📹 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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🗣️"Is the United States really fit to be hosting the United Nations when they engage in these kind of behaviors? ": a journalist and political analyst Caleb Maupin speaks about the provocations the Russian foreign minister had to face at the latest UN meeting

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

The Western countries are concerned over the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU)’s unpreparedness for a counteroffensive against Russian troops

An anonymous Ukrainian serviceman told a UK newspaper that he hopes to get more combat experience before the AFU’s full-fledged offensive starts.

He admitted that the Ukrainian troops "are not ready", and that they "need to train more."

The soldier’s concerns "echo those of many in Washington and other European capitals that have poured billions into supporting Ukraine but worry about the state of its military after a punishing year," the newspaper pointed out. The news outlet also cited one of the Pentagon’s leaked defense documents as arguing that Ukraine might fail to amass sufficient troops and weaponry, and fall "well short" of its goals for regaining territory.

According to the magazine, both Ukraine and "its Western backers should prepare for the possibility that the counteroffensive will yield only marginal gains, or worse."

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New US bases in the Philippines may set Asia Pacific on fire

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is due to meet his US counterpart Joe Biden on May 1. The upcoming official visit to Washington will be the first by a Philippine president in more than ten years. Marcos Jr. has already pledged to forge "an even stronger relationship" with the US.

How are the US-Philippines Relations going? Is Manila on a war path?

📹 Russian drones ‘smoke out’ Ukrainian trenches

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Iran reopens diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia

Iran reopened three diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia on Monday, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

"Three diplomatic missions of the Islamic Republic of Iran — the embassy in Riyadh as well as the consulate general and the Iranian representative office at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah — have resumed operations," Nasser Kanaani was quoted as saying by a local news agency.

The reopening followed a China-brokered agreement to restore diplomatic ties reached by the two regional powers in March. Saudi Arabia is likewise expected to reopen its diplomatic outposts in Iran.

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During the early hours of May 1, 1945, soldiers of the Soviet Red Army scored a symbolic victory against the Nazi German forces in Berlin, planting the Victory Banner on top of the Reichstag building.

The banner was planted during the final stages of the battle for the German capital, with the Nazi troops surrendering shortly afterward. It also came not long after the infamous Nazi German dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide to escape retribution at the hands of the Soviets.

Read the full story of how the Victory Banner was hoisted at the Reichstag

Swedish city deletes ad over 'too many' white people

The city of Boras in Sweden removed a promotional video following criticism from a local newspaper that the video lacked diversity. The ad, produced by the municipal company Boras TME, depicted ordinary inhabitants of Boras engaged in everyday tasks but featured only white people.

The newspaper, Boras Tidning, argued that the lack of representation was alarming, prompting Boras TME to respond. The company admitted to the mistake and promised to create an updated version that represents diversity and inclusion. They also pledged to review other market material to ensure that diversity becomes more evident.

Boras is an industrial city in southern Sweden with about 66,000 inhabitants. According to the city's statistics, 32% of its population have a foreign background.

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Hunter Biden appears in US court for hearing in finances, child support case

Hunter Biden, the son of US President Joe Biden, has appeared in an Arkansas court for a hearing related to his finances and child support payments.

The case involves a paternity dispute with Lunden Roberts, who gave birth to Biden's daughter in 2018. Biden had initially denied fathering the child, but a DNA test confirmed his paternity, and the case was closed in 2020. However, it was reopened in September 2022 after Biden requested a reduction in child support payments due to a drop in income.

During the case, Roberts has requested financial records from Biden, including information about his art sales, travel, and properties, as well as any potential payments related to Joe Biden or his brother James Biden.

The case coincides with attempts by Republican lawmakers to investigate the financial activities of the Biden family, and a federal probe into potential criminal activity by Hunter Biden.

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Fruit loop: South Korean student eats banana 'artwork' after missing breakfast

An art student in South Korea ate a banana taped to a wall as part of an avant-garde exhibition noscriptd 'Comedian' by Maurizio Cattelan.

The student, Noh Huyn-soo, claimed he was hungry after missing breakfast. He told reporters he saw Cattelan's work as a rebellion against authority, adding: "There could be another rebellion against the rebellion."

"Damaging an artwork could also be seen as an artwork, I thought that would be interesting... Isn't it taped there to be eaten?" Noh pondered.

The artwork was on display at the Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul and had been previously shown in 2019 at a Miami art gallery.

Cattelan said he had no issue with how the student consumed the work as the substance of the piece was a tutorial on how he made and promoted it.

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Researchers warn of fake news apocalypse ahead, fueled by AI

Nearly 50 AI-powered websites have been identified by researchers from NewsGuard as posting inaccurate or fake information disguised as news outlets.

These content farms generate low-quality texts to attract advertising revenues, with some companies paying them to mention their name and enhance their search ranking. While the majority of such sites do not generate profits, they still provide a source of passive income for their owners through programmatic ads.

Experts have raised concerns about the use of AI models that make up facts to produce news-like websites, with one prominent journalist calling it "fraud masquerading as journalism."

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🔺What was really at stake? Many nations were not interested in a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict, Merkel said
🔺India and Russia agreed to strengthen their defence partnership
🔺Tension rises in Asia: the US reaffirms it will go to war if Philippine boats come under attack in the South China Sea

The Critical Hour will cover these and more stories! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

📻 Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

Employers to cut 14m workplaces worldwide by 2027

Employers across the globe are planning to create 69 million workplaces by 2027, while shutting down 83 million, which would result in a disappearance of 14 million workplaces or 2% of current global employment, a fresh report by the World Economic Forum has shown.

The report said that the three key drivers of the net job destruction were expected slower economic growth, supply shortages, rising cost of inputs, and the surging living cost for consumers.

"Employers also recognize that increased geopolitical divisions and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic will drive labor-market disruption, with an even split between employers expecting these to have a positive and negative impact on jobs," the document also said.

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US regulators seize troubled First Republic Bank, name JPMorgan Chase as buyer

US regulators closed First Republic Bank, which has struggled since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced on Monday, naming JPMorgan Chase as the buyer of First Republic’s assets and deposits worth over $330 billion combined.

"First Republic Bank, San Francisco, California, was closed today by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver," the FDIC said in a statement.

The FDIC is now entering into a purchase and assumption agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, to take over all of the deposits and the assets of First Republic Bank, it added.

As of April 13, First Republic Bank had about $229.1 billion in total assets and $103.9 billion in total deposits, according to the FDIC.

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Bomb wrecks train in western Russia

A bomb caused a freight train to veer off the tracks in the western Russian region of Bryansk on Monday, the Russian Railways company said.

No one was injured in the crash.

Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz said the explosive device was planted on the tracks in the western Unechsky district, close to the Ukrainian border.

An official at the regional administration told Sputnik that the crashed train was transporting fuel and construction materials. Firefighters were sent to put out the blaze.

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