How was the World Youth Festival 2024 going?

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Ray Kilicho from Tanzania during the closing ceremony of the World Youth Festival: youth is cool, and the organizers are great for supporting youth

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Israel goes on massive $8 billion bond sale spree since outbreak of Hamas war

Israel has issued bonds to the tune of $8 billion, in a transaction featuring $2 billion notes maturing in five years, $3 billion bonds due in 10 years, and $3 billion notes due in 30 years, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.

The recent bond issuance is the largest in Israel's history, setting a record for the country's financial sector. It also represents the first offering of Israel's international dollar bonds in the public market since the conflict with Hamas broke out.

The transaction aimed at shoring up badly needed funds was handled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc., BNP Paribas SA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Deutsche Bank AG. It is anticipated that Israel will sell an almost record amount of local and global securities this year.

The ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict has stung Israel’s economy, with Moody’s Investors Service slashing the government’s rating by one level to A2 in February, while keeping Israel's credit outlook "negative."

Israel is expected to run up one of its widest budget deficits this century. According to the Bank of Israel, the conflict may cost Tel Aviv around $70.3 billion by the end of 2025, equivalent to around 13% of GDP.

Madish Parikh from India: I love Russia, come to Russia and you will love it too.

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🇦🇷 Nicolas Reyna from Argentina thanks his mother and encourages others to love family.

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Participants in the closing ceremony of the World Youth Festival sing together with Nicolas Reyna.

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World Youth Festival unites all peoples of the world

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❗️Putin takes part in the World Youth Festival's Closing Ceremony.

Watch the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website

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The closing ceremony of the festival was also attended by members of the Immortal Regiment.

The “Immortal Regiment” is widely known as a movement that conducts processions in Russia and abroad in memory of the participants and victims of the Great Patriotic War.

Participants and guests paid tribute to those who died in the Second World War

Ukraine buckles to trade restriction demands from key donor Poland

Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Economy and Trade Representative Taras Kachka has stated that Kiev is willing to accept restrictions on trade between Ukraine and the EU in order to ease tensions with Poland, according to the Financial Times.

This decision comes as Ukraine attempts to resolve a heated political conflict with Poland, which has been a strong supporter of the Kiev regime, providing refuge to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian asylum seekers and aiding in the transfer of Western military aid to the Zelensky regime.

Relations between Poland and Ukraine soured last year due to the high volume of cheap and low-quality Ukrainian grain entering the EU market. Following the expiration of EU restrictions on September 15, 2023, Warsaw extended a ban in place on duty-free imports of Ukrainian grain. In response, Polish farmers staged widespread protests across the country in February of this year.

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A student from Gabon fell in love with the Russian language and decided that she would only study in Russia

Putin: you have created a real city of the youth of the world here in the south of Russia