💸🇺🇸 US Treasury chief in denial over dollar decline as dominant currency

Testifying before the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, Janet Yellen tried to downplay the risk de-dollarization in response to sanctions on Russia for its de-Nazification operation in Ukraine.

💬 "We should expect over time a gradually increased share of other assets in reserve holdings of countries — a natural desire to diversify," Yellen conceded, but insisted that "the dollar is far and away the dominant reserve asset."

She insisted that "the dollar plays the role it does in the world financial system for very good reasons that no other country is able to replicate, including China."

💬 "We have deep liquid open financial markets, strong rule of law and an absence of capital controls that no country is able to replicate. It will not be easy for any country to devise a way to get around the dollar," Yellen said.

Democratic Texas Representative Vicente Gonzalez asked whether the US should scale back its multitude of sanctions on other nations for fear of driving other countries away from the dollar.

💬 "I would say there is virtually no meaningful workaround for most countries for using the dollar as a reserve currency," Yellen claimed.

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🇷🇺 Russian-made luxury Aurus Komendant SUV on display at #SPIEF2023

The car entered serial production this year, and costs about 35 million rubles (approx. $415,000).

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🗣️"The sanctions are to lock in European and English-speaking dependency on the US."

In last episode of our New Rules show, we were joined by Michael Hudson, an American economist and author, to discuss how the West’s anti-Russia sanctions impact Europe and other interesting topics!

🔊If you missed the episode, watch it on Rumble or listen to it via the website or app!

🎥 Msta-B and D-30 combat units conduct operations to eliminate Ukrainian artillery that is shelling the Belgorod region’s residential areas.

As part of the counter-battery fight, artillery men identify the positions of the Ukrainian army and use pinpoint strikes to destroy their artillery guns, mortars and clusters of enemy personnel.

Video courtesy from Russian MoD

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Instead of answering, just smile?

Joe Biden just smiled when asked whether it's true that he accepts bribes. An American journalist asked the question amid an ongoing investigation into a possible political bribery scheme involving Biden himself, his son Hunter, and the Ukrainian company Burisma.

The POTUS stopped mid-stride, turned around with a smile on his face, chuckled to himself, and shook his head before walking away without saying anything.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Vladimir Putin has wished Xi Jinping happy birthday in a "very warm" greeting, as the Chinese president turns 70 years old in a few hours

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Adam Delimkhanov, member of the Russian State Duma, is safe and sound, Chechnya’s head Ramzan Kadyrov said, adding that reports about Delimkhanov's death are fake.

Earlier, various reports emerged online claiming that the lawmaker had come under fire in the special military operation zone and been killed. Kadyrov posted a photo showing him together with Delimkhanov.

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🇷🇺 #SPIEF2023: Drones developed by students at Sevastopol State University in Crimea

The drones can be used for military reconnaissance missions as well as civilian purposes, such as helping emergency services combat fires.

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🗣️”When you hear that the US is planning for evacuation, it signals that the US is very serious about war over Taiwan. I mean, in a sense, you're starting to say that the die is cast”: KJ Noh, writer, teacher, and activist, professor, on the US, planning to evacuate its citizens from Taiwan

🎧Listen to more of Noh’s analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

⚡️ US Federal Reserve skips rate hike in June after 10 previous increases

The first day of #SPIEF2023 has come to an end.

Here are the main highlights:

▪️Russia can’t be isolated in spite of all efforts, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman said;

▪️Those who impose sanctions have more problems than those targeted, Spanish businessman Pedro Mourino said;

▪️Russian Rosatom, Sri Lanka agree on NPP construction;

▪️Vladimir Putin is expected to participate in the forum’s plenary session on Friday, June 16.

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🗣️”All these decisions about US military violence abroad are made in total secrecy within the National Security Council, the Oval Office and the war rooms in the Pentagon. And that is not democracy”: Dave Lindorff, investigative journalist, Editor of the online publication ThisCantBeHappening.net and 2019 winner of an “Izzy” Award for Outstanding Independent Media, on how the government keeps important information from Americans

🎧Listen to more of Lindorff’s analysis in our podcast By Any Means Necessary

🔺No more unipolarity: Iranian president visits Latin American countries in an attempt to strengthen multipolar world order
🔺The Ukrainian counteroffensive, with no tangible results, prompts disappointment among Western military analysts. What's behind the failure?
🔺German Minister Robert Habeck: Lack of Russian gas could bring German industry to a standstill

The Critical Hour will cover these and more stories! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

📻 Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

🇷🇺 #SPIEF2023: Watch a video from the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum from first day

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Russia has been developing several types of combat laser systems for both air and ground use. These include anti-drone systems, weapons capable of disabling enemy equipment, and laser ammunition for anti-personnel and anti-vehicle purposes.

The Sokol-Eshelon as well as Peresvet combat laser systems disable spacecraft at altitudes up to 1,500 km and UAVs in the atmosphere. The Zadira destroys drones at a range of up to 5 km.

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