Former UN weapons inspector in Iraq Scott Ritter joined us to discuss whether there is a need for NATO

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

🇷🇺🇬🇧Russia’s ambassador to London, Andrey Kelin, has claimed that an interview he gave to The Times about the situation in Ukraine has been deleted from the paper's website without explanation.

Kelin suggested that the decision may have been made following orders from the British authorities.

In the interview, Kelin stated that Russia was receiving offers of mediation from multiple states and groups in the UK and emphasized that Moscow does not depend on China's political support.

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Former UN weapons inspector in Iraq Scott Ritter joined us to discuss the US position during the Cold War and its unwillingness to comply with the START treaties

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

Seymour Hersh: Nord Stream Sabotage Led to ‘Total Breakdown’ Between White House, Intel Community

"There is a total breakdown between the White House leadership and the intelligence community," investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has said in a new article, citing an intelligence official.

Disconnection goes with issues such as destroying the Nord Stream pipelines and the lack of planning for Ukraine causing divisions.

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The International Day of Human Space Flight is observed annually on April 12 to commemorate the first human spaceflight carried out by Yuri Gagarin in 1961.

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Josep Borrell has postponed a visit to China originally planned for April 13-15 after testing positive for COVID-19

"[This visit] will give a new impetus to the development of relations between China and the EU, as well as [contribute to] the global peace and stability," he said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also noted that China and the EU are two major powers in the multipolar world, and that Chinese-European relations have an impact around the globe.

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🇵🇱Poland wants to host production of ammunition containing depleted uranium for US Abrams tanks, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Wednesday.

"We are trying to make Poland a host of the production of ammunition for Abrams tanks, ammunition with depleted uranium, state-of-the-art ammunition," Morawiecki said in a speech, aired by Polish television.

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🇸🇦 Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud held a telephone conversation with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, during which he reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s readiness to make every effort to achieve a political settlement in Syria, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier in the day, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Saudi Arabia to hold talks with Faisal bin Farhan to discuss the crisis in Syria.

"During the call, they discussed ways to find a political solution to Syrian crisis …Prince Faisal bin Farhan also affirmed the Kingdom’s keenness to exert all efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis that preserves Syria’s unity, security, stability, and Arab affiliation," the ministry said in a statement posted.

On Friday the foreign ministers of the Gulf Arab nations, Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan will hold a meeting in Jeddah to discuss Syria’s return to the League of Arab States, after its membership was suspended over the 2011 unrest.

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🔺“We must be able to choose our partners and shape our own destiny,” Macron said
🔺The US is working on a “universal” genetically engineered bioweapon: Russian Parliamentary Investigation
🔺Sowing discord in the region: the Philippines and the US start largest-ever drills in South China Sea

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Russian Defense Ministry has shared a video, featuring the Volga armored train operating in the area of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine.

This special train is designed for technical reconnaissance mine clearance and reconstruction of railway tracks.

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Swiss Parliament Rejects Credit Guarantees Worth $120Bln for Takeover of Credit Suisse

The Swiss parliament on Wednesday once again rejected the government's proposal to provide 109 billion Swiss francs ($120 billion) in credit guarantees for the acquisition of troubled Credit Suisse by UBS, the country's largest bank, though the vote will not have a significant impact on the takeover.

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North Korean Missile Launch Temporarily Prompts Evac Order for Japan's Hokkaido Region

A ballistic missile was launched by North Korea early Thursday toward the Sea of Japan, going on to momentarily prompt an evacuation order for residents of Japan's Hokkaido.

An initial analysis conducted by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff revealed that the launch of an intermediate or longer-range ballistic missile was detected about 7:23 a.m. local time, and fired from the Pyongyang area.

It remains unclear where exactly the projectile landed, as well as the distance it flew and at what altitude.

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🇺🇸 Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have projected that the United States will experience a "mild recession" later this year that could take two years to overcome, minutes of the central bank’s policy meeting from March showed.

"Given their assessment of the potential economic effects of the recent banking-sector developments, the staff's projection at the time of the March meeting included a mild recession starting later this year, with a recovery over the subsequent two years," the minutes from the March 22 meeting said.

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Russian Central Bank Still Opposes Control of Ruble Exchange Rate - Bank Governor

The Central Bank of Russia still opposes administrative control of ruble exchange rate as it will be stabilized by low inflation and fiscal rule, the Bank's Governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Wednesday.

"We stand for a stable exchange market, but not for exchange rate administration, it can break from economic realities that way," Nabiullina said during her speech in the Russia's State Duma.

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📹Russian howitzers fire in action (video by Russian MoD)

The 152-caliber MSTA-S howitzers, serving as fire support for the Russian troops, fired against enemy self-propelled artillery and forces.

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🇺🇸Top US officials may have greenlighted Pentagon leaks to mislead Russia, ex-FBI agent says

💬 "They could easily be the actions of a single whistleblower but the leak could just as easily have been greenlighted to some extent by more higher ranking officials, if not the highest ranking one, the President," retired FBI Agent and former Minneapolis Division Legal Counsel Coleen Rowley told Sputnik.

Rowley also said it’s hard to discern what is happening with these latest classified information dumps given the level of "information-disinformation warfare" that has been going on.

💬 "It seems that at least some of the 'leaked info,' for instance about the high degree of US' assistance and control of Kiev's targeting and military operations, was already widely known whereas some other details, for example the bit about Mossad assisting Israeli protests, was not publicly or widely revealed before now," Rowley said.

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Feinstein Asks to Temporarily Step Down After House Dems Accuses Her of ‘Dereliction of Duty’

Citing her poor health, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has requested that her position on the Judiciary Committee be temporarily replaced, immediately after several of her Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives publicly urged her to step down before her term ends.

The statement came just hours after Democratic Representatives Ro Khanna of California and Dean Phillips of Minnesota publicly demanded Feinstein’s resignation from the Senate, citing her inability to fulfill her duties.

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Source of Pentagon Docs Worked on Military Base, Turned 'Frantic' Once Leak Surfaced

Newly surfaced details have revealed that the source of the Pentagon leaks is said to be a man in his early to mid 20s who works on a military base, and is known for his "dark" views of the US government.

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