🇺🇸 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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⚡️Prime Minister Mishustin: The West, when imposing sanctions, tried to assure that they were not directed against the Russians, but now everyone understands that the Russian people were the main target.

⚡️ The results of 2022 showed that the level of implementation of the annual plan was close to one hundred percent for most national projects. This means that schools, roads, and hospitals were built on time, Mishustin said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is not reviewing a possibility of establishing a demilitarized zone around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP), Director General Rafael Grossi said on Thursday.

🗣 "We are not talking about a demilitarized zone. We are very aware of the added complications that that would bring, especially in an area of active combat … So, we are not looking into that," Grossi said during a lecture on international security at the US Council on Foreign Relations.

▪️ He added that the agency had a monitoring group at the nuclear power plant and that it was a more viable concept than the creation of a big demilitarized area around the NPP.

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⚡️Prime Minister Mishustin spoke about the situation with foreign companies in Russia:

🗣 “We created all the necessary conditions for the work of those companies that see their future in Russia, including for foreign businesses from unfriendly states. Despite all the restrictions, the denial of property rights, and the discriminatory measures that Russian businesses faced in the West, In Russia, foreign companies have worked and are working comfortably. But, of course, if foreign companies give up business management in Russia, do not care about the future of their enterprises and employees, we will protect the interests of our people," the prime minister said.

🇫🇷📹 Employees of Paris Charles de Gaulle, France's largest airport, blocked passage to the terminals to protest against pension reform

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🇷🇺 Russian T-90M tanks are currently the best in the world and they outperform Leopard, Challenger and Abrams tanks in terms of tactical and technical data, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with leading Russian media, including Sputnik.

🗣 "In my opinion, this [T-90M tank] is now the best tank in the world ... It is certainly better than Leopard, Challenger, Abrams [tanks], including in terms of its tactical and technical data, even in terms of such a component as weight," Medvedev said.

📌 "We will make 1,500 tanks alone this year. You can calculate how much our enemy will get, even according to the most optimistic calculations," Medvedev added.

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'Holy Greta!': 'Climate Religion' Skewered as Thunberg Gets Honorary Doctorate in Theology

The theological faculty at the University of Helsinki has decided to elevate eco-activist Greta Thunberg to an honorary doctor.

The higher educational institution has voiced plans to lionize 30 "highly meritorious people from around the world" by granting them honorary doctorate degrees in 2023, which it dubbed the "jubilee year of the promotion."

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Generation Gap: Looming TikTok Ban Fractures US Society

Washington is reportedly pressuring Chinese shareholders of the app to sell their stakes - otherwise, the video-sharing platform will risk a complete ban in the US. TikTok representatives insist that shareholder castling will change nothing from a data security standpoint and promised to inject $1.5 billion to protect user info.

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