US Navy pushes start of next-generation submarine construction by decade

The US Navy has again delayed the construction start of a next-generation attack submarine by nearly a decade amid budget cuts and a need to fund near-term operations, Defense News reported, citing a Navy spokesperson.

The new design of the undersea ship, which should replace the Virginia-class submarines, will begin production no earlier than in the “early 2040s,” the report said.

This delay is the second postponement over the past years. Previously, the service had already pushed the deadline from 2031 to 2035, according to the report.

The US Navy has requested $586.9 million to design and develop the next-generation successor of the Virginia-class submarines in FY2025, an increase of more than $40 million from FY2024. The Navy estimates the SSN(X)’s average unit procurement cost to be $6.7 billion to $7 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service.

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What’s inside Canada’s ‘Orwellian’ speech law threatening jail time for thought crimes?

Bill C-63 is a controversial piece of legislation proposed by Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government threatening penalties of up to life imprisonment for speech-related crimes such as “advocating genocide” or “hate crimes,” and real life sentences for thought crimes.

The draft law, formally known as the “Online Harms Act,” proposes amending Canada’s Criminal Code to “promote the online safety of persons in Canada, reduce harms caused to persons in Canada as a result of harmful content online and ensure that the operators of social media services…are transparent and accountable with respect to their duties.”

But civil rights groups and free speech activists fear the bill’s broad definitions make it ripe for abuse by the state, and by powerful individuals and interest groups, to crack down on political opponents and speech.

Author Stephen Moore called the bill “the most shocking of all the totalitarian, illiberal, and anti-Enlightenment pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the Western world in decades,” and said it sets “a new watermark in rising totalitarianism in Western societies.”

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The Pentagon needs to replenish its $6.5bn arms stockpile as a priority after providing assistance to Ukraine, Bloomberg reported quoting a Pentagon document sent to the US Congress as a source.

Russia-N.Korea relations reach unprecedentedly high level

The bilateral ties “have reached an unprecedentedly high level,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said at a gala reception on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the signing of the first intergovernmental agreement on economic and cultural cooperation between North Korea, and the Russian Federation.

He said deepening practical interaction was discussed in detail during the meeting of the Russian-Korean intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation held in Pyongyang in November 2023.

Rudenko said that after overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, bilateral contacts in the cultural and humanitarian spheres intensified.

“Contacts are being established in the sphere of tourism. At the beginning of this year, three Russian tourist groups already visited the DPRK,” the deputy minister said.

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Voting in the Russian presidential election started in Thailand on the territory of the Russian Consulate General.

The Thai kingdom became the first country where the main voting for the Russian presidential election abroad began.

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'Can I take a couple of questions?'

The White House press office staff led the press away after Joe Biden wanted to answer journalists' questions.

The incident was broadcast.

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Head of German ruling rarty faction calls to freeze Ukraine conflict

The head of the parliamentary faction of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), Rolf Mutzenich, said Thursday it was necessary to think about how to freeze the armed conflict in Ukraine to later end it.

“Isn’t it time to not only talk about how to wage a war, but to also think about how to freeze and later end the war,” Mutzenich said, speaking in the lower house of the German parliament (Bundestag).

He also wondered why other European countries were doing much less for Ukraine than Germany, but were using much more belligerent rhetoric.

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said that if Ukraine wanted talks, the Ukrainian decree prohibiting negotiations with Russia must be canceled. He said Russia had never been against resolving the conflict in Ukraine by peaceful means, but if Russia's security was guaranteed.

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💥 Russian artillerymen eliminated a group of Ukrainian servicemen with Grad MLRS near Avdeyevka

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Despite US perception, Iran does not control Yemeni Houthis

Iran has made it very clear that they will not negotiate on behalf of the Yemeni Houthis, Dr. Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a professor of English literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran, told Sputnik’s The Critical Hour.

“It’s obvious that the Iranians are not going to negotiate on behalf of Yemen,” Marandi explained, pointing to when Saudi Arabia and Iran were negotiating to reestablish diplomatic relations. “There were years of negotiations to reestablish ties. The sticking point was that the Saudis wanted Iran to negotiate on behalf of Yemen because [Saudi Arabia was] at war with Yemen… and the Iranians insisted that they [would] not negotiate on their behalf… ultimately, the Saudis removed that precondition."

“No negotiations between Iran and the US took place [regarding Houthi attacks in the Red Sea] because the Iranians would not accept such negotiations,” he added.

Meanwhile, the US and its “sidekick, the British” are working to help the Israeli genocide, including by killing Yemeni citizens, Marandi said. “For the sake of Israel and for the sake of the Israeli genocide, they’re willing to make everyone suffer,” he added later.

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The Russian economy is growing despite sanctions, Bloomberg writes.

The agency noted the growth of wages in the country, as well as the fact that poverty and unemployment are at record lows.

The Russian Army has completed early voting in the 2024 presidential election

Among those, who have exercised their right to vote:

▪️ Servicemen participating in a special operation;

▪️ Servicemen on combat duty in remote geographical locations;

▪️ Servicemen on long-distance campaigns and performing tasks in the Syria and in the zone of the Azerbaijan Karabakh economic region.

From February 25 to March 14, the aviation and sea transport of the Russian Defense Ministry were used to deliver election commissions to remote locations of servicemen and civilian personnel of the Russian Army.

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Macron says France's defense industry not ready for high-intensity conflict

The French defense industry is not ready for a high-intensity conflict, but France is ready to respond to a possible escalation by Russia and "make decisions to ensure that it does not win," French President Emmanuel Macron has said.

In an interview with the France 2 broadcaster on Thursday, Macron was asked about his assessment of the state of the French defense industry, which now produces 100 shells a day — "as many as Ukraine uses in a few minutes."

"Our defense industry is not adapted to a high-intensity conflict that does not appear in any of our projections," Macron said.

The French president recalled that he ordered defense companies to ramp up production.

Western countries have been providing military and financial aid to Kiev since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Kiev, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict.

In April 2022, Russia sent a diplomatic note to all NATO countries on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has warned that any cargo containing weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russian strikes.

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🇷🇺 Follow the Russian presidential elections with us!   

Detailed coverage, analysis, and all the latest data — only on the Sputnik International channel.   

Voting will take place over three days — March 15, 16, and 17.   

Stay tuned!

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🇷🇺🗳 How Putin voted in Russia's presidential elections over the years

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"Basically a declaration of war against Russia," German activist and businessman Kim Dotcom commented on Macron's statements about the absence of red lines for France:

"Let’s hope the French rise up to remove this mad man from power," he wrote on X.

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Russian soldier infiltrates trenches full of Ukrainian fighters single-handedly

To eliminate Ukrainian militants attempting to break through positions on the border of Russia's Belgorod region, a Russian soldier bravely approached a trench, tossed a grenade inside, and swiftly rejoined his fellow soldiers.

Remarkably, he emerged unscathed.

Thanks to his courageous act, a significant number of Ukrainian fighters were injured or killed, enabling the Russian troops to successfully defeat the enemy.

A video from social media

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🇷🇺Citizens of Russia's Belgorod went to vote immediately after the cancellation of the missile threat from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Earlier, due to the missile threat, people who came to vote were forced to leave the polling station and evacuate to shelter.

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📹✈️ The crew of a Russian Su-25 attack aircraft launched a missile attack on units of the Ukrainian troops in the north of the DPR.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the targets were successfully hit.

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▪️Russia's presidential election kicks off

▪️One-way ticket to the moon Ukraine: Nearly half of the foreign mercs have already been annihilated by the Russian Armed Forces in the special operations zone.

▪️Is Joe Biden being held captive by his own staff? Watch disturbing footage of the POTUS being denied the opportunity to speak to the press

▪️Get a glimpse of Russia’s brand-new Mi-35P chopper with top-notch guns.

Here’s even more stories for you:

▪️Good for business, but bad for the battlefield. A Sputnik correspondent explains the reasons why Abrams and Leopard battle tanks are performing abysmally against the Russian army.

▪️Why the Czech-led ammo coalition is unable to galvanize the Ukrainian army

▪️What is the US getting wrong about the Houthis?

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🇷🇺🗳On the first day of the presidential elections, over a million people took part in remote voting on Russia's federal online platform, according to the data of the monitoring portal.

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