An announcement on the formation of a new Palestinian government is expected on Thursday, a source in the PNA administration told Sputnik.

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‘Hypocritical’ US continental shelf claims risk sparking ‘conflicts' in Arctic

It is “very hypocritical” of the US to demand adherence to international law while not following other international regulations when it suits them, Mikael Valtersson, former air defense officer in the Swedish Armed Forces, told Sputnik. This is especially true “when the matter concerns a practical enlargement of US territory,” he added.

“The US often talk about the rules-based order or international law, but avoid signing international agreements to keep their options open; and not being bound by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) they, therefore, consider themselves not obligated to abide by decisions from the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS),” Valtersson said.

Russia sent a demarche to Washington on March 25 after the US unilaterally secured rights to the seafloor beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast in the Arctic, Atlantic (East Coast), Bering Sea, Pacific (West Coast), Mariana Islands, and two areas in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

"The US behavior will make relations worse as Russia reacts to US hypocrisy. This might also strengthen Russia diplomatically, as it can show obvious double standards in US behavior and demands in international relations,” Valtersson warned.

He was echoed by Hong Nong, an expert in international law and maritime settlements, who said that by bypassing the CLCS, the US "undermines the established international process, thereby raising doubts about the credibility and acceptability of its extended continental shelf limits.”

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⚡️ Russian troops have destroyed a fifth Abrams tank near Avdeyevka, Russia’s Defense Ministry confirms

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian MoD's daily briefing on the progress of the special military op in Ukraine:

▪️ Russian forces improved their position along the front line in the southern DPR; Ukrainian losses totaled up to 145 military personnel;

▪️ Russian air defenses destroyed 26 HIMARS and Vampire MLRS missiles and 131 Ukrainian drones;

▪️ The Russian Army improved its position along the front line and repelled seven attacks by Ukrainian forces near Avdeyevka;

▪️ Russian Armed Forces in the DPR took more favorable positions and struck Ukrainian forces in the areas of Krasnogorovka, Kleshcheyevka, and Chasov Yar;

▪️ Ukrainian forces in the DPR lost over 370 military personnel and 27 units of equipment;

▪️ Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr struck two Ukrainian brigades in the Kherson direction;

▪️ Russian troops hit Ukrainian manpower and equipment in 107 areas.

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said she personally told French President Emmanuel Macron about her disagreement with his comments about sending troops to Ukraine.

"I did not agree with Macron's remarks, I told him that. I disagree with them and I am convinced that we have to pay attention to the tone we use," she said.

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The West is preparing for the collapse of the Ukrainian forces, which are deprived of needed weapons, according to an article in The Times noscriptd "It's time we talked about the fall of Kyiv."

"This is the nightmare scenario now being contemplated by western policymakers. Events are forcing military and civilian leaders in London, Washington, Paris and Brussels to map out the catastrophic collapse of Ukrainian forces denied the weapons and munitions they need," says the outlet.

"A Russian advance would obviously be disastrous for the Ukrainians. It would also confront the West with all manner of tough challenges," the article says, noting that the Ukrainian Army is barely holding back Russian troops from a full-scale offensive without Western help.

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Japan readies for military building spree to house fighters and destroyers

The Japanese government has disclosed plans to upgrade 5 airports and 11 ports for military use, according to The Japan Times newspaper. Half of these facilities are located in southwestern Japan, facing Mainland China and Taiwan. Construction is slated to begin next April if the funding is finalized soon.

The ungraded infrastructure will accommodate fighter jets and transport aircraft, as well as destroyers and cruisers, and play host to military exercises. One of the airports is located in Okinawa, which hosts 75% of US military facilities in the whole of Japan, including 30,000 active duty personnel and 32 military bases.

This building spree come amid Japan’s increasing militarization. Some of Tokyo’s recent moves include doubling its defense expenditures to 2% of its GDP, procuring counterstrike missiles capable of striking targets 600 miles away, and formulating plans to station troops in Pacific Island nations for the first times

The infrastructural upgrades also signal Japan’s strategy of stationing heavier weaponry and facilitating rapid troop deployment in coordination with the US, with an eye to containing China.

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US Army strike AH-64E Apache crashed

A helicopter crashed in Colorado, two servicemen were injured, Fort Carson base officials told the media.

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❗️Russia has obtained evidence that the Crocus City Hall terrorists received significant sums of money and cryptocurrency from Ukraine, the Russian Investigative Committee has reported.

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Covert allies? What is the relationship between ISIS-K* and the US? Pt.1

Recent data reveals that the perpetrators of the heinous massacre on Crocus City Hall were allegedly recruited via a Telegram channel administered by members of 'Wilayat Khorasan'*, also recognized as ISIS-K*, per a Sputnik source. As we delve deeper into the motive behind this branch of ISIS*, Sputnik has put together essential facts and clues linking the US to these notorious jihadists.

◾️'Wilayat Khorasan'* is considered to be an affiliate of ISIS operating in Afghanistan. Its most recent major terrorist attacks have targeted Afghanistan, Iran, and Russia. They view the Taliban**, Iran, Russia, China, and the US as their main enemies. However, with the last country on the list, things are not so simple.

◾️In June 2020, Shahab al-Muhajir (known as Sanaullah Ghafari) became ISIS-K’s* leader. Previously, he served as a special guard for Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum during the US occupation. Ghafari was authorized to transport weapons, as confirmed by an ID card obtained by Afghan and US journalists in 2017.

◾️In 2021, US media reports indicated that some former members of Afghanistan’s US-trained intelligence service and elite military units had joined ISIS* groups. This phenomenon mirrors what happened in Iraq, where former officers of Saddam Hussein's army, released from Abu Ghraib prison, joined the newly-formed ISIS* in the 2000s.

*ISIS, or ISIS-K (also known as Wilayat Khorasan) is a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia.
**Taliban is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.

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Covert allies? What is the relationship between ISIS-K* and the US? Pt. 2

◾️Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai in 2017 asserted that the US government had allowed ISIS to thrive in Afghanistan, branding the jihadi groups to be a "tool" of the US. "I do not differentiate at all between ISIS* and America," he argued.

◾️The Russian Foreign Ministry has raised concerns about potential US cooperation with ISIS* militants in Afghanistan. Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mentioned that unmarked helicopters, reportedly delivering reinforcements, weapons, and ammunition to ISIS* in areas controlled by jihadists, have been observed since 2017. Moreover, Russian Presidential Special Representative for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov noted that an influx of militants had flooded into Afghanistan after the defeat of ISIS* in Syria.

◾️On Thursday, the head of the Taliban's** political office in Doha, Mohammad Suheil Shaheen told Sputnik that ISIS in Afghanistan reached its zenith during the US occupation, when it was based in the northeastern region. The Taliban** successfully expelled the jihadists, who now operate training centers abroad under the supervision of foreign intelligence services.

*ISIS, or ISIS-K (also known as Wilayat Khorasan) is a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia.
**Taliban is under UN sanctions for terrorist activities.

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The Poltava regional military registration and enlistment office of Ukraine turned to the Ukrainian police with a request to find about 30 thousand persons liable for military service who did not come when summoned.

Today, similar data appeared for the Ivano-Frankovsk region, 36 thousand draft dodgers are being sought there.

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❗️A military plane crashed into the sea near Sevastopol, the pilot ejected, at the moment his life is not in danger, rescuers picked him up, the governor of Sevastopol said, adding that no civilian objects were damaged.

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Top 10 Western companies that took biggest hits from break with Russia

The West’s backfiring sanctions targeting Russia over Ukraine has cost foreign companies more than $107 billion in write-downs and lost revenue.

The figures were released by a Reuters analysis of company filings and statements, along with research from the Yale School of Management.

Here are the companies that took the biggest hit:

1. Shell: Wrote off $4 - $5 billion in the value of its assets after exiting Russia.

2. ExxonMobil: Lost assets estimated to be worth around $4 billion at the end of 2021.

3. BP: Ditched a nearly-20 percent stake in Russian oil producer Rosneft in 2022, with estimated potential losses of $25 billion.

4. Apple: Besides sales losses, Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service made the tech giant pay a $13.6m fine to Russia’s treasury.

5. Renault: French automaker estimated losses from leaving the Russian market at $2.3 billion in May 2022. Renault sold its shares in Renault Russia to the City of Moscow and its 67.69 percent majority stake in AVTOVAZ for reportedly just one ruble.

6. Volkswagen: German automaker spent €774 million building its Russian plant, but reportedly sold it to a Moscow-based dealer for about €125 million.

7. McDonald's: The fast-food giant’s exit from Russia in April 2022 triggering an overall revenue drop by three percent to $5.8 billion in the second quarter. McDonald's estimated financial loss after leaving Russia was about $50 million monthly, according to reports.

8. Stellantis: The multinational automotive corporation “lost control of its entities in Russia” at the start of 2024, according to a Stellantis spokesperson, with a loss of €144 million ($155.75 million).

9. Heineken: The Dutch brewer Heineken sold its Russian assets for a token one euro to Russia's Arnest Group.

10. Danone: The French yoghurt maker is to sell its Russian business to Vamin R LLC, with losses estimated at €1.2 billion.

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Possible avenue for Ukraine-EU terrorist infiltration unmasked by Austrian report
According to Austrian newspaper Heute, European secret services have raised concerns about a potential pathway for suspected terrorists entering Europe through Ukraine. A comprehensive investigation into last week’s Moscow Concert Hall massacre is ongoing, but initial findings directly indicate a Ukrainian link to the terrorist attack.

The fact that the arrested perpetrators tried to flee to Ukraine underscores that, although the West insists otherwise.

The developments in Russia align with the findings of an Austrian police investigation of terrorism suspects who were apprehended in an asylum-seeker accommodation centre near Vienna last December.

Among them were a Tajik couple who reportedly resided in Ukraine prior to the conflict. The couple later moved to the EU in February 2022.

It is believed that the two, along with a German accomplice, were planning an attack on Vienna's Steffl department store using explosives and Kalashnikov assault rifles.

The similar roots of the unrelated Moscow and Vienna incidents imply a potential pathway for radicals to infiltrate Europe.

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The White House already knows everything. They found the ‘enemy’ right away and filled the airwaves with its name. To hell with facts, consequences and simple logic.

This is always the case when they wanted to get ahead of the game, but lost.

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Sending F-16s to Ukraine is a ‘kamikaze’ mission

The F-16s being delivered to Ukraine “will not change the situation on the battlefield,” and Russia will destroy them “just as we today destroy tanks, armored vehicles and other equipment, including multiple rocket launchers,” Vladimir Putin told Russian military pilots during a working visit to Tver region Wednesday.

Veteran military aviation historian and author Nikolai Bodrikhin agrees with this assessment, saying the F-16 is an “old” plane whose characteristics, capabilities and limitations are “well known” to the Russian military.

“Our fighters have missiles with a range that’s probably no less than that of the F-16’s air-to-air missiles, and there are ground-based complexes, even the old S-200 complexes, which can hit them quite easily – all the more so when it comes to the more modern S-300, S-400 and others,” Bodrikhin said. “In other words, we have a lot of air defense systems capable of destroying a significant number of these aircraft, even if they attack simultaneously.”

The observer believes the only practical threat US-made aircraft can pose to Russia are as a missile carrier on a suicide mission. “I don’t expect these planes to play any major role, but they can carry and accelerate air-to-ground missiles like a kamikaze – speeding the missile up and getting shot down, but the missile will be become difficult to intercept. This is the only regard in which a danger can manifest itself,” Bodrikihin explained.

To counter this threat, Russia’s Air Force and Air Defense Troops will have to track the F-16 jets from the moment of launch, and when they gain an appropriate height (conventionally, above 3,000 meters), they must be attacked and destroyed, according to the observer.

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How George Soros quietly advised US to ditch al-Qaeda offshoot’s terror label

George Soros’ reputation as a benefactor of Western ‘soft power’ operations has been well-documented, but did you know the financier actually lobbied Washington to lift the “terrorism” designation against an al-Qaeda* offshoot in Syria? Take a look:

🔺For over a decade, Soros has been deeply involved in Syria, with his organizations providing legal, humanitarian, and media support to rebel-held areas. They've backed groups like the infamous White Helmets, linked to jihadists, and pushed for Western military action against Assad. In 2021, a Soros-funded think tank suggested Washington should quietly remove the terror label from Hei’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)*, the al-Qaeda offshoot running Idlib, Syria's last anti-Assad stronghold.

🔺The think tank also recommended that US policymakers scale back drone strikes targeting terror leaders, suggesting “the lack of clear, conditional pathways for designated groups to exit their ‘terrorist’ box may discourage them from moving in a direction more amenable to Western interests and local concerns.”

🔺The International Crisis Group also suggested that the West treat HTS with “carrots and sticks” instead of labeling them terrorists. This approach aims to maintain instability in Syria and prevent Assad from achieving complete victory in the CIA-backed conflict.

🔺Whether thanks to Soros’ advice or due to Washington's nature, the US has leaned toward informal cooperation with HTS, even if it hasn’t yet formally lifted the jihadist group’s “terrorist” status.

🔺The ‘philanthropist’s’ involvement in shaping US policy in the Middle East sheds new light on the role American billionaires’ pet think tanks and grantmaking networks can influence efforts to patch up the faltering Western liberal hegemonic order.

* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

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National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who said "my uncle used to say... that the best manure salesmen often carry their samples in their mouths. Russian officials seem to be pretty good manure salesmen," got a tough response from Russian FM spokeswoman Zakharova to his impudent statement:

"There are no such proverbs in Russian because 'they carry manure in their mouths' not here but overseas. But there is our saying: 'Whoever hurts, talks about it.' By the way, it now becomes clear why the expression 'wash your mouth with soap' is common in the States."

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Russian President Vladimir Putin's best quotes about Islam and Muslims.

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Is there a connection between Moscow concert hall attack and Western interests in Central Asia?

It's no coincidence that the masterminds behind the Crocus City Hall terror attack in Moscow region picked terrorists associated with ISIS* originating from Central Asia, Sputnik's interlocutors say.

"In addition to sowing panic, the goal of those behind the terrorist attack was to play an ethnic card. That is, to drive a wedge between us, Russians, and Tajiks, as well as other migrants," Andrey Popov, a reserve colonel of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), told Sputnik.

The Russian special services detained 11 people in connection with the terrorist attack. The suspected executors of the heinous crime are citizens of Tajikistan, a Central Asian country which borders on Afghanistan.

The strategic importance of Central Asian countries for the West has taken on a new significance after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine.

"Central Asia borders Russia and China, the main geopolitical competitors of the West," Stanislav Pritchin, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, told Sputnik.

In addition, Western special services could seek to set Central Asia on fire and to open a "second front" against Russia amid Moscow's military successes in Ukraine, suggested Popov.

The reserve FSB colonel believes there is a connection between the Crocus City Hall terror attack and the West's interests in the Central Asian region.

*a terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries.

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