Australian ‘garage sale’ APCs pawned off on Kiev worse than useless

A scandal is brewing in Australia over Canberra’s decision to pawn its Vietnam War-vintage military equipment off on Kiev, with local military experts questioning how the aid that has been announced could possibly add up to $110 million AUD.

“You can’t just clear out the garage from Defense of old vehicles that you don’t want anymore. That’s not the response of a developed nation like ours,” the opposition leader Peter Dutton said, dubbing the aid package the equivalent of a “garage sale”.

Other observers said Canberra’s “stingy” “hand-me-down aid” is fueling perceptions of Australia as “using Ukraine as a dumping ground.”

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❗️ Mali made "a sovereign decision on future parameters of ensuring security & protecting civilians in the country," Russian Deputy Permanent Representative at UNSC says

🗣 "Russia supported the draft UNSC resolution (put forward by France) on withdrawal of #MINUSMA. It is important that the Council reacted to the request of #Mali who made a sovereign decision on future parameters of ensuring security & protecting civilians in the country," DPR Anna Evstigneeva stated.

The Russian DPR at UNSC has also pointed out that "Russia will continue providing comprehensive bilateral assistance to Mali with the purpose of ensuring stabilization in the country."

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Pentagon admits Chinese ‘spy’ balloon ‘did not collect’ data during US overflight

Five months after accusing China of dispatching a spy balloon across US airspace and producing another rift in US-China relations, Washington has quietly admitted that the balloon neither collected or transmitted any data during its several-day trip across the US.

Asked a question about what he called a “PRC high altitude balloon,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Thursday that while the US believed the airship had “off the shelf” equipment made in the United States, it did not collect data during its flight over the United States in late January and early February.

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T-80 tank in action (video courtesy of Russian MoD)

The T-80 tank destroyed Ukrainian Army positions using the 125mm cannon

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EU’s new anti-Russian asset grabbing scheme is ‘theft’, ‘act of war’

Belgium plans to collect 3 billion euros a year in windfall profits from Russian assets frozen in the country’s coffers to give to Ukraine for “reconstruction” purposes, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced Friday.

Asked to comment on Brussels’ plans, Christopher C Black, an international criminal and human rights lawyer with over 20 years’ experience, said that if realized, they would constitute “theft twice over” - first by seizing the money in the first place, and then preventing Russia from collecting its due interest.

Read full interview on Sputnik’s website

🇺🇸 US lawmaker files amendments to ban Kiev-bound shipments of F16s, long-range missiles

US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said that the US should be “pushing for peace, not funding war,” adding that she filed an amendment to prohibit all funding to Ukraine until a diplomatic solution to the Ukrainian crisis is reached.

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🇧🇾 Lukashenko confident nuclear weapons stationed in Belarus will never be used

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🇦🇹 Austria has no alternative to Russian gas, EU lawmaker says

Roman Haider slammed Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler as a “delusional green-deal-fanatic”: "People are tired of these stupid games. Prices are on the increase, people cannot afford a normal live. So they don't care where the gas comes from, as long as the prices go back to lower levels."

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🇺🇸 Biden's CIA director pick made secret trip to Ukraine to discuss battle plans, ceasefire talks

Ukraine officials have told the espionage boss William Burns that they intend to open talks with Moscow after they move artillery and missile systems near the boundary line of Crimea and push further into eastern Ukraine by the autumn, US media has reported.

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🇮🇷🇺🇸 Peas in a pod: Biden’s Iran negotiator suspended over mishandling of classified docs

Robert Malley, US President Joe Biden’s special envoy for Iran, has been stripped of his security clearance and placed on unpaid leave while the State Department probes his alleged mishandling of classified documents.

The diplomat, appointed to his post in January 2021 as the Biden administration began an attempt to restore the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Iran nuclear deal, has been replaced by Abram Paley, his deputy, who will serve in the role on an acting basis.

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🇫🇷 Nearly 1,000 people have been detained in France overnight, around 1,350 cars and 234 buildings were set on fire during the continuing unrest in the country, French media report.

The unrest also affected 31 police departments, 16 offices of the municipal police and 11 gendarmerie barracks, the broadcaster reported.

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🇷🇺🇵🇱 Russia’s Medvedev slams Poland’s request to host US nuclear weapons

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🇫🇷🎮 You forgot rap music: Emmanuel Macron blames social media and video games for civil unrest in France

The leader of France's Eurosceptic “The Patriots” party, Florian Philippot, lambasted Macron’s comments about video games "intoxicating" the protesters, adding that with that "level of analysis," the riots won't end soon.

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