Biden’s Gaza pier fiasco: failure accepted?

The much-touted US floating Gaza pier that cost around $230mln to build is going to be scrapped altogether.

“I do anticipate that in relatively short order we will wind down pier operations,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters.

The humanitarian project designed to deliver aid to the beleaguered Gaza Strip amid Israel’s war against Hamas started operating on May 17. However, miscalculations made it vulnerable to rough seas, and it was out of service most of the time, failing to replace land routes.

Built by the US military, many viewed it as a deceptive move by the Biden administration to feign genuine concern for the suffering civilian population in the enclave. It was taken down multiple times for repairs, but ultimately written off as a failure and is now set to be abandoned.

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🦅 Eagle-eye: Russian reconnaissance UAV operators pass locations of Ukrainian positions to artillery and tank units day and night so no enemy could hide from Russian fire.

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EU ramps up pressure on Hungarian PM Orban

The war hawks in Brussels have relentlessly assailed the Hungarian peace mission and Prime Minister Orban, but peace is still necessary, the Hungarian Cabinet of Ministers told Sputnik.

Viktor Orban was not invited to the first of the new European Parliament plenary session, despite the fact that Hungary currently holds the presidency of the EU Council.

Traditionally, the leader of a country initiating the six-month presidency of the council typically addresses parliament. However, MEP Clara de Melo stated that Orban was not extended an invitation because “he does not respect the role and rules of how the European Union works.”

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Russia's nuclear doctrine needs specifics, remains confident despite US missiles in Germany — Russia's Deputy FM

Russia's special military operation experience has revealed that its nuclear doctrine contains overly general formulations, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov. Despite this, Moscow feels no serious threat to its security, even with the deployment of US missiles in Germany, thanks to its military-technical capabilities.

NATO aims to dominate in the sphere of nuclear weapons, but this is doomed to fail, Ryabkov added.

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Obama and Pelosi have privately expressed doubts about Biden's ability to win re-election, according to US media

Ex-US president Barack Obama and ex-House speaker Nancy Pelosi have spoken privately about Joe Biden and the future of his 2024 campaign. Both the former president and ex-speaker expressed concerns about how much harder they think it has become for the president to beat Donald Trump. Neither is quite sure what to do, CNN claimed.

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❗️The Kiev regime is launching a cynical attack on its own population by destroying the dams of the Dnepr reservoirs, only to blame the sabotage on Russia in its latest provocation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

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Fast facts about America’s Aegis Ashore missile defense base in Poland

NATO announced this week that the Aegis Ashore missile defense system in Redzikowo, Poland is ‘mission ready’.

🔸 The facility, one of two Aegis Ashore sites in Eastern Europe (the other situated in Deveselu, Romania since 2016), uses SM-3 missiles for long-range interceptions (up to 1,200 km), and RIM-67 Standard ER or SM-6 missiles for interceptions at closer ranges (370-460 km, respectively). The base has up to 300 American military personnel permanently stationed there, and is operated by the US Navy.

🔸 The site has three MK 41 VLS launchers with eight cells each and 24 interceptors total. Along with the Deveselu base and Aegis-armed Navy destroyers in Rota, Spain, Aegis Ashore in Redzikowo is supported by an early-warning/tracking AN/TPY-2 X-band radar in Kurecik, Turkiye.

🔸The village of Redzikowo is situated in northern Poland, about 215 km west of the Russian city of Kaliningrad, and is home to about 1,400 people. When the base was approved in 2016, residents tried to stop construction, citing security, environmental and health concerns. Their protests were ignored, but construction suffered numerous delays thanks to problems with local contractors, increased costs and test failures, leading the base to become operational only in December 2023, instead of late 2018 as planned.

🔸 US plans to put a missile base in Redzikowo go back to the late 2000s, when Washington first announced its ‘European Phased Adaptive Approach’ to European NATO missile defense against ‘rogue actors’, or so they claimed. Russia had no illusions about the US plans’ true purpose. In 2016, President Putin said the missile shield was “not a defensive system, but a part of US strategic nuclear potential in Europe’s east.”

🔸 Putin and other Russian officials have warned that MK 41 launchers can carry not only interceptors, but offensive, potentially nuclear-capable Tomahawk cruise missiles – making the base a clear violation of the now-defunct INF Treaty.

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❗️The Ministry of Emergency Situations has officially confirmed that a Sukhoi Superjet 100 plane crashed in Moscow region. Three crew members died, according to preliminary data.

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What's known so far about the plane crash near Moscow?

◾️A Sukhoi Superjet (SSJ) 100 plane crashed near Moscow. It fell in a forest and exploded, the Ministry of Emergency Situations reported.

◾️Two pilots and a navigator were on board, according to preliminary data. There were no passengers on the flight, the Federal Air Transport Agency confirmed.

◾️There are no casualties among the local population, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

◾️The plane belonged a civilian company and was making a ferry flight, the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported. It stressed that the aircraft was not a completely import-substituted SSJ.

◾️The plane has been in operation since 2014.

◾️A new SSJ with import-substituted systems has just completed a test flight and successfully landed at the airdrome, United Aircraft Corporation told Sputnik.

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Find out which American states show strong secessionist sentiments

New Hampshire has joined the ranks of American states harboring strong secession sentiments. Its Independence Movement - NHEXIT - has accused the federal government of bringing the nation to the brink of bankruptcy.

Across the United States, 23% of adults would back their state leaving the Union, a February YouGov poll revealed. Which other states are inclined to go it alone?

◾️Around 36% of residents surveyed in Alaska would back secession. The Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) has been campaigning for an in-state referendum on independence.

◾️In Texas, 31% of adults would support independence. The Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) had its petition for a non-binding secession referendum on the Texas Republican 2024 primary ballot thrown out by the Supreme Court. Calls to secede there grew amid Governor Greg Abbott’s illegal migration feud with the White House.

◾️29% support secession in California. Its California National Party (CNP) and the Yes California movement have postulated that their prosperous Golden State pays more in taxes than it gets from federal government spending.

◾️The ‘Greater Idaho’ movement has 12 East Oregon counties seeking to leave the state of Oregon and join Idaho. Supporters argue that the liberals to the west do not share their ‘traditional ways of life.’ They also claim their rural area is ‘marginalized’ by an urban state legislature.

◾️A ‘Free Louisiana’ movement was launched in the state, where 23% would back secession. It argues the federal government fails to protect them from immigration, and criminals.

◾️Indigenous activists in Hawaii have argued the need for restoring self-sufficiency since the overthrow of the monarchy and annexation of Hawaii by the US during in the 19th century. Besides slamming these actions as illegal, the grassroots sovereignty movement advocates reclaiming its indigenous culture and language.

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Biden will not attend the Olympics in Paris; he will send his wife to the opening ceremony and the husband of his Vice President, Kamala Harris, to the closing ceremony, the White House announced.

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🎥 What are the prospects for transforming the inter-parliamentary BRICS forum into a full-fledged parliamentary assembly?

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev, gave Sputnik his insights on the matter on the sidelines of the BRICS parliamentary forum in St. Petersburg.

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❗️Russian military forces carried out 39 strikes with long-range precision weapons on military targets in Ukraine over the past week, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated.

The strikes hit air bases, defense industry enterprises, energy facilities, military equipment assembly workshops, and unmanned boat storage sites.

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❗️Russian air defense systems intercepted four ATACMS missiles, three Storm Shadow missiles, and 17 Hammer bombs over the past week.

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

◻️ Russian forces destroyed seven HIMARS launchers, prepared for strikes on Crimea, along with their foreign operators.

◻️ The Russian Battlegroup Zapad improved its tactical position and repelled three UAF counterattacks, inflicting losses of up to 3,440 militants.

◻️ The Russian Battlegroup Sever enhanced its front line position and repelled 26 counterattacks, with UAF losing up to 1,800 militants and two tanks.

◻️ Russian air defense systems destroyed 308 Ukrainian drones.

◻️ Twenty-two Ukrainian militants surrendered over the past week.

◻️ The Russian Battlegroup Dnepr inflicted heavy losses on seven Ukrainian brigades, with the UAF losing up to 685 militants.

◻️ UAF losses in the area of responsibility of the Russian Battlegroup Yug amounted to up to 4,380 militants, three tanks, 59 field artillery guns, and 29 ammunition depots.

◻️ In the area of responsibility of the Russian Battlegroup Vostok, UAF lost up to 980 militants.

◻️ Russian forces destroyed nine launcher systems with radars, including S-300PS, Hawk, and Patriot.

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The Israeli Air Force conducted an airstrike on the city of Tair Harfa in southern Lebanon, reports a Sputnik correspondent.

Video: Sputnik

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Biden's interaction with journalists following the NATO summit in Washington was announced as a "Big Boy Press Conference." Here's what it consisted of.

I wouldn't have picked Vice President Trump to be Vice President until I think she was not qualified to be President. So let's start there.

And so what did I do? I was told not to go over to Europe, I mean to Asia, including Europe, but Asia.

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