Caleb Maupin, writer and political analyst, joined us to discuss the Biden administration’s second Summit for Democracy

🗣️”They talk about protecting the freedom of speech when we know what the US government was involved with when it comes to Twitter and suppressing freedom of speech and suppressing certain views there. The whole thing was just kind of a smattering of hypocrisy,” he stated

🎧Listen to more of Maupin’s analysis in our podcast Fault Lines

🇷🇺Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Monday that it is proposed to introduce criminal liability for calls for the execution of decisions of international bodies, the activities of which are directed against Russia.

"We are talking about the introduction of a ban on public calls for the execution of their decisions and cooperation with them… These crimes should be punished with criminal liability. To this end, proposals are being prepared to introduce norms on punishment in the form of fines and imprisonment into the Russian Criminal Code," Volodin said.

Relevant committees of the State Duma are preparing amendments that will ban the activities of the International Criminal Court in Russia.

"The relevant committees of the State Duma are preparing amendments to the federal law 'On Security,' which will prohibit the activities of the International Criminal Court and other international bodies directed against Russia and its citizens on our territory," he said.

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Germans Savage Foul-Mouthed, Warmongering Ukrainian Official

Andriy Melnyk, former Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, has faced criticism on Twitter for his angry and disrespectful comments in response to a letter from German politicians calling for dialogue to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.

The diplomat told the authors of the initiative, including historian Peter Brandt, the son of former Chancellor Willy Brandt, to "go to hell," calling it "absurd" and stating that "all" Ukrainians reject such calls.

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🇺🇸 Supporters of Donald J. Trump are rallying today on Southern Blvd near Mar-a-Lago and Palm Beach Airport as he heads to New York to face a perceived unjust investigation.

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Jim Kavanagh, an editor at Thepolemicist.net, joined us to discuss Trump’s indictments, which could lead to a successful election campaign

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

❗️Putin posthumously awards war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky with the Order of Courage

Tatarsky’s Colleagues Recall His Passion, Patriotism, Push to Improve Russia’s Drone Capabilities

Tatarsky was a patriot and passionate about Russia, Evgeny Poddubny, a Russian war correspondent, said. “He did a great deal to ensure that things were called by their proper names in our country. This war began for all of us not a year ago, but much earlier. All in all, this is a great loss for our country. Maxim was a leader of public opinion and used his reputation to try to influence the situation for the better. This is a huge loss for the country because every passionary, every patriot is valuable to Russia and our country needs them.” he said.

Characterizing Tatarsky as a “locomotive” who persistently broke through the military bureaucracy, Poddubny said the soldier and journalist did a great deal to improve the use of tactical drones by Russia’s troops, including by plugging gaps in capabilities using commercial drones.

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Scholar, educator, and journalist focusing on the geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific KJ Noh joined us to discuss the possible presence of US biological and chemical laboratories in Ukraine, as well as how the idea of disinformation in Western media has made it more difficult to approach the truth when it comes to biowarfare in the past

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

This table compares the approximate annual US military expenditures for various conflicts based on data provided by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and public sources.

It includes the Ukraine conflict with an estimated spending of $125.1 billion for one year, the Iraq War with an approximate spending of $90.9 billion over seven years, and the Vietnam War with an estimated spending of $138.2 billion over 10 years.

The data reveals that the US military spending on the Ukraine conflict is now more than half the cost of the Vietnam War.

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Have you ever heard of snake massage?

🐍We mostly think of snakes as predators, but in the Philippines they are part of a unique procedure that helps people relax and stretch their muscles.

💆‍♀Sputnik recommends a similar method of relaxation, but only under the supervision of specialists.

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The table lists the oil output cuts announced by several OPEC+ countries from May to late 2023.
Saudi Arabia and Russia are the largest contributors to the output cuts, each reducing their oil production by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd).

And for example Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait are also making significant cuts of 211,000 bpd, 144,000 bpd, and 128,000 bpd, respectively.

The total output cut for all countries combined is approximately 1.5 million bpd.

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🇷🇺 🇩🇯 The development of relations between Russia and Djibouti will contribute to strengthening peace in the Horn of Africa, Russian Foreign Minister says

▪️Sergey Lavrov sent a congratulatory telegram to Foreign Minister of Djibouti Mahmoud Ali Yusuf on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

▪️Lavrov's message conveyed confidence that the traditionally friendly Russian-Djiboutian relations and mutually beneficial cooperation will further develop successfully for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries, in the name of strengthening peace and security in the Horn of Africa and the continent as a whole, a Russian Foreign Ministry statement issued on Monday said.

▪️Yusuf also sent a congratulatory message to his Russian counterpart in which he "welcomed the significant progress achieved in the development of cooperation" between Russia and Djibouti. He stated the government's desire to further strengthen ties between the peoples of the two states in various fields "on the basis of the invariable principles of mutual respect and consideration for the interests of each other"

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The New York Police Department (NYPD) has stepped up security at the Manhattan Criminal Court ahead of former President Donald Trump's expected arraignment on Tuesday, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene.

The NYPD has erected metal fences around the court building and adjacent judicial buildings as well as increased the number of officers in the area, the corresponded said.

It is likely that a number of streets around the court buildings will be blocked off ahead of Trump's arraignment, the correspondent added.
Meanwhile, Trump is on his way to New York for the arraignment hearing set for the following day in a non-disclosure settlement case involving ex-porn actress Stormy Daniels.

"Heading to New York. Make America Great Again!!!" Trump wrote on social media.

The former president will appear in court on Tuesday and will deliver a speech from his Mar-a-Lago residence after the hearing.

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🇮🇷 🇸🇦Iran and Saudi Arabia are discussing the launch of a bilateral chamber of commerce following the decision to resume diplomatic ties, Keyvan Kashefi, a member of the Presiding Board of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, said on Monday.

"Soon, the joint chamber of commerce of the two countries will be launched, which will be a significant step for advancing economic goals of Iran and Saudi Arabia," Kashefi was quoted as saying by an Iranian news agency.
The two countries will also exchange business delegations as soon as they reopen their embassies, Kashefi added.

He also underscored that the Iranian private sector welcomed the step taken by the government.Kashefi announced the plans to establish the Iranian-Saudi Arab chamber of commerce at the 82nd Meeting of the Council of Dialogue between the Public and Private Sectors held in Kermanshah province of Iran.

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Biden Not Expected to Announce Intention to Run for Second Term 'Any Time Soon'

Joe Biden is unlikely to announce his candidacy for the 2024 presidential race anytime soon, and may delay the decision until late July or the fall. While there are no indications that he won't run, waiting to launch his campaign may give Vice President Kamala Harris an advantage.

The decision is reportedly influenced by the lack of real electoral challenges in the Democratic Party, unlike the Republican Party, and will not be affected by potential Republican candidates.

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🇭🇺 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has expressed his support for former US President Donald Trump on Twitter, posting a photo of the two men shaking hands and urging Trump to "keep on fighting."

This comes as Trump has become the first former president in US history to face criminal charges, which center on the alleged illegal use of campaign funds to pay hush money to a porn star.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has labeled the charges as part of a political "witch hunt" against him.

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🇨🇳🇺🇸 US military planners believe that any future war with China over Taiwan would start, escalate and be concluded very quickly and that it would focus on an intense exchange of missiles across the 100 mile wide Taiwan Strait, former Acting Secretary of the Army John Whitley told a Washington conference.

The US needed to work with Taiwan to prepare in advance the kind of training, familiarity with light tactical weapons and operational expertise it succeeded in developing in Ukraine in the years building up to the conflict that began in February 2022, Whitley said.

💬 "How do you get an ally or friend to hang on until we can get there? How do you build in Taiwan that [capability] we have seen in Ukraine: that we are not seeing there [in Taiwan] yet?" he said.

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🇻🇪 The Venezuelan authorities condemned the terrorist attack on a cafe in Russia's St. Petersburg that killed Russian military reporter Vladlen Tatarsky

💬 "The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela condemns the vile terrorist act perpetrated in the city of St. Petersburg on April 2, 2023, which resulted in the death of the reporter and injuries of over 30 people. In this regard, we express our sincere condolences and fraternal solidarity to the families of the victims of this criminal and unjustifiable act of terrorism," the government said in a statement, published by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil on Twitter.

The statement added that Caracas "condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, which constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security."

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