❗️Three injured as explosives-laden drone hits Russia's Tula region

The local emergency service told Sputnik that, according to preliminary data, the explosion had been caused by a fall of an unmanned aerial vehicle carrying ammunition.

"The explosion occurred in the Kireyevsky district, which partially damaged three residential buildings. Two people have minor injuries, they are receiving medical assistance now," the committee said in a statement, while later in the day the regional health department noted that the number of wounded reached three.

The incident site has been cordoned off and the work of operational services is underway, the statement added.

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Nine Killed, 74 Injured in Recent Natural Disasters in Afghanistan

The recent earthquake, heavy rains and floods in Afghanistan have hit 23 out of 34 provinces of the country, killing nine people and injuring 74 others, 1,700 houses had been completely or partly destroyed, Hasibullah Sheikhani, a spokesman for the Afghanistan National Disaster Management Authority, told Sputnik on Sunday.

At the same time, Sheikhani said that thanks to the cooperation of humanitarian organizations, including international institutions, 53,000 families in Afghanistan had received humanitarian assistance.

Earlier this week, a powerful earthquake hit the Hindu Kush mountains, most of which are located in Afghanistan, the European Mediterranean Seismological Center said. The quake hit Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, killing at least 13 people and injuring around 100 others in the two countries in total.

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Northern Lights illuminate Russia's Murmansk region

The Northern Lights are a rather common phenomenon in the north of Russia. Located in the northwestern part of Russia, on the Kola Bay of the Barents Sea, Murmansk is one of the best places in the world to observe the Northern Lights, as the city is located in the middle of the Aurora Belt, which is the region of the world where the Aurora is most frequently visible.

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Michael Gove Pushes Ban On Laughing Gas Despite Personal Cocaine Use

"We are doing this because if you walk through any urban park you will see these little silver cannisters which are the evidence of people regarding public spaces as arenas for drug-taking. It is unacceptable. People should feel those spaces are being looked after in a way which means they are safe for children," UK minister Michael Gove said.

The statement may come across as questionable, considering that Gove has previously acknowledged that he used cocaine in the past. In 2019, a book disclosed that he had taken the drug several times while he was working as a journalist.

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❗️ Israeli PM Netanyahu has fired Defense Minister

Houthi Official Hails Iran-Saudi Rapprochement, Hopes It Will Mean Peace for Yemen

Iran and Saudi Arabia sign normalization of relations agreement. A senior Houthi military official cautiously welcomed the deal, expressing the hope that it might help end the eight-year military intervention in Yemen.

"We regard any step taken by Muslim countries to become closer to one another as a positive and compelling move," senior military spokesman Brig-Gen Abdullah bin Amer said.

Sunday marks the eighth anniversary of the Saudi-led coalition’s intervention in Yemen.

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❗️Ukraine attempted to carry out an attack using an UAV of Strizh type, but the drone's navigation system has been disabled by Russian missile system Pole-21 stationed in the country's Tula Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The ministry also said the Russian air defense unit stationed in the Tula Region, which included the Pole-21, S-300 and Pantsir missile systems, provided for a "reliable protection" of the direction. It added that the specialists from the Russian Defense Ministry, emergency situations department and law enforcement services were operating on the site.

Earlier in the day, the regional health department said that at least three people received minor injuries after an explosion occurred in Tula's Kireyevsky district. The region's emergency service told Sputnik that, according to preliminary data, the explosion had been caused by a fall of the UAV, which carried ammunition.

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Fake News No More: Dozens of Babylon Bee Satire Pieces Turn Into Real Stories

Satirical news website The Babylon Bee has seen more than 90 of its joke headlines taken up as actual news stories over time, including a piece about Kamala Harris taking likability lessons from Hillary Clinton. The founder, Seth Dillon, attributes this to the fact that the news at the moment is so outrageous it has become indistinguishable from satire. Despite its satirical nature, the website has faced censorship because of its close-to-the-real-news approach and political angle.

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UK Met Police 'Abuse Powers' by Strip-Searching 8-Year-Olds

Over the past four years, 2,847 children and young adults in England and Wales have been subjected to strip-searches by the police, some being as young as eight. Black children were found to be six times more likely to be strip-searched than children of other ethnicities, and at times parents were not given a reason for the search.

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Senator Says White House Very Much 'in Favor' of Bill to Ban TikTok

"One of my bigger fears - we've got 150Mln Americans on TikTok an average of about 90 minutes a day, [and that is] how the channel could be used for propaganda purposes or disinformation, advocated by the [Chinese] Communist Party," Democrat senator for Virginia and US Senate Intelligence Committee chairman, Mark Warner, said.

During a hearing on Thursday, the chief executive of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, testified before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee, facing questions from lawmakers regarding the popular social media platform's data privacy policies and its alleged connections to the Chinese government.

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Talks on Ukraine's Accession to EU May Start in June Due to Kiev's Military Failures: Vucic

"The negotiations may start in June since Ukraine will almost certainly be unable to win militarily. I expect it [Ukraine] to receive a great impulse on its way to the bloc. I believe that a decision will be made to urgently start talks with a possibility of emergency accession to the EU, since there is a competition for NATO leadership and the Americans are trying to establish their own bloc inside the EU," Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told Serbian broadcaster.

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'This is Satire Right?': Biden Blasted on Twitter After Waging Finger at MAGA Over Border Crisis

A tweet from US President Joe Biden's official Twitter account, claiming that pro-Trump MAGA House Republicans' legislative proposals "would slash funding for border security" and allow nearly 900lb of fentanyl into the country, has caused controversy and accusations of lying from his opponents.

Republicans have criticized the way Biden has eased Trump-era immigration and border security restrictions, which they claim have led to the "worst border crisis in our history", with Border Patrol reporting a record 2.7Mln migrant encounters in the 2022 fiscal year. The crisis has been accompanied by a drug crisis, with a high number of fatal overdoses recorded in the US.

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🇮🇳📿 Hundreds of devotees in India cut themselves on their foreheads with swords at Kodungalloor Bharani, the annual festival of oracles.

The Parade of Oracles is held each year at the Kodungalloor Bhagavathy Temple in the Thrissur district of the Indian state of Kerala. Men and women can be oracles.

They are dressed in red, walk with swords, dance to the beat of musical instruments as they enter an altered state of consciousness.

According to legend, the goddess takes upon herself all the anger and protects her believers from sin.

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152mm Giatsint-B towed guns in action (video courtesy of Russian MoD)

The firing positions are about 20km away. Firing is adjusted with the help of an unmanned aerial vehicle.

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Russia could eventually raise the issue of compensation for damage due to the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipelines, Dmitry Birichevsky, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's economic cooperation department, told Sputnik.

He pointed out that, against the backdrop of US journalist Seymour Hersh's investigation, Russia has proposed a UN Security Council draft resolution asking for an independent international investigation into the Nord Stream sabotage.

💬 "But here, too, Western countries are actively sabotaging the work on the draft resolution, referring to a lack of ‘added value’ to the international investigation. Despite this, we intend to continue to insist on a comprehensive and open international investigation with the mandatory participation of Russian representatives," Birichevsky said.

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🇮🇱 Israel’s Consul General in New York Asaf Zamir announced his resignation after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the calls to halt the controversial judicial reform.

💬 "With a heavy heart, I write to you today to inform you of my resignation as Consul General of Israel in New York," Zamir said in a letter posted on his Twitter, adding that "the political situation in Israel has reached a critical point, and I feel a deep sense of responsibility and moral obligation to stand up for what is right."

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❗️Israel’s president calls on government to immediately stop adoption of controversial judicial reform

Thousands have been protesting against the reform for almost 11 weeks now. The draft law presented by Justice Minister Yariv Levin in January, if adopted, will significantly curtail the powers of the Israeli Supreme Court and give the government control over the procedure of the appointment of judges.

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Private Trip Steeped in Political Overtones: Ex-Taiwan Leader to Make Landmark Mainland China Visit

The private foray of former Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou to mainland China from 27 March to 7 April has been already described as everything ranging from a "landmark" visit capable of mending febrile cross-strait relations, to a “political ploy” orchestrated by Beijing.

Flanked by a delegation of about 30 students and several former aides, Ma Ying-jeou, a member of the opposition Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT), is scheduled to begin his 12-day visit to mainland China in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, on Monday. The Taiwanese politician's trip to the People's Republic of China will then involve stopovers in Wuhan, Changsha, Chongqing and Shanghai, according to the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation.

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❗️Key statements by Dmitry Birichevsky, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's economic cooperation department, from an interview with Sputnik:

▪️Moscow is not going to leave the World Trade Organization, despite attempts by a number of countries to push Russia out of the organization;

▪️Russia remains in the WTO as a full-fledged member in order to maintain stable ties with developing states that are ready to continue cooperation on an equal basis and with mutual consideration of interests;

▪️Refusal of membership in the organization would be perceived by the West as proof of the effectiveness of their anti-Russian line and would contribute to further tightening their anti-Russian course;

▪️Attempts to hinder Russian diamond exports could disrupt value chains and harm the industry.

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❗️First Citizens Bank to buy SVB loans, deposits

Budapest Urges Sweden to Stop 'Insulting All of Hungary' if They Want Their NATO Bid Accepted

💬 "Some Hungarian MPs don't feel comfortable because they have witnessed in recent years certain members of the Swedish government making a habit of continually questioning the state of democracy in Hungary. They keep insulting Hungarian voters and MPs, and, through them, the whole of Hungary," Orban told Hungarian media.

He stressed that Budapest doesn't voice its opinion of Swedish domestic political affairs and expects the same courtesy from Sweden concerning Hungary.

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