📹 Russian Su-35 aircraft in action as part of the special military operation in Ukraine

Russian Aerospace Forces Su-35 jet on patrol in the special operation zone discovered and destroyed a Ukrainian aircraft.

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The advanced German howitzers have been hit by… bad weather

German Panzerhaubitze (PzH 2000) self-propelled howitzers which were earlier delivered to Kiev, turned out to be much worse adapted to bad weather than the Soviet-made Pion artillery systems, used by Russian troops in the special operation zone, a US newspaper has reported.

The media outlet cited a Ukrainian serviceman from the Ukrainian army’s 43rd Separate Artillery Brigade as saying that a decision had been made “to pull all of the new Panzerhaubitze 2000s from the field, for fear that the 60-ton howitzers would be unable to escape should they come under fire.”

According to him, one such howitzer had to be towed when it became stuck in the mud at the brigade’s position in southeastern Ukraine. The serviceman added that troops “were busy scraping off a heavily caked layer of sludge from treads and armored plating.”

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🇸🇾🇮🇷 Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Damascus on Wednesday on the first visit by a head of state from the Islamic republic since Syria's civil war broke out 12 years ago

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"The EU has become a "democratic problem" for Sweden"

According to national-conservative Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson, the EU has become a "democratic problem" for Sweden, with legislation imposed by unelected Brussels bureaucrats gaining too much influence over member states' decision-making – to the point of making national general elections meaningless.

In the opinion piece, Akesson compared the EU to a "straitjacket" where German, French and Polish politicians decide which car Swedes can buy, how expensive the fuel should be, and what types of trees Swedes can chop down on their own land.

According to the top Sweden Democrat, EU legislation risks having so much influence over the country's decision-making that Sweden's own general elections will soon have no meaning.

"Other countries' politicians and bureaucrats, whom we cannot elect or depose, today have greater influence over Swedish legislation than me and my elected colleagues in Sweden's Riksdag", he wrote.

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🇸🇾🇮🇷 Syrians and Iranians greet the motorcade of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who has arrived in Damascus

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❗️ A new round of consultations on the grain deal will be held on May 5 in Moscow with representatives of the UN - Russian Foreign Ministry

A school district in Pennsylvania must allow students to convene an After School Satan Club

“In a victory for free speech and religious freedom, a federal court has ruled that the Saucon Valley School District must allow the After School Satan Club to meet in district facilities,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a statement.

The court’s ruling sparked heated debate and controversy, as many were bewildered by the decision.

The school district must allow the After School Satan Club, which is funded by The Satanic Temple, to meet during the school year on three previously agreed-upon dates, but it won’t have to distribute permission slips for the club for students to take home, according to the filing. 

An After School Satan Club was allowed to meet earlier this year in Virginia following a similar controversy that made headlines.

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❗️ Russia has not received any plans or proposals from the Vatican for a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis - Russian Foreign Ministry

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New Rules provides you with an in-depth look at the geopolitical, economic, and ideological trends changing the world. The era of US global hegemony is coming to an end. What will take its place?

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❗️ Nine children and a guard have been killed in a school shooting in Belgrade

According to media reports, the shooting occurred at about 8:40 a.m. The suspected attacker has been arrested.

Earlier in the day, police said they had detained a 14-year-old teenager on suspicion of shooting at a school, who could have used his father's pistol. The incident occurred in the morning at a school in the Vrachar municipality in the center of the Serbian capital.

Emergency services, as well as police investigators and prosecutors are working at the scene, according to the news portal.

Serbian news portal reported that the teenager, who was an exemplary student, could have been under the influence of drugs.

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⚡ Moscow sees little reason to be optimistic about the grain deal

According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Russia is interested in fulfilling all the agreements within the framework of the deal and continues contacts in the expectation that the previously agreed conditions will be met.

💬 “For the time being, it is impossible to say more, because there are very modest reasons for optimism, if not to say the opposite,” Dmitry Peskov added.

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📹 Iran's IRGC has stopped the Panama-flagged Niovi oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz

US Navy Command has reported today that the tanker left the port in Dubai and was heading for the UAE when it was surrounded by a dozen IRGC ships and forced to change course towards Iranian territorial waters.

The Naval Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed the information but emphasized that Panama-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz wasn't captured, but "arrested".

Last Thursday, the US Navy's Fifth Fleet said a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker was seized in the Gulf of Oman by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy. Later, with reference to the Iranian army, information was circulated that the Iranian Navy had detained an unknown intruder vessel in the Gulf of Oman, which is an oil tanker, apparently owned by the United States.

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🇰🇬🇺🇸 Kyrgyzstan called on the US not to interfere in its internal affairs

🗣 Earlier, US Congressman Michael McCall called a court decision in Bishkek to shut down the local branch of Radio Liberty for spreading allegedly false information "a flagrant attack on free media."

💬 "The judiciary in our country is independent and makes decisions independently. No one has the right to interfere in its work... Kyrgyzstan is an open and free country where there are no restrictions on freedom of speech and the media. The only condition for everyone is to conduct activities in strict accordance with the law," said the press secretary of the President of Kyrgyzstan.

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A man won a women’s poker tournament at a Florida casino, sparking a heated debate on social media

David Hughes turned out to be a winner of the $250 buy-in Ladies No-limit Hold’em event during the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Hughes got $5,555 for the victory after defeating Dayanna Ciabaton heads-up.

Hughes, a poker player from Florida, took advantage of local state laws. In accordance with anti-discrimination laws, Florida casinos are not permitted to ban men from entering a women’s event.

This is not the first time a man has finished first in a tournament intended only for women. 

Do you approve of this man's actions?

Yeah, the law is the law! — 👍
No, this is mean! — 👎

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❗️ Kiev tried to strike on Kremlin residence of Russian president with UAV; as a result of a terrorist attack Russian President Vladimir Putin was not injured, Kremlin says