Germany will not participate in F-16 supplies to Ukraine

"First of all, everyone knows that we do not have such jets," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told German broadcasters on the sidelines of the

G7 summit in Japan's Hiroshima, adding that Germany will continue supporting Ukraine in other ways, including by sending financial and humanitarian aid and weapons.

Scholz also said that the training programs announced by the US and some European countries for Ukrainian pilots to fly F16s would send an "important message" to Russia.

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Russian Investigative Committee brings charges against ICC prosecutor, judge in absentia

"The investigation has now collected sufficient evidence to warrant the indictment in absentia of International Criminal Court prosecutor Khan Karim Asad Ahmad and International Criminal Court judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala," the investigative authority said.

Both have been accused of preparing to attack a representative of a foreign state, with the aim of complicating international relations.

"As previously noted, criminal prosecution is knowingly unlawful as there are no grounds for criminal liability. Under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Internationally Protected Persons of 14 December 1973, heads of state enjoy absolute immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign states," the authority said.

On February, Prosecutor applied to ICC to obtain an arrest warrant for Russian President Putin and Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.

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A Sputnik correspondent was the first journalist to visit the "Samolet" district in Artemovsk (Bakhmut), the last area where Kiev forces remained before the liberation of the city.

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Looted ancient relics return to Greek soil after lengthy legal tussle

Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni has announced that a collection of 351 ancient artifacts, spanning from the Neolithic to Byzantine era, will be repatriated to Greece after a 17-year legal battle.

The artifacts include a white stone Neolithic-era statuette, an Early Cycladic figurine, and a bronze statue of Alexander the Great.

The collection was seized from a UK antiquities dealer, Robin Symes Limited, which is currently undergoing liquidation. Robin Symes is believed to have acquired the artifacts through an illegal network of traders.

In 2016, Italian and Swiss police recovered stolen archaeological artifacts from Symes' possession, but it is unclear whether the current repatriation is linked to that discovery.

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A Sputnik correspondent witnessed the last major building in Artemovsk being cleared before the city was liberated from Ukrainian militants.

Currently, the ousted Kiev militants are conducting mortar shelling from outside the city, attempting to target the Russian flag flying above one of the high-rise buildings.

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Cuba and Russia unveil new economic deals as bilateral trade soars

At the economic forum in Havana where the deals were arranged, Ricardo Cabrisas, Cuba’s foreign trade minister, told audiences on Friday that the agreements “constitute a milestone in the history of our bilateral and business ties.”

Joint plans were reportedly announced to reinvigorate Cuba’s tourism industry. The agreements include “a contract for Russia’s Prodintorg to supply wheat to Cuba’s state-owned Alimport. Agreement also declares the intention of Russian and Cuban authorities to renovate a run-down beach community just outside Havana.

In addition, Russian progress Agro group of companies, and Cuban Azcuba Sugar Industry Business Group, reportedly described the deal as a joint venture to overhaul Cuba’s aging “Uruguay” sugar mill, in the hopes of eventually exporting up to 150,000 tons of sugar per year.

Trade between Cuba and Russia in 2023, it hit $137.6 million.

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292 years ago today, Empress Anna Ioannovna issued a decree to establish a new naval force in Russia's far eastern territories.
The purpose of the flotilla, based at Okhotsk in Khabarovsk Krai, was to protect the coasts and islands of the Russian Empire's far eastern territories.

In order to facilitate transportation of goods and people between Okhotsk and Kamchatka, a small shipyard was established in Okhotsk.

These ships were used to navigate local waters, explore towards Japan in the south, and venture eastward to the shores of Alaska and California, where Russian settlers would eventually establish multiple colonies.

Read about the Russian Pacific Fleet’s history on our website

Moscow says G7 'irreversibly degraded,' summit's decisions politicized

"Its [the G7 summit's] main result is a series of statements filled with odious anti-Russian and anti-Chinese passages. This was yet another G7 meeting that has resulted in politicized statements aimed at drawing division lines in international relations," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The G7 used to be a group whose members coordinated their positions on a variety of important international issues, whereas now "it has irreversibly degraded," the statement read.

"The G7 has become literally fixated on a comprehensive confrontation with Russia. At the US' behest, it assumed the role of a headquarters for the planning of sanctions and other hybrid war tools against our country, including deciding the scale and timing of Western arms supplies to Kiev. That is the group's purpose of existing today," the ministry added.

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🇭🇺 Hungary is waiting for explanations from Ukraine and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen concerning reports on a possible stop of oil supplies from Russia to the European Union via the Druzhba pipeline, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

"We have received no explanations concerning this from Kiev. I think this is an issue of such importance that the European Commission's president should personally present explanations as energy security is a question of sovereignty," Szijjarto told a Hungarian radio station.

If someone attempts to make a secure energy supply impossible for a country, it can be considered an infringement on the country's sovereignty, he explained.

International treaties guarantee Hungary transit oil supplies from Ukraine, the minister said, going on to accuse Ukraine and Croatia of taking advantage of conflict to raise the transit fee by five to six times.

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What is the fastest missile in the world and how much does speed really matter?

Russia’s Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missile made the news this week after destroying a Patriot radar station and five launchers in overnight strikes in Kiev on May 16. How did the Kinzhal get through? What other countries possess ultrafast missiles? Why is it that speed isn’t always everything?

Check out our explainer to find out

A tragic incident occurred in El Salvador, Central America, where a stampede took place as people tried to squeeze through the stadium gate. Approximately 12 people lost their lives in the incident, and numerous others sustained injuries.

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Estonia says NATO fighter jets will move to Latvia during air base repairs in 2024

"The Amari Air Base in Estonia will undergo reconstruction in 2024, during which the Baltic airspace will be secured from Latvia and Lithuania. After the reconstruction is completed, the allied fighter jets will return to Estonia," the Estonian Defense Ministr said.

NATO's air policing planes will relocate from Amari to Latvia's Lielvarde air base from spring to fall of 2024, while air security will also be ensued by allied jets deployed in Lithuania's Siauliai air base, the statement read.

As Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania do not possess the aircraft fit to conduct patrol flights, their NATO allies provide the necessary capabilities for them. On a four-month rotation basis, they patrol the airspace over the Baltic region, with the Baltic states contributing by hosting the allied aircraft and providing the necessary personnel.

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🦟 A recent study published in the journal Current Biology reveals that mosquitoes are selective in their choice of human targets based on specific body odors.

A team from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Malaria Research Institute and Zambia's Macha Research Trust teamed up to carry out an experiment on a testing site in the Choma district Zambia. They laid out a selection of evenly spaced pads heated to 35ºC (to imitate human skin).

Every night, a swarm of some 200 African Anopheles gambiae malaria mosquitoes were released. Armed with infrared motion cameras, the scientists monitored the landings to see which body odor lured the mosquitoes the most.

They found that the mosquitoes were attracted to individuals emitting higher levels of carboxylic acids, organic compounds produced by skin microbes in sweat. Interestingly, one volunteer who emitted elevated levels of a plant compound called eucalyptol attracted fewer mosquitoes, possibly due to diet.

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US chipmaker Micron fails Chinese clearance check

China’s Cyberspace Administration announced on Sunday that US chipmaker Micron would be banned from selling to critical infrastructure operators after it was found to pose a national security risk.

"The review found that Micron’s products posed a considerable risk to network security, making it a major security threat to supply chains of the country’s critical information infrastructure that can affect the national security," the statement read.
The regulator stressed that China remained open to foreign companies as long as they respected the law.

A British business newspaper reported in April that the United States asked South Korea to limit semiconductor exports to China after it launched a security probe into Micron. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning called the review a "normal regulatory measure" and criticized the US for breaking trade rules.

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🇺🇸🇮🇱US says visit of Israel’s National Security Minister ‘provocative’

Itamar Ben-Gvir, who advocates a tougher stance on the Palestinian issue, visited the Temple Mount on Sunday in what was his second visit since January to the site considered holy in Judaism and Islam alike.

💬 "We are also concerned by today’s provocative visit to the Temple Mount/Haram al Sharif in Jerusalem and the accompanying inflammatory rhetoric. This holy space should not be used for political purposes, and we call on all parties to respect its sanctity," US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

The US State Department said it was "troubled" by the Israeli government’s decision to allow its citizens to establish a permanent presence in the Homesh outpost in the northern West Bank.

💬 "This order is inconsistent with both former Prime Minister Sharon’s written commitment to the Bush Administration in 2004 and the current Israeli government’s commitments to the Biden Administration. Advancing Israeli settlements in the West Bank is an obstacle to the achievement of a two-state solution," Miller said.

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🇷🇺🇺🇸 Russian Ambassador to US warns against strikes on Crimea, raises F-16 issue

💬"I would like to warn representatives of the administration against frivolous judgments on Crimea, especially in terms of ‘blessing’ the Kiev regime for air attacks on the peninsula. I’d like to remind you that strikes on this territory are considered by us as an attack on any other subject of the Russian Federation. It is important that the United States be fully aware of the Russian response," Anatoly Antonov said.

He added that "every specialist knows that in Ukraine there is no infrastructure for the operation of the F-16, nor is there the required number of pilots and maintenance personnel. What will happen if American fighters take off from NATO airfields, controlled by foreign ‘volunteers’?"

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🇨🇳🇯🇵 China summons Japanese ambassador over statements made at G7 summit

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Sun Weidong summoned Japan’s ambassador Hideo Tarumi on Sunday, to express "solemn" protest over the communique issued by Japan and other G7 countries that "smears" and attacks Beijing, interferes in China’s internal affairs and harms China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.

On Saturday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry voiced strong protest over the statements related to Beijing made by G7 leaders at the summit in Japan. Beijing also pointed to the mismatch between the G7's statements on peace and stability and its actions, which it said were damaging regional stability and suppressing the development of other countries.

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📹 Crews manning Russia’s 2S19M2 Msta-S self-propelled artillery guns in combat action

The 2S19M2 is the third modification of the Msta, which provides a rate of fire of 10 rounds per minute. The uniqueness of the Msta 2S19M2 self-propelled howitzer lies in its rate of fire, its maintainability, its ability to conduct a counter-fire strike, its ability to fire all types of ammunition: fragmentation, cluster and including high-precision rounds. The 2S19 self-propelled howitzer has been upgraded to an export-oriented variant for use in hot climates.

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🇺🇸 ‘Not something you budget for’: Quadruple murder probe bleeding Idaho city dry

Following the high-profile murder of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapina, a major US outlet reported Sunday that overtime, as well as the city’s other expenses, are "growing exponentially."

The slayings saw a 28-year-old criminology Ph.D. student named Bryan Kohberger indicted on four counts of first-degree murder, but even before a major investigation was launched into the Kohberger's crimes, Moscow had long been facing serious financial shortfalls.

💬 "We weren't prepared for this," Moscow City Council member Sandra Kelly told US media. “This is such a horrific thing - how could you plan for this? You budget for fires. You budget for floods. You prepare for natural disasters. This was not natural."

Local officials noted that, with an annual $7.2 million price tag, the police department’s budget already exceeded the $6.9 million in property taxes brought in each year. The outlay reportedly comprises just over a third of the city’s yearly expenditures.

💬 "Moscow is not awash in a funding excess," Moscow Mayor Art Bettge told US media, adding, "we run a very, very lean budget and the impact of the investigation has been felt on the budget."

Bettge said the city has faced a "difficult six months" since last November, when police discovered four students had been stabbed to death at their off-campus house. Kohberger was arrested in connection with the crime at his family’s home in Pennsylvania over a month later.

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