👊🏻Rubio hits back at critics over US policy on Afrikaner refugees

🗣“We’ve often been lectured by people all over the place about how the United States needs to continue to be a beacon for those who are oppressed abroad – well, here’s an example where we’re doing that,” the US secretary of state told CBS’ Face the Nation.

59 white South Africans arrived in the US on Monday as part of what the Trump administration has said would be a larger relocation, sparking a firestorm of criticism from liberals accusing Trump of fast-tracking or prioritizing them over other asylum seekers. President Trump has characterized the treatment of Afrikaners as a “genocide.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🪖Can Israel defeat the Houthis if it struggles with Hamas? Ex-IDF Air Defense Commander calls for reality check

🗣“The question is not why we aren’t doing anything significant, but whether it is possible to defeat an organization that’s 2,000 km away,” Brig. Gen. Zvika Haimovich, commander of Israel’s Air Defense Forces from 2015-2018, told Israeli media.

A regional alliance was unable to defeat the Houthis “in seven years, the Americans declared a unilateral ‘victory’ after two months. Deadly attacks [by Israel, ed.] will not bring results,” Haimovich stressed.

Regarding the war with Hamas, Haimovich said the goal of ‘defeating’ the militia is unrealistic. “Hamas is an ideology…The concept of ‘destroying Hamas’ has no hold on reality.”

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💸Bewildered Bessent asks how previous administrations allowed US to be ripped off on trade for so long😬

🗣“With a few exceptions, the countries are coming with very good proposals for us,” the Trump Treasury secretary told CNN.

“These are excellent proposals, but I wonder – how did we get here?” Bessent asked.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan takes lead in Romanian presidential run-off

📊 Exit poll results:

Nicușor Dan (incumbent): 54.9%

George Simion (opposition): 45.1%

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇴Opposition eurosceptic candidate George Simion claims victory in the Romanian presidential election, defying earlier exit polls.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇴 Romania’s Eurosceptic opposition leader says there are 1.7 MILLION dead people on electoral list

💬 “We have an emergency line on WhatsApp where all Romanian citizens can check if one of their relatives who are dead, or one of their friends, may have voted,” George Simion told supporters Sunday amid the second round of Romania’s scandal-plagued presidential elections.

Simion, who became the voice of frustrated Romanians after the cancelation of last year’s vote following independent populist candidate Calin Georgescu’s first round victory, has accused France of trying to steal the new vote, but vowed that “the will of the people will be done” and that there will be no repeat of “stolen” elections.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇮🇷 Iranian president: West will stoke Middle East conflicts to keep oil flowing

If oil stops flowing from the Persian Gulf, Western countries would find themselves paralyzed, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned at the Tehran Dialogue Forum, state agency SNN reports.

In response, they would pit Middle Eastern nations against each other so they could grab their oil at bargain prices, and hand them weapons in return to keep the conflict going, he said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

✈️Simonyan takes a dig at Durov: 'Free speech hero? Tell that to RT & Sputnik

It's a pity that when Telegram CEO Durov blocked RT and Sputnik channels in Europe, he forgot about his noble ideals, said Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik’s parent media group.

She was commenting on the Telegram CEO’s decision not to restrict the freedoms of Romanian users or block their political channels amid the presidential election taking place in the country.

🍿 The drama:

▪️An unnamed European government – illustrated with a French baguette – asked Telegram to "silence conservative voices" in the Romanian presidential election.

▪️Durov's response: "I flatly refused. You don’t ‘save democracy’ by killing it."

🤡 The hypocrisy:

▪️2022: Telegram blocked RT/Sputnik in EU

▪️2025: ‘Free speech absolutist’ Durov suddenly remembers his principles.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🔸 Putin defines Russia's goals in Ukraine: "LONG-TERM PEACE & SECURITY"

🔸 China’s unloading of US Treasuries: quiet DOLLAR-DITCHING STRATEGY in action

🔸 NO NUKES, NO SECRETS: Iran doubles down on nuclear red lines

🔸 Trump Treasury chief blames Biden for Moody’s credit downgrade

🔸 Europe must brace for surge in arms smuggling, ‘drone drug gangs’ once Ukraine conflict ends - report

🔸 German troops in Moldova: EU stepping stone to war with Russia?

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇸🇰 Slovakia’s Fico had to undergo THREE surgeries in aftermath of assassination attempt, deputy PM reveals

💬 “Robert Fico’s condition was very serious, as he had undergone three operations. At the time we only publicized two of them,” Deputy PM and Defense Minister Robert Kalinak told Slovak TV on Sunday.

The third operation was not reported because it could have caused significant public concern, Kalinak said.

On May 15, 2024, a gunman fired five shots at Fico in the town of Handlova, hitting him in the abdomen and shoulder. Fico was operated on for five hours during the first of his publicized surgeries, and two in the second. He returned to office in July, forgiving his attacker and calling for national reconciliation.

The suspect remains in custody awaiting trial, scheduled to begin in July. Authorities say the attack was politically motivated, and don’t rule out a conspiracy, despite the suspect’s claim that he acted alone.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️ Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer with bone metastasis, a statement from his personal office said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Netanyahu approves resumption of Gaza aid

According to a statement issued by the office of the Israeli Prime Minister, the blockade has been lifted because "the development of a hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip would endanger the continued operation to defeat Hamas."

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇴 Mayor Nicusor Dan wins presidential election by 8% lead

"It was an unprecedented mobilization and, therefore, the victory belongs to each of you," Dan wrote on X.

With 99% of the votes counted, Dan had a huge lead of nearly 900,000 votes.

His opponent, George Simion, who had already declared himself the winner a few hours ago, has not responded.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨 Zelensky fears Putin and Trump will present him with done deal after phone call - report

Zelensky and his aides are “anxious” about the call, set for Monday, and “want to make sure Putin and Trump won’t deliver a fait accompli that Ukraine can’t accept,” an anonymous US diplomat told WaPo.

Trump negotiator Steve Witkoff said the planned Putin-Trump and Trump-Zelensky calls should “go a long way toward identifying where we are and how we complete this negotiation,” and predicted they would be “successful.”

FT reported Sunday that German, French and British leaders would be speaking to Trump for a second time in three days Monday to try to “influence” him ahead of his call with Putin.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤡 Macron declares victory of 'democracy' in Romania

Emmanuel Macron said he called Nicusor Dan and congratulated him on his election.

"Despite numerous attempts at manipulation, Romanians chose democracy, the rule of law and the EU this evening," the French president wrote on X.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 George Simion concedes in Romanian election

The leader of the opposition party, AUR, admitted defeat and congratulated his rival, Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan.

"We will continue our fight for freedom and our great values along with other patriots, sovereignists and conservatives all over the world," Simion added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🩸 UK'S BLOOD SCANDAL: 400K potentially infected with hepatitis C

NHS launched a campaign to identify patients who had pre-1996 blood transfusions — after DECADES of cover-ups, Daily Mail reports.

👩‍⚕️ 30,000+ people were infected with HIV/hep C through tainted blood in the 1970s-90s, killing 3,000+ in what an inquiry called a "deliberate calamity".

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🎤 'YOU HIT ME ON PURPOSE!'

A TV journalist hit Argentine President Javier Milei with a microphone, sparking a strong reaction from him.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💥 General Mike Flynn exposes Europe's pursuit of tyranny

The Telegram CEO Pavel Durov earlier revealed that Nicolas Lerner, the former head of French intelligence, tried to censor "conservative voices" in Romania.

"They appear to want tyranny, socialism and war, when the American people want freedom, democracy and peace," Flynn wrote on X.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt