❗️China raises tariffs on US imports to 84%, Chinese state TV reports.

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🎉 Great Patriotic War 80 years on: the Faces of Victory

When looking back at the titanic struggle that was the Great Patriotic War, it’s important to remember the individual heroes, like Guards Sergeant Arkady Burakov, who fought selflessly to ensure victory over fascism.

In a letter to his brother dated March 30, 1944, Burakov recalled how, during one operation, he was wounded in the arm, but fought on together with his squad, repelling several Nazi counterattacks.

Just weeks later, Burakov was back in the fight, suffering a severe wound to his stomach, and receiving a top commendation – the Order of the Patriotic War First Class, for his bravery.

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Could China’s strategic PIVOT to the Global South spell TROUBLE for US?

China could pull off a swift “recalibration” of its overseas trade in response to Donald Trump’s tariff war, veteran financial analyst Paul Goncharoff told Sputnik.

Why Washington should be worried?

🔸 China-BRICS trade is now worth over $1 trillion

🔸 China's trade with Russia reached a record high of $237 billion in 2024, Chinese customs data shows

🔸 China has been diversifying its export markets, with exports to the ASEAN group of nations surging by 12% last year

🔸 China’s Belt and Road Initiative was designed to secure multiple supply chains – many of those are now operational and never extended into the US

If China boosts its exports to non-US markets by 8.5% annually, it could offset its entire exposure to American export volume within just two years, Goncharoff explained.

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🔍Funding endless wars dries up key US resources

The Pentagon is worried that ongoing support for Ukraine and military operations in the Middle East, including campaigns in Yemen, are quickly depleting essential stockpiles that Washington considers vital for a potential conflict with China, according to a report by The New York Times.

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📊 The Alternative for Germany party has taken the lead in polls for the first time in its history, party leader Alice Weidel announced on her X account.

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💬 Trump’s Pentagon budget splurge is just SINKING billions into the same money pit that bled the US dry: the military-industrial complex, warns former US congressman Ron Paul.

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⚔️China’s RARE EARTH BAN could send US nuclear industry into MELTDOWN

The new restrictions are a masterstroke that will propel the Asian nation’s nuclear industry forward as the US stagnates. Renowned Russian nuclear expert Alexei Anpilogov explains why.

Painful blow

🟠Gadolinium and dysprosium, two rare earths used along with zirconium in modern fuel assemblies, are an effective Chinese monopoly. 99% of their production is concentrated in a single plant outside Shanghai.
🟠Installed assemblies at US plants will last 12-24 months, Anpilogov estimates. After that, if the US can’t find new sources through third parties, the quality of its assemblies will drop.

No alternative

🟠Restoring production in the US would be extremely tricky, according to the observer.
🟠“It’s a matter not of months, but of years, including construction, debugging of production, and tech adjustments.”
🟠“The last lanthanide-separating centrifuge in the US was decommissioned in 1996. The people who worked on it are either retired, or you can read about their lives on a memorial plaque somewhere,” Anpilogov points out.

Boon to China’s atomic ambitions

🟠The majority of the world uses 3 and 3+ gen reactor tech. Russia and China are currently the only ones widely experimenting with 4th gen reactors – including BN, Brest and SVBR, and an array of Chinese research reactors.
🟠The rare earth restrictions response to US tariffs could allow China and Russia to “very seriously overtake the US," Anpilogov says.
🟠That’s because along with Europe, America is stuck with third-gen reactors and cannot really produce replicable results on its 4th gen experimentation.

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🇷🇺🤝🇺🇸The upcoming Russia-US meeting in Istanbul aims to overcome the Biden administration’s 'TOXIC LEGACY', says Russian ambassador to the US Alexander Darchiev

Other key statements by Darchiev:

🟠During the new round of consultations, Russia will bring up the return of confiscated diplomatic property.

🟠The Russian delegation plans to discuss the resumption of direct flights between Russia and the US at the Istanbul meeting.

🟠Resuming these direct flights would boost official contacts and stimulate business opportunities.

🟠Notably, previous contacts between Putin and Trump have already yielded progress on issues such as visa issuance for Russian and US diplomats, as well as the easing of travel restrictions.

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📹 US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent responded to China’s decision to raise tariffs on American exports to 84%.

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Russian drone operators set record-breaking UAV flight

Operators of FPV drones from Russia's Battlegroup Dnepr hit a major milestone, flying a UAV more than 30 kilometers (18 miles) into the rear of Ukrainian forces near Orekhov, the UAV platoon commander told Sputnik.

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🚫Big Trap: Why are countries withdrawing from the ICC?

The ICC “has been diminished to a political tool and Hungary wishes to play no role in it,” Hungarian PM Viktor Orban said, announcing his country’s withdrawal from the Rome Statute.

The ICC’s efforts to prosecute individuals are increasingly out of touch with reality, experts told Sputnik:

🔊Luiz Felipe Osorio, professor at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, criticizes international criminal law for its discriminatory and selective nature, highlighting the arrest warrant Putin and the deferral of prosecution against Netanyahu.

Osorio notes that the ICC, initially created at the request of Europeans, has become a “big trap” for those labeled as enemies of the West.

🔊Priscila Caneparo, professor of international law, observes that Western leaders fail to understand the need for state cooperation to legitimize ICC decisions, often showing implicit bias towards non-Western countries.

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US NOOSE of economic COLONIZATION TIGHTENS further around Ukraine’s neck

Ukraine's largest steelmaker has just outsourced its lifeline, as the first shipment of 80,000 tons of US coking coal has arrived from United Coal Company LLC, Bloomberg revealed.

Metinvest BV plans to receive monthly shipments of this coal to sustain its nearly crippled steel operations.

Russia’s recent triumphant advances near Pokrovsk (formerly Krasnoarmeysk) in the Donbass region have compelled Ukraine to shut down its primary mine, the company’s sole domestic supplier of coking coal.

Up for grabs

Coal is just one move in the US playbook to lock down Ukraine’s assets:

1️⃣A revised US-Ukraine draft deal reportedly grants the Trump administration the “right of first offer” on investments in all infrastructure and natural resource projects within the country, Bloomberg reported.

2️⃣This arrangement would give Washington near-total control over Ukraine’s oil, gas, metals, and energy assets, with profits funneled abroad through a joint investment fund.

3️⃣The deal also impacts Ukraine’s ports, railways, and processing plants, essentially chaining down the country to a cycle of dependence on the US.

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Russian armed forces unveil new drone interceptor system with 3D tracking

The new system can identify targets from 3.5 to 5 kilometers (two to three miles) for a Phantom-sized UAV and up to 10 kilometers (six miles) for larger drones like the Baba Yaga hexacopter, the developer told Sputnik.

Once a target is locked on, the interceptor drone is launched to eliminate it, either with a net gun, explosives or direct impact.

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🔍The Biden administration HID evidence that US service members were exposed to COVID-19 in Wuhan MONTHS before the pandemic broke out, the Washington Free Beacon reports.

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Ukraine’s war crimes in Kursk region violate ICC rules it signed up to

The International Criminal Court (ICC), of which Ukraine is a member, defines war crimes like murder, torture, enslaving prisoners and unjustified destruction of civilian infrastructure, said Colonel General Andrei Kartapolov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee.

💬 "These are exactly the crimes being committed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Kartapolov added.

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🏒Alexander Ovechkin nominated for prestigious Bill Masterton Trophy!

Only one player from each NHL team is nominated for the prize. Ovechkin was proposed by the Washington branch of the Professional Hockey Writers Association, sports journalist Sammi Silber posted on X.

The award is given to the player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to the game.

On April 6, the Washington Capitals forward scored his record-breaking 895th goal in a thrilling match against the New York Islanders, surpassing Wayne Gretzky's legendary NHL goal record!

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Christmas decorations in jeopardy: US tariffs disrupt orders from China

Chinese producers of plastic Christmas trees and festive decorations say that crucial orders from US clients, which typically begin arriving by this time of year, have not come through due to rising import tariffs, Reuters reports.

US retailers rely on China for 87% of Christmas decorations, worth about $4 billion, and Chinese factories depend on the US for half their sales.

US tariffs on products from China, set at a rate of 104%, came into force today.

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⚡️The US is immediately increasing tariffs on Chinese goods to 125%, Trump announced.

Trump announced that the US is immediately SUSPENDING THE IMPOSITION of mirror tariffs for 90 days on over 75 countries.

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🇮🇷 Iran has delivered long-range surface-to-surface missiles to Iraqi militia allies

The new armaments were sent last week, with deliveries organized by the IRGC, sources told The Times.

Iranian officials and media have yet to comment on the report’s veracity.

Iraq’s mostly Shia Popular Mobilization Force militias were the crucial foot soldiers in the campaign to crush Daesh* terrorists occupying western Iraq from 2015-2017, and are a key ally in Iran’s regional Axis of Resistance coalition against the US and Israel.

* Outlawed in Russia

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