Sputnik Afghanistan journalist Khaibar Akifi has returned to work after being injured when a Ukrainian drone crashed in the Belgorod region last year

Akifi, who has Russian citizenship, and his wife Olesya were seriously injured on the night of October 12, 2023, as a result of a Ukrainian drone falling on a house on the outskirts of Belgorod, where the journalist’s family was located; their four-year-old daughter Amina and the wife’s parents were killed in the fire.

It was reported that the journalist had burns on 15% of his body, severe mine explosion trauma, broken ribs, pelvic damage and brain contusion. Akifi was treated at the Vishnevsky National Medical Research Center for Surgery in Moscow. In early February, Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko told Sputnik that the journalist’s life was no longer in danger.

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Russian weightlifter Elizaveta Zhatkina secured gold at the BRICS Games in the 49 kg weight category.

She achieved a snatch of 76 kg and a clean and jerk of 95 kg, totaling 171 kg. Fellow Russian Polina Andreeva took silver with a total of 162 kg (77 kg in snatch and 85 kg in clean and jerk), while Venezuela's Victoria Milano earned bronze with 143 kg total (61 kg in snatch and 82 kg in clean and jerk).

In the men's 61 kg category, Haider Sultan of Pakistan claimed victory with a total lift of 261 kg (115 kg in snatch and 146 kg in clean and jerk). Russia’s Oleg Musokhranov came in second with 260 kg, and his compatriot Elkan Gvazava placed third with 258 kg.

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Trump Jr. has arrived in Budapest to meet Hungarian PM Viktor Orban. Topics of the dialogue include the future of US-Hungary relations, peace in Ukraine and illegal migration.

Orban has repeatedly said that Trump Sr., if he wins the US presidential election, could end the conflict in Ukraine.

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AI gap: How China’s lead in artificial intelligence challenges US military superiority

China is racing ahead of the US in artificial intelligence (AI) development, which makes it almost impossible for America to prevail in a possible conflict between the two, according to a report by Virginia-based data analytics firm Govini.

The company’s CEO Tara Murphy Dougherty on Wednesday briefed reporters on the document. So what does the report single out in terms of AI-related US vulnerabilities?

▪️As compared to the US, China has more patents in 13 of 15 critical areas, which clearly indicates how America is lagging behind in AI development.

▪️The US Department of Defense (DoD) is yet to perform in-depth patent analyses to figure out why Washington is behind Beijing in this regard.

▪️When it comes to a potential conflict, “If you add in an AI advantage that the US doesn’t have, it potentially tips the war into unwinnable [for the US].”

▪️In case of a tension between the two countries, China can weaponize AI by hacking into the US energy grid, which would “have a major impact on the warfighter.”

▪️Instead of perceiving AI as “the most transformational technology that matters” in a possible armed standoff, the Pentagon continues “treating AI like it is just a science project.”

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What is known about Hezbollah's armed strength?

Part 1

With Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah exchanging fire on the border lately, Tel Aviv has been urged by some rightwing politicians to enter southern Lebanon and destroy Hezbollah. If Israel makes such a decision, what kind of armed forces is it going to face there?

Although there are no official statistics on what the Hezbollah military wing in Lebanon is like, here are some facts we’ve collected relying on open sources.

🔸Military personnel
In 2021, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah noted that the Lebanese movement's military structure includes approximately 100,00 "trained, organized and experienced Lebanese men".

🔸General amount of missiles
Hezbollah possesses more than 1 million rockets of various types, including precision-guided missiles and modified Katyusha rockets for increased accuracy, as well as anti-tank missiles, an unnamed official with Iran’s Quds Force recently told Foreign Policy. In 2022, Nasrallah also stated that Hezbollah had the ability within Lebanon to convert thousands of rockets into precision missiles and to produce drones.

🔸Ballistic missiles
In November 2023, Nasrallah said the movement used a Burkhan missile against Israel. Hezbollah has “thousands” of such Burkhans with a range up to 10 km, causing destruction within a radius of 150 meters. The Lebanese movement also has Zelzal-1 and Zelzal-2 artillery ballistic missiles, and Fateh-110 short-range, road-mobile ballistic missiles.

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What is known about Hezbollah's armed strength?

Part 2

🔸Anti-aircraft missiles
Hezbollah stated it had shot down an Israeli drone over southern Lebanon with a surface-to-air missile on several occasions. The latest was on June 10, according to the movement's official statement.

🔸Anti-tank missiles
Hezbollah has repeatedly used guided anti-tank missiles extensively. The movement's social media confirmed that Hezbollah had used Kornet anti-tank guided missiles, designed for heavy battle tanks, and the Almas ATGMs. Both are mostly used in attacks against the Israeli Meron airbase.

🔸Anti-ship missiles
Hezbollah first proved it had anti-ship missiles C-802 in 2006, when it hit an Israeli warship 16 km off the coast. The movement also released videos showing more of the same type of anti-ship missile used in 2006.

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What is known about Hezbollah's armed strength?

Part 3

🔸Drones
Hezbollah claims to have its own kamikaze drones called Ayoub and Mersad, which they regularly use in their attacks on Israeli territory.

🔸NLOS
Talking to Al Mayadeen in February 2024, commander of Hezbollah's anti-armor unit mentioned a new NLOS (Non Line Of Sight Launch System) weapon developed by the resistance. He noted that 'Hezbollah's anti-armor capabilities had the lion's share in the fighting due to the nature of the mission'. Hezbollah is adhering to secrecy because it doesn't not want 'to put all of its cards on the table', he said.

🔸 With more to come
Hezbollah has not yet unleashed "the weapons of the great war," member of the Lebanese Parliament Mohammad Raad told local media in March 2024.

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Lithuania's Seimas (highest legislative body) has approved the return of compulsory military service from 2026

According to the law, men aged 18 to 22 will be called up for nine months.

85 deputies voted for the bill, 3 people voted against it, and another 14 abstained.

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❗️One of the NTV journalists injured during Ukrainian shelling in Gorlovka has died. The local mayor named the deceased as cameraman Valeriy Kozhin. The NTV channel also confirmed the death of its operator.

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New US sanctions backfire: dollar dips as yuan dominates Moscow Exchange

"The share of the yuan, which now amounts to more than 50 percent on the Moscow Exchange, will probably be the main settlement currency for many transactions," Yaroslav Kabakov, director of strategy at the investment company Finam, tells Sputnik, commenting on the US sanctions against Russia's Moscow Exchange (MOEX), National Clearing Centre and National Settlement Depository (NSD).

After the US and its allies froze Russia's sovereign assets and cut the nation off from SWIFT, the yuan has replaced the US dollar as the most traded currency in Russia in 2023. In May, the share of the yuan in Russia's foreign exchange market reached a new high of 53.6 percent; it also increased by 1.3 percentage points in the over-the-counter market, up to 39.2 percent, compared to the previous month, according to the Russian Central Bank.

The US Treasury's announcement of restrictions against third countries trading with Russia is likely to bolster the de-dollarization trend. US secondary sanctions "created an incentive to diversify away from the US dollar to avoid these sanctions," Antoine Berthou, an economist at the Banque de France, warned in his September 2023 study.

Despite Western headlines claiming that the Russian currency "swings to opaque trading territory", the ruble has not been weakened by the US measures and the Russian market participants didn't panic, according to Sputnik's pundits.

"It was clear that [Russian] regulators were ready for this kind of solution. The Central Bank warned Russian banks in advance about how it would act. By and large, there is no surprise here," Nikita Maslennikov, an economist, the head of finance and economics at the Institute of Contemporary Development and a leading expert at the Center for Political Technologies, tells Sputnik.

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🥴 Biden briefly stepped away from his colleagues at a meeting with G7 leaders to give a thumbs up to a military man folding his parachute.

POTUS was quickly returned to duty, which Biden, apparently, was not happy about.

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The United States sent the USS Helena submarine to Cuba amid the presence of Russian warships there, according to the US Southern Command.

It claims that the submarine is in the Gulf of Cuba "as part of a routine port visit as it transits the US Southern Command geographic area of responsibility." However, the Associated Press writes that the US Navy submarine arrived “as a show of force” in response to the visit of Russian ships.

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni confirmed that the G7 countries have agreed to provide $50 billion to Ukraine in loans, but added that Russia’s frozen assets will not be confiscated.

"I confirm that we have reached a political agreement to provide additional financial assistance to Ukraine of about $50 billion by the end of the year through a loan mechanism that will use proftis from Russian assets frozen in our jurisdictions to repay them," Meloni said at the G7 summit in Italy.

The prime minister added that confiscation of the assets is not on the table.

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