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This rule is followed by a graceful female cat from the Russian Far East's "Land of the Leopard" reserve, which was caught by a video trap.

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🔺Britain's decision to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium ammo is a provocation to create a new round of conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said
🔺Japan PM Fumio Kishida pays surprise visit to Kiev ahead of G7 Summit
🔺The US, intending to continue flying drones over the Black Sea, provokes Russia to retaliate, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said

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British Media Downplays Risks of Depleted Uranium Ammo Now Russians Are the Target

The British mainstream media has abruptly changed its tune on the risks of depleted uranium (DU) munitions after the government announced it was sending them to Ukraine for use against Russian troops.

Evidence has been mounting since the 1991 Gulf War that depleted uranium ammunition used by US forces and their allies causes cancer and birth defects. But now the same Western media that helped expose the risks is downplaying them as Ukraine is set to receive DU weapons.

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🗣 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the International Criminal Court of obeying orders from the West after the Hague-based organization issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin.

💬 "The International Criminal Court is headed by a prosecutor who is a naturalized Anglo-Saxon and who, of course, as we have all seen, is following the orders of his masters, who forbid this body to investigate the crimes of NATO member states and set it on ferreting out spurious pretexts, nonexistent facts, in order to advance the agenda of the so-called collective West," Lavrov said.

▪️ The ICC accused Putin last week of a role in alleged war crimes related to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.Russia is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would not recognize the warrant or the ICC jurisdiction.

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Democrats Introduce Bill to Promote Inclusion, Raise Number of Refugees in US

US Congresswoman Grace Meng and Senator Edward Markey reintroduced legislation on Wednesday to promote inclusion of new immigrants to the United States and raise the number of refugees eligible to enter the country every year.

The bill would establish a National Office of New Americans to promote and support immigrant and refugee integration and inclusion, the statement said.

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What Are Depleted Uranium Shells and How Hazardous Are They?

The British government pledged earlier this week that it would give Ukraine radioactive depleted uranium ammunition for the British main battle tanks Challenger 2 that London promised the Kiev regime.

So what are depleted uranium shells and do they pose a threat to human health and the environment?

Sputnik explains

Trump Told His Advisers He Wants to Be Handcuffed if Brought to Court: Reports

Former US President Donald Trump told his advisers that he wants to be brought to court in handcuffs should he be indicted for the hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign, a British media reported on Wednesday, citing sources in the know.

Trump has reportedly told his advisers that is ready to turn his potential court appearance into a “spectacle” with his hands cuffed behind his back in symbolic defiance of a prosecution against him, the report said.

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🇺🇸 The US military admitted to significant difficulties recruiting from Generation Z during a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing dedicated to the issue.

💬 "Most of today's young adults are unaware of what it means to serve," Under Secretary of the Army Gabe Camarillo said. "About 75% have little to no knowledge about the Army, and only 9% have the propensity to serve, the lowest it has been in over a decade."

▪️ Camarillo noted that in fiscal year 2022, the army gained 44,900 new recruits, short of its goal of 60,000. His counterparts from the US Navy and US Air Force also concurred that recruiting was an ongoing challenge.

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📌 The controversial depleted uranium shells, whose toxicity and detrimental effect on the environment have been a cause of concern since NATO and the US used them in Kosovo and Iraq, respectively, have once again been thrust into the limelight.

▪️ So what exactly are these depleted uranium shells and how do they work?

Check Sputnik's infographic!

Israel May Reportedly Attack Iran If Uranium Enrichment Level Exceeds 60%

The Israeli government has reportedly told the United States and a number of European countries that it could launch a military strike on Iran if Tehran exceeds the level of uranium enrichment of 60%.

Citing senior Israeli officials, US media reported on Wednesday that Israel does not want to set 90% enrichment as a "red line" because Iran may start enriching and stockpiling uranium at a level slightly below that needed to produce a nuclear weapon.

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🇬🇧🇵🇱📹 Prince William made a surprise visit to the Rzeszow base in Poland and personally thanked the British soldiers stationed there

▪️ The city of Rzeszow is just over an hour's drive from the Ukrainian border and has become a logistical gateway to Ukraine, where most Western weapons arrive before being sent to the Kiev regime.

▪️ Moscow has repeatedly warned that any foreign military assistance delivered to Ukraine would be viewed as legitimate target for the Russian armed forces.

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🗣 The US-led West, having decided to supply Ukraine with depleted uranium ammunition, is irrevocably bringing the world to a dangerous line, beyond which there is a nuclear Armageddon, Russian Ambassador in Washington Anatoly Antonov said.

💬 "It seems that the enlightened West, led by Washington, has irrevocably decided to bring humanity to a dangerous line, beyond which nuclear Armageddon looms more and more clearly," Antonov said as quoted by the Russian diplomatic mission in the United States.

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Trump Reportedly Raises $1.5 Million Since Announcement of Possible Indictment

Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign representatives said they raised $1.5 million in grassroots fundraising in three days after the former president announced he was expecting to be arrested and possibly criminally indicted, US media reported Wednesday.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is expected to announce if Trump will be charged but it is not clear when it will do so amid widespread criticism.

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Surprise, Surprise: US Claims It Played No Role in Nord Stream Blasts After Latest Hersh Revelations

The United States continues to believe that the explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines were an act of sabotage and Washington had nothing to do with it, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby.

"We still do believe it was an act of sabotage. The United States was not involved in any way, contrary to some fresh reporting out there," Kirby said during a Wednesday briefing.

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If Germany Decides to 'Arrest' Putin, It Will Mean Declaring War on Russia, Says Medvedev

The relations between Russia and the West are at an all-time low, Medvedev said.

“We already have very bad relations with the Western world. Well, they have probably never been worse in history. Even at the time when Churchill delivered the Fulton speech, they were better,” Medvedev believes.

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Kiev’s Speculation About Russian Oil Price Cap Plays Into US Hands, Expert Says

Ukrainian authorities do not understand the mechanism of establishing a price ceiling for Russian oil, Maxim Kanishchev, head of the Moscow-based non-profit think tank Unselm, told Sputnik.

A US media outlet cited Oleg Ustenko, an economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as proposing slashing the Russian oil price cap by up to $20 per barrel from the current $60.

Ustenko reportedly said that while Kiev wanted to cut the price cap in half to about $30 per barrel, he personally saw the $10-20 price cap as possible, the US weekly reported. The adviser claimed that Russia was receiving "much less revenue" compared to the situation before the imposition of the oil price cap.

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🗣 Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the administration of US President Joe Biden downplayed the recent meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, thus making a serious strategic mistake.

💬 "To hear the White House play this down as if it's insignificant or unimportant is an enormous strategic mistake … Now, the Biden administration has failed. They have allowed the Russians and the Chinese to come together in this way and it presents enormous risk to the United States of America and every citizen," Pompeo told the American broadcaster.

▪️ Xi was in Russia from March 20-22 on a state visit during which he had an informal meeting with Putin. The parties also held talks in a wide format with the participation of delegations. The leaders of Russia and China signed a joint statement on a plan to develop key areas of Russian-Chinese economic cooperation until 2030.

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🇺🇸🕊 A Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to hear testimony from Secretary of State Antony Blinken was disrupted on several occasions by anti-war demonstrators who called on the chief US diplomat to push for peace in Ukraine.

▪️ The demonstrators were associated with CODEPINK, a grassroots organization focused on peace and human rights.

💬 "If you don’t like the Chinese proposal, where is your peace proposal? The American people want you to negotiate. Be a diplomat. Do your job now," CODEPINK co-founder Medea Benjamin said, while being escorted out of the hearing by police.

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⚡️ Russian PM Mishustin: Analysts projected a double-digit fall in Russia's GDP, but we survived

▪️Moreover, Mishustin announced the possibility of Russia recording GDP growth higher than developed countries as early as 2024.

Chinese Military Accuses US Destroyer of Illegal Intrusion Into Waters of Paracel Islands

American guided missile destroyer USS Milius entered the waters of the disputed Paracel Islands, also known as the Xisha Islands, in the South China Sea without notifying China, Tian Junli, a spokesperson of People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, said on Thursday.

"The US guided missile destroyer USS Milius illegally entered the territorial waters of the Chinese Xisha Islands on March 23 without the permission of the Chinese government, thereby undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea," Tian said in a statement on WeChat.

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