❗️The plane carrying Malawi's Vice President Saulos Chilima "disappeared from radar and cannot be tracked."

According to authorities, the aircraft, with the vice president of the African state and nine other people on board, missed its scheduled landing time, and all attempts to establish contact have been unsuccessful. Search and rescue operations have commenced.

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Meet the most insane American neocon warmonger ever

From "blow Iran off the map" to "I'm not gonna let Putin control NATO", Lindsey Graham usually goes ridiculously off the deep end when it comes to anti-Russia, anti-China and anti-Iran rhetoric.

We've collected the most inflammatory and irrational remarks by Graham for you and rolled them all into one video.

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Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the European Parliament elections:

"The elections took place under conditions of strict limitations, absence of fair competition, information space cleansing from alternative sources, and rampant anti-Russian campaigning," said Zakharova.

💬 "Political forces opposing mindless and damaging confrontation with Russia were subjected to discrimination, often facing direct pressure and harassment," she said, adding that "in many EU member states, voting took on a distinctly protest character: both through support for opposition parties and demonstratively low turnout.”

“Significant strengthening of positions of nationally-oriented political forces opposing erosion of national sovereignty and identity, as well as substitution of traditional values with neoliberal attitudes, was observed," the spokeswoman said.

💬 "Over the past years, the EP's confrontational position towards our country has degraded to an unprecedented level of hostility," Zakharova noted.

"As a result of the European Parliament elections, the 'ideological basis' for further support of the EU's current self-destructive political course based on Russophobia has been maintained," she concluded.

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❗️❗️❗️ South Africa’s case against Israel in ICJ helped show UN's inability to protect civilians, South Africa's foreign minister says

"Can the court help us to stop [the purported genocide in Gaza]? And what the court has done is help us to expose the inadequacy of the United Nations Security Council in the ability to enforce peace and security, but also the failures of the United Nations to ensure that innocent people are protected," Naledi Pandor told Sputnik Africa. "So it's been a very important experience."

According to Pandor, the reason Pretoria went to court "very early on" after Israel began its military operation in the enclave was to try to prevent genocide.

"We should stop the slaughter and not let it happen, and then we say, 'oh, this was genocide; we're so sorry. We didn't act.' We must act before harm is done. So South Africa went to the court very early on to say something bad is happening here," the top diplomat explained.

Last but not least, the minister expressed hope that all nations around the globe will support the case because it concerns humanity and human rights.

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🤝BRICS foreign ministers welcome proposals for mediating a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine through dialogue and diplomacy, according to a joint statement.

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Who broke up with Zelensky over the past 5 years?

Western control over Zelensky is not limited to the country’s refusal to settle with Russia or its draconian draft laws. The west also dictates comings and gongs from his government.

Here’s a quick overview of Zelensky’s most memorable sackings:
2024

◻️ Serhiy Shefir, former first aide responsible for making business contacts and Zelensky’s daily schedule

◻️ Oleksiy Danilov, ex-secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, ousted from the position he held from October 2019

◻️ Valery Zaluzhny, former Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief: The general’s dismissal grabbed headlines worldwide amid claims of a spat with Zelensky

◻️ Kyrylo Tymoshenko, ex-deputy head of the presidential office, who oversaw regional policy from 2019
2023

◻️ Oleksiy Arestovych, Zelensky’s former communications advisor for defense and national security. He resigned after saying a residential building in Dnepropetrovsk had collapsed because Ukrainian air defenses ahot down a Russian missile onto it, causing a public outcry
2022

◻️ Ivan Bakanov, ex-head of Ukraine’s security service, removed from the position due to suspected treason
2021

◻️ Dmytro Razumkov, former speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, dismissed from the Ukrainian parliament by a vote of MPs
2020

◻️ Andriy Bohdan, former Head of the Presidential Administration, now one of the fiercest critics of Zelensky and his his drug addiction

◻️ Oleksiy Honcharuk, ex-PM: led the cabinet for less than five months before quitting over a leaked recording suggesting he had criticized the Zelensky

◻️ Ruslan Ryaboshapka, former Ukrainian Prosecutor General: ousted from the post by the pro-Zelensky majority in parliament
2019

◻️ Oleksandr Danylyuk, ex-secretary of the National Security and Defense Council and Zelensky’s campaign advisor: Resigned, saying publicly he was not able to stand behind-the-scenes struggle

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How Alternative for Germany stays afloat in hostile ‘liberal’ waters

The leadership of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is ecstatic and jubilant following the party's success in the EU elections. With 15.9% of the votes nationwide, they came in second only to the Christian Democrats, securing 15 seats in the European Parliament.

This consistent upswing demonstrates a strong trend for the party. In the last Euro-election in 2019, AfD received 11% of the vote. In the 2021 Bundestag election, they garnered just over 10%.

💬 “The party is stronger than ever now, and with its double-digit electorate it is stronger than every individual party in the ruling coalition,” the German press highlighted.

However, the fight is far from over, as German mainstream parties show no intention of playing fair. On the eve of the vote, AfD was nearly declared “anti-constitutional” and went through several scandals. Here is what happened:

◻️ On May 26, Germany’s Federal Minister of the Interior and Community Nancy Faeser publicly looked into the legal possibilities of declaring several AfD candidates “enemies of the Constitution” and prohibiting them from running. This was done 10 days before the vote, and it is worth noting that the German authorities have been conducting covert operations against the party for an extended period.

◻️ The main candidate of AfD, Maximilian Krah, was accused of spying for China when police arrested his aide. Additionally, the second candidate, Petr Bystron, was accused of "acting in Russia's interests." Despite the prosecutor's office being unable to produce any proof or bring the MEPs' cases to court, the party ultimately replaced Krah with another candidate.

◻️ The anti-AfD German press openly celebrated and omitted a lot of facts when AfD was expelled from the EP Identity and Democracy faction because of a misinterpreted interview, which Krah gave to the Italian newspaper La Reppublica.

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Macron gambles with snap vote after centrists lose EU election

Macron’s decision to call snap elections is a tactical retreat, Dr John Laughland, a lecturer in politics and history at ICES, the Catholic Institute of the Vendée, told Sputnik.

The gamble is that if the right-wing National Rally (RN), which crushed his Renaissance party in the European Parliament elections, wins the vote and controls Parliament for the next two to three years, by 2027 some there would be “some kind of successor to Macron,” who “would hope to beat the Rally” in the next presidential election.

💬 “It's nearly always the case in French elections that the incumbent government is voted out,” Laughland said. “I suppose that's his calculation. That they'll have power for a few years and then everything will get back to ‘normal’ in 2027.”

If the RN wins control of parliament “it is conceivable” that there might be a shift in France’s policy of supporting the proxy conflict in Ukraine, suggested the expert — as Marine Le Pen’s party seemed more “cautious on provoking Russia.”

“But that's a hypothetical scenario. It depends on whether they do indeed win a parliamentary majority,” Laughland added.

According to him, there is widespread discontent over Macron’s increasingly hawkish Ukraine policy.

“I personally think he made a fool of himself at D-Day in Normandy, when he gave an interview after the Normandy landings ceremony, because he said that it didn't make any difference if there were already French nationals or German or British nationals in Ukraine as mercenaries or as civilians,” Laughland said.

He suggested that Europeans were “sort of asleep,” or “sleepwalking” when it came to the dangerous escalation in the West’s rhetoric. The policy of sending ever more arms to Ukraine will unfortunately continue, he concluded.

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🇨🇳 China has cautioned against underestimating its determination and capability to defend its territorial integrity, including over Taiwan, Sputnik reported at the PRC embassy, noting that US arms sales to Taiwan undermine China's sovereignty.

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🇩🇴🇷🇺The Dominican Republic wants its students to graduate with knowledge of the Russian language

The Dominican Republic aims to prepare students so that upon completion of their studies, they not only know English but also Russian, Oscar Radames Amagos Perez, Deputy Minister of Education of the Dominican Republic for Monitoring and Quality Control of Education, stated.

"We are preparing our graduates so that upon completion of secondary education, they can speak two languages, one of which is English, and the other, of course, we would like it to be Russian, because in 2022 we received a very strong influence from Russia," noted the Dominican representative at the international education forum "Shaping the Future."

He also added that it is important for the republic to welcome Russian tourists and speak Russian.

The "Shaping the Future" forum is taking place on June 10-11 in Kazan. The event showcases the achievements of the domestic sovereign education system and presents the experience of organizing the educational process.

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◻️ Pepe Escobar: the three key messages from St Petersburg to the Global Majority

◻️ Why did Macron roll the dice with dissolving France’s parliament?

◻️ Meet the most insane American neocon warmonger ever

◻️ Who broke up with Zelensky over the past 5 years?

◻️ How Alternative for Germany stays afloat in hostile ‘liberal’ waters

◻️ Macron gambles with snap vote after centrists lose EU election

◻️ Gonna smoke you out: Russia's new 'Malva' self-propelled gun sees action

◻️ HeliRussia-2024 showcases outstanding Russian choppers tested in real combat

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EU Parliament elections: Eurosceptic victories show people's discontent with Brussels' agenda

💬 "The results clearly show that more and more citizens in the EU member states are dissatisfied with the policies of the Brussels political commissioners," Dr Christian Blex, an Alternative for Germany (AfD) member of the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament, told Sputnik.

Weak economic growth, rampant people-trafficking and the Ukraine conflict continue to haunt Europe. Even though the mainstream conservative European People's Party (EPP) remains the largest group in the EU Parliament, Eurosceptic parties made serious gains across the bloc just as polls predicted.

According to Politico, two most conservative coalitions – the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the Identity and Democracy (ID) group – have gained 131 seats, not counting the AfD's 15 MEPs, the Hungarian Fidesz party's 10, the Polish Confederation party's six MEPs and the Bulgarian Revival's three representatives. If they formed a single group it would be one of the largest forces in the EU Parliament, second only to the EPP, the news site calculated.

But the growing support for Eurosceptic parties does not mean the EU will see a change of direction, according to Gunnar Beck, lawyer and outgoing MEP for the AfD party. While the centrist EPP Group is still the strongest force in the European Parliament it is unlikely that the bloc's strategy will change in the foreseeable future, the pundit said.

"If Mrs Von der Leyen is re-elected… we are not going to see a very different approach under her," Beck told Sputnik. "But that doesn't just apply to the situation in Ukraine. It also applies to the other disastrous policies Von der Leyen has pursued."

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The UN Security Council adopted a US-drafted resolution welcoming the Gaza ceasefire proposal announced by President Joe Biden and calling on Hamas to accept it, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

Fourteen members of the council voted in favor, with Russia abstaining.

The resolution basically repeats Israel's three-stage proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, which US President Biden brought to the public.

🔶 The first phase, according to the resolution, includes an immediate full ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza's population centers, the release of hostages held by Hamas, and the exchange of arrested Palestinians.

🔶 The second phase involves an indefinite cessation of hostilities in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

🔶 The third phase of the initiative calls for the launch of a “multi-year reconstruction plan” for Gaza.

The resolution rejects any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip, including any action that reduces the enclave's territory.

◾️ Russian Ambassador to the UN Vasily Nebenzia said Russia has many questions regarding the newly adopted US-drafted UN Security Council resolution which welcomes a Gaza ceasefire proposal whose details are not known to the public.

“We have a whole host of questions about the American draft resolution, whereby this Council welcomes some deal, the ultimate outlines of which are not known to anyone, perhaps, except the mediators,” Nebenzia said during a UN Security Council during a meeting on Palestine and Israel.

◾️ Palestinian movement Hamas welcomed the resolution.

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Snap elections: Macron effort to outsmart National Rally may backfire

"[Emmanuel] Macron wants the [National Rally] to gain power and become unpopular before the 2027 presidential election," Massimiliano Bonne, political analyst, told Sputnik. "Although he cannot run for re-election, Macron wants to ensure the survival of his political party at the national and EU levels."

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for snap elections after Marine Le Pen's National Rally outperformed his party in the European Parliament elections with 31-32 percent of the vote versus 15 percent received by the president's Renaissance. It is expected that the vote will take place in two rounds on 30 June and July 7.

According to Bonne, it is unclear whether the president's party failure is related to Macron's bellicosity including his calls for sending NATO troops to Ukraine. Anyway, it appears that Macron indeed got himself into trouble given EU member states' opposition to the radical measure, according to the pundit.

"He caused some confusion among France's main allies: statements about sending soldiers, for example, were quickly rejected by many European countries and NATO members," Bonne said. "In France, however, the opposition accuses Macron of adopting a more intransigent approach towards Russia for purely political reasons, with an eye to the European elections."

It is not the first time that a French president has called snap elections: in 1997 then conservative President Jacques Chirac resorted to the option which resulted in the formation of a left-wing majority in the parliament. Chirac was forced to appoint Socialist Lionel Jospin as a prime minister and had no say over a number of major reforms carried out by his left-wing opponents.

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US Border Patrol agents in California were instructed to send illegal migrants from Russia and five other countries - Georgia, Moldova, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - for deportation immediately after their arrest, according to the New York Post, citing an internal document.

Members of the rest of the “eastern hemisphere”, which includes more than 100 countries, are allowed to stay in the US while their cases are being processed.

The order applies to the San Diego section of the border, which accounts for most of the “eastern hemisphere” immigrants.

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❗️ The US administration has lifted the ban on arms supplies to Ukraine's terrorist Azov battalion*, The Washington Post newspaper reported, citing the US State Department.

The formation has passed the State Department's inspection for compliance with the Leahy Law, which prohibits the provision of US military assistance to foreign units convicted of serious human rights violations, as newspaper reported.

The Azov battalion is one of the most notorious military units of the Ukrainian army, as its soldiers have been found to be involved in torture, abuse of civilians, neo-Nazism and excessive brutality since its foundation.

Earlier, there were already concerns that the prohibition on military aid to Azov was de facto losing force, particularly because the Azov fighters had become part of Ukraine's National Guard or had created new separate paramilitary formations.

*The 'Azov' battalion is a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia.

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