said in a message posted on social media.

📍 On March 20, the US Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby expressed concerns that Chinese President Xi Jinping will use his visit to Moscow to reiterate calls for a ceasefire and to arrange a truce to which Washington objects.

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📹 Osa SAM teams cover Russian troops from the air in the special military operation (video by Russia's MoD)

One of the main tasks of the anti-aircraft gunners is to counter enemy drones. More than 150 aerial targets have been successfully shot down by one battery alone.

"The targets are at different altitudes, from a hundred meters and above, up to five thousand. It's easy to find them, as the system is equipped with everything you need to detect them," said the leader of the Osa SAM crew.

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Trump Blasts 'Fake' Report That He Knowingly Misled Lawyers Over Classified Docs Kept at Mar-a-Lago

Citing undisclosed sources, ABC News is exclusively reporting that controversial US Judge Beryl Howell wrote last week that prosecutors in the special counsel’s office made a "prima facie showing that the former president had committed criminal violations."

According to the media outlet, the determination into claims that former President Donald Trump knowingly misled his legal representatives about mishandled sensitive documents at his Florida residence would mean that "attorney-client privileges invoked by two of [Trump’s] lawyers could therefore be pierced."

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Over 850 People Detained in France at Protests Against Pension Reform - Interior Ministry

Over 850 protesters have been detained in France during demonstrations against recently-passed pension reform legislation, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Tuesday.

"Since Thursday, 855 people have been detained in France, including 729 in Paris. Some 843 people have been placed in custody," Darmanin told French media.

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⚡️ Britain's plans to transfer depleted uranium projectiles to Kiev are yet another reckless provocation by London, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova told Sputnik.

'Why Don't You Release Assange?': Mexican President Strikes Back at US Over Human Rights Report

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador dismissed a report by the US government on Tuesday accusing his administration of human rights violations as “lies.”

The State Department issued its annual report Monday on “Human Rights Practices.” The publication criticized the Lopez Obrador administration’s treatment of journalists and claimed that in Mexico, “impunity and extremely low rates of prosecution remained a problem for all crimes, including human rights abuses and corruption.”

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❗️ The Black Sea Fleet has repelled a marine drone attack in Sevastopol, the governor said.

According to the authorities, three objects that tried to penetrate the bay in Sevastopol were destroyed, the air defense eliminated the air targets.

⚡️ Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: The use of depleted uranium shells is, in fact, a manifestation of genocide against the population against which such weapons are used.

Duke v. Heritage Foundation: Could Prince Harry’s Drug Use Affect His US Visa?

Prince Harry opened up about his illegal drug use in his memoir "Spare", admitting to using cocaine, cannabis, and magic mushrooms, later adding in an interview that cocaine was more of a “social thing” while mushrooms and cannabis were to help with his “trauma”.

The Heritage Fund, a conservative US think-tank, is calling for the release of Prince Harry’s US visa application so they can see whether or not he admitted to past drug use before moving into his $9.5 billion home in Santa Barbara, California.

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