The Great Cull: Twitter to Kill Off 'Legacy' Checkmarks Starting April

Multi-billionaire Elon Musk dismissed Twitter’s previous verification system, which allowed numerous perks and privileges to unpaid "blue checkmarks" as "corrupt" and is actively pushing the ailing company toward subnoscription-based revenues.

Twitter will embark on the journey toward eliminating so-called legacy verified marks from its user base next week, as the current strategy only grants this special status to members of approved organizations and paid subscribers.

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🇪🇪🇷🇺 Moscow will Respond to Expulsion of Another Russian Envoy from Estonia.

Estonia has declared another Russian diplomat persona non grata and ordered them to leave the country by March 29, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

💬 "Today, on March 24, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the charge d'affaires of the Russian Embassy and submitted a diplomatic note declaring a diplomatic officer of the embassy persona non grata. The activities of the person in question violated the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, [this person] must leave Estonia by March 29," the ministry said in a statement.

▪️ The Russian diplomat is accused of participating in "undermining security" and the "constitutional order" in Estonia, allegedly by "spreading propaganda", the statement read.

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🇷🇺 Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev spoke about global changes taking place in the world today.

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India's Key Opposition Figure Rahul Gandhi Disqualified as MP After Defamation Conviction

⚡️🇮🇳 Rahul Gandhi, the former Congress chief, was sentenced this week to two years in prison by Gujarat's Surat District Court over the controversial remarks made during the 2019 election campaign.

Details 👉

Canada Wants to Project Itself as a Pacific Power Through a New Anti-Chinese Framework: Scholar

Tensions in East Asia and the Pacific may soon reach a whole new level as Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reportedly pitched an idea of a new anti-Chinese security framework which, along with his country, would include the United States, South Korea and Japan.

Joseph Camilleri, emeritus professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne and one of Australia's leading international relations scholars, weighed in on this issue, explaining to Sputnik what goals the Canadian leadership is likely pursuing with this proposal.

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Congress Hearings Over TikTok Social Media App are 'Anti-China Witch-Hunt'

Social media app TikTok has been banned on official cellphones on both sides of the Atlantic, but now faces US legislation that could see it shut down altogether. Technologist Chris Garaffa, a co-host of the Covert Action Bulletin podcast, pointed out the hypocrisy of those moves.

The US Congress probe into mobile phone social media app TikTok is just a "witch-hunt" against its Chinese owner, the technology expert said.

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Ted Rall, political cartoonist and syndicated columnist, joins us to discuss Macron's bill to raise the retirement age which has caused massive strikes in France

🎧Listen to more of Rall’s analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

'Lethal Cruise': What is the New Underwater Drone North Korea Claims to Have Tested?

North Korea claimed on Friday that it tested a new underwater drone that is purportedly capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that could create a "radioactive tsunami" towards the destination of its user's choosing.

So what is this drone all about and is it really capable of spawning a massive radioactive tidal wave?

👉Find out here

🇺🇸 Former US President Trump warned on Friday of potential "death and destruction" should he be indicted by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. The possible arrest of Trump comes for what he says are false charges regarding his alleged involvement in paying hush money to adult movie star Stormy Daniels.

💬 "What kind of person can charge another person, in this case a former president of the United States... with a Crime, when it is known by all that no crime has been committed [and] also known that potential death [and] destruction in such a false charge could be catastrophic for our country?" Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social.

📌 Prosecutors had offered Trump the opportunity to testify before a grand jury, which is typically extended to potential defendants when an indictment is imminent. Trump has refused, denying the charges and saying the entire case is a political witch hunt complete with gross prosecutorial overreach.

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Technologist and co-host of the CovertAction Magazine podcast Chris Garaffa joins us to discuss the testimony of TikTok CEO Shou Chew before Congress and how this relates to Washington’s demonization of China

🎧Listen to more of Garaffa’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

Kiev May Start Counteroffensive in Artemovsk in 'Near Future', Russian Experts Warn

With the Russian special military operation in Ukraine underway, commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Alexander Syrsky has claimed that Kiev could soon launch a counteroffensive in the town of Artemovsk where heavy fighting shows no signs of abating.

He wrote in his Telegram channel that his troops "will take advantage of this opportunity [of counteroffensive] very soon."

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No Guilt, No Shame: Western Leaders' Excuses for NATO Bombing of Yugoslavia

Air attacks by NATO forces on Yugoslavia began this day 24 years ago. Between 1,200 and 2,500 people died within two months, and many more saw their lives crumbling into pieces when the US-led coalition unleashed war and destruction in the midst of Europe.

Politicians, generals, and journalists from Europe and America engaged in an abominable competition, trying to justify the massacre and sugar-coat the violation of international laws.

The claims of the then-leaders of Western countries are displayed in this Sputnik gallery - alongside the results of the alliance's brutal operation.

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🇷🇺🇹🇭 Russia increased the export of its fertilizers to Thailand by 63% and also sold 4.5 times more jewelry to the country in 2022 compared to the previous year, Valery Barchenko, chairman of the Russian-Thai business council told Sputnik.

🗣 "At the end of 2022, the growth of Russian export to Thailand was registered in fertilizers ($291.2 million or +63%) and jewelry, including precious metal bars ($211.9 million or +351%)," he said, referring to data provided by Thailand.

📌 In February, Russian Ambassador to Thailand Evgeny Tomikhin told Sputnik that Moscow and Bangkok were increasing their bilateral trade in agricultural and relevant products. The diplomat also said that there were agreements achieved on a number of new trade items, adding that there were trade prospects concerning meat and dairy products, as well as mineral fertilizers.

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Suffering for the Truth? Japanese Principal Resigns Over ‘Elite Refugees’ Jab at Ukrainian Students

Japan has received more than 2,000 Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.

Masumi Shimizu, president of a Japanese language school in Gunma Prefecture, has resigned after facing a backlash for reportedly calling Ukrainian migrants-turned-students "elite refugees."

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🇷🇺 Dmitry Medvedev talks about the catastrophic outcome of the clashes between the armies of Russia and the United States and says who Russia is actually fighting in Ukraine.

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📹 Russian Grad MLRS crews destroy Ukrainian facilities and camouflaged positions in the special military operation (video by Russia's MoD)

▪️ Artillery units continue to carry out firing tasks to hit batteries of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, destroy camouflaged defensive structures, suppress command posts, and destroy enemy firepower, weapons, and military hardware, using the tactics of constant repositioning.

▪️ Multiple-launch rocket artillery is also used for barrage fire on possible enemy retreat or offensive routes. The shockwave and shrapnel, which travel hundreds of meters, destroy revealed enemy firing positions and strongholds.

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Utah Bans Children From Using Social Media Without Parental Approval

The new laws require social media companies to add a number of features to their apps by March 1, 2024, including age verification for all users in order to open or maintain an account; permission from parents before a minor can open an account; giving parents the ability to access their children’s accounts, and including all posts and private messages.

It also requires apps to restrict minors’ use of social media between 10:30 pm and 6:30 am, unless a parent changes those settings, and it places restrictions on what kinds of personal information a social media platform can collect from minors.

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Technologist and cohost of the CovertAction Magazine podcast Chris Garaffa joins us to discuss the American policy looking to ban TikTok which is dressed-up as the "protection of US citizen’s data from Chinese social media companies"

🎧Listen to more of Garaffa’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

New Russian-Chinese 'World Order' Threatens US Economic 'Hegemony'

With civil unrest raging across Europe and banks collapsing in the US and Switzerland, the end of Western hegemony may be nigh. Journalist and author Jon Jeter and author, historian, and researcher Dr. Gerald Horne, professor of history at the University of Houston, discuss the opportunities and risks of a new multipolar world.

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🇲🇽 Mexico's Supreme Court has accepted the National Electoral Institute's (INE) claim on the unconstitutional nature of the presidential electoral reform and stopped all new provisions in related laws.

"The Investigating Minister granted the suspension requested by the INE with respect to all the challenged articles of the Decree so that things remain in the state in which they are today and the provisions in force before the respective reform apply," the highest court said in a Friday statement.

The supreme court emphasized that defendants in the lawsuit - the Mexican Congress and the federal executive - must submit their response to the INE lawsuit within the statutory period.

According to the high court, this case concerns "a possible violation of the political and electoral rights of citizens."

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