NYT: Secret Doc Leaks Hurting US Relations With Allies as Washington Eavesdropping on Key Partners

There are now doubts among allied countries regarding Washington’s ability to keep its secrets, the newspaper said on Saturday, adding that the United States appears to be spying not only on Ukraine, but also such important American allies as Israel and South Korea.

In the excerpts published on social media, there are at least two discussions about Seoul's deliberations about whether to provide the United States artillery shells for use in Ukraine, violating South Korea’s policy on providing lethal aid. According to the newspaper, South Korean officials were said to be concerned that President Joe Biden would call his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk-yeol in order to pressure Seoul to deliver the shells.

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📹 The second Sunday in April is when Russia celebrates its Day of the Air Defense Forces, which protects civilian and military infrastructure from any air attacks (video by Russian MoD)

▪️ Russia’s air defense forces repel enemy air attacks using drones, multiple rocket launchers, and ballistic missiles on liberated and border localities on a daily basis during the special military operation.

▪️ Targets are successfully engaged in the air by anti-aircraft missile systems.

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Russian Military Creating Special Groups to Destroy Western Tanks in Ukraine

The Russian armed forces have started creating special groups tasked by the defense ministry with destroying the tanks that Western countries supply to Kiev, the head of a combat training center, Yevgeny Arifulin, said on Sunday.

He called the creation of the special groups "a great state systematic work."

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Kremlin: West Overreacting to Russian Plan to Station Tactical Nukes in Belarus

The West is overreacting to Russia's plans to build storage facilities for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, while forgetting about the presence of US nuclear weapons in Europe, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

"This is a very important topic now. We see a very unrestrained reaction from the collective West to the announcements made by [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin. The collective West is somehow not inclined to recall the issue of American nuclear weapons, which are based here in Europe, around our country, but in this case they are prone to react so hysterically to our plans to build storage facilities for tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus," Peskov told the Rossiya 1 broadcaster.

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❗️ Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ In the Kharkov region and the Lugansk People's Republic, the actions of two Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were stopped. During the day, over 35 Ukrainian troops, an armored combat vehicle, and two other vehicles were destroyed in this direction.

▪️ In the Donetsk People's Republic and the LPR, up to 55 Ukrainian soldiers, an armored combat vehicle, a car, a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount, and a D-20 howitzer were destroyed.

▪️ Over 250 Ukrainian troops, one tank, three armored combat vehicles, nine vehicles, a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount, as well as Msta-B and D-20 howitzers were destroyed in the DPR during the day.

▪️ In the Zaporozhye region and the DPR, the activities of two Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups were stopped. During the day, the enemy’s losses in these directions amounted to up to 20 Ukrainian soldiers, an armored combat vehicle, a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mount, as well as D-20 and D-30 howitzers.

▪️ In the Kherson region, up to 60 Ukrainian troops, three armored combat vehicles, eight vehicles, Akatsiya and Gvozdika self-propelled artillery mounts, as well as a Giacint-B cannon were destroyed.

▪️ In the Kharkov region, the advanced command post of the operational group of Ukrainian troops "Kharkov" was hit.

▪️ In the area of the city of Zaporozhye, a high-precision missile strike destroyed a storage facility with 70,000 tons of fuel accumulated to support the operations of the Ukrainian Army grouping in Donbass.

▪️ Russian air defenses destroyed 14 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles.

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Retired US Marines Berate Kirby for Refusing to Admit Chaotic Afghanistan Exit

Retired US marines have lashed out at National Security Council spokesman John Kirby over his upbeat characterization of the chaotic 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan, which he claimed was largely successful.

Chad Robichaux, a veteran of the Afghanistan war and co-founder of the Save Our Allies non-profit group, told a US broadcaster that Americans can see through the Biden administration’s “lies” and that Kirby's comments were not entirely accurate, given facts on the ground.

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🐘 WATCH: Prime Minister Narendra Modi feeding sugarcane to elephants at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

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😏 Elon Musk has ironically commented on the news about George Soros' son's steady access to the White House

▪️ Alexander Soros has become a prominent figure in left-leaning circles. According to recent reports, Alexander Soros has become a de-facto White House "ambassador," making at least 14 visits to the White House on behalf of his father's Open Society Foundations since President Joe Biden's inauguration.

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😍 A Bogota shopping center is hosting an exhibition of micro sculptures created by Flor Carvajal.

📹 Have a look at the artist in her studio making her works as well as some of them being exhibited.

▪️ Carvajal claims that she is the only woman who practices micro-sculpture in the world. Although there are other micro-sculptors with whom she has similar designs, they use different techniques and materials such as metal, wood, and pencil leads, while she works with synthetic resin and recycled materials.

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Chinese Army Simulates Strikes on 'Key Targets' in Taiwan Amid Drills

China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted simulated precision strikes during the second day of its military drills around Taiwan on Sunday, Chinese state media has reported.

The Chinese military announced that it would hold three-day air and naval military exercises in the Taiwan Strait and around the island on Saturday morning. The drills kicked off shortly after Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen returned from a visit to the US.

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🐅 The tiger population in India was 3,167 in 2022, as per the latest tiger census data released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Bandipur on Sunday. This is an increase of 6.74% from 2,967 in 2018.

▪️ The announcement coincides with Modi's arrival at Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Chamrajnagar, Mysuru, to mark 50 years of 'Project Tiger'.

▪️ According to the data, the tiger population stood at 1,411 in 2006, 1,706 in 2010, 2,226 in 2014, 2,967 in 2018 and 3,167 in 2022. The number of tiger reserves has increased from 28 in 2006 to 51 today.

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Metal in Most Benin Bronzes Originates From Germany, Study Reveals

The initial source of the brass the Benin Bronzes was produced in Germany and likely shipped to western Africa, a recent study published by the journal PlOS One, has revealed.

The Benin Bronzes are a collection of several thousand of brass sculptures from the palace of the ruler of the Benin Kingdom (modern-day Nigeria), dating back to at least the 16th century. Until now, research on the origins of the metals used in their casting provided no clear results, but a new study shed light on this scientific mystery.

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Apocalyptic Combo: Science Finds Evidence of Dual Mass Extinction Prior to Dinosaur Die-Off

There was an additional mass die-off in the geological period between 264.28 million and 259.51 million years ago known as the Capitanian mass extinction event, in the Permian stage, according to a study led by researcher Huyue Song at the China University of Geosciences. The paper was published in the peer-reviewed journal, Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Roughly 260 million years ago, an event occurred, known as the Permian–Triassic extinction, which killed off 81% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species. This was the biggest catastrophe that ever occurred on Earth, and the alleged reason was the sudden eruption of Siberian Traps. This fact is well established by science.

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Ex-US Pilot Warns of UFO-Related 'National Security Threat'

The navy pilot claims he ran into UFOs while flying in restricted airspace off the United States' East coast, alleging that people who are "still flying out there" continue encountering mysterious unidentified objects.

While a trio of objects downed by the US military in the aftermath of the "Chinese balloon affair" turned out to be terrestrial in origin, dashing hopes for "close encounters of the third kind," a former US Navy pilot has insisted that the truth is still out there.

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Twitter Dubs BBC as Government-Funded Media

Twitter has added a "Government Funded" tag on the BBC official account, predictably sparking criticism from the network.

Previously, the same measure was applied to NPR, which is closely affiliated with US authorities and most infamous for trying to silence the Hunter Biden laptop saga, which shed some light on unpleasant details of the life of the POTUS' family.

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🇫🇷 Europe should not let itself be drawn into the confrontation between the United States and China over Taiwan conforming to "the American rhythm," Emmanuel Macron said.

💬 "The question asked to us, Europeans, is this: are we interested in the forced solution to the Taiwan issue? No. The worst thing would be to think that we, Europeans, should follow this suit and adjust to the American rhythm and Chinese overreaction. Why must we move at the pace chosen by others?" Macron told the French newspaper.

▪️ Macron noted that Europeans need to "wake up" and think about their own interests.

▪️ "Our priority is not to adapt to the agenda of other countries in all regions of the world," the French leader added.

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🇪🇺 EU military circles doubting feasibility of delivering 1mln munitions to Ukraine

▪️ Military circles in Brussels are casting doubt on the European Union's plan to deliver 1 million 155-mm munitions to Ukraine within the next 12 months because, among other things, it may take more than a year to put together a batch that big, German news outlet reported on Sunday, citing sources.

▪️ The delivery plan is for Norway and 17 EU countries to send Ukraine a total 1 million munitions from their stocks and receive a compensation from the bloc, the newspaper reported. The EU will allocate 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) for the compensation and another 1 billion euros for the procurement of new munitions, the report said.

▪️ The plan is unlikely to go through, however, as 1 million munitions as an amount that is hard to be collected within one year, the newspaper said.

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🇷🇺🛢Russia has once again become 🇮🇳India's largest oil supplier as Delhi's oil imports reached 1.64 million barrels a day in March, according to data from energy cargo tracker Vortexa.

The figures show that Moscow's oil supplies to the country have now doubled the country's purchases from 🇮🇶Iraq, while oil supplies from 🇺🇸the US have dropped to fifth place.