🇫🇷 Four people in critical condition after gas explosion in Paris

At least four people are in critical condition after an explosion occurred in the firth arrondissement of Paris on Wednesday, a French media reported.

According to the preliminary information, a gas explosion caused the incident. The explosion occurred on the Alphonse Laveran square not far from the American Academy fashion design school.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo arrived at the scene. According to the police data, the facades of several houses collapsed, and several neighboring houses caught fire.

The video from social media.

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Pentagon magically finds extra $6Bn of arms for Ukraine in 'accounting error'

The Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it had revised up the figure — previously reported to be around $3 billion — for the "valuation errors," conveniently allowing it to send more arms from its stocks to prop up the Kiev regime.

The DoD argued it should have written-down the value of equipment in the same way businesses do with fixed assets such as company cars, rather than using the price taxpayers would have to pay to replace items like tanks and artillery at today's prices.

The new figures break down into $2.6 billion for the 2022 fiscal year, which ended on September 30 last year, and $3.6 billion for the nine months since.

DoD spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the difference from the "misvaluation" was “just going to go back into the pot of money that we have allocated” to arm Ukraine. She referred to the new figures as the "final calculation."

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🗣️”Europe needs to decide whether it wants to counter that, [and] offer an alternative, or whether it just wants to stand on the ship and sink below the wheels with the old imperial powers”: Phil Kelly, Belfast-based political commentator and socialist activist, on the new world model where Europe must decide which side to take

🎧Listen to more of Kelly’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

❗️ Exclusive: Poland Plane Grounding Shows NATO-Aligned States' Disrespect for African Sovereignty: SA's EFF Party

South Africa's Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party has expressed deep concern over Poland's recent denial of access to its territory to the South African presidential security detail and the media team accompanying the African Peace Initiative Mission.

The party's national spokesperson Sinawo Tambo told Sputnik Africa that the Polish authorities' actions are a part of the ongoing "Cold War" strategy aimed to force South Africa to align with NATO to isolate Russia.

🗣 "The behaviour is unbecoming and should be an indicator of the disrespect NATO aligned nations have for African sovereignty," the EFF representative said. "It is a clear sign that NATO has no interest in peace and will humiliate nations who pursue it through a stance of non-alignment."

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A military pilot gives Putin a gift – an aviation watch, saying it is a lucky watch that has gone a long way

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🗣️”We're not getting very many news reports on how that supposed counter-offensive is going. We see a lot of weapons being shipped into Ukraine. We're not seeing them being used very much, because I think very quickly they're turning into smoking ruins on the battlefield”: Phil Kelly, Belfast-based political commentator and socialist activist, on the coverage of Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the West

🎧Listen to more of Kelly’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

China patrolling disputed islands northeast of Taiwan

The China Coast Guard said that their 2502 fleet patrolled the territorial waters of the Diaoyu Islands on June 21 as a form of rights protection.

In May, Japanese media reported that two Chinese government vessels traveled close to the disputed islands. In June, the Japanese government sent two separate protest notes to China.

Both Japan and China have extended territorial claims over the islands. Japan insists on its sovereignty over the Senkaku islands effective since 1895, while China points to Japanese maps from 1783 and 1785 designating the islands as Chinese territory. After World War II, the islands went under the control of the United States and were passed on to Japan in 1972.

The territorial dispute escalated in 2012, when the Japanese government purchased three of the five islands from a private owner, thereby confirming Japan's affiliation with the islands.

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🔺US grave concern: China and Cuba allegedly negotiating establishing a new joint military training facility on the island nation
🔺’We are seeing some sort of calmness. This is due to the fact that the enemy is suffering serious losses’ - President Putin
🔺North Korea: ‘Danger of nuclear war no longer imaginary’ due to ‘reckless US military provocations’

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

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Black holes in lonely galaxies found to be hungrier than those jostling for space

New research has revealed that solitary supermassive black holes, found at the centers of galaxies located in isolation, are more aggressive “eaters” of stellar material than their counterparts found in crowded zones of cosmic space.

Anish Aradhey, a student at Harrisonburg High School in Virginia, and Anca Constantin, a professor of astrophysics at James Madison University, utilized data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to reveal over 20,000 black holes actively "feeding" on surrounding gas and dust.

Previously undetected, these black holes were found to display more activity in small or medium-size galaxies than large ones, challenging our current understanding of how galaxies evolve.

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US ready to bring forces to Middle East as needed to 'deter any aggression' - US General

"We are here to stay, and we will bring forces into the region as needed to deter aggression," Combined Forces Air Component Commander for US Central Command Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich told reporters during a digital press briefing.

Grynkewich did not clarify what type of 'aggression' the United States seeks to deter. However, he said that the US jets would contribute to regional stability and efforts to reset the US relationship with their Russian counterparts in Syria.

The US Central Command said last week that it had deployed F-22 fighter jets to the Middle East in response to Russia's alleged "unprofessional" behavior in the region.

In May, the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria accused US Air Force pilots of "gross violations" of deconfliction protocols in Syria.

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🗣️”It's quite astonishing how much Europe is willing to sacrifice its own economic independence, the living standards of its own citizens in order to facilitate what is a mad feeling and floundering geopolitical strategy from the US”: Phil Kelly, Belfast-based political commentator and socialist activist, on what a centralized EU means for members of the bloc and for geopolitics

🎧Listen to more of Kelly’s analysis in our podcast Political Misfits

US congressman threatens Blinken with subpoena to produce Afghanistan withdrawal documents

McCaul previously wrote to Blinken on June 8 to warn him that the committee is prepared to pursue a compulsory process if certain materials were not produced by June 15. The State Department produced one priority document by the deadline, but failed to address the other two, McCaul said in the letter, dated June 20.

“If the [State] Department does not produce these outstanding items by June 26, 2023, I plan to proceed with a subpoena to compel their production,” the letter said.

The State Department’s most recent reply failed to address requests related to the Afghanistan After-Action Review (AAR) files and the official order initiating a noncombatant evacuation operation, the letter said.

The United States withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, following a rapid takeover of the country by the Taliban (under UN sanctions).

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Three vessels join search for Titanic tourist submersible - US Coast Guard

The US Coast Guard has announced that three additional vessels are aiding in the search and rescue efforts for the Titan submersible that went missing during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic. The vessels include the John Cabot, Skandi Vinland, and Atlantic Merlin, which are all conducting search patterns, with one ship possessing side-scanning sonar capabilities.

On Sunday, the submersible was on an expedition to the Titanic wreckage when it disappeared. The submarine has a capacity to carry five people and has oxygen supply for 96 hours.

Hamish Harding, a billionaire and adventure traveler, Shahzada Dawood, vice chairman of the Pakistani corporation Engro, and his son Suleman, have been confirmed to be on board the submersible. Media reported that French maritime expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet and OceanGate Expeditions President Stockton Rush are also in the submersible.

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Yuan's share in SWIFT transactions reaches highest point since January 2022

In January 2022, the share of the yuan in SWIFT transactions was 3.2%. In May 2023, it increased by 0.25 percentage month-on-month.

The US dollar remained the main trading currency in May, at 42.6%, although its share decreased by 0.11 percentage points compared with April.

The euro's share saw no significant change in May, slightly decreasing by 0.04 percentage points to 31.7%.

SWIFT is an international banking system for financial transactions and payments involving over 11,000 major financial organizations worldwide.

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🇮🇩 US deploys B-52H Stratofortress bombers to Indonesia for first time

The B-52s will participate through the remainder of Cope West which concludes on 23 June, the Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs said in a statement.

According to media reports, a total of two strategic bombers landed at the Kualanamu International Airport located on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The landing of the B-52 bombers in Indonesia comes after a series of bomber-deployment missions around the world, including a deterrent flight over the Gulf of Finland and the deployment to South Korea in March.

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🇺🇸 US should pay for Ukraine's recovery since it's prolonging hostilities, says Russian ambassador Antonov

The Ukrainian crisis is a consequence of years-long and purposeful efforts of the United States to create a hotbed of tension near Russia's borders, to turn Ukraine into an 'anti-Russia,' Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said.

He further stressed the US is now fomenting confrontation, "pumping the republic with powerful weapons and nipping any peace initiatives in the bud."

💬 "While they can pay for the homes destroyed by American weapons, how will Washington value the lives of innocent people? How is the US going to repay the Ukrainians whom they are driving into reckless head-on assaults in today's so-called counteroffensive?" Antonov said.

The poorest states in Africa, Latin America and Asia have been left without attention against the background of the unprecedented funds sent to purchase weapons for Kiev, the ambassador noted.

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📹 Russia's new Rezky corvette test-fires Uran anti-ship cruise missile

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