Commonwealth's Indigenous Leaders urge King Charles III 🇬🇧 to apologise for colonisation

✉️ The letter, noscriptd "Apology, Reparation, and Repatriation of Artefacts and Remains," was issued a few days before the monarch's coronation scheduled for 6 May and brought together indigenous leaders of 12 Commonwealth countries:
Antigua and Barbuda, New Zealand, Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

💭 "We, the undersigned, call on the British Monarch, King Charles III, on the date of his coronation being May 6, 2023, to acknowledge the horrific impacts on and legacy of genocide and colonisation of the indigenous and enslaved peoples," the letter read.

💂 Buckingham Palace and the UK government have not reacted to the letter so far.

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🇯🇲 "Not My King": Jamaica seeks to break away from British monarchy next year as Charles’ coronation looms

The government intends to hold a nationwide referendum with the goal of removing King Charles as head of the state by 2025.

At present, Jamaica's constitution allows the British-appointed governor-general to exercise executive authority to some extent, and King Charles is formally the sovereign and head of state of the Caribbean island.

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

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, up to 30 Ukrainian troops, two armored fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, as well as one ammunition depot were eliminated. In addition, the actions of six sabotage and reconnaissance groups were thwarted;

▪️ In the Krasny Liman direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to 70 troops, one tank, two infantry fighting vehicles, two pick-up trucks, and one Msta-B howitzer;

▪️ In the Donetsk direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to 255 troops, two armored fighting vehicles, six motor vehicles, two D-20 howitzers, one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, as well as one ammunition depot;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Ukrainian losses amounted to 30 troops, two armored fighting vehicles, three motor vehicles, two D-30 howitzers, and one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer;

▪️In the Kherson direction, up to 35 Ukrainian troops, six motor vehicles, one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, two D-30 and Msta-B howitzers, as well as one ammunition depot were destroyed;

▪️Russian air defense forces intercepted nine HIMARS, Uragan, and Smerch MLRS projectiles and 14 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the Zaporozhye region, Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic.

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Nearly half of Americans are worried about the safety of their money

According to a Gallup poll, 48% of Americans say they have concerns about the money in their bank accounts.

Among them, 19% are "very worried" and 29% are "moderately worried. 30% of Americans are "not too worried," while 20% are "not worried at all."

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🎙 A brand new episode of the #AfroVerdict podcast from our friends from Sputnik Africa: enjoy!

Cuneiform translator: Israeli AI Model to decipher ancient Akkadian texts

Researchers from Tel Aviv University and Ariel University have developed an AI model that can automatically translate ancient Akkadian text written in cuneiform into English, achieving a score comparable to an average machine translator. This could revolutionize the study of ancient history and make it more accessible to a wider audience.

The AI model could be used to train students to better comprehend ancient texts and as a first-stage scanning tool for researchers.

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🌎Geopolitical analyst and author Pepe Escobar told Sputnik’s New Rules podcast that the era of US global hegemony is coming to an end.

💬 "So when we look at what's going on now, this old order is turned upside down completely. China is the most important trade commercial nation on the planet. By PPP, purchasing parity power, it's already the number one economy in the world. Russia, after being devastated during the nineties, now has emerged as the prime military superpower in the world. And even more important, I would say, Russia survived everything that the West threw against it after the start of the special military operation, especially the economic war, the financial war," Escobar said.

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📈Economist Dr. Jack Rasmus warned that the Federal Reserve interest rate hikes will not tame inflation, but would only prompt more regional bank collapses.

💬“The global economy is slowing, which also affects goods producing exports and goods,” Rasmus said. “China is not recovering as fast as they thought that it would. And the war and the sanctions are ongoing. So it's a mess. The economy and the world economy is a mess. And there's not very many bright lights at the end of the tunnel.”

Read the expert analysis on Sputnik’s website

❗️Scott Ritter told Sputnik that Ukraine's Kremlin drone attack was likely a risky gamble to get more military support from NATO.

💬"We'll find out if this is a gross miscalculation, because again we have to come back to what started this: two drones hit the Kremlin, and I can guarantee you if two drones hit the White House, the people who perpetrated that attack would cease to exist. That's probably the future of Zelensky’s government."

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Trading halted in shares of western alliance, latest US Bank in trouble after PacWest

Trading in Western Alliance was suspended at $16.19 a share, versus its previous year’s high of $86.87, by the New York Stock Exchange, which was "waiting for additional information," US media reports said.

As late as Wednesday, Western Alliance said it had not experienced any unusual deposit outflows — which had been the main reason for the spate of US banking failures over the past two months.

The US media reported on Thursday that Western Alliance was mulling "options, including a potential sale."

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New US financial crisis could be worse than 2008 'Credit Crunch'

The government bailouts of mid-sized regional and sector-specific banks have raised concerns about a new economic crisis. Economist Mark Frost warned of an impending economic depression and "stagflation" in the US. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the takeover of First Republic Bank by JPMorgan Chase are seen as signs of a deepening banking crisis.

Frost attributed the root cause of the crisis to greed, as banks, depositors, and shareholders were all seeking higher returns than what was realistically achievable. He warned that inflation and a depression would hit the poor the hardest, and that the US Federal Reserve is in a difficult position trying to combat inflation while bailing out struggling banks.

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“I don’t have a good answer for you”: Biden spokesman John Kirby won’t answer if the White House is concerned that the world is moving away from the US dollar

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🗣️”There will also be a wider question: Was Western intelligence involved? And if Western intelligence was involved in this, then it is open game on Western leaders everywhere, right?”: international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda discusses if Russia will respond to the attempted assassination of the Russian president

🎧Listen to more of Sleboda’s analysis in our podcast Fault Lines

A message for the globalists

“We will not sell the future of our children to you”: Terry Schilling, the president of American Principles Project, speaks at CPAC Hungary

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🔺”We are well aware that decisions on such actions and on such terrorist attacks are made not in Kiev, but in Washington," Peskov said regarding the recent drone attack on the Kremlin
🔺NATO gets closer to China by opening a liaison office in Tokyo
🔺US military buildup in Finland may threaten Northern Sea Route

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

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🗣️“This is a new escalation. Now, the Kiev regime has already established that political assassination is a routine part of not only the conflict in the last year, but the conflict internally in Ukraine for the last now nine years”: international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda speaks about the new level of escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict after the drone attack on the Kremlin

🎧Listen to more of Sleboda’s analysis in our podcast Fault Lines

🌍Pepe Escobar, geopolitical analyst and author, in an interview with Sputnik for our new show New rules, described how Moscow had changed after his last visit and how he has not noticed the effects of sanctions on local life. Even Moscow became more beautiful and clean.

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🇿🇦 💎 🇬🇧 South Africans are calling for Britain to return the world's largest diamond, which is now part of the royal scepter

🗣"The diamond needs to come to South Africa. It needs to be a sign of our pride, our heritage and our culture," stated South African lawyer and activist Mothusi Kamanga, who initiated a petition on the return of the diamond to its home.

▪️The 530-carat Star of Africa diamond was discovered in South Africa back in 1905, when the country was under British rule, and given to the monarchy at the time.

▪️The petition, which has already gathered around 8,000 signatures, comes amid a global discussion about returning various artifacts and pieces of cultural heritage that were plundered in the colonial period.

🗣"I think generally the African people are starting to realize that to decolonize is not just to let people have certain freedoms, but it's also to take back what has been expropriated from us," the activist said

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💬 "And the political leadership don’t understand simple math or physics for that matter. And the American system, in terms of the military industrial complex, it’s basically for profit, is not to actually make weapons capable of fighting wars," geopolitical analyst and author Pepe Escobar said in an interview with Sputnik.

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