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

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 85 Ukrainian troops, one armored fighting vehicle, one D-30 howitzer, as well as one ammunition depot;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 75 Ukrainian personnel, three armored fighting vehicles, two Akatsiya self-propelled howitzers, and one D-30 howitzer;

▪️In the Donetsk direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to over 340 Ukrainian troops and mercenaries, two armored fighting vehicles, one D-20 howitzer, as well as two US-made counter-battery warfare radars;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Russian forces destroyed over 55 Ukrainian troops, two armored fighting vehicles, three pick-up trucks, a Msta-B and one D-30 howitzer, as well as a US-made AN/TPQ-50 radar system;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian troops neutralized up to 40 Ukrainian servicemen;

▪️During the night, 22 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were detected by air defenses over the Black Sea. All Ukrainian UAVs were destroyed by anti-aircraft missile systems or suppressed with electronic warfare;

▪️Air defenses shot down one Mi-8 helicopter, five HIMARS projectiles, a Grom-2 and a Tochka-U ballistic missile, and 10 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the LPR, DPR, and Kharkov region.

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❗️US Treasury's ability to take extraordinary steps to avoid default is coming to an end, says Yellen

🇺🇸 Denver councilwoman faces backlash after saying white-led businesses should pay reparations

Democratic Socialist Councilwoman Candi CdeBaca sparked outrage after commenting at a business forum in Denver that more needed to be done to provide reparations.

💬 “You could be collecting those extra taxes from white-led business all over the city and redistributing them to black and brown-owned businesses,” she said.

After posting a video of her comments on TikTok, she met with backlash, which her office branded as a “white nationalist mob.”

Her remarks come amid ongoing discussions about reparations that have swept the nation.

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Berlin court lifts ban on display of Russian flags, symbols on May 8-9

The Berlin police said earlier that it had prohibited flags and symbols of Russia, Ukraine and the Soviet Union at Soviet memorials on May 8 and 9 for the second consecutive year to avoid confrontation. However, the ban does not apply to diplomats and veterans.

Earlier on Sunday, lawyer Patrick Heinemann said on Twitter that a Berlin court overturned the ban on flying Ukrainian flags near memorials in the German capital.

The reports say the ban on Russian flags and symbols has also been lifted, including at an event scheduled for May 9 on the 17th of June Street in Berlin.

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'Our Heritage & Culture': S. African Activist Lays Out Case for Returning 'Star of Africa'

▪️The ultimate goal of many Africans across the continent is to restore historical justice by returning everything that was stolen during colonial times to be able to own what was produced on their soil as it represents their culture and heritage, Mothusi Kamanga, LLB law graduate from the University of Johannesburg and social justice activist told Sputnik Africa.

▪️Kamanga is one of the South African activists, who promoted a petition addressed to the UK's King Charles III and other high officials for the Cullinan diamond, set in the royal scepter, to be returned and displayed in a South African museum.

▪️The petition, which he called an activity of paramount importance, has already gathered over 8,000 signatures from those interested in the restoration of justice.

👉 READ THE FULL STORY

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🕺Dream big!

From a young age, all this 102-year-old WWII veteran from Georgia wanted to do was dance. But the war disrupted his plans. However, he never gave up, and now he's dancing, showing everyone nothing stands in people’s way to fulfilling their dreams!

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🇷🇺 The creation of the modern Russian military took place on May 7, 1992, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The military faced significant challenges in the 1990s, including budget cuts, demoralization, and conflicts across the post-Soviet region.

However, today the Russian military has recovered and has since become one of the top three military powers globally. It has demonstrated its capabilities in conflicts such as the proxy war in Ukraine.

While NATO has numerical advantages in terms of personnel, equipment, and spending, the Russian military remains a formidable force, and the ongoing tensions between Russia and NATO highlight the concerns about their respective military capabilities.

What is its makeup and composition? What does the letter ‘Z’ painted on Russian vehicles in Ukraine mean? How does Russia’s military stack up against NATO?

Sputnik explains

🇮🇹🇷🇺 The descendants of Soviet people living in Rome gathered to commemorate their ancestors

Festive events dedicated to Victory in the Second World War are currently ongoing.

This year is no exception. In various cities, people go out onto the streets and flow like rivers with portraits of their relatives who made a significant contribution to the victory in World War II.

The Immortal Regiment is a remarkable tradition that started about 10 years ago. During the event, people carry portraits of relatives who participated in World War II and march through the main streets of cities, honoring their memory.

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US running out of ability to use extraordinary measures to avoid default

"We've been using extraordinary measures for several months now and our ability to do that is running out," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told ABC News, when asked whether her office still had some extraordinary steps in stock.

Earlier in May, the US Treasury warned of a possible debt default by June 1 without raising the congressional limit.

In April, House Republicans passed a debt ceiling proposal, but the Democrats and Biden rejected it.

Biden is set to negotiate the debt limit with congressional leaders next week.

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Switzerland to decide on resale of 25 decommissioned Leopard tanks in near future

In March, Germany sent a request to Switzerland for the purchase of Leopard 2 tanks. However, the Swiss legislation allows the sale of only decommissioned tanks and any sales deal is subject to parliamentary approval.

Later in March, the Commission on Security Policy of the Swiss National Council approved the decommissioning of 25 Leopard 87 tanks, which made their sale to a German manufacturer possible.
"The parliament will certainly make an important decision here. The Federal Council has not yet taken any stance. It will consider this issue in the near future," Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told a Swiss newspaper.

The foreign minister also said that the government was closely monitoring the parliamentary discussions on the resale of 96 Leopard 2 tanks to Germany, although it had not held discussions on this initiative itself.

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German gov't plans to refuse states additional money for migrants accommodation

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is scheduled to meet with the heads of the country's states in Berlin on May 10 to discuss refugee issues. Due to the recent influx of migrants to the country, regional governments demand additional funding to accommodate and integrate the people, the report said.

However, the draft document seen by the broadcaster says that the federal government is not ready to allocate more money for these purposes, as Berlin considers the respective spending already very high.

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🇹🇷 The President of Turkiye held a huge rally in Istanbul

A week before the presidential elections in Turkiye, the country's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, held a large gathering, in which 1.7 million people participated.

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Ominous omen from 'Oracle of Omaha'? Buffett unloads billions in US stocks, warns of AI 'atom bomb'

92-year-old financier Warren Buffett's hedge fund Berkshire Hathaway is retreating from the US financial market, selling over $13.3 billion in stocks and buying only $2.9 billion worth in the first quarter of 2023.

The fund reported net earnings of $35.5 billion and is holding a portfolio of $328 billion. Buffett expressed concerns about bank failures, the complexity of the banking sector, and the rise of artificial intelligence, comparing it to the atomic bomb.

He called for a resolution of US-China tensions and criticized excessive money printing by the US government. Buffett dismissed digital currencies like Bitcoin as "toys."

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#Sputnik_reminder

📜🖋 India commemorates Rabindranath Tagore on his birthday anniversary

▪️ Rabindranath Tagore (or Thakur) is a Bengali polymath who is known all over the world primarily for his literature works. He is also famous and praised for being the first non-European and the first lyricist to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

▪️ Rabindranath Tagore, the youngest of 13 surviving children, was born into a family of philosophers, scientists and artists who were at the forefront of the Bengal renaissance. He started writing at the age of eight and was awarded the Nobel Prize for his collection of poems called ‘Gitanjali’.

▪️ He also established the Vishva-Bharati University in West Bengal, which is located in Shantiniketan – the place where Rabindranath Tagore lived.

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If China ditches dollar amid 'emerging new trade order,' consequences for US 'could be stark'

“We are for de-risking and diversifying, not looking to decouple,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said at the Brookings Institution in late April, in reference to China’s economy.

However, the report underlined that imports of consumer goods by the US plunged 20.6 percent year-on-year in the first three months of this year. If the decline trend continues, it will, in turn, "accelerate the global de-dollarization trend," warned the publication.

Indeed, de-dollarization is becoming a trend, as the world’s reserve currency is fast losing its luster. Moscow has adopted the yuan as a reserve currency, while pledging to use the Chinese means of payment "between Russia and countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America." China and Brazil recently struck an agreement to carry out trade and financial transactions directly, exchanging yuan for reals.

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🌍 African Free Trade Area Could Lift up to 50 Mln People Out of Extreme Poverty, IMF Says

▪️Africa’s continent-wide free trade area, if successfully implemented, could accelerate economic growth and enhance living standards at a time of rising geopolitical tensions and climate change, the International Monetary Fund said in its report

▪️According to the IMF, for a trade zone to be successful, it must be supported by a number of reforms, such as large cuts in tariff and nontariff trade barriers among African nations.

💬 "If accompanied by complementary improvements in the trade environment, the median merchandise trade flow between African economies would rise by 53% and with the rest of the world by 15%, raising real GDP per capita in the median country by more than 10%," the IMF predicted. "World Bank estimates of a broadly similar growth scenario suggest that this would help 30–50 million people in Africa emerge from extreme poverty"

👉 READ THE FULL STORY

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Russian politician Prilepin says he drove car during blast

"Sasha [Alexander Shubin] was on the right in a passenger seat. I was driving. The explosion happened under his wheel. I lost consciousness for three minutes, came round and crawled up to the broken windshield," Russian politician and writer Zakhar Prilepin said on Telegram.

He added that he had both legs broken in the blast, with one open fracture, as well as other injuries.

Prilepin also specified that two mines had been planted at the scene, but only one had detonated.

On Saturday, Prilepin's car was blown up on a highway in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Region. His deceased associate Alexander Shubin was killed, while Prilepin was injured.

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