🇸🇦 Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud held a telephone conversation with UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen, during which he reaffirmed Saudi Arabia’s readiness to make every effort to achieve a political settlement in Syria, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier in the day, Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Saudi Arabia to hold talks with Faisal bin Farhan to discuss the crisis in Syria.

"During the call, they discussed ways to find a political solution to Syrian crisis …Prince Faisal bin Farhan also affirmed the Kingdom’s keenness to exert all efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis that preserves Syria’s unity, security, stability, and Arab affiliation," the ministry said in a statement posted.

On Friday the foreign ministers of the Gulf Arab nations, Iraq, Egypt, and Jordan will hold a meeting in Jeddah to discuss Syria’s return to the League of Arab States, after its membership was suspended over the 2011 unrest.

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🔺“We must be able to choose our partners and shape our own destiny,” Macron said
🔺The US is working on a “universal” genetically engineered bioweapon: Russian Parliamentary Investigation
🔺Sowing discord in the region: the Philippines and the US start largest-ever drills in South China Sea

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Russian Defense Ministry has shared a video, featuring the Volga armored train operating in the area of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine.

This special train is designed for technical reconnaissance mine clearance and reconstruction of railway tracks.

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Swiss Parliament Rejects Credit Guarantees Worth $120Bln for Takeover of Credit Suisse

The Swiss parliament on Wednesday once again rejected the government's proposal to provide 109 billion Swiss francs ($120 billion) in credit guarantees for the acquisition of troubled Credit Suisse by UBS, the country's largest bank, though the vote will not have a significant impact on the takeover.

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North Korean Missile Launch Temporarily Prompts Evac Order for Japan's Hokkaido Region

A ballistic missile was launched by North Korea early Thursday toward the Sea of Japan, going on to momentarily prompt an evacuation order for residents of Japan's Hokkaido.

An initial analysis conducted by South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff revealed that the launch of an intermediate or longer-range ballistic missile was detected about 7:23 a.m. local time, and fired from the Pyongyang area.

It remains unclear where exactly the projectile landed, as well as the distance it flew and at what altitude.

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🇺🇸 Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have projected that the United States will experience a "mild recession" later this year that could take two years to overcome, minutes of the central bank’s policy meeting from March showed.

"Given their assessment of the potential economic effects of the recent banking-sector developments, the staff's projection at the time of the March meeting included a mild recession starting later this year, with a recovery over the subsequent two years," the minutes from the March 22 meeting said.

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Russian Central Bank Still Opposes Control of Ruble Exchange Rate - Bank Governor

The Central Bank of Russia still opposes administrative control of ruble exchange rate as it will be stabilized by low inflation and fiscal rule, the Bank's Governor Elvira Nabiullina said on Wednesday.

"We stand for a stable exchange market, but not for exchange rate administration, it can break from economic realities that way," Nabiullina said during her speech in the Russia's State Duma.

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📹Russian howitzers fire in action (video by Russian MoD)

The 152-caliber MSTA-S howitzers, serving as fire support for the Russian troops, fired against enemy self-propelled artillery and forces.

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🇺🇸Top US officials may have greenlighted Pentagon leaks to mislead Russia, ex-FBI agent says

💬 "They could easily be the actions of a single whistleblower but the leak could just as easily have been greenlighted to some extent by more higher ranking officials, if not the highest ranking one, the President," retired FBI Agent and former Minneapolis Division Legal Counsel Coleen Rowley told Sputnik.

Rowley also said it’s hard to discern what is happening with these latest classified information dumps given the level of "information-disinformation warfare" that has been going on.

💬 "It seems that at least some of the 'leaked info,' for instance about the high degree of US' assistance and control of Kiev's targeting and military operations, was already widely known whereas some other details, for example the bit about Mossad assisting Israeli protests, was not publicly or widely revealed before now," Rowley said.

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Feinstein Asks to Temporarily Step Down After House Dems Accuses Her of ‘Dereliction of Duty’

Citing her poor health, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has requested that her position on the Judiciary Committee be temporarily replaced, immediately after several of her Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives publicly urged her to step down before her term ends.

The statement came just hours after Democratic Representatives Ro Khanna of California and Dean Phillips of Minnesota publicly demanded Feinstein’s resignation from the Senate, citing her inability to fulfill her duties.

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Source of Pentagon Docs Worked on Military Base, Turned 'Frantic' Once Leak Surfaced

Newly surfaced details have revealed that the source of the Pentagon leaks is said to be a man in his early to mid 20s who works on a military base, and is known for his "dark" views of the US government.

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EU Should Not Support Independent Taiwan, Says Swedish Political Heavyweight

According to Carl Bildt, who served as prime minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994 and as foreign minister from 2006 and 2014, and headed the liberal-conservative Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, the EU should stick to the idea of Taiwan's re-unification with the mainland, commonly referred to as the "one China" policy.

💬 "The EU view on the Taiwan issue has to be that we do adhere to the idea of One China, and accordingly do not support Taiwan independence, but that any resolution of the issue has to be peaceful and that we would resolutely oppose any Chinese use of force," Bildt said.

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⚡️ Terrorist attack in St. Petersburg cafe that killed military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky organized by Ukrainian special services and their agents, FSB says

💬 "The Russian Federal Security Bureau, together with the Investigative Committee and police authorities, established that the terrorist attack on 2 April 2023 in St Petersburg, which killed military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky and injured more than 50 other people was organized by the Ukrainian special services and their agents, including from among Russian opposition members hiding abroad," the FSB said.

Daria Trepova carried out the terrorist attack in St Petersburg that killed military correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky, after calls from the leadership of the Anti-Corruption Foundation* for subversion, Russia's Federal Security Service said.

The bomb attack was prepared by a member of the Ukrainian sabotage group, a citizen of Ukraine Yuriy Denisov, who handed over an explosive device to Trepova, the statement read.

*an organization recognized as a foreign agent and banned in Russia

📹 Russia's Army hits Ukrainian firing positions with thermite shells in the Donetsk direction

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🇫🇷 Protesters against pension reforms have blocked roads to the Constitutional Council in Paris by building “barricades” from waste containers

Tomorrow the Council will announce its decision on France’s pensions.

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Danish Bankruptcies Soar To Highs Not Seen Since Last Financial Crisis

During the first three months of 2023, 837 companies filed for bankruptcy in the Nordic country, marking a 40-percent increase on the previous year, Statistics Denmark said. The bankruptcies in March alone cost the nation 2,222 full-time positions – 50 percent more than in February.

Local experts offered two major explanations for the wave of companies going out of business.

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Key points from the fourth meeting of MFA Heads of Afghanistan's neighboring countries 🇦🇫

🔸 Afghan authorities should take steps to protect the rights of foreign organizations and citizens, Russia, Iran, China and Pakistan declare

🔸 The Russian, Iranian, Chinese and Pakistani foreign ministries have said that they don't want the US and its allies to re-establish military bases in and around Afghanistan.

🔸 The foreign ministries called on Afghanistan to take visible steps to fight terrorism and forbid militants to use the country.

🔸 The ministries called on Afghan authorities to create an inclusive government and emancipate women and national minorities

🔸 The world wants Afghanistan to be a peaceful and stable land and not an arena of geopolitical rivalry.

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