Bye, Sentinel? 'Good reasons' to shelve US missile program

There are "pretty good chances" that the Pentagon will cancel the Sentinel nuclear missile program after its review, retired US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik, commenting on the recent firing of a top official overseeing the program.

The project, which is "way over budget and way behind schedule," "is supposed to deliver 400 ICBMs [intercontinental ballistic missiles] at a cost to the taxpayer of $325 million each, and employs people mostly in Utah," Kwiatkowski recalled.

The program may be on the chopping block for at least three reasons, she said.

🔶 "Utah's senators and handful of congressmen are not in a powerful position to save the program."

🔶 "The widespread national publicity about cost overruns and the recent firing of the program manager further reduces the political firepower" of the project.

🔶 "As the services realize that budget constraints are coming to the DoD, they are looking for public sacrifices to fund more popular and politically profitable programs.

"In this sense, the future of the LGM-35 Sentinel ICBM, also known as the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, does not look promising, according to Kwiatkowski.

Land or ground-based missiles in the nuclear triad, which includes ICBMs, bombers, and submarines, "are largely deployed and funded based on the idea that they will never be used, or if they are used, no government would survive those launches intact," she noted. These missiles "are expensive to build, test, and maintain, they lack pizzazz, and they tend to stay in the budget background. I suspect that Northrup Grumman hopes to shift some of the Sentinel budget to the more glamorous and globally marketable B2 fighter-bomber replacement program, and I expect they have already greased the congressional skids to do so," she concluded.

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The West loses $257 billion due to trade restrictions with Russia

Importers from unfriendly countries received less Russian goods in the amount of $256.5 billion, while Russia managed to sell these goods to other states and made a profit of almost $31 billion, Sputnik calculated using open data.

Russia saw export growth compared to the pre-sanctions period, with companies earning an additional $31 billion from trade with friendly countries, data from the Federal Customs Service show. Western importers were mostly undersupplied with Russian minerals ($107 billion), jewelry ($38 billion) and metals ($21 billion).

Russia has repeatedly stressed that it is happy to trade with friendly nations in the wake of Western economic sanctions, warning that these restrictive measures will backfire by fueling inflation and triggering a cost-of-living crisis.

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🔶Parliamentary elections kick off in France: here’s what you need to know Who is steering Joe Biden?

🔶Who is steering Joe Biden?

🔶Democrats are said to be struggling to find a replacement for Biden in wake of his debates with Trump

🔶Is US Sentinel nuclear missile program doomed?

🔶Why has Stanford removed Ukraine’s Azov Battalion from its list of extremist organizations?

🔶How much has the West lost due to its trade sanctions against Russia?

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❗️China’s Xi will visit Kazakhstan on July 2-4 to take part in the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s heads of state council, Kazakhstan’s presidential press service said.

The SCO Summit will be held in Kazakhstan’s Astana on July 3-4, with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also participating.

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Patients with Down syndrome participate in traditional Iranian sport of "Varzesh-e Zurkhaneh"

"Varzesh-e Zurkhaneh" is one of the oldest forms of martial arts, dating back several thousand years. The place where the competitions are held is called Zurkhaneh, which means "house of strength", and the people who practice this sport are known as "champions".

The rules of varzesh-e zurkhaneh were registered by Iran in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List in November 2010.

This sport has a strong rehabilitative effect on people with Down syndrome, promoting their physical and mental development.

This video was shared on social media.

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The Chinese Foreign Ministry has announced that Xi Jinping will visit Kazakhstan and Tajikistan on July 2-6 to take part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's heads of state council and have meetings with Kazakh President Kasym Tokayev and Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon.

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Watch Russia’s Su-30SM fighters on combat duty in the special op zone

The pilots usually patrol the areas, cover the actions of aircraft and helicopters when they deliver airstrikes on military targets and equipment of the Ukrainian armed forces.

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Kanye West is reportedly in Moscow

Rapper Kanye West has arrived in the Russian capital, producer Yana Rudkovskaya said.

"He is staying in the very heart of the capital! Fingers crossed for the show at Luzhniki! My bet: if it happens, it will be 80,000 sold out in three days," she wrote on her Telegram channel.

Earlier, reports were circulating in the media that Kanye West was planning to perform at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

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Davos Forum founder Schwab reportedly facing sexual harassment allegations

Under Klaus Schwab’s decades-long oversight, the World Economic Forum “has allowed to fester an atmosphere” of sexual harassment and discrimination against women and Black people, the World Street Journal has reported, citing numerous sources, including current and former forum employees.

An array of female staffers described sexual harassment they experienced at the hands of senior managers, some of whom remain at the forum, a tone that was set at the very top of the organization, according to the WSJ.

“Since the Forum’s earliest years, staffers say women received warnings about Schwab: If you find yourself alone with him, he may make uncomfortable comments about your appearance. They describe his behavior as more awkward than menacing, but inappropriate for a leader,” the newspaper pointed out.

In separate incidents, white forum managers used the N-word around Black employees, who also raised formal complaints to its leaders about being passed over for promotions or left out of Davos.

Forum spokesman Yann Zopf rejected all the accusations, insisting that the WSJ article purportedly mischaracterizes “our organization, culture and colleagues, including our founder,” who “does not and has never engaged in the vulgar behaviors” the newspaper described.

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❗️The Russian Armed Forces liberated the settlements of Spornoe and Novoaleksandrovka in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry announced.

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❗️The Yug Battlegroup eliminated up to 450 soldiers, two tanks and three armored vehicles during the day.

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry’s weekly briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️Russian troops hit a railway train with weapons, military equipment and personnel of the 117th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces;

▪️Ukrainian forces lost up to 285 soldiers, a tank and a MLRS Grad combat vehicle during the day as a result of the actions of the Russian Sever Battlegroup;

▪️Units of the Tsentr Battlegroup hit the formations of five brigades of the Ukrainian forces and repelled five Ukrainian counterattacks. Ukrainian losses amounted to 370 soldiers;

▪️Russia's Zapad Battlegrooup defeated Ukrainian Azov* brigades and repelled two counterattacks. Ukrainian losses amounted to 515 soldiers;

▪️Units of the Vostok Battlegroup eliminated 130 Ukrainian soldiers;

▪️The Dnepr Battlegroup defeated the troops and equipment of three brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukrainian losses amounted to 105 soldiers;

▪️Russian air defenses shot down 72 drones, two Neptune-MD missiles, three false MALD air targets and nine HIMARS missiles during the day.

*recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia

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🗳Marine Le Pen has voted in the French snap elections to the National Assembly.

Le Pen cast her ballot in the town of Henin-Beaumont in northern France, where she was listed as a municipal councilor in 2008-2010 and from where she was elected to the French parliament for the first time in 2017.

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