UK conservatives suffer major losses in local elections

Early election results on Friday showed that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservatives lost dozens of seats in local elections in England, as voters punished his party for high inflation, a raging energy crisis and other political and economic problems.

According to the results, the Conservative Party lost 88 local council seats, while 64 were added to the Labour Party, the main opposition, which is hoping to win hundreds of seats in a midterm election. The Liberal Democrats had a net gain of 24 seats.

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🇫🇷 Police unions in France call for law to combat rioters

In a letter addressed to Macron, the unions said that police live in an "apocalyptic situation" faced with violence from the demonstrators and called for an emergency law against "thugs."

On April 14, the French Constitutional Council approved the key article of the pension reform bill, which would gradually raise the age of retirement in France from 62 to 64 years by 2030. The reform sparked a strong backlash, prompting people to take to the streets across the country.

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🇺🇸🔥 Fire at Shell chemical plant in Houston sends huge plume of smoke into the sky

Reports say the plant was evacuated and at least five workers were hospitalized.

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🇷🇺🇹🇷🇭🇺 Russia continues to reliably supply gas to Hungary via the Turkish Stream pipeline under a long-term contract

In the context of the energy crisis and sanctions against Russia, the priority is to ensure the security of supplies, a representative of the Hungarian Ministry of Energy told Sputnik, adding that, under a long-term contract, Russia "reliably supplies gas" to Hungary via the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.

The representative added that the amount of gas in Hungarian storage facilities is 1.9 billion cubic meters, which is significantly more than at the end of the previous heating season, and will help to properly prepare for next winter.

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📹 "It impacts my presidency by making me feel proud of him": Biden says Hunter has done nothing wrong

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📰 Soros, Fortress Investment Group may buy Vice Media in $400 million deal

The deal is expected to buy out other Vice investors, including private equity firm TPG Group, Sixth Street Partners and media mogul James Murdoch, the youngest son of News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch.

Insider sources told US media that the current management team at Vice will likely remain in place, and that buyers plan to find a role for Vice co-founder Shane Smith.

The sale, which is part of a planned bankruptcy declaration, could go forward as early as next week, the sources said. Some of Vice’s debt held by TPG and Sixth Street may drop in value as part of the deal.

In 2019, the Soros group and Fortress were part of a consortium that invested $250 million in Vice, a cash infusion intended to help the company after it failed to live up to its $5.7 billion valuation in 2017.

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📹 Can't let Obama win: Biden struggles to get Trump’s name right in his softball interview to MSNBC

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📹 Russian T72-B3 tank crews in action during the special military op in Ukraine

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💸 US to fast-track $500mln arms for Taiwan amid narrative of China 'threat'

Washington, which has been pumping Taiwan with modern weapons to repel a Chinese “invasion,” reportedly intends to speed up the process even more, readying another military package for the island, worth $500 million. Moreover, to expedite the delivery, it intends to resort to the Presidential Drawdown Authority, sources were cited as saying.

The Presidential Drawdown Authority allows for quick delivery of "defense articles and services from Department of Defense stocks to foreign countries and international organizations to respond to unforeseen emergencies," as per the US State Department's website. In fact, such shipments can be made in a matter of days, even hours, of approval.

The attempt to evade the usually protracted process of arms contracting and production comes as US lawmakers have been raising a hue and cry over a backlog in already approved armaments meant for Taiwan reportedly worth $19 billion. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis have been blamed for the delays.

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⚡️ Vehicle of Zakhar Prilepin, leader of political party For Truth, has blown up in Nizhny Novgorod region, leaving driver dead and Prilepin injured, law enforcement source told Sputnik

His press service told Sputnik that Prilepin is fine, and that precisely what happened in Nizhny Novgorod has not been established yet.

Nizhny Novgorod Governor Gleb Nikitin confirmed that Prilepin "is fine," and said law enforcement is continuing its investigation into the circumstances of the incident.

❗️ The US and NATO have bred another terrorist cell – the Kiev regime, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the purported attempt on politician Prilepin's life.

She added that everything that has happened is the "direct responsibility of the US and the UK."

❗️The Russian Interior Ministry has confirmed the explosion of a car carrying Russian author Zakhar Prilepin: one person died, the author was wounded. According to preliminary reports, there are no other victims, the ministry added.

❗️The Russian Investigative Committee has published a photo from the scene of the explosion of a car carrying Russian author Zakhar Prilepin

❗️Footage from social media shows extent of damage to car carrying Russian writer Prilepin

❗️The Russian police in hot pursuit detained a man who may be involved in blowing up a car with politician Zakhar Prilepin, the interior ministry stated.

There is no threat to the health of politician and writer Zakhar Prilepin, he received minor fractures, said the governor of Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region Gleb Nikitin.

South Korea, US to launch largest-ever live-fire exercises in May

The drills will also mark the 75th anniversary of Seoul's military establishment, according to the news outlet.

In total, five exercises are scheduled to take place between May 25 and June 15 at Seungjin Fire Training Field in the South Korean inland city of Pocheon located 32 miles northeast of Seoul, the ministry was cited as saying by media.

The drills will involve such weapons systems as F-35A stealth fighters, AH-64 Apache attack helicopters, K2 tanks and Chunmoo multiple rocket launchers, the news agency reported, adding that the last exercise of that kind had taken place in 2017, with 48 South Korean and US units and over 2,000 troops engaged.

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❗️Three Russian Aerospace Forces pilots were returned to Russia as a result of a prisoner swap with Ukraine, the Russian MoD says

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

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 50 Ukrainian troops, two armored fighting vehicles, and an Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 60 Ukrainian personnel, one armored fighting vehicle, two D-30 howitzers, and one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer;

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to over 185 Ukrainian troops, one tank, four armored fighting vehicles, and two D-30 and D-20 howitzers;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Russian forces destroyed over 90 Ukrainian troops, one tank, two armored fighting vehicles, a D-30 howitzer, as well as one ammunition depot;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian troops neutralized up to 35 Ukrainian servicemen, one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, as well as one US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter mortar radar;

▪️Air defenses shot down one Mi-8 helicopter, three HIMARS projectiles, one HARM anti-radar missile, and 32 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the LPR, DPR, and Kharkov region.

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