SVB board mulled 'Project Phoenix' to save bank long before collapse

Newly released documents reportedly show that SVB management discussed a plan to sell up to $20bn in bonds last November, codenamed "Project Phoenix," to cover losses and address liquidity struggles. However, the project warned of negative investor reaction and increasing deposit outflows.

When management launched security sales in March, SVB's market cap fell 60% in one day, and the bank was seized by regulators and declared bankrupt.

The collapse triggered unrest in the banking industry, leading to calls for greater emphasis on stress testing and reforms to improve resiliency.

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🇹🇷Retired Admiral Cem Gurdeniz has called for Turkiye to leave NATO, claiming that the alliance poses a greater threat to the country due to its support for creating a Kurdish state.

"How many thousands of people have died in the south-east of Turkiye since 1984, how many problems Turkiye has in other areas, but we do not receive any support from NATO or the EU," said the retired admiral.

He added that statements on Turkiye made by EU authorities or the US Senate made it "clear who is our friend and who is our enemy."

Gurdeniz voiced concerns that NATO's involvement in the Ukrainian crisis could drag Turkiye into a conflict with Russia, leading to the use of tactical nuclear weapons.

He believes Turkiye should pursue an independent policy, balancing between the Atlantic and Asia, and develop closer ties with Russia, China, India, and other BRICS countries.

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Zelensky says informed Macron of frontline situation, prospects for further developments

"During a conversation with President of France Emmanuel Macron, I thanked for France's comprehensive and effective support for Ukraine ... I informed him in detail of the situation on the frontline and prospects for its development in May and June. I also placed emphasis on the priority needs of the Ukrainian Defense Forces," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote on Telegram.

The two leaders also discussed cooperation with other international partners to "consolidate their support" for the Ukrainian peace plan and coordinated next steps within the bilateral dialogue between the countries, according to the Ukrainian president.

During the talks, Zelensky also stated that Kiev appreciates France's commitment to provide "a powerful armored package" to Ukrainian forces.

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UK foreign office announces additional flight to evacuate citizens from Sudan

On Saturday, the foreign office stated that it had ended an initial evacuation operation that had helped carry almost 1,900 people out of African nation by air. The Saturday flight was supposed to be the last one carried out by the UK due to a declining demand for seats and risks of renewed conflict in Sudan.

"An extra UK evacuation flight from Port Sudan will depart on Monday (May 1) ... This flight follows the UK's successful evacuation operation from Wadi Saeeda near Khartoum, which has evacuated 2122 people on 23 flights," the foreign office said in a statement.

On April 15, violent clashes broke out between the Sudanese regular armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group. The parties have introduced a number of temporary nationwide ceasefires since then, but the conflict has not been settled yet.

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Tencent rolls out deepfake 'Digital Clones' service

Tencent Cloud, a subsidiary of Chinese tech giant Tencent, has launched a new service that allows people to create high-quality digital versions of themselves. The process involves providing 3 minutes of live-action video and 100 recorded sentences of the person to be "digitally cloned."

The resulting digital construct is available in various styles and costs $145. Tencent Cloud aims to create an automated AI+ Digital Intelligent Human Factory in the future, according to Chen Lei, the company's general manager for intelligent digital conduct products.

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Russia destroys up to 200 tonnes of Ukrainian ammunition in DPR

"As a result of a strike on an echelon at a railway station near the town of Kramatorsk of the Donetsk People’s Republic, up to 200 tonnes of UAF’s [Ukrainian Armed Forces] ammunition were destroyed," Russian Defense Ministry said.

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Antony Blinken expressed concern over the establishment of an Azerbaijani checkpoint on the Lachin corridor

"Secretary Blinken shared his belief that peace was possible. He also expressed the United States’ deep concern that Azerbaijan’s establishment of a checkpoint on the Lachin corridor undermines efforts to establish confidence in the peace process, and emphasized the importance of reopening the Lachin corridor to commercial and private vehicles as soon as possible," US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Blinken, who spoke with Aliyev a day after his phone call with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, underscored the importance of Azerbaijan-Armenia peace discussions and pledged continued US support.

On Saturday, Blinken told Pashinyan that direct dialogue and diplomacy are the only path to a durable peace in the South Caucasus.

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The Turkish National Intelligence Organization killed "the leader" of the Islamic State terrorist group (IS, Daesh, banned in Russia) during an operation in Syria

"The suspected leader of Daesh, codename Abu Hussein al-Qurashi, has been neutralised in an operation carried out yesterday (Saturday) by the MIT in Syria," Erdogan said in an interview to Turkish broadcasters.

"Out national intelligence organization had been following so-called leader of Daesh Abu Hussein al-Quraishi for a long time. This person was eliminated during the operation conducted by the MIT in Syria yesterday. We will continue our fight with terrorist organizations, making no distinctions between them," he announced.

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Former member of the People’s Assembly of Moldova's Gagauzia Grigory Uzun and opposition candidate Yevgenia Gutsul are coming ahead in the election of the head of the autonomous territory

"The Central Election Commission of Gagauzia, based on preliminary data … has summed up the preliminary results: Yevgenia Gutsul - 14,890 votes, Grigory Uzun - 14,849," the CEC said in a statement.

The voter turnout in the Sunday election of the governor of Moldova's Gagauzia was over 57%, according to CEC, so the election was declared valid (at least 50% turnout was needed).

The election of Gagauzia's head (Bashkan of Gagauzia) took place in Moldova's pro-Russian southern autonomy on Sunday, with eight candidates on the ballot. Incumbent Governor Irina Vlah is not eligible for reelection since she has already served two consecutive terms.
If none of the candidates receives over 50% of the votes, a runoff will be held in two weeks.

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⚡️ The Russian Armed Forces hit 4 Ukrainian military artillery positions in the DPR, the Russian MoD said

▪️ The ministry added that Russian military aircraft near Avdeevka inflicted 2 strikes on the points of temporary deployment of reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while artillery destroyed a tank and 3 infantry fighting vehicles.

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'Amazing' Opportunity to Absorb Russian Culture: Zimbabwean Road to Yalta Festival Singer

🎵 Ahead of the final of the annual WWII song festival and competition that takes place on May 2 in Moscow, one of the singers, Yvonne P. Sauramba from Zimbabwe, expressed her impressions of Russia and its culture, sharing her experience of participating in the music event with Sputnik.

🗣"I’m so excited to be part of this festival The Road to Yalta and I do see it as an amazing opportunity for me to meet amazing artists from all over the world, as well as to experience what is like to be as a part of Russia," she said.

👉READ THE FULL STORY

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Turkiye expects the Black Sea Grain Initiative to be extended

"The favorable atmosphere with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia, which was also present during the exchange of prisoners, has worked well in the grain corridor … We look forward to the continued operation of this mechanism, providing food to needy countries in Africa," Erdogan said in an interview with Turkish broadcasters.

Over the weekend a source close to the negotiations on the grain deal told Sputnik that there is no clarity regarding the prospects of extending the deal. The source said that Ankara and the United Nations are making some efforts in that respect, and Turkiye expects "Western partners to support our efforts."

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🏦 The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation said on Monday that it had closed First Republic Bank and agreed upon a deal to sell its assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co and National Association, making it the third major U.S. bank to fail in two months.

▪️ JPMorgan was one of several interested buyers, including PNC Financial Services Group and Citizens Financial Group Inc, which submitted final bids on Sunday in an auction being run by U.S. regulators, sources familiar with the matter said over the weekend.

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📹 Russian Armed Forces military engineer units within the special military operation

▪️ The sappers of the Russian Armed Forces perform service requiring the utmost skill and dedication. Their job offers them absolutely no room to make mistakes.

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The Vatican is on a peace mission aimed at ending the conflict in Ukraine

"There is a mission in course now but it is not yet public. When it is public, I will reveal it," Pope Francis told reporters after his visit to Hungary on Sunday, adding that the Vatican is also ready to help "repatriate" Ukrainian children taken to Russia.

The Pontiff said that he thinks peace is “always made by opening channels” and that one “can never achieve peace through [their] closure.”

The Pope made it clear that “the Holy See is willing” to help "repatriate" Ukrainian children because “it is the right thing."

Earlier, the Russian Embassy in the US stated that Moscow has been doing "everything possible" for the protection and safety of the Ukrainian children who were forced to flee their country.

"We do our best to keep minors in families, and in case of absence or death of parents and relatives, to transfer orphans under guardianship," he embassy said in a statement on its Telegram page.

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Former UK PM Liz Truss has agreed to pay $15,000 bill for missing slippers and bathrobes as well as food and drinks from the government residence Chevening House

Truss received the invoice from the UK Cabinet Office, which claimed she used Chevening House for private parties shortly before assuming the prime ministerial office, several weeks ago, according to the report by the UK news outlet. On Sunday, media reported, her spokesman said the former prime minister "always paid for the costs of her personal guests," while the bill includes expenses for official meetings, therefore, the sum should be revised.

Another newspaper reported Truss had now agreed to "pay for anything missing" at the Chevening estate.

Earlier reports, citing sources, indicated Truss together with her advisers and allies from the Conservative Party held campaign meetings that occasionally turned into late night parties at Chevening House, to which she had access as then-Foreign Secretary.

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Mark Zuckerberg is steering Meta* into an unprecedented morale crisis

According to a US newspaper, Zuckerberg “has lost his vision and the trust of his workforce” amid economic tumult and waves of layoffs that rode roughshod over the company.

“It’s like they went from ‘move fast and break things’ to ‘slow down, break things,’ then ‘maybe fix it later on a case-by-case’” basis, one of the sources claimed.

Another insider underscored that “what was special about Meta was the trust.”

“We drank the Kool-Aid and really felt like it was our company [and] even willingly defended it when everyone said we were evil incarnate. But that’s been shattered, so it feels like a betrayal,” they added.

*Meta is banned in Russia over extremist activities

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

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces launched a group strike at the facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine at night;

▪️ Near Ugledar, the command and observation post of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was hit;

▪️ In the DPR, up to 330 Ukrainian soldiers were destroyed in the day;

▪️ After the strike on the objects of the military-industrial complex, the work of enterprises for the production of ammunition and military equipment for the Ukrainian Armed Forces was disrupted;

▪️ Russian air defense systems destroyed eight Ukrainian drones in a day;

▪️ Russian troops destroyed up to 55 military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and two howitzers near Krasny Liman, and also stopped the actions of two deviation reconnaissance groups;

▪️ The losses of the Ukrainian Army in the south of the DPR and in the Zaporozhye region amounted to 55 soldiers;

▪️ The Russian army stopped the actions of five Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups in the Kharkov region and the LPR;

▪️ Russian troops destroyed the ammunition depot of the 127th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kharkov region.

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🗣️"Essentially the United States, by threatening North Korea, is threatening China. Anything that relates to North Korea is simply a pretext and a stalking horse for China": KJ Noh, a journalist, political analyst, and teacher, speaks about the US’ real aim to harm China through its closest neighbor, North Korea

🎧Listen to more of Noh’s analysis in our podcast The Final Countdown

The Russian troops have destroyed up to 330 Ukrainian soldiers, a tank, four armored combat vehicles, four cars, and a 122-mm howitzer D-30 in the Donetsk direction over the past 24 hours

"Over the past day, the aviation carried out six combat sorties in this area. The group's artillery performed 64 fire tasks … up to 330 Ukrainian soldiers, one tank, four armored fighting vehicles, four cars, and the D-30 howitzer were destroyed in this direction," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The defense department added that an ammunition depot of the Ukrainian armed forces has been eliminated near the village of Novoukrainka in the Donetsk People's Republic.

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