❗️Oil prices rose more than 5% after Saudi Arabia and other major oil producers said they would cut production by 1.15 million barrels a day.

Sky News host Ian King believes the decision to cut production was dictated by the "shifting tectonic spheres of influence" in the Arab region.

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Finland To Join NATO ‘Within Days’ - Stoltenberg

Finland will end decades of official neutrality and formally join the 🇺🇸-led NATO alliance “within days” according to  Jens Stoltenberg on Friday, after Türkiye ratified their application.  (Reuters)

Ankara had initially objected to Finland’s bid over a perceived lack of crackdown on Kurdish groups considered terrorists by 🇹🇷, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he has since been satisfied with measures taken by 🇫🇮.

“I look forward to raising Finland's flag at NATO HQ in the coming days,” Stoltenberg tweeted. “Together we are stronger and safer.”

From IDpublicENG
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The meeting of the Presidents of Romania and Moldova Klaus Iohannis and Maia Sandu with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has begun.

❗️"Moldova, together with Ukraine, ensures the security of more than 1200 km of the EU border."

Maia Sandu asked to increase military assistance to the country.

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ABC asked the residents of Imatra, a city bordering Russia (7 km from the border), how they feel about Finland's membership in NATO

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Ukrainian saboteurs who staged a terrorist attack in Machulishchi face capital punishment

MOSCOW, April 3 — RIA Novosti. The defendants in the criminal case of the terrorist attack at the airfield in Machulishchi may face the death penalty, Konstantin Bychek, deputy head of the investigation department of the KGB of Belarus, told ONT (Belorussian State TV).

“All the defendants in the criminal case have been charged under part three of Article 289 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (“Act of terrorism committed by an organized group”), the sanctions of this article provide for punishment up to the death penalty,” the channel’s interlocutor explained.

According to the ONT website, an organized group led by foreign special services was behind the sabotage attempt.

About 30 names of those who helped the perpetrator of the crime appear in the case. Some of them operated from abroad, but most of them — on the territory of Belarus. They were detained and interrogated, the TV channel added.

In early March, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announced the arrest of a Ukrainian intelligence officer and his accomplices involved in an attempt to sabotage an A-50 aircraft at the Machulishchi airfield near Minsk in late February. We are talking, among other things, about a Russian recruited by Kiev who lived in the Crimea.

The suspect turned out to be Nikolai Shvets, who has Russian and Ukrainian passports. A criminal case has been initiated on the fact of an attempt to commit an act of terrorism, the detainee actively cooperates with the investigation and gives confessions.

According to the head of state, the saboteur was trained by representatives of the SBU, using the highest technology. The attack was carried out with the help of drones. Lukashenka noted that the A-50 did not receive significant damage during the attack, except for "scratches and one hole in the hull, which does not prevent the military aircraft from performing its duties." At the same time, Minsk asked Moscow to take the plane into service and send another one.

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Russia handed over five wounded servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to Ukraine
Ombudsman Moskalkova announced the repatriation of five wounded Ukrainian soldiers

MOSCOW, April 3 — RIA Novosti. Russia handed over wounded servicemen to the Ukrainian side, human rights commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova said on her Telegram channel.
"Today, five wounded servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been repatriated to Ukraine. We continue to work in this direction," the publication says.
The Ombudsman recalled that at the end of March, the Ukrainian side handed over five seriously wounded fighters to Russia. Now they are being treated in hospitals.

Moskalkova wished the servicemen a speedy recovery.

In early March, the ombudsman reported that negotiations were ongoing between the ministries of defence of Russia and Ukraine on the return of the prisoners and the wounded. She emphasized that the seriously wounded were the most important topic. Moskalkova expressed her hope that the exchanges would continue.

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China has changed its position on the issue of the Kuril Islands, media write
Kyodo: China for the first time since 1964 took a neutral position on the Kuril Islands

For the first time in 60 years, China has changed its position on the issue of ownership of the South Kuril Islands Kunashir, Shikotan, Iturup and Habomai, reports the Japanese agency Kyodo, citing Chinese diplomatic sources.
According to the report, during a visit to Russia, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that Beijing "does not take sides in this dispute." Thus, the agency concludes, China decided to change its position to neutral, which indicates its rapprochement with Moscow.

The agency recalls that in July 1964, Mao Zedong called the South Kuriles Japanese territory and expressed the opinion that the USSR should return them to Japan. Recently, China has not separately specified its position, but retained the former one - on Chinese maps, the border between Japan and Russia passed between Urup and Iturup, and four islands were marked as "occupied by Russia."

Relations between Russia and Japan have been overshadowed for many years by the absence of a peace treaty, which the countries never concluded after World War II. The main obstacle remains the issue of the South Kuriles, which Tokyo claims, referring to the bilateral Treatise on Trade and Frontiers of 1855.

Moscow's position is that the islands became part of the USSR following the war, and Russian sovereignty over them is beyond doubt. In 1956, the USSR and Japan signed a Joint Declaration, in which Moscow agreed, after the conclusion of a peace treaty, to consider the possibility of transferring Habomai and Shikotan to Japan, but there was no talk of Kunashir and Iturup. However, subsequent negotiations did not lead to anything.

The Russian authorities have repeatedly stressed that Japan must first of all recognize the results of the Second World War, including Russian sovereignty over the South Kuriles.

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Putin awarded military reporter Tatarsky with the Order of Courage posthumously

Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded military journalist Maxim Fomin (Vladlen Tatarsky) posthumously with the Order of Courage. The corresponding decree was published by the Kremlin press service.

"For courage and bravery shown in the performance of professional duty, award Fomin Maxim Yuryevich (Vladlen Tatarsky) with the Order of Courage (posthumously)," the decree signed by the head of state reads.

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🇷🇺 Vladimir Putin began his working trip to Tula with a tour of the Tulazheldormash plant, which specializes in the production of heavy track equipment and equipment for the construction, renovation and maintenance of railways.

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Trump to be charged with 34 felony counts, but spared handcuffs and mug shot
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg will charge Trump with falsification of business records, a source told Yahoo News.

Donald Trump will be placed under arrest on Tuesday and informed that he has been charged with 34 felony counts for falsification of business records, according to a source who has been briefed on the procedures for the arraignment of the former president.

A New York City police arrest report summarizing the charges against Trump will then be prepared and entered into the court system before he is led into a courtroom to be formally arraigned on the charges, none of which are misdemeanors.

But, the source said, Trump will not be put in handcuffs, placed in a jail cell or subjected to a mug shot — typical procedures even for white-collar defendants until a judge has weighed in on pretrial conditions. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, which has been consulting with the Secret Service and New York City court officials, concluded there was no reason to subject the former president to handcuffs or a mug shot.

The stated reason for handcuffing defendants is that they might be a flight risk or a threat to the district attorney or court personnel, neither of which was judged to be relevant to the handling of a former president protected at all times by a phalanx of Secret Service agents.

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Yellen says OPEC+ move bad for global growth outlook

NEW HAVEN, Conn., (Reuters) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday said a surprise OPEC+ oil production cut is an “unconstructive act” that will add uncertainty to the global growth outlook and to burdens on consumers at a time of high inflation.

“I think it’s a regrettable action that OPEC decided to take,” Yellen told reporters, adding it was too early to assess what the price impact would be.

“I think it’s a very unconstructive act at this time when it’s important to try to hold energy prices down.”

Yellen said a reduction in gasoline prices from last year’s peaks had helped limit inflation and it would be detrimental if the trend were reversed.

Oil benchmark prices jumped 6% on Monday, the day after the OPEC+ group jolted markets with plans to cut more production, raising fears of tightening supplies.

“Clearly, it’s not a positive for global growth,” Yellen said. “And it adds to uncertainty and burdens at a time when inflation is already high”.

U.S. President Joe Biden downplayed the impact of the OPEC+ move in a brief comment to reporters on Monday.

“It’s not going to be as bad as you think,” he said as he boarded Air Force One in Minneapolis for the trip back to Washington after touring a factory.

Asked about the impact the OPEC+ production cut would have on the $60 per barrel price cap Western governments have imposed on Russian crude oil, Yellen said she did not see it having any significant impact on the appropriate level of the price cap.

“I see it as working,” she said of the price cap, adding that it has led to steep discounts on Russian oil and increased bargaining power for purchasers.

She said coalition countries could revisit the price cap level if a change was deemed appropriate, “but I don’t see that that’s appropriate at this time.”

“I want to withhold judgment now on just what impact this will have on oil prices, although I know there’s been some reaction today,” she said of the OPEC+ move.

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New York Mayor Eric Adams addressed Trump supporters.

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Sergey Lavrov: "We will act tough"

What intentions of the West are easily predicted in Moscow? What is the fault of the European Union? Are equal Russian-Chinese relations possible? And what surprises are being prepared for the Russia-Africa summit? Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov answered these and other questions of aif.ru.

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Main points from Lavrov's interview:

"The European Union has "lost" Russia. But they themselves are to be blamed for this. After all, it is the EU member states and the leaders of the Union itself that openly declare the need to inflict Russia, as they put it, a strategic defeat. They pump up the criminal Kiev regime with weapons and ammunition, send instructors and mercenaries to Ukraine. For these reasons, we consider the EU as an unfriendly association.
We have drawn the necessary conclusions. In response to hostile steps, we will act harshly if necessary, guided by Russia's national interests and the principle of reciprocity generally accepted in diplomatic practice."

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Main points from Lavrov's interview:

"The visit of the PRC leader had a wide international resonance, literally dominated the global information agenda. This confirms that the Russian-Chinese strategic partnership has long gone beyond an exclusively bilateral context. It is obvious that our clearly formulated common positions on the key problems of our time have been heard in the world."

— On the eve of Xi Jinping's visit to Russia, Chinese Ambassador to Moscow Zhang Hanhui said: "China will continue to build back-to-back strategic cooperation with Russia." Do you feel the "back" of Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang?

— “Minister Qin Gang, like his predecessors Wang Yi, current member of the Politburo of the CCP Central Committee , and before him Yang Jiechi, Li Zhaoxing and many other prominent Chinese diplomats, are my good friends and associates. Undoubtedly, we have both a sense of comradeship and a readiness "shoulder to shoulder" to defend each other's fundamental interests, carrying out strategic coordination of efforts on the world stage. It has been repeatedly emphasized that Russian-Chinese interaction plays a crucial role in the formation of a more just, balanced, polycentric world order based on international law and the central role of the UN."

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Main points from Lavrov's interview:

"The issue of imaginary "dependence" and "unequal rights" of Russian-Chinese relations has been discussed mainly in unfriendly countries for a long time. This topic was again raised by some "experts" after the recent visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow. We see this as an attempt to cast a shadow on our successes, to drive a wedge into the friendship between Moscow and Beijing. These ideas are easily calculated, and the standard visits, as they say, according to the training manual, have already become boring and do not bother anyone.

At the peak of deliveries of Russian energy resources to Europe, for some reason, none of the Western analysts frightened Russia with dependence on the EU. On the contrary, the US warned Europe against focusing on hydrocarbon supplies from our country, wanting to replace them with its own shale oil and gas. Now, when we are redirecting exports to Asia, they suddenly decided to take care of us and “friendly” warn against dependence on China. Thanks for the advice, but we will think with our own heads, rely solely on national interests and on reliable, time-tested and real-life Chinese friends."

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