📹 A major section of the main north-south highway used by Americans transiting the East Coast has been closed indefinitely after a fire involving a gasoline tanker truck caused a bridge to collapse

Footage posted to social media showed the affected sections of the road were completely empty after the northbound lanes collapsed entirely. Though they haven’t buckled yet, the southbound lanes were also “compromised” by heat from the fire, according to Derek Bowmer, battalion chief of the Philadelphia Fire Department.

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Seymour Hersh: Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia will bring about negative implications for Kiev and NATO

"This [counteroffensive] isn't going to be good for Ukraine, it's not going to be good for NATO, it's certainly not going to be good for the Biden administration," Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said in an interview with talk show host George Galloway.

When asked if there is a possibility that NATO is about to join the conflict in Ukraine, the journalist said that the bloc is "probably already in it."

"I mean, in terms of training and advising, you know, there's so many disparate groups now in the Ukrainian army … It's as if you had 15 different dance teams that had been practicing together or separately for a long time." Hersh said.

"And if you put them into one big auditorium and said 'you have an hour, or a day or three days to organize a routine among all of you.' That would be impossible. And that's what's happening right now with the Ukrainian army, as far as I know," Hersh added.

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Paris administration has set up a working group on "coexistence" with rats to identify ways to improve the living conditions of citizens despite the widespread presence of rodents

The group is tasked with developing an "ambitious plan to combat the spread of rats," the CNEWS broadcaster reported, adding that it is planned to purchase thousands of new dumpsters, as well as install poison traps "in cases where it is necessary."

The group will also propose measures against city residents who litter on the streets, the report noted.

Vice-mayor of Paris for health Anne Souyris said that rats "do not pose a public health problem," despite the fact that they are carriers of leptospirosis, the report added. However, the disease poses a threat mainly to garbage collectors, who can be vaccinated against it, Souyris noted.

The decision of the city administration was welcomed by animal welfare NGOs, which had previously advocated "non-lethal" methods to control the city's rodents.

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Nearly half of Americans believe the Biden administration’s indictment of former President Donald Trump is politically motivated

A new poll has revealed that American voters are effectively split on the question of whether Trump should be charged over allegations that he mishandled sensitive documents.

According to the pollster, 47% view the latest charges as being politically motivated, with just 37% saying that the charges are not – and 16% reportedly said they weren’t sure where they stood.

Ipsos noted that such views “are mainly driven by Republicans, while Democrats want to see Trump charged and to suspend his campaign.”

Meanwhile, “roughly half believe Trump should be charged, and should suspend his campaign (48% and 46%, respectively),” the researchers explained. That’s a slight dip from a poll carried out by the same group in April which found that 50% of respondents said Trump should be charged and 48% believed he should suspend his campaign.

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The first day of the 10th Arab-China Business Conference in Saudi Arabia ended with the signing of 30 investment agreements worth 37.5 billion Saudi riyals ($9.9 billion)

The parties signed agreements in the field of technology, renewable energy, agriculture, real estate, minerals, logistics, tourism and healthcare, the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

In particular, Saudi and Chinese companies, Amar Al-Oula and Zhonghuan International Group (Hong Kong), respectively, have signed a $533 million deal to set up an iron ore processing plant and produce iron pellets for smelters in Saudi Arabia. ASK Group and the China National Geological and Mining Corporation also entered into a $500 million agreement to develop, build and operate a copper mining project in the Arabian Peninsula region, the report added.

The Saudi Ministry of Investment and Chinese company Human Horizons, which specializes in the development of self-driving technologies and the production of electric vehicles under the HiPhi brand signed an agreement for 21 billion Saudi riyals to establish a joint venture for research in the development, production and sale of cars, the report said.

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The nuclear powers are actively modernizing their arsenals; the number of deployed nuclear warheads is growing

According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in January 2023, Russia, the USA, Great Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel had a total of about 12,512 nuclear weapons, of which 9,576 were in warehouses for potential use (86 more, than in January 2022).

At the same time, about 2,000 warheads (almost all belonging to Russia and the United States) were on high alert, SIPRI notes.

Among the leaders in terms of the number of deployed warheads are the United States (1,770) and Russia (1,674). These two countries account for approximately 90% of all nuclear weapons in the world.

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Most of the world's population supports Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, while the United States lost its credibility: Seymour Hersh

"The percentage of the [countries], particularly of the African and Central Asian and South Asian countries, that have changed from being pro-America to being pro-Russia is really quite dramatic. Much more than a half of the world's population supports Russia in the war and not the United States. This was never the way it was," Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said in an interview with talk show host George Galloway.

The journalist opined that "things are not as good as they used to be in Russia" amid Western sanctions, but "the idea that they are desperate is just wrong."

Hersh also argued that Washington "lost so much credibility around the world," citing Saudi Arabia's diplomatic rapprochement with Iran as an example.

"It's happened because, I think, because of Ukraine and dislike of the war. Saudi Arabia, by the way, they're selling 25% of [their] oil to China, as I have mentioned, but the Saudis immediately cut a deal. And the Iranians immediately responded … They have a lot of control in Yemen over the Houthi tribes," Hersh said.

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❗️ Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has died in hospital in Milan, reports say

📹 The Russian Armed Forces used FPV drones (UAV-kamikaze with a first-person view) to destroy strongholds of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the DPR

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🇦🇺 At least ten people have been killed and 11 others injured in a bus crash in Australia

"Initial inquiries indicate 10 people have died. 11 people were transported to hospital via helicopter and road, and 18 passengers are uninjured," the police said in a statement.

Emergency services continue to work at the scene, the statement noted, adding that a 58-year-old bus driver was taken to the hospital under police guard "for mandatory testing and assessment."

An investigation has been launched, the statement read.

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Donald Trump, if convicted over alleged mishandling of classified documents, could be pardoned by offering to end his presidential campaign 

On Friday, a federal court unsealed a new indictment against Trump showing he faces 37 counts in connection to his alleged mishandling of classified documents.  Several of Trump's charges carry sentences of 20 years in prison.

However, some Democrats are concerned that even a conviction will not stop Trump's presidential ambitions.

"I think if he's convicted, he would serve something minimal and be pardoned by whoever is president," former US Assistant State Attorney in Broward County, Florida, David Cannady, told Sputnik. "Trump may negotiate and offer — through a plea deal — not to run again, Democrat or Republican."

Cannady said it is likely Trump will be convicted, adding that it would send a message that people of his stature can be touched.

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📹 Footage of the destruction of an armored combat vehicle of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Zaporozhye region

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🇷🇺📹 The LPR is celebrating Russia Day for the first time since joining the country

❗️Vladimir Putin expressed condolences on the death of Silvio Berlusconi

▪️Putin noted that Berlusconi will be remembered in Russia as a consistent and principled supporter of strengthening friendly relations between Russia and Italy.

▪️"For me, Berlusconi was a dear person, a true friend, I sincerely admired his wisdom and ability to make far-sighted decisions," the Russian leader said.

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

▪️Russian forces destroyed up to 120 Ukrainian soldiers, two tanks, and three armored fighting vehicles close to Vremevskoi Vystup;

▪️In Zaporozhye direction, Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 250 troops, five tanks, seven armored fighting vehicles, one D-30 howitzer, and one Akatsiya self-propelled howitzer;

▪️In Donetsk direction, Russian forces destroyed up to 140 Ukrainian soldiers and one D-30 howitzer;

▪️In the Kupyansk direction, the actions of one Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group were thwarted. Russian forces destroyed up to 35 Ukrainian troops and one D-20 howitzer;

▪️In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian forces neutralized up to 55 Ukrainian soldiers, two armored fighting vehicles, Akatsiya and Gvozdika self-propelled artillery howitzers and one D-30 howitzer;

▪️In the Kherson direction, Russian troops neutralized up to 15 Ukrainian soldiers and one D-30 howitzer;

▪️In the Dnepropetrovsk region, the radar station of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system was destroyed;

▪️An ammunition depot was destroyed in the Kharkov region;

▪️Russian air defenses shot down a Tochka-U ballistic missile and eight unmanned aerial vehicles in the DPR and Kherson regions.

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The Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant is still able to keep pumping water from the Kakhovka reservoir through a nearby thermal power plant

"At the current height of the reservoir by the ZTPP [Zaporozhye Thermal Power Plant ], the water pumps continue to be operable," the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement.

However, the pumps are currently "not continuously being operated" since both the ZTPP channel and the cooling pond near the ZNPP have enough water to meet cooling requirements for several months ahead, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the level of the Kakhovka reservoir has been dropping rapidly, the agency said. On Sunday morning, it was estimated at 11.27 meters (36.97 feet), down from nearly 17 meters before the dam was damaged.

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NATO launches a massive military exercise in Germany that may well become NATO’s biggest drill ever

On June 12, the Western military bloc that already fans the flames of the Ukrainian conflict by supplying vast quantities of weapons and military hardware to Kiev launches a massive military exercise in Germany.

As US Ret.Lt.Col. Karen Kwiatkowski explained to Sputnik, NATO is a “military alliance of disparate equipment, national procedures, and language,” and thus needs to conduct such exercises in Europe because so far, the bloc’s joint operations have been taking place “outside of Europe proper.”

Noting that the exercise will “practice defense (as NATO defines it) and conduct forward eastern operations as a 15 plus member fighting bureaucracy,” Kwiatkowski, a former analyst for the US Department of Defense, also observed that such events may also serve another purpose.

“All publicized military and government exercises and activities always provide cover for other activities that are less well publicized, as we have seen with last summer BALTOPS 22, and the subsequent remote detonation of pre-planted explosives designed to sever both Nordstream gas pipelines,” she said.

When asked why NATO intends to essentially showcase so much military equipment during the exercise, Kwiatkowski suggested that the military bloc has been pushing a propaganda narrative portraying Ukraine as “Europe's last stand against a crazed Russian invader set to sack the cities of western Europe,” and that this display is supposed to show that NATO members have the gear to resist such imagined invasion.

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Ukraine urges Germany to spare 'many more' Leopard tanks after military setback

The Russian Defense Ministry said over the weekend that Ukrainian armed forces lost four Leopards and five US-supplied Bradley fighting vehicles in an attempt to breach Russian defenses in southern Donetsk and Zaporozhye regions.

"The Ukrainian army urgently needs many more Western battle tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other armored vehicles … Every Leopard 2 is literally as good as gold for the decisive offensive," Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Melnyk told a German media an interview published on Sunday.

Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Melnyk estimated that the number of Leopard supplies could be "tripled without endangering Germany’s defense capability."

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‼️ EXCLUSIVE: India’s FM S. Jaishankar answers a Sputnik correspondent’s questions during his special briefing at the 🌐 G20 Development Ministers’ Meeting in Varanasi

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Swiss bank UBS says acquisition of Credit Suisse completed

UBS Group AG will manage two separate parent banks, UBS AG and Credit Suisse AG, the statement read. Each institution will retain its subsidiaries and branches, keep serving its clients and working with counterparties. The board of directors and group executive board of UBS Group AG will be responsible for the consolidated group.

The announcement came after last week, UBS reached an agreement with the Swiss government that the latter would cover losses of 9 billion francs that might emerge as a result of the takeover of Credit Suisse, after UBS covers the first $5.5 billion in losses.

In mid-March, Credit Suisse's share price plunged nearly 30%, sparking fears of a liquidity crunch.

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Fox News demands Carlson stop competing series on Twitter

Fox News has sent a "cease and desist" letter to Tucker Carlson after the network’s former top star debuted his own show on Twitter, a American news website reported on Monday.

Fox News is continuing to pay Carlson and says that his contract keeps his content exclusive to Fox through December 31, 2024, the report added.

Carlson has released two episodes of his "Tucker on Twitter" show, a 10-minute monologue in which the conservative political commentator discusses latest developments. The host said that his Twitter videos are protected under the First Amendment and accuses Fox of committing material breaches of his contract.

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