🐅 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.

⛷📹 Skiers wearing carnival costumes ski down the slope during the BoogelWoogel alpine festival at the Rosa Khutor ski resort in Sochi, Russia

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'Between Russian Hammer and Chinese Anvil': Expert on US Perspectives in Africa

It is getting increasingly difficult for Washington to find its place in Africa while the countries of the continent are forging partnerships with Moscow and Beijing, said Abdou Karim Diakhate, a political scientist and director of the magazine Le Panafricain, in an interview with Sputnik.

🗣"The United States is between the Russian hammer and the Chinese anvil in Africa. China is a main trading partner of many countries on the continent, but cooperation between African nations and Russia is experiencing a new dynamic, generating great hopes. This trend is what bothers the United States the most," he stated.

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Classified Leak May Look to Embarass Biden Into 'Cutting Back' Ukraine Support

An apparent classified information leak, which resulted in what seems to be a batch of US documents related to the conflict in Ukraine being posted on social media, has left experts pondering on the significance of this development.

Philip Giraldi, a former CIA station chief who now serves as executive director of a non-profit anti-war advocacy group the Council for the National Interest, told Sputnik that the significance of the leaked materials stems from the fact that they seem to be "highly classified" and have "presumably been leaked by someone senior in the hierarchy of the Pentagon."

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🇮🇷 Iran's IRGC claims successful 110-pound warhead kamikaze drone test

▪️ Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has conducted successful tests of a high-precision long-range kamikaze drone equipped with a 50 kilogram (110 pound) warhead, the head of the IRGC's R&D department, gen. Ali Kouhestani, said.

▪️ Kouhestani told state media that this drone was one of a series of kamikaze drones of the IRGC ground forces, which was developed and produced by young specialists.

▪️ The general specified that the UAV named Me'raj-532 has a piston engine, and its maximum range is 450 kilometers (280 miles). The maximum altitude of Me’raj-532 amounts to 12,000 feet and it can stay in the air for up to three hours, according to Kouhestani.

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🇦🇫 🇺🇸 US Senator Lindsey Graham has accused the Biden administration of increasing the risks of another 9/11 by failing in the approach to Afghanistan

The Senator warned that there is a rise of extremism and terrorism Afghanistan, a "lethal cocktail," which could result in an attack in the US "in the next six months without warning."

💬 "When the Biden administration tells you there are no terrorists in Afghanistan, they are lying," Graham said.

Graham accused the Biden administration of "political whitewash" and of downplaying the risky consequences of the Afghanistan withdrawal.

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🌎 World Bank's chief calls for searching ways out of poorest countries' debt impasse

💬 "At the World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings this week, I will be advocating strongly for sound development solutions for the mounting challenges facing developing countries. Resolving the impasse in debt restructurings, especially for the world's poorest countries, is going to be at the center of discussions," World Bank President David Malpass said in his article published by the World Bank.

He added that he was looking forward to discussions of the debt crisis and approaches to achieving debt transparency and sustainability.

💬 "I would like to see serious consideration of a debt 'standstill' meaning formal debt service suspension at the request of the debtor country at the beginning of debt restructuring process," Malpass said.

The World Bank's chief also said that it was important to achieve "transparent, sustainable debt burdens in order to restart investment, which has slowed to a standstill."

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Charles III Green Energy Firm Under Investigation Due to Gas Leak

JV Energen turns crops into gas and electricity, which are used in the local area, as well as to create fertilizers for local farms.

The Health and Safety Executive investigated the plant after the 2020 leak and issued a series of improvement notices, while uncovering other safety breaches

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Newly-Fledged NATO Member Finland to Buy Israeli-US Anti-Missile System

David's Sling systemis a joint venture by Israeli Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and US arms contractor Raytheon. It is designed to intercept planes, drones, tactical ballistic missiles, medium- to long-range rockets and cruise missiles fired at ranges between 40 and 300 kilometers. Following the procurement, Finland will become the first operator of David's Sling outside of Israel.

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Easter in Africa: What Are the Peculiarities?

Easter is a time of remembrance of the reported crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As in other parts of the world, hundreds of millions of Christians in Africa celebrate Easter.

There are a great number of traditions connected to the religious holiday that are preserved and passed down from generation to generation. While some of the customs are similar to those in other Christian countries, a great number are specifically African

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The Ukrainian military command has amended some military plans due to the leak of classified US intelligence documents

A source close to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy told US media that Kiev had already changed some of its military plans because of the leak.

Although it was not specified what has been altered, it noted that in late February, Zelensky suggested striking Russian deployment points inside its territory, in the Rostov Region, with drones, as Ukraine does not have long-range missiles that can reach these targets, according to the Pentagon's leaked report.

The source also claimed that Ukrainian officials were not surprised with the fact that the US has been spying on them, however, they were quite concerned with the leakage itself.

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🇨🇳🇺🇸 US Navy destroyer enters South China Sea off Spratly Islands

💬 "On April 10, the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Spratly Islands, consistent with international law," US 7th Fleet said.

For more than a century, US forces have been operating in the South China Sea "on a daily basis," the statement added.

In March, USS Milius entered the South China Sea near the Paracel (Xisha) Islands, which China sees as its territory. Beijing condemned the actions of the United States, saying the US destroyer "illegally entered" the area "without Chinese government's permission ... undermining the peace and stability in the South China Sea."

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Based and Redpilled? Exposed FBI 'Glossary' Links Online Lingo to 'Violent Extremism'

Using some internet slang words, such as “looksmaxxing,” “based,” “Chad,” and “Stacy” will get an individual on the FBI’s watch list for “violent extremism,” according to the agency’s “glossary”, obtained by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project.

Here is a rundown of some of these words and phrases, flagged by the FBI as indicating "Involuntary Celibate Violent Extremism" or "Racially or Ethnically Motivated Violent Extremism."

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❗️'New poles are growing' in multipolar world system: Sputnik speaks to Middle East expert and ex-Austrian top diplomat Karin Kneissl

We focused on how Russia, China and Saudi Arabia are shaping the new multipolar world, and discussed the collective leverage of the emerging powers on worldwide energy markets. Kneissl also noted how the West’s foreign policy style is actually harming the EU’s economic interests globally.

Full interview here

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