SpaceX CEO Elon Musk revealed that the company expects to conduct another Starship launch in about "six to eight weeks"

The spacecraft was launched atop a Super Heavy rocket booster and was expected to separate from the booster before continuing its ascent towards space. However, the historic launch ended with an explosion after the Starship prototype experienced multiple engine failures, prompting the vehicle's flight termination system to be triggered.

The incident proved a significant setback for SpaceX's plans to use the Starship spacecraft to transport humans to Mars and beyond. The company had hoped to use the spacecraft to carry out crewed missions as early as 2023, but the timeline now appears unlikely.

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🇰🇪 Children make up majority of Kenyan cult deaths, Interior Minister says

▪️Kenya's Interior Minister Kithure Kindiki has provided the media with new details about the case of a starvation cult, saying that children account for most of the 109 bodies so far recovered from mass graves linked to the cult.

▪️"The reports we are getting are that many of the recoveries are of children... Children are the majority, followed by women. Men are fewer," Kindiki told media.

▪️The minister also emphasized that starvation may not be the only thing that killed the cult followers

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South Korean president considers the Washington Declaration adopted during his meeting with US president to be more effective than multilateral agreements within NATO

"The president explained that the Washington Declaration is more effective than multilateral agreements within NATO since it was adopted 'one-on-one.' And it is the first time when the concept of extended deterrence was set out in a written document with a certain country rather than as an oral statement," the spokesman said.

On Wednesday, the leaders of South Korea and the US adopted the Washington Declaration that provides for the establishment of a regular bilateral consultation mechanism called the US-South Korean Nuclear Consultative Group on extended deterrence and strategic planning. South Korea also secured a US promise to promptly deploy "the entire force of the alliance," including nuclear weapons, in the event of a nuclear attack by North Korea.

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Pentagon leaks: An array of major developing nations seek to sit out the US’ intensifying standoff with Russia and China

The leaks comprise classified US intelligence assessments, which show that such countries as India, Brazil, Pakistan and Egypt try “to straddle allegiances in an era when America is no longer the world’s unchallenged superpower.”

According to the documents, President Joe Biden’s global agenda faces significant challenges as the influential aforementioned regional powers “try to remain on the sidelines” of Washington’s strife with Moscow and Beijing, sometimes capitalizing on this rivalry for their own gain.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, one of the leaked documents cited the country’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar as arguing in March that Islamabad can “no longer try to maintain a middle ground between China and the United States.”

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Uzbekistan opened polling places for a constitutional referendum at 8 a.m. local time (03:00 GMT) on Sunday

The referendum question on the ballot reads "Do you accept the constitutional law of the Republic of Uzbekistan 'On the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan'?" The draft legislation was published on March 15.

One of the amendments extends the presidential term from five to seven years and allows incumbent Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to be elected for the third consecutive term. Other changes include reducing the number of senators from 100 to 65, abolishing capital punishment and prohibiting extradition of Uzbek citizens to foreign states. There are also new clauses on civil society, parliamentary budget oversight and the government's obligations to reduce poverty and ensure employment.

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Foreign ministers of Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Jordan are set to meet on May 1 to continue consultations on Syria's readmission to the League of Arab States

"Jordan will host tomorrow, May 1, a meeting of foreign ministers of the Kingdom of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt with Syria's foreign minister. This meeting is a follow-up to the consultative meeting of the Gulf countries, [as well as] Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, which was held on April 14 in Jeddah," the statement read.

The 22-nation Arab League suspended Syria's membership in 2011 after war broke out in the country. Several member states then recalled their ambassadors from Syria in protest of the policies of President Bashar Assad, accusing his government of alleged cracking down on protesters. Years later, some of them have begun taking steps to reengage with Damascus and reopen embassies.

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📹 Sputnik correspondents were among the first to visit the surviving Soviet weapons depots near Soledar

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📹🇷🇺 Assault detachments of the Russian Armed Forces receive awards

Departmental decorations were handed out right on the front line.

Assault detachments operate along the most difficult areas of the line of contact. All mobilized personnel have been trained at firing ranges and training centers before being sent to engage in combat operations.

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🗣 The Russian Foreign Ministry responded to the IOC's initiative to admit transgender people to the Olympic Games

💬 “Such innovations threaten the existence of women's sports, because now men who have changed their sex and have a clear physical advantage can now be allowed to compete. What principles of fair play and access to sports without discrimination, which Thomas Bach cares about so much, can we talk about in this case?“, the ministry said.

▪️ In 2021 Laurel Hubbard became the first transgender to compete in the Olympics. The representative of New Zealand failed to perform a single successful snatch in the weightlifting competition in the weight category over 87 kg.

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😵 The Indian community was deeply insulted after the Ukrainian Defense Ministry posted a blasphemous picture of Hindu Goddess Kali

❓The department deleted the post from the official page but the “work of art” - as they called it - already went viral. What's more, no official comment followed the insulting post.

Indian journalist Shubhangi Sharma wrote on her Twitter: “This centuries-old obsession with disparaging Goddess Kali Ma continues to run deep in the West. It’s replete with ignorance and bigotry and no matter how woke the new generations get, some malicious fixations will remain deeply entrenched forever”.

Another tweet by an Indian media outlet also said that the Ukrainian officials posted a highly insulting and hateful content portraying Hindu Godess Kali.

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

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 70 Ukrainian troops, five armored vehicles, a D-20 howitzer, and one vehicle with ammunition;

▪️In the Krasny Liman area, Ukrainian losses amounted to 75 soldiers, two armored vehicles and D-20 and D-30 howitzers;

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Russian forces destroyed more than 575 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, three armored vehicles, two armored combat vehicles, an Akatsiya and Gvozdika self-propelled howitzers;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions, Ukrainian losses amounted to 85 soldiers, one tank, two armored vehicles and D-20 and D-30 howitzers;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 20 Ukrainian troops and one D-30 howitzer;

▪️The actions of two Ukrainian sabotage groups were thwarted in the Kupyansk direction in the Kharkov region;

▪️Russian air defense systems also intercepted a Mi-8 helicopter, four HIMARS missiles, as well as 14 Ukrainian UAVs in the LPR, DPR, and Kharkov region.

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Freedom, Roots & Fusion: SA Singer Pilani Bubu on Features of African Jazz

🎷 On April 30, the world marks International Jazz Day, which unites people across the globe in a great celebration of jazz music, paying tribute to its roots, appreciating its legacy and promoting its further development. On this occasion, Sputnik Africa sat down with South African singer Pilani Bubu to discuss the role of jazz on the continent.

According to Bubu, jazz provides a platform for Africans not only to express themselves, their feelings and aspirations through the power of music, but bring their ethnic and cultural traits to the genre in a way that transcends national boundaries.

🗣"And in a big bucket of jazz, what you hear is the tonality of identity," she stressed.

👉 READ THE FULL STORY

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📹🇷🇺 Tornado-G MLRS roving crew engages enemy positions

▪️ Artillerymen of the Russian Armed Forces have hit an area where the Ukrainian troops are recovering their combat efficiency.

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China’s Ukraine peace plan: ‘Platform to start process of political settlement of Ukraine conflict’

Chinese President Xi Jinping emphasized the promotion of peace and talks during his phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and China's Foreign Ministry announced plans to send an envoy to Ukraine to facilitate communication with all parties.

Noh called the 12-point plan a "mixed bag" but said it could serve as a platform for moving toward a political settlement. Russian authorities have expressed their willingness to negotiate, but Ukraine has rejected diplomatic solutions and made unrealistic demands, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

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