Ukraine to press-gang people with HIV, hepatitis and psychiatric disorders

Desperate to find at least a stopgap solution for the severe manpower crisis the Ukrainian military currently struggles with, the regime in Kiev has now resorted to drafting people who were previously exempt from military service due to a medical conditions.

As per the recently unveiled mobilization decree, which is slated to come into force on May 4, the following categories of Ukrainian citizens are now deemed fit for military service:

🔺People afflicted with chronic viral hepatitis with mild dysfunctions

🔺Asymptomatic HIV carriers and those suffering from disorders caused by HIV

🔺People with tumorous growths in the sustained remission stage

🔺People suffering from mild neurotic psychological disorders with the prospects of recovery

🔺People with residual changes after cured tuberculosis

The following categories of Ukrainians are also deemed fit for service in logistical units and in other non-combat roles:

🔺People with clinically cured tuberculosis

🔺People afflicted with chronic viral hepatitis with moderate dysfunctions

🔺People suffering from HIV-related diseases

🔺People with benign tumorous growths with moderate dysfunctions

🔺People suffering from slow progressing blood diseases with moderate dysfunctions

🔺People who recently underwent radical surgery of a primary tumor

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The Council of Heads of the UN General Assembly called for the launch of a peace process for Ukraine based on the Istanbul Agreement of 2022, which provides for its neutrality.

In addition, they called for an immediate exchange of prisoners and the search for steps to prevent further escalation of the conflict.

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Macron and Cameron's threats to flood Ukraine with “men and arms”: a sign of weakness?

Europe won’t be able to turn the tide in Ukraine and stop Russia's advance despite all the inflammatory statements, Paolo Raffone, the director of the Brussels-based CIPI Foundation, tells Sputnik.

Recently, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said during his visit to Kiev that Ukraine “absolutely has the right” to strike at Russia using British weapons: “It is their [Ukrainians] decision about how to use these weapons.” Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron repeated his idea to send NATO troops to Ukraine if Kiev’s front crumbles and the bloc is invited.

“Neither the UK, nor France or Germany can make any difference in Ukraine,” Raffone stresses. “Europeans follow the US path… and the US set the tune: just keep Ukraine surviving until the US election.”

Cameron sounded even more aggressive than his American allies, who dissuaded Ukrainians from making strikes against “old” Russian regions with the exception of Crimea.

“We don’t discuss any caveats that we put on those things… Ukraine needs to make sure… it has the ability to strike back,” the British politician said. More so, Reuters agency had to urgently correct a report on his speech, as such belligerent rhetoric was bordering a major diplomatic escalation with Russia.

In response, spokeswoman of Russia’s Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova said that “London should prepare itself” for strikes from its own clients - referring to how Washington was the victim of an attack from the very same groups it had nurtured and supplied in Afghanistan in the 2001 Twin Towers attack.

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Elon Musk predicted the end of the dollar if the United States does not deal with the national debt.

"We need to do something about our national debt or the dollar won't be worth anything."

During Biden's presidency, the US national debt has risen to an unprecedented level of more than $34.4 trillion (from $27.7 trillion in 2021). As the IMF predicts, in 2024 it will exceed 123% of the country's GDP.

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There is no unity among EU countries on policy towards Moscow, “some consider Russia a good friend," head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell said.

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Columbia students inspired by anti-apartheid and anti-Vietnam War protests

Doe Hee Choi is a second year graduate student at Columbia University School of Public Health. She chose not to use her real name to protect herself as the university administration has cracked down on the young protesters.

"We received an email from the [Columbia University] president, Minouche Shafik, a day ago saying that the students that occupied Hinds Hall - so it was called Hamilton Hall and was then renamed to Hinds Hall to honor the young Palestinian girl that was killed - those students, quote, face expulsion," Choi told Sputnik's Political Misfits podcast.

"Students that are on student visas that are being arrested or even just penalized and suspended do run the risk of having their visas immediately terminated," she continued.

Over 2,000 people have been arrested at US colleges and universities since April 18, with Columbia University students becoming standard-bearers in the eyes of American youngsters. The protesters follow in the footsteps of Columbia's anti-apartheid demonstrators of 1985 and those opposing the Vietnam War in 1968.

Choi has trashed the assumptions voiced by New York City authorities, as well as the US mainstream press, that the protests are led by some "external agitators". She emphasized that the movement is grassroots, noting that arrests and the ongoing crackdown by university authorities only serve to bolster its strength. She has no doubt that despite most students leaving the campus for the summer season, the struggle will continue unabated and may catch its second wind in the fall.

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In Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou, protesters trample on the stars-and-stripes flag at the US Embassy.

They protest against “interference in internal affairs” and “spread of disinformation” about the national armed forces.

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▪️Macron and Cameron's threats to flood Ukraine with “men and arms”: a sign of weakness?

▪️Ukraine to press-gang people with HIV, hepatitis and psychiatric disorders

▪️The US forced to end its costly military presence in Niger, making room for Russian troops

▪️Find out how NATO beefs up its ‘mostly peaceful’ military presence on Russia’s doorstep

▪️Mathematics of victory: Russia’s military advantage over Ukraine becomes painfully visible

▪️US relocates warplanes and drones from UAE to Qatar amid Abu Dhabi’s security concerns

▪️Nuclear energy race: US yielding to Russia and China

▪️Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are trying to persuade EU countries to abandon the confiscation of Russian assets

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Macron is afraid to go down in history as the leader who ‘lost Africa’

Currently, French President Emmanuel Macron witnesses his position weakening, both “personally” as the incumbent president and “politically with his centrist-globalist party low performance,” argues Paolo Raffone, a strategic analyst and director of the CIPI Foundation in Brussels.

“Macron does not care about public opinion, following the “power” tradition of France. He knows that he has no appeal for the public opinion in France and he acts as an absolute sovereign to save the state,” Raffone tells Sputnik.

At the same time, the analyst notes, Macron is essentially a “narcissist” who “does not want to be remembered as the worst president of France”: namely, as the president who witnessed France losing its hold on Africa.

“Macron has still a couple of years in office as president of France, and he cannot be reelected after this term. In this context, Macron is trying to play all his remaining cards to reinvent a political role for France in Europe,” he said.

In French and EU politics, Macron is attempting to sow division among the other right-wing parties, while abroad he seeks to recover his reputational losses over the African fiasco by “trying to play a role in the Caucasus – pro Armenia and anti-Turkiye and Azerbaijan” – and in the Ukrainian conflict.

“It is again a gamble with two objectives: the first, is to replace Germany’s leadership in EU foreign policy, the second, pre-position France in the eyes of the US current and future administration attempting to balance the troubled UK’s Tory leadership that could be replaced by Labor at the end of 2024 (or earlier),” Raffone explains.

The analyst also pointed out that Macron and the French establishment are well aware of the fact that “France is no more a power, not militarily and not economically,” and that the so-called “’French-German axis’ is a fake.”

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EU diplomacy chief Josep Borrell knows a way to fast-forward Ukrainian conflict

“The Ukrainian existence depends on us, I know how to finish the war in Ukraine. I can finish the war in Ukraine in a couple of weeks just by cutting the supply. If I cut the supply of arms to Ukraine, Ukraine cannot resist they will have to surrender and the war will finish,” Borrell said during a lecture at the Oxford University.

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After the flood: Police crackdown on pro-Palestine rally at UCLA

The prestigious California school was left in complete tatters following a brutal crackdown on a recent student demonstration in support of Palestine.

Apart from serious damage to the once beautiful university premises, violent clashes between protesters and the law enforcement resulted in over 100 reported arrests.

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Hamas delegation will arrive in Cairo on May 4 with goal to reach ceasefire deal

Hamas will send a delegation to Cairo on Saturday with a goal to reach an agreement on ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian movement said.

"We emphasize the positive attitude with which the movement's leadership has responded after studying the recently received ceasefire proposal. We are going to Cairo with the same spirit to reach an agreement," Hamas said in a statement.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that Israel gave Hamas a week to strike an agreement otherwise the Jewish state vowed to start its offensive in Rafah.

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Turkiye to raise issue of pressure measures on Israel at summit of Islamic states

Turkiye will raise the question of urgent pressure measures against Israel amid the situation in the Gaza Strip at the upcoming summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a diplomatic source in Ankara told Sputnik.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend the summit, which is scheduled from May 4-5 in the capital of The Gambia, Banjul.

"Turkiye will seek to ensure that the OIC summit is result-oriented and specific. Time is running out to the disadvantage of the Palestinian people. Turkiye will raise the need for specific and urgent pressure on Israel and countries that support it," a source said.

Previously the Turkish Trade Ministry confirmed that the country had fully suspended trading with Israel and that the decision would be in force until uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip is ensured. On Friday, Turkish Trade Minister Omer Bolat said that the restrictive measures would only be lifted after a ceasefire in Gaza.

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A US military base came under missile fire in the Omar oil field in the province of Deir ez-Zor in eastern Syria, local source has told Sputnik.

"Seven missiles were fired at the US base in the Omar oil field, three of them landed inside the base from the southeastern side, the other four missiles landed in the vicinity of the base," a source said.

Columns of smoke could be seen at the scene, a source added.

Since the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in October 2023, the US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria have been repeatedly attacked by missiles and drones that Washington believes belong to pro-Iranian groups. Iranian authorities said the armed groups that carry out attacks have nothing to do with Iran and do not receive any orders from it.

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US aid package doing next to nothing in Ukraine

There has been a “sudden renewal of desperation” among Kiev’s Western benefactors since the aid has failed to make an impact, international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

It prompted French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent saber-rattling around Ukraine. “We saw this [desperation] through February and March, and then there was a brief, maybe not even quite a week, of these absurdly uplifted spirits” when the US aid passed, Sleboda said.

On Thursday, Western media posted an article noscriptd “No Safety in Retreat: Ukrainian Soldiers Say Rear Defensive Lines Barely Exist Amid Russian Advance.” It described Ukraine’s desperate attempts to build fortifications ahead of the rapidly approaching Russian forces.

“We entered the war with nothing,” a member of Ukraine’s engineering force told a media outlet, noting that they were only given equipment from the 1960s and shovels. “Accordingly, that’s the kind of trenches we made.”

The lack of an impact of the latest US aid package to Ukraine on the frontlines can be boiled down to two things: It was never what it was billed to be, with estimates suggesting only $14 billion of the $61 billion are marked for new weapons and not simply refilling US stockpiles, and a complete lack of manpower that Ukraine can use on the front.

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US pressures Qatar to expel Hamas if group continues to reject ceasefire deals with Israel

The US has told Qatar that it should oust Hamas if the group continues to turn down ceasefire agreements with Israel, the Washington Post reported, citing US officials.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken notified Qatari PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in April, the report said.

Qatari officials have advised Hamas officials, including Ismail Haniyeh, the group's leader who currently lives in Doha, that they should prepare backup residency plans in case they need to leave, the report said, citing diplomatic officials.

The move by the US comes with some negative feedback from analysts and officials concerned that closing the Hamas office in Doha could further complicate efforts to communicate with Hamas leadership for future hostage negotiations, according to the report.

Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden and Amir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar had a call on securing the release of hostages and implementing a ceasefire in Gaza after Hamas was offered a 40-day ceasefire and the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for freeing Israeli hostages.

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Algeria requests UN Security Council meeting on mass graves in Gaza for Tuesday

Algeria has requested a closed-door UN Security Council meeting for Tuesday on the subject of mass graves discovered in the Gaza Strip in late April, a source told Sputnik.

"Yes, [the meeting was requested] by Algeria to Tuesday afternoon," a source said.

In late April, Al Jazeera reported that that Palestinian authorities had uncovered a mass grave with 180 bodies inside the Nasser Medical Complex in the Gazan city of Khan Yunis, from which the Israeli troops had withdrawn earlier in the month.

CNN later reported, citing Gaza civil defense workers, that more than 300 bodies had been found at the site. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was imperative to give international investigators access to mass graves in Gaza in order to establish the facts. Israeli officials said the Jewish state was not involved.

Israel launched a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked the Jewish state on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and abducting some 240 others. Over 34,500 people have been killed so far by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to local authorities.

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US, France are fleeing to the last bastion of ‘Françafrique’

The US and France, having been kicked out of much of the African Sahel, including Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad, are fleeing to Côte d'Ivoire, aka the Ivory Coast, and Senegal which are among the few remaining places on the continent where French influence still holds significant sway.

“Very few people thought they [US] were going to go there because Côte d'Ivoire is the place [and] is sort of one of the two most important countries, with Senegal, where the French or what's called "Françafrique" is still very strong,” Koffi Kouakou, an Africa analyst and senior research fellow at the Center for Africa-China Studies at the University of Johannesburg told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

Kouakou also noted that the US submarine deal reportedly angered French officials, making them feel “a little bit suspicious” of the US.

The US has been in Niger since 2012, setting up bases there ostensibly to support the government’s fight against terrorism. Since the US entered Niger, instances of terrorism in the Sahel exploded from less than 200 incidents in 2011 to more than 800 incidents in 2021.

“French troops weren’t any help with [fighting terrorism],” international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda told Fault Lines, “Or the Americans, it must be said.”

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❗️Russia's operational air defense systems destroyed four ATACMS tactical missiles fired by Ukraine over Crimea, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"Last night, an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack using American ATACMS tactical missiles against facilities on the territory of Russia was suppressed," the statement said.

"Four tactical missiles were destroyed by the air defense systems on duty over the territory of the Crimean peninsula," the ministry added.

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