UK Embassy Sought to Pay Sudanese Students to Protest Against Russia — Report

The Brits allegedly used a combination of bribes and promises of protection in an effort to create an astroturf anti-Russian street movement in the East African nation.

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'F**k This Guy': Ex-Bernie Supporters Slam US Lawmaker for Spouting ‘Neocon Propaganda’ About Russia

Former supporters of US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) took to social media Friday to express their disgust after the former peace candidate expressed support for the Biden administration’s anti-Russian stance.

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Russian Embassy: UK Fabricated Skripal Poisoning as 'Trial Balloon' for Future Moscow Demonization

The embassy pointed out that many details of what really happened in the Wiltshire city remain unknown, and many questions have still gone unanswered by UK authorities.

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‘Saving Private Ryan’ Actor Tom Sizemore Dies at 61

Last month, famous blockbuster actor Tom Sizemore was hospitalized from his home in Los Angeles after suffering a brain aneurysm.

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Russian Foreign Ministry: Moscow insists on an unbiased investigation of the Salisbury incident and condemns London's attempts to hold Russia responsible for it.

EU Defense Industry Should Switch to Wartime Economy: European Commissioner

"I believe it is time that the European defence industry moves to a wartime economy model to cater for our defence production needs," the official said.

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West May Be Deliberately Concealing Findings of Probes Into Nord Stream Blasts, Says French General

The mere fact that there have been no conclusions presented from three Western investigations into the explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 natural gas infrastructure may evidence that their findings have been swept under the rug, the general said.

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Greek railway workers have extended by 48 hours a strike launched on March 2 because of the recent train accident that killed at least 57 people, Greek railway company Hellenic Train said.

"Due to the 48-hour strike announced by the railway workers' unions, all Hellenic Train services are suspended for Saturday, March 4, and Sunday, March 5," the company said in a statement.

On Tuesday, a passenger train collided with a freight train near the city of Larissa. The passenger train had switched to the freight train's lane before the accident, which brought them both on the same track and resulted in a head-on collision.

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German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall is currently holding "promising" talks with Kiev on the construction of a tank plant worth 200 million euros ($213 million) in Ukraine, Armin Papperger, the head of the company, said.

Such a plant will be able to produce up to 400 Panther tanks per year, the company's chief said. He expressed hope that a final decision on the deal would be made "in the next two months."

Ukraine needs from 600 to 800 tanks to win in the conflict with Russia, so even if Berlin gives Kiev all 300 Leopard 2 tanks from the reserves of the German armed forces, this will still "not be enough," Papperger added.

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Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic has been denied entry to the United States to participate in two tournaments as he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, Florida Senator Rick Scott said.

"We have been told that the Department of Homeland Security just denied Novak Djokovic's vaccine waiver request, making him ineligible to compete in the US next week in CA & the Miami Open," Scott said on Twitter.

He also urged the US government to lift the mandatory vaccination requirement for everyone arriving in the US, adding that the situation with the Serbian tennis player "makes no sense," as "Joe Biden says COVID-19 is over but still bars Novak Djokovic from competing at the Miami Open."

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China is increasing its defense budget to meet complex security challenges and fulfill the country's obligations, Wang Chao, a spokesman for the first session of the 14th National People's Congress, said.

The spokesman added that the scale of the military spending was also determined by the basic needs of defense construction and the level of development of the national economy. At the same time, Wang refused to specify how much China would increase its defense spending in 2023

China steadily increases its defense budget every year, although Beijing adheres to the defensive nature of its military doctrine and does not participate in wars or military conflicts. In 2022, China planned to raise its military budget by 7.1% year-on-year to 1.45 trillion yuan ($209.9 billion).

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❗️Russian MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️The Russian Army eliminated up to 150 Ukrainian servicemen and destroyed a Grad multiple rocket launcher in the Krasny Liman direction;

▪️Ukrainian losses in the Kherson direction amounted to up to 70 servicemen, with a US-made M777 howitzer destroyed;

▪️Russian troops continued to advance in the Donetsk direction, where Ukrainian losses amounted to almost 500 servicemen;

▪️Russian forces eliminated more than 90 Ukrainian servicemen in the Kupyansk direction;

▪️Ukrainian losses in the South Donetsk and Zaporozhye directions amounted to more than 80 servicemen, with a tank and two D-20 howitzers destroyed;

▪️Ukrainian troops lost a tank, three infantry fighting vehicles, two Msta-B, three D-30, and one US-made M-777 howitzers in the Donetsk direction;

▪️Russian air defense systems shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter, 12 HIMARS MLRS rockets, and destroyed 11 Ukrainian UAVs;

▪️The Russian Aerospace Forces shot down two Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters.

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❗️The condition of the schoolboy-turned-hero who was wounded by Ukrainian terrorists in Russia’s Bryansk region is assessed by doctors as severe, but he is receiving all the necessary treatment

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Russian first deputy permanent representative to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy did a bit of light trolling of Biden’s press secretary over her new name for the Russian Federation, coming up with a couple alternative names for the United States and the United Kingdom.

💬 “It must be a foe of United American Emirates and the British Confederation!” Polyanskiy tweeted, responding to a clipped video featuring Jean-Pierre’s flub.

At a press conference on Friday, Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced that President Biden and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen would be discussing ways to “address the challenges posed by the People’s Republic of Russia.”

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📹 "I was targeted"

🇨🇫 The head of the Russian House in Bangui, Dmitry Syty, has revealed details of the assassination attempt on him last December in an interview with RT.

▪️According to Syty, he received a package containing a USB drive that was delivered to his office on December 16 by one of his employees.

🗣"I turned like this and saw a flash of light. Then I looked at my hand, where the USB flash drive used to be, and saw a bunch of bones and meat," he said.

▪️He assumed that he was "specifically targeted," and not the Russian House itself, as his job was to organize peace talks with the leaders of armed groups.

🗣"Of course I will go back [to Africa]. I am 'the boy who survived' and I will continue my work," Syty concluded

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Russia, China to Keep Explaining Danger of NATO Presence to Asia-Pacific, Ambassador Says

Moscow and Beijing must continue their efforts to preserve the region's post-Cold War security structure, Russian Ambassador to Beijing Igor Morgulov said, when asked how the two partner countries could counter NATO's deployment in the Indo-Pacific region.

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The IAEA boss is upbeat about reviving the Iranian nuclear deal after his trip to Tehran

Rafael Grossi, the head of the IAEA, arrived in Iran to discuss future cooperation with Mohammad Eslami, who heads Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. The talks come amid a stalemate in the IAEA efforts to rescue the landmark nuclear deal.

💬 "Negotiations on the possible revival of the JCPOA are ongoing. It is not part of what we are discussing now but by having a constructive discussion like we are having now and by having good agreements like I am sure we are going to have, we are going to be paving the way for important agreements. This is my hope," the IAEA chief told a news conference alongside Eslami.

▪️Grossi rejected as "absurd" the claims that the Austria-based nuclear watchdog was acting on US or Israeli orders. "The IAEA has not been and will never be a political tool of anybody. I am under no country's instructions, and we act in a way that is very transparent," he told reporters.

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Macron Vows to Build 'Free France' Monument in Congo's Brazzaville

🇫🇷 🇨🇬 France will erect a monument in the Republic of Congo's capital to remember the African men and women who gave their lives to liberate France from Nazi occupation during the Second World War, French President Emmanuel Macron stated

🗣 “In Brazzaville, which was the capital of Free France, a memorial will be built to honor the memory of these women and men, these African heroes, who had never set foot on the soil of France but gave their lives to free it,” Macron said in Congo's capital.

General Charles de Gaulle, who led "Free France" against Nazi Germany in World War II, signed the first laws and regulations governing the Free France region from Brazzaville, which functioned as its capital. Brazzaville was the capital of the Free France government in exile until 1943, when Algiers became the new location

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