📹🇫🇷 No more arms to Ukraine!

A protest against arms supplies to Kiev and the Ukraine Summit in Paris took place at Place de la République in the centre of the French capital.

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🇺🇸 Trump terminates US funding for White Helmets — report

The Trump administration HAS CUT most of its financial support for the pseudo-humanitarian organization, the so-called Syrian Civil Defense (SCD) also known as "the White Helmets", CNN reports.

The USAID funding was halted due to the administration's broader move to cancel foreign aid contract.

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📹 Vladimir Putin authorizes launch of new NUCLEAR-POWERED SUBMARINE PERM

Among the nuclear submarines of project 885M, "Perm" will be the first regular carrier of the cruise hypersonic missile "Zircon."

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🔍 Trump’s auto tariffs hit hard: A major blow to European and Asian allies

US President Donald Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on foreign automakers, dealing a major blow to European and Japanese businesses. Let’s break it down.

👉 European auto stocks plunged following Trump’s announcement, with a new round of tariffs wiping out over $14 billion in market value for European carmakers, according to The Telegraph.

▪️Japanese automakers also took a hit:
▪️Toyota Motor fell 2%
▪️Nissan Motor closed down 1.7%
▪️Honda Motor declined 2.5%

🔸Automobiles accounted for 28.3% of Japan’s total exports to the US in 2024, generating approximately $63 billion annually.

🔸According to Nomura Research Institute, Trump’s auto tariffs could shrink Japan’s GDP by around 0.2%, equivalent to about $8 billion.

🔸Additionally, these measures significantly reduce the likelihood of the Bank of Japan raising its benchmark interest rate in May, despite consumer inflation remaining above target.

🔸Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stated: “We need to consider what’s best for Japan’s national interest. We are evaluating all options to determine the most effective response,” but stopped short of providing specific details.

🔸Trump defended the tariffs, claiming they aim to boost domestic manufacturing in the US and are expected to generate $100 billion in annual tax revenue. The auto tariffs take effect on April 2, with tariffs on car parts following a month later.

🔸Nearly 50% of new passenger vehicles sold in the US in 2024 were manufactured abroad, according to S&P Global Mobility, while the Trump administration pushes to revive the domestic auto industry.

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Canada PM: Our response to Trump's tariffs is to fight

Mark Carney said Canada must dramatically reduce its dependence on the US and rebalance its trade relationships elsewhere.

"We will fight the US tariffs with retaliatory trade actions of our own that will have maximum impact in the United States," Mark Carney said.

He added that he would have a phone call with the US president in the "next day or two".

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Diego Garcia: why is it a lynchpin of US military strategy in the Indian Ocean?

The island of Diego Garcia, where the US has redeployed some of its vaunted B-2 Spirit strategic bomber aircraft, holds significant strategic value to the United States for several reasons:

🔶 Located practically in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Diego Garcia affords to whoever controls the island an opportunity to project military power and influence across the region.

🔶 A large US military base on the island allows the United States to rapidly deploy its military assets across the region and conduct various operations at a relatively short notice. The base helped the US facilitate its invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and can help Washington carry out operations against Iran and Yemen.

🔶 The B-52 Stratofortress and B-2 Spirit bomber aircraft that are occasionally stationed at the base can strike at any target in the region, while the KC-135 Stratotanker refueling planes drastically increase their range.

🔶 Military deployments aside, the base at Diego Garcia provides the US with a convenient stopping point for troop movements between various theaters of operation such as Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The C-17 heavy airlifters Diego Garcia often hosts help facilitate these efforts.

🔶 The naval base on the island allows the US to conduct naval operations in the region and to provide logistical support to US assets in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. The port facilities at Diego Garcia can host various types of naval craft, from destroyers and aircraft carriers to submarines.

🔶 The island’s location also affords significant intelligence advantage to the US as it allows monitoring air and maritime traffic in the region. This intelligence gathering is augmented by the base’s satellite communications facilities and further aided by specialized aircraft such as P-8 Poseidon.

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⚡️ Vladimir Putin proposed to consider the introduction of temporary governance in Ukraine under the auspices of the UN and a number of countries, in order to hold elections there.

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⚡️ Russia has a strategic initiative along the entire front line — Vladimir Putin

Russia controls 99% of the territory of the Lugansk People's Republic and more than 70% of the territory of the DPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, Russian President noted.

"I said not long ago that we would push them out, but there is reason to believe that we will finish them off," he added.

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❗️ Vladimir Putin: Russia is ready to cooperate with all countries that want to eliminate the causes of the Ukrainian conflict for a peaceful settlement.

Moscow is ready to collaborate with Europe on Ukraine, but the EU behaves inconsistently and constantly tries to "lead Russia by the nose," he added.

"The curators from Europe have convinced Kiev to continue the war to the last Ukrainian in order to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia," the Russian president said.

Russia will no longer make mistakes based on excessive trust in its so-called partners, Putin stressed.

The Russian President mentioned the BRICS countries and the DPRK among the partners Russia is ready to work with for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.

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✂️ DOGE's goal is to cut budget deficit in half — Musk

Eliminating waste and fraud in the government should make this achievable, he added.

"Our goal is to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars from a nominal deficit of $2 trillion to $1 trillion," Elon said.

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🚨 Putin's proposal is a trap for the Europeans — Larry Johnson

Britain and France will be pressured by the US to support Russia's proposal for interim rule in Ukraine at the UN, the retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official told Sputnik.

"I fully anticipate that the United States would endorse it. But I think we could be faced with seeing France and England veto it. So, they will face significant pressure from the United State to support it," Larry Johnson added.

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Trump urges to make Washington DC beautiful ... again?

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order creating the "DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force" to make the city "a better capital than today's Washington."

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🔥🇮🇱 Riots in Jerusalem injure 6 policemen

Ultra-Orthodox Jews protesting the draft law clashed with police, blocking traffic, setting fires and throwing rocks.

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Trump pulls Stefanik's UN bid to save GOP House seat

US President said on Truth Social that he was withdrawing the nomination to " maintain EVERY Republican seat".

No replacement has been named.

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Elon Musk calls DOGE 'the biggest revolution since the original'

The head of the department was responding to the amount of criticism he and his staff face during their work on government spending.

"If we don't do this, we're sunk. Unless this exercise is successful, the ship of America will sink. That's why we're doing it," he added.

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EU leaders fear peace in Ukraine – French army veteran

US President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure peace in Ukraine have caused panic among European leaders like Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer and Friedrich Merz, who desperately want to “escape from their political death,” retired French Army Colonel Alain Corvez tells Sputnik.

“They have made a bargain on the war in Ukraine, and they have lost the war. They cannot accept peace imposed by Russia and America. So, they are doing things that are completely unrealistic and illogical,” says Corvez, an international strategy consultant and former international relations consultant for France’s Defense and Interior Ministries.

◼️ Macron’s decision to oppose the Black Sea ceasefire deal conditions is a “stupid decision," Corvez notes, as France and other European powers hold no sway in the Ukrainian conflict peace process.

“They are not able to do anything unless they want to declare war on Russia, which is the first nuclear power in the world, which is completely stupid,” he observes. “But unless they declare war to Russia, they have no option. They have nothing that they are able to do.”

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❗️ Governance in Ukraine is determined by the constitution and the people of the country, Reuters quoted a White House National Security Council spokesman as saying, commenting on Vladimir Putin's proposal for interim governance in Ukraine.

Trump said in February that Zelensky's approval rating was at 4%.

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Behind the veil of provocations: Ukraine’s FALSE FLAG OPERATIONS against Russia

Ukrainian intelligence services are planning provocations in Nikolayev to accuse Moscow of breaching a moratorium on energy strikes, a source in the pro-Russian underground told media.

Here are the major cases in a string of similar plots since 2022:

▪️ March 2022: Ukrainian militants massacred their own civilians in the Kiev suburb of Bucha to justify rejecting the draft Istanbul peace deal with Russia to serve NATO’s aim of prolonging its proxy war against Russia.

▪️ October 2022: Russia accused Ukraine of organizing the attack on the Crimean Bridge and said it was a provocation aimed at disrupting transport links and carrying out an information attack on the Russian government.

▪️ 2023-2024: The Ukrainian military shelling of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plants is not just a military action, but a planned provocation aimed at accusing Russia of threatening the safety of nuclear facilities, Moscow stated at the time.

▪️ 2022-2024: Ukrainian troops widely used toxic substances in the special operation zone, in what Moscow described as provocations organized by the Kiev regime and its Western backers to accuse Russian forces of similar activities.

▪️ 2022-2025: Moscow denounces Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian cities and military infrastructure as provocations aimed at escalating the conflict, justifying Kiev’s further military action and intimidating the population.

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