The US Air Force has sacked the head of the Sentinel intercontinental missile project due to a loss of confidence, Bloomberg reports.

In May, the US command voiced concerns over delays in the missile program. These apprehensions surfaced amidst a 37% surge in the project's cost, which has now reached $131 billion.

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Lavrov: Russia, India and China have plans to assemble 'RIC' - the three countries format.

Other takeaways from Sergey Lavrov’s speech at the Primakov Readings forum:

🔸 Russia should someday restore relations with Germany, but everything will depend on Berlin: "we will not run after anyone";

🔸 Russia is interested in only one thing: an end to threats to its security from the West;

🔸 The US course of maintaining hegemony is doomed to failure;

🔸 The UN needs to be adapted to multipolarity, but this is difficult because of Western domination of the body;

🔸 In the Middle East, there is a risk of violence spreading to Lebanon because of Israel's actions.

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WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange arrived in Australia's capital city

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📹 First footage of Julian Assange stepping off an airplane that had just landed in the Australian capital

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📹 Assange was greeted in Canberra with a standing ovation. The first thing he did when he stepped down was to hug his wife and father.

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A Russian court has sentenced in absentia a number of foreign mercenaries who fought on the side of the Ukrainian forces, the Prosecutor-General's Office has said.

Swede Mathias Gustafsson, Croatian Vjekoslav Prebeg and Briton John Harding received 23 years in prison, while two more Britons - Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy - were sentenced to 3.5 and four years.

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High-ranking member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad eliminated by Israeli Army, IDF says

"An IAF aircraft directed by IDF intelligence struck and eliminated the terrorist Fadi Al-Wadiya, who served as a significant operative in the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization," the IDF statement reads.

Doctors Without Borders on X claimed that "the attack" killed their colleague Fadi Al-Wadiya and five others, including three children. According to the organization, the man was riding his bicycle to work near a Doctors Without Borders clinic where he was providing care.

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❗️ Russian strikes hit three HIMARS multiple rocket launch systems, a transport and loading vehicle for them and foreign mercenaries who were operating them, the Russian Defense Ministry said

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🎥🎥 Julian Assange Delivers Speech After Touching Down in Australia

Watch the livestream here or on Sputnik's website

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Japan unpacks historic first: Electric suitcase driver bagged for not having license

The driver was taken aback by the unexpected turn of events, admitting she had never considered the necessity of a license.

Electric suitcases, gaining popularity among the leisurely (and lazy) in Japan, are not compliant with safety regulations, making public use illegal.

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💬 "Julian should never have spent a single day in prison": Assange's wife condemned her husband's persecution as a blatant assault on journalism and the public's fundamental right to access the truth.

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Russian prankster Lexus about ex-UK PM Cameron: 'It's funny how he preened before the call'

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron had a peculiar conversation with Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov, alias Vovan, and Alexey Stolyarov, alias Lexus, who impersonated former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko.

Lexus sat down with Sputnik to discuss the prank:

🔸 "It's interesting how the British press will react to this. Cameron has already said that he 'realized it was a prank,' that it was an element of 'Russian disinformation'. So I would ask him what exactly he considers 'disinformation'. Was it that he said what he thinks? Or what else could it be?"

🔸 "We actually tried to reach out to him 10 years ago, when he served as the [British] prime minister,” Lexus said. “It seems to me that he has wised up a bit. At least he was allowed into the inner circle of British politics.”

“He is a representative of the so-called "deep state',” the famous prank caller added. “I can't call him a stupid person. But he behaved ridiculously [during the talk]. It can be seen [in the video]. It was funny how he preened before this conversation."

🔸 "Many people still want to communicate with Poroshenko,” Lexus said, explaining why they used his identity. “Cameron was one of those who approved Poroshenko for the role of President of Ukraine."

🔸 "Yes, we put on make-up. We talked live, via a video link. We have a clever disguise."

🔸 "We had questions that we wanted to ask him. He answered them. Everything went according to [our] plan."

During his call with Vovan and Lexus, Cameron said that Ukraine would not be invited to join NATO at the military bloc's summit in July, and that the Kiev regime should not argue with that decision.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova suggested that Cameron may have deliberately used the opportunity to tell Ukraine it is not welcome in NATO. She said she does not believe that the British minister was completely unaware he was being pranked.

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Australians would prefer Assange released with all charges lifted - lawmaker

Australians would rather prefer if WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was let free with all the charges lifted, a lawmaker for Australia's city of Port Hedland, Adrian McRae, told Sputnik.

"For the 1st time in many years, Australia is almost united as a people as we welcome home Julian. Of course, we'd prefer he was let free without charge, however, his sacrifice this last 14 years has been more than most of us could shoulder," McRae said.

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💬 Russia is ready to follow the path of restoration of diplomatic relations with Georgia and supports such initiatives of Tbilisi, Russian FM spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said

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❗️ Hungary has blocked an EU common statement condemning Russia's retaliatory measures against the Western media

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♥️ Dear readers, as a social media channel, it is crucial for us to have a deep understanding of our audience in order to provide you with the content you truly desire.

Last time we asked you where you read us from, but now we want to find out the age range of our audience.

So, calling all doomers, boomers, and zoomers: it's your time to shine!

Assange's father: supporters of his cause are victorious

Supporters of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have won and will be rewarded for their support, Assange's father John Shipton told Sputnik on Wednesday following the journalist's release.

"We have prevailed together, us supporters [of Assange's freedom]. To the supporters goes the victors wreath and all the accolades of achievement. This I believe and swear," Shipton said.

Assange was released from London's Belmarsh high-security prison on Tuesday after agreeing to a plea-bargain deal with the US Department of Justice. He arrived in his native Australia on Wednesday.

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