🚀 SpaceX’s rocket delivers another 56 Starlink satellites into orbit

"Deployment of 56 @ Starlink satellites [into orbit] confirmed," the SpaceX corporation tweeted.

The Falcon 9 rocket took off from the launch center on Cape Canaveral in Florida at 1:03 local time (05:03 GMT).

Shortly after the launch, the rocket's first stage landed on the floating platform.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇬🇧🇪🇪 UK to send over 1,500 troops to Estonia for NATO drills

The Spring Storm annual exercise will involve around 14,000 military and become the largest NATO drills this year, British media reported. This year, the UK sent more troops following its decision to increase the number of its forces under the Enhanced Forward Presence program.

The NATO unit will train various combat tactics, including trench storms, light infantry combat, coordination with armored vehicles and reconnaissance operations, according to the report.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Zelensky reportedly wanted to strike Russian territory, blow up Druzhba pipeline

The Ukrainian president had proposed behind closed doors to strike Russian territory and bomb the pipeline used by Russia to supply oil to Hungary, US media report citing leaked classified US intelligence documents.

The documents, leaked through the Discord messaging platform, “reveal a leader with aggressive instincts that sharply contrast with his public-facing image as the calm and stoic statesman,” the report said.

According to the leaked documents, in late January Zelensky suggested that, in order to give Kiev "leverage in talks with Moscow," Ukraine should "conduct strikes in Russia" while moving Ukrainian ground troops into Russian territory to "occupy unspecified Russian border cities," US media stated.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇹🇷 Voters greet Erdogan as he leaves polling station in Istanbul

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

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

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 100 Ukrainian troops, one D-20 howitzer, and a Rapira anti-tank gun;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 60 Ukrainian personnel, one armored combat vehicle, as well as one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer;

▪️In the Soledar-Artemovsk direction, assault detachments with the support of airborne units continued to fight for the capture of the western quarters of the city of Artemovsk. The Ukrainian Army made massive attempts to break through the defense of Russian troops. All attacks by UAF units were repelled. Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 400 servicemen, 12 tanks, 18 infantry fighting vehicles, two armored fighting vehicles, as well as a D-20 howitzer;

▪️In the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions, Russian forces destroyed over 120 Ukrainian troops a Msta-B howitzer, and one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer. A Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group was destroyed;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian troops neutralized up to 20 Ukrainian servicemen, one Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer, two ammunition depots, as well as one US-made AN/TPQ-50 counter mortar radar;

▪️Russian air defenses shot down a Ukrainian a Su-27 aircraft, six HIMARS projectiles, and 18 unmanned aerial vehicles in the LPR, DPR, and Kharkov region.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇰🇷🇯🇵 Samsung Electronics plans to build chip development hub in Japan

The South Korean tech giant is set to build a new semiconductor facility in the Japanese city of Yokohama, which will cost over 30 billion yen ($221 million), Japanese media report.

The city is currently home to the company's research and development hub, Samsung R&D Institute Japan, but the new facility will be built at a separate site. The company will reportedly construct a production line for prototype chips there.

The world's largest semiconductor manufacturer, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is also building its chip manufacturing plant in Japan, bankrolled by the Japanese government. Japanese electronics giant Sony flagged plans to build a semiconductor manufacturing facility in the country as well.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤖 'Stakes couldn’t be higher': Unbridled super-intelligent AI could 'wipe out' humanity

Given the huge strides made by AI systems and machine learning of late, the time has come “to take a breath” and focus on how to safeguard against the risks an ungovernable super-intelligent machine would pose, the professor of computer science at the University of California, Professor Stuart Russell, told media.

💬 “How do you maintain power over entities that are more powerful than you — forever? If you don’t have an answer, then stop doing the research. It’s as simple as that. The stakes couldn’t be higher: if we don’t control our own civilization, we have no say in whether we continue to exist,” he said.

Pointing to the amazing abilities of OpenAI's ChatGPT language model, which utilizes deep learning neural networks to generate output based on human input, and can pass exams with flying colors and write computer code, Stuart Russell said that, "We’ve made progress without expecting to.” But there is the danger that one day a system similar to ChatGPT could be incorporated into a super-intelligent digital mind that evades human control.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤨 Biden raises eyebrows by making 'adjustment' during university commencement ceremony

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️🇹🇷 Polls now closed in Turkish general elections

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇪🇸 Protests erupted in La Bonanova, Barcelona, as the contentious housing issue has spurred squatters to fight for occupancy rights, triggering an anti-establishment movement

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇸🇾Syrian delegates arrive in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia ahead of Arab League Summit

A Syrian delegation led by Economy Minister Mohammad Samer Khalil, including Minister of Presidential Affairs Mansour Fadlallah Azzam as well as Syrian officials and journalists, has arrived in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Sunday ahead of the next week’s Arab League Summit, a source told Sputnik.

The delegates will attend preparatory meetings of the Arab League’s Economic and Social Council, which is in charge of economic cooperation and integration within the 22-nation League.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Erdogan leading in presidential election in Turkiye, according to initial data from Central Election Commission

🇹🇷 There are three candidates in Turkiye's presidential election, with the main battle for the top government post being between opposition leader Kemal Kılıcdaroglu and incumbent President Tayyip Erdogan.

The third candidate is Sinan Ogan of the ATA Alliance, while the fourth candidate, leader of the Memleket party Muharrem Ince, announced the withdrawal of his candidacy three days before the election.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Archaeologists from Croatia's University of Zadar have discovered a 7,000-year-old underwater road along the Croatian coast, shedding light on the significance of the Hvar culture.

The Hvar culture refers to a prehistoric civilization that inhabited the region, and this discovery provides valuable insights into their cultural and social development.

The underwater road serves as evidence of the Hvar culture's advanced engineering and maritime activities, highlighting their connections and importance in the ancient Mediterranean world.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

‘Multipolar world feasible only by a multipolar Asia’: EAM Jaishankar 🇮🇳

💭"Indo-Pacific itself is increasingly central to the direction of global politics. The more the European Union and Indo-Pacific deal with each other, the stronger will be the respective appreciation of multipolarity, and remember, a multipolar world, which the EU prefers, is feasible only by a multipolar Asia," Jaishankar told the EU 🇪🇺 Indo-Pacific Ministerial Forum in Stockholm

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

US homeland security chief claims illegal border crossings down 50% since Title 42 expired

"Over the past two days, the US border patrollers experienced a 50% drop in the number of encounters versus what we were experiencing earlier in the week before Title 42 ended at midnight on Thursday," US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told American TV channel.

"It is still early. We are in day three. But, you know, we have been planning for this transition for months and months," he said, adding it was too early to say whether the surge had peaked.

Title 42 restrictions were implemented under President Donald Trump in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to allow for prompt deportations of illegal migrants to Mexico or their origin countries.

Over 10,000 attempted to cross earlier last week, before Title 42 expired.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Erdogan’s alliance secures over half of seats in parliament with 50% of ballots counted, according to state media

Netanyahu claims Israel destroyed entire Islamic Jihad command in Gaza Strip

"With complete surprise and continuous initiative, we targeted the entire Islamic Jihad leadership in Gaza. We destroyed 17 Jihad command centers. We eliminated dozens of terrorists. We hit rocket and missile arsenals, took out anti-tank units, etc," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, calling the operation "perfect."

He thanked the IDF commanders and soldiers, the Israel Security Agency as well as Israeli citizens for their "steadfast resilience."

Israel started the Shield and Arrow operation on Tuesday night, conducting airstrikes against the Islamic Jihad militants in the Palestinian exclave of Gaza.

The violence left 33 Palestinians dead, including senior Islamic Jihad militants.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

NATO intends to offer Kiev support, but no membership at July summit

Officials and diplomats of the NATO alliance are planning to come up with a proposal that will include immediate support measures for Ukraine, but will not give the country the so-desired member status, according to the Western media outlet.

Source familiar with the matter said the solution will be presented at the NATO summit in Vilnius from July 11-12.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt