🇷🇺🇮🇩 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

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🇷🇺 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?

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‼️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.

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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.

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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).

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🇿🇦 '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!

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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.

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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.

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🇨🇳🇺🇸 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.

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🇺🇸 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.

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📹🇷🇺 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.

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

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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.

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🇧🇾🇺🇸 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.

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🇩🇰 Denmark mulls buying back submarines after hiatus of nearly two decades

Denmark ditched its remaining fleet of submarines in 2004, but a lively debate on whether to renew its underwater capacity is well under way as part of the talks over the Danish military's future requirements, according to a statement from Michael Aastrup Jensen, chairman of Denmark's foreign policy committee, speaking at an event at the Hudson Institute in New York.

According to Jensen, Danish MPs are actively considering whether to buy them in "close cooperation" with "friends." Jensen made no secret of the fact that Denmark is aiming to reinforce its military, as he stressed Denmark's "strategic" position, which allows it to keep track of Russia's Baltic Fleet vessels sailing from St Petersburg or Kaliningrad.

The recent round of submarine discussions coincide with discussions about replacement of patrol vessels in the Royal Danish Navy as part of the Denmark's so-called Defense Agreement, which sets out a list of acquisitions over a 10-year span. In 2022, Copenhagen pledged massive investment of DKK 40 billion ($5.8 million) in new naval ships to be built "within the next few years", while committing to a stronger "security of supply".

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❗️Russia’s Defense Ministry has released video footage showing off trophy German Leopard tanks and US-made Bradleys

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🇷🇺 Russia's S-350 Vityaz destroys real target automatically for 1st time

The Russian S-350 Vityaz air defense system has successfully destroyed a real air target using artificial intelligence without human intervention, according to Denis Manturov, the Russian Industry Minister.

This marks the first time an air defense system has achieved such a feat. Earlier in May, the S-350 Vityaz system had performed automatic detection, tracking and destruction of Ukrainian combat aircraft and drones in a special military operation area.

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🇸🇾🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia and Syria agree to resume economic cooperation

The agreement was reached at a meeting between Hassan Al-Huwaizi, the chairman of the Federation of Saudi Chambers of Commerce, and his Syrian counterpart, Mohamed El-Lahham, on the sidelines of the Arab-China Business Conference in Riyadh on Monday, Saudi state media reported.

Both Al-Huwaizi and El-Lahham stressed the need to arrange mutual visits by trade delegations, provide opportunities to invest in the countries' economies, hold economic forums and promote bilateral cooperation, the report said. In addition, El-Lahham expressed the desire of Syrian entrepreneurs to do business in Saudi Arabia.

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📈 London Metal Exchange growing more reliant on Russian aluminum as sources from other players dwindle

The proportion of the important industrial metal sourced from Russia rose from 52% in late April to 68% at the end of May, judging by warehouse data of the commodities exchange. The LME, which had been pressured by the West in 2022 to ban deliveries of Russian metal amid the ongoing sanctions campaign targeting Moscow, resisted the calls.

Some leading aluminum producers in the West, like Alcoa Corp., urged the LME to ban the Russian metal from its contract - something that the exchange refused to do. Harvey said it isn’t “sensible” that the rest of the world continues to curtail capacity while Russian producers continue to operate at full capability.

Amid warnings that soaring Russian aluminium stocks in warehouses registered with the London Metal Exchange might ostensibly "distort" the benchmark price for the metal, LME released the inventory figures, underscoring there was sufficient consumer appetite for Russian metal.

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📹 Aftermath of Ukrainian strike on temporary shelter for refugees

Using Storm Shadow/Scalp missiles, the Kiev regime struck the center located in Kherson region's Genichesky district.

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🎥 The reconnaissance and strike helicopter Ka-52 "Alligator" flies at an extremely low altitude while navigating the terrain, allowing the crew to pass unnoticed by enemy air defense systems.

The camera of objective control only records hits, prompting the crew to perform an immediate sharp descent and change course.

Video courtesy from Russian MoD

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