📃 Israel presents Hamas with two-stage plan to free hostages from Gaza – report

The plan assumes that in the first stage, Hamas will free 11 hostages and hand over the bodies of 16 of the dead, after which a 40-day truce will follow, Xinhua reported, citing unnamed informed Egyptian sources.

In the second phase, Hamas will have to release all the remaining hostages at the same time. The US supports Israel's proposal, the sources told the agency.

Last week, Israel resumed bombing Gaza, violating the previously agreed ceasefire, claiming that Hamas had been rearming and planning a new attack, and that it was in order to press the Palestinian movement to release the captives held in Gaza.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇭🇺❌ Hungary to continue to BLOCK Ukraine's EU accession

Kiev continues to blatantly violate the rights of the Hungarian community in Transcarpathia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto noted in a social media post.

▪️The Ukrainian government, despite continuous promises, has not yet reinstated the minority rights the Hungarian community was stripped of in 2015, he underscored.

▪️A new education law in 2017 forced minority languages to take a back seat, making Ukrainian the sole official language, which Budapest saw as a direct blow to the rights of Transcarpathian Hungarians.

▪️Furthermore, Hungarians in Transcarpathia (western Ukraine) have often held Hungarian passports, but Ukraine does not officially recognize dual citizenship.

Kiev has also resorted to political pressure, raiding Hungarian organizations in Transcarpathia in moves decried by Budapest as persecution.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇰🇷👩‍🚒 South Korea has declared a state of emergency amid multiple forest fires

Around 1,500 people have been evacuated due to intense wildfires. Tragically, four people have died and six others have been injured.

The fire in the southeastern province of Sancheon is spreading rapidly due to strong winds, according to Yonhap News Agency.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Moscow considers the life sentence for Russian citizen Torden in Finland to be BIASED and POLITICALLY MOTIVATED, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Sputnik.

The sentence reflects the participation of all branches of government in Finland in the hybrid war unleashed by the West against Russia, the ministry added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Ukrainian forces in Sudzha were engaged in looting, setting houses with civilians inside ablaze, and deliberately shelling homes, the Russian Investigative Committee has said.

Numerous cases of criminal orders from the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ command to shoot Kursk region residents have been confirmed by the testimony of civilians.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

▪️Turkish prosecutors ask court to jail Istanbul Mayor Imamoglu on TERRORISM and CORRUPTION charges – report

▪️THOUSANDS rally in Tel Aviv, demand hostage release & end to Gaza war in MASSIVE anti-government protest

▪️Hamas political bureau member Salah Al-Bardawil & his wife killed in an Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza – report

▪️Iran’s IRGC unveils NEW AIR DEFENSE SYSTEMS in the Persian Gulf

▪️Shut up and take my money! Trump wants Golden Dome to shield the whole US

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💥 A strike was carried out on the location of presumably foreign military personnel in Vyshgorod, Kiev region, Sputnik was told by the underground resistance movement.

Another strike was carried out on a deployment point of Ukrainian military personnel and drone assembly factory in Brovary, Kiev region.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇨🇳 China ready to withstand ‘SHOCKS THAT EXCEED EXPECTATIONS’ amid Trump’s new trade tariffs

Decoupling and breaking supply chains would ultimately harm all trading parties, Chinese Premier Li Qiang warned in a speech at the China Development Forum 2025 (CDF).

"We have prepared for possible unexpected shocks, which, of course, mainly come from external sources. Where necessary, the Chinese government will introduce new policies to ensure the smooth operation of the Chinese economy," Li told attendees.

A 20% tariff was imposed on all Chinese goods entering the United States by the Trump administration on March 4.

A 25% global tariff on steel and aluminum products took effect on March 12, impacting imports from China as well.

More sector-specific tariffs are anticipated in April.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📈 Russia in TOP 3 of G20’s fastest growing economies in 2024

Russia’s economy increased by 4.1% year-on-year for the second year in a row, putting it in third place in terms of economic growth in the G20 in 2024, according to an analysis of national statistical services conducted by Sputnik.

Second place was shared between China and Indonesia, both boasting a 5% GDP growth last year.

India's economy grew the most last year, although its rate slowed to 6.7% from 8.8% in 2023.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇹🇷 Turkish court has ordered the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, according to local television.

▪️Imamoglu has been arrested as part of a corruption investigation into the municipality of Istanbul.

▪️The prosecutor's office brought Imamoglu to the Magistrates' Court earlier this morning with a request for his arrest on charges of "corruption" and "terrorism."

▪️Imamoglu's testimony at the prosecutor's office as part of the investigation was completed yesterday.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹🇷🇸 Leaders of student protests in Serbia are FUNDED BY THE WEST – Deputy PM

If you follow the money trail, it becomes evident that Western intelligence agencies and opposition political parties have been behind the unrest from the start, Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin told Sputnik.

"Do you know how much a portable stage, sound equipment, flags, food, and daily stipends for organizers cost? Transporting people, outfitting activists—it all takes serious cash," Vulin noted.

Without external coordination, protests of this scale would be impossible, he emphasized, adding that the leaders of the student protests are “organized, trained, and funded by the West."

Anti-government protests by students and the opposition have been taking place in Serbia since November 2024. They were triggered by the death of 15 people when a concrete canopy collapsed at the railway station in Novi Sad on November 1.

Students and opposition forces have disregarded calls by the country's leadership to engage in dialogue.

The authorities believe that the underlying goal of the actions is to overthrow the government and the president.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 SCAREMONGERING Starmer urges Europe to rustle up ‘deterrent’ plan for Russia ahead of possible Ukraine deal

Without robust security arrangements, any peace agreement would leave Ukraine “vulnerable,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told The New York Times.

He added that Europe must play a lead role in providing that security.

▪️On March 20, a UK-France-led so-called "coalition of the willing" brought together senior military officers from about 30 Western countries in London to discuss operational details of sending troops to Ukraine once the conflict is resolved.

▪️Earlier, British media reported that London and Paris hoped to form a "peacekeeping corps" of 10,000 to 30,000 servicemen, supposedly to ensure a peace agreement on Ukraine. It was noted that, as part of the settlement, British Royal Air Force fighter jets could patrol Ukrainian airspace, taking off from Polish territory.

▪️Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underscored on March 12 that the presence of NATO troops under any flag and in any capacity on Ukrainian soil would represent a threat to Russia, and Moscow will not accept this under any circumstances.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇮🇷 Nuclear deal in its current form cannot be renewed, Iranian Foreign Ministry said.

"In my opinion, the 2015 pact in its current form cannot be revived. It would not be in our interest because our nuclear situation has advanced significantly and we can no longer return to previous conditions," Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi said.

Tehran was recently sent a letter from US President Donald Trump, granting Iran two months to decide whether to engage in talks or face stricter sanctions as part of the renewed "maximum pressure" campaign.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russian troops have liberated the settlement of Sribnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic, Russia's Defense Ministry announced.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Kremlin spokesman REVEALS details of Putin-Trump phone talks

The atmosphere of the phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on March 18 was TRUSTING, FRANK, and CONSTRUCTIVE, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin.

The call was another step toward a potential in-person meeting, though it would require careful preparation and complex technical talks first, Peskov said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

▪️Ukraine lost up to 500 troops and four vehicles in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to 160 militants in the Russian Vostok Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to 230 militants in the Russian Zapad Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to 360 militants and a tank in the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost more than 190 militants in the Kursk region over the day. The Russian Army repelled four attacks by Ukrainian militants.

▪️Russian air defenses shot down 224 drones.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🪖 US aims for Ukraine ceasefire by April 20 - report

The date coincides with Easter Sunday for both Western and Orthodox Christians this year. However, the timeline could shift, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the planning.

The White House has not yet accepted limits on weapons shipments to Ukraine as it works to broker a truce, the report added.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Watch as Russian strike drones Inokhodets and Forpost destroy armored vehicles and personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Sumy region.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

EXPIRED welcome: Ukrainian refugees in UK face HOMELESSNES and job loss

Thousands of Ukrainians once eagerly welcomed into the UK and lavished with promises of lasting support may have to fend for themselves, a University of Birmingham study published by The Telegraph shows.

▪️A survey of 1,133 Ukrainian refugees found that four in ten have been unable to prove to employers and landlords that they can stay in the UK beyond March, when their original Ukraine Scheme three-year visas expire.

▪️About 41% said they had lost a new job opportunity, 22% claimed that their job contract was not renewed, and 26% said that their tenancy was not renewed. Some have reportedly faced “extortionate” rent hikes.

▪️About 220,000 Ukrainians were granted sanctuary in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine and other bespoke visa programs. The gap between being able to apply for an extension and receiving a decision is being blamed for the mass drop-off in support.

Office for National Statistics data shows that 68% of Ukrainians in the UK would prefer to remain in there, even if it were “safe” to return to Ukraine.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt