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.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

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.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

👨‍🚀🇷🇺 As Russia celebrated it's national day, Russian cosmonauts took their greetings to a new level by congratulating their fellow citizens from the International Space Station.

The cosmonauts extended their wellwishes from the vast expanse of space, adding an extra layer of excitement to celebrations.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Raytheon to give Ukraine 5 Patriot systems by end of 2024

Greg Hayes told the American news outlet that the Arizona-based company wanted to increase production of surface-to-air missiles to 12 a year.

Ukraine currently has two full Patriot systems at its disposal, which include a launcher, radar and a control station.

The Ukrainian military reportedly changed the settings to allow for the tracking and destruction of hypersonic missiles, which travel at twice the speed of missiles the Patriot was designed for.

Subscribe @SputnikInt

Scheduled work on TurkStream completed, Gas transportation resumed — Gazprom

Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, announced on Monday that the planned maintenance on the TurkStream gas pipeline, which delivers Russian gas to Turkiye through the Black Sea, has been completed.

The maintenance period was scheduled from June 5-12 and Gazprom confirmed that gas transportation has already resumed.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

A nation reborn: why Russia Day is celebrated?

June 12 marks Russia Day, one of the country’s “youngest” but most important national holidays.

What is its history? How did Russia Day emerge?

Sputnik has the answers to these questions

🇦🇲🇷🇺🇦🇲🇷🇺Armenian exports to Russia up by 187% in 2022

"The growth of exports to Russia amounted to 187% in 2022 compared to 2021," the Armenian finance minister said during a speech in the Armenian parliament.
At the same time, Hovhannisyan specified that the increase had been primarily driven by re-export of foreign goods, while exports of Armenia's domestic products had made a contribution of 47 percentage points to the growth.

In January, the Armenian authorities said the country's foreign trade had surged by 68.6% and reached $14.12 billion in 2022 year-on-year. Exports amounted to $5.36 billion, a 77.7% increase from 2021, and imports totaled $8.76 billion, a 63.5% increase.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺🇮🇩 The corvettes Gromkiy and Sovershenniy and the medium tanker Pechenga of the Pacific Fleet, on a long-distance voyage to the Asia-Pacific region, celebrate Russia Day in the Indonesian port of Surabaya, where the ships arrived the day before as part of a business call.

Video courtesy from Russian MoD

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺 Burj Khalifa lights up with Russian flag to honor Russia Day

The tallest tower in the world - the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (UAE) - was lit up portraying the Russian flag to celebrate Russia Day.

Looks good, doesn't it?

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

‼️In a first, 🇵🇰 Pakistan pays for 🇷🇺 Russian oil in Chinese yuan: country’s petroleum minister

The first cargo of Russian crude oil arranged under a new deal struck between Islamabad and Moscow arrived in Karachi on Sunday.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

NATO's largest air force exercise Air Defender 23 starts in Germany

German-led multinational exercise Air Defender 23 will focus on conducting operations to defend the territory of member states under the so-called Article 5 scenario on June 12-23, deploying air forces in response to a potential attack on a member state to fight against "hybrid occupation forces" of the enemy, a statement read.

As many as 10,000 personnel and over 250 aircraft from 25 countries are expected to take part in the drills, with the United States in particular sending its air national guard units to Germany, the alliance stated.

Japan and Sweden, which is currently seeking membership in the bloc, are also participating in the drills, which Germany started to plan and organize as early as in 2018.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

NATO member countries seek to get a new multi-role helicopter by 2035 in a bid to refresh their military capabilities while manufacturers are drawing lessons from the conflict in Ukraine

In 2022, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom committed $28 million to develop new concepts for the new rotorcraft with expectations that Canada will join the project this month, a American website reported.

The new helicopter will be developed as part of the Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability program (NGRC). It will assist with the insertion and extraction of special operations forces, transporting small- and medium-sized cargo and troops on the battlefield, and medical evacuation and rescue operations.

According to the report, the participating countries have already agreed on the size and basic characteristics of the new helicopter, which is expected to have an unrefueled range of over 1,025 miles (1,650 kilometers), eight hours of endurance, and a load capacity between 22,000 and 37,500 pounds (10,000 and 17,000 kilograms).

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇿🇦 'Prepared to Die' for Equal Society: Nelson Mandela's Journey of Struggle, Sacrifice, and Triumph

Monday, June 12, 2023, marks 59 years since Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1964. He was sent to a notorious prison island off the coast of Cape Town, called Robben Island, where he spent 18 of his 27 years in prison.

To mark the occasion, Sputnik Africa takes a closer look at some of the key events and milestones in his life, including his imprisonment, his release after nearly three decades, the Nobel Peace Prize, his presidency, the transfer of power and the events that followed until his death

👉🏼 Read the full story!

Subscribe to @sputnik_africa

🔸 Sputnik Africa | TikTok | Odysee | Twitter 🔸

Microsoft has agreed to pay a $20 million fine to the government for knowingly collecting childrens’ personal info without notifying parents

“The Justice Department, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announced today that the United States has resolved a case against Microsoft Corp. regarding its practices for collecting and retaining personal information from children who use Microsoft’s Xbox Live service,” DOJ officials said.

“In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the United States alleges that Microsoft knew that certain users were children but nonetheless continued to collect personal information, such as telephone numbers, before notifying parents of Microsoft’s information collection practices and before obtaining parental consent,” they added.

The complaint also said Microsoft provided some notice to parents but that was incomplete and failed to comply with COPPA Rule requirements.

A court order obligates Microsoft to pay $20 million in civil penalties and imposes injunctive relief to settle allegations that the company violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA Rule) when they used Xbox games.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Donald Trump said that he will appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Joe Biden, his family and others allegedly engaged in corruption that negatively impacts the US

“i will appoint a real special ‘prosecutor’ to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the USA, Joe Biden, the entire Biden crime family, & all others involved with the destruction of our elections, borders, & country itself!” Trump said in a statement via social media.

On Friday, an indictment charging Trump with 37 counts of crimes including willful retention of national security information was made public. The indictment comes as Trump leads the pack of Republican presidential candidates for the 2024 election.

Trump denies the allegations against him and has criticized the US Justice Department for not investigating alleged criminal activity by Biden with the same rigor.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇨🇳🇺🇸 US official downplays report of contingency plan to evacuate Americans from Taiwan

John Kirby, who serves as the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council, avoided answering directly but told reporters during the Monday press briefing that “it’s not routine US policy to evacuate private American citizens from areas of conflict.”

💬 “And there’s no indication at this time that current conditions in Taiwan would warrant any reconsideration of that policy,” Kirby said.

"As always, we take our responsibility for the safety of our citizens and personnel seriously — wherever that is — all around the world. And we have routine procedures in place to make sure that we’re prepared for any type of emergency," he added.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸 Pentagon refuses to take any more F-35s until system woes are solved

The Pentagon's freeze on accepting any more new aircraft equipped with the Technology Refresh 3 hardware will begin in July, US media reported.

The decision means Lockheed Martin may have to store dozens of the planes at its main factory in Fort Worth, Texas, for most of 2023 and possibly as long as until spring 2024, the report said.

Starting later in the summer, F-35 aircraft coming off the production line with TR-3 hardware will not be accepted until relevant combat capability is validated, an F-35 Joint Program Office spokesman said in a statement quoted by the outlet in another report.

In March, F-35 program executive officer Lieutenant General Mike Schmidt informed Congress that the JPO’s schedule risk assessment projected the TR-3 system would only be completed by April 2024. Lockheed Martin has said it will be delivered by December this year.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹🇷🇺 Russia’s Pacific Fleet conducts drills in Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk

The Russian fleet is represented at the exercise by the frigate Marshal Shaposhnikov and the Udaloy-class Large Anti-Submarine ships Admiral Panteleev and Admiral Tributs.

More than 60 warships and support vessels, about 35 naval aviation aircraft, coastal troops and more than 11,000 military personnel are involved in the Pacific Fleet drills.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Russian troops destroy Ukrainian armored personnel carriers after their failed attack in the Artemovsk direction

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian 🇷🇺 Primorye's trade flourishes amid western sanctions

🇮🇳 🇨🇳 According to Andrey Brovarets, the head of Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs' branch in Vladivostok, Primorye's trade with India, China, a number of CIS countries, and Southeast Asia is growing exponentially against the backdrop of Western sanctions.

📈 In 2022, Primorye's gross regional product grew by 15 percent and foreign trade turnover amounted to 22 percent. Brovarets also noted that ATR countries - those nations forced to make concessions to the United States - have shown a balanced position in everyday contacts that reflect mutual interests.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

🇧🇾🇺🇸 Biden extends national emergency with respect to Belarus

💬 “The actions and policies of certain members of the Government of Belarus and other persons, and the Belarusian regime’s harmful activities and long-standing abuses, continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States,” Joe Biden said in a statement as quoted by the White House.

Washington accuses the Belarusian leadership of electoral fraud and persecution of political opposition, which Minsk denies. The national emergency, which was originally declared on June 16, 2006, was expanded in 2021 and will now be continued for one more year.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt