🌪🇲🇽 Massive sandstorm sweeps through Chihuahua, Mexico

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🔎 Is the US QUITTING Africa?

The Trump administration plans to drastically restructure the State Department, scrapping almost all of its Africa operations, the New York Times has reported, citing a White House draft order, a copy of which it obtained.

🔻All “nonessential” US embassies and consulates in sub-Saharan Africa could be shut down by October 1, according to the report.

🔻The bureau of African affairs is expected to be replaced with a much smaller special envoy office that would report to the White House National Security Council.

🔻Diplomats could be delivered to Africa on “targeted, mission-driven deployments” in line with the order, due to be signed by President Donald Trump soon, the NYT claimed.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacted by describing the information as “fake news.”

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🇷🇺☦️ Putin highlights SPIRITUAL UNITY during Easter celebrations

Here's how the Russian president marked Christ’s resurrection this year:

🔸Vladimir Putin attended the Easter service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, where he traditionally marks the chief Orthodox feast.

🔸The Holy Fire was brought from Jerusalem to Moscow where Patriarch Kirill led the service in celebration of Christ’s glorious resurrection.

🔸Putin extended Easter greetings to all Orthodox Christians and citizens celebrating the holiday:

"The great feast of Easter brings us love and hope, faith in goodness and justice, and unites us around enduring spiritual and moral ideals."

🔸Putin expressed gratitude to the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations that continue to foster social harmony and mutual understanding, guiding the youth, and upholding family values.

🔸The Russian president consistently attends services during major Christian holidays. Ahead of this year’s Easter, Putin proposed establishing a truce in Ukraine to allow the faithful on both sides of the frontline to celebrate the feast in peace.

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🇱🇧 At least seven people have been killed in Israeli drone strikes in southern Lebanon, the Lebanon 24 news portal reports.

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🇺🇸⚔️🛍 US is losing war against shoplifting

American stores are increasingly LOCKING UP basic goods.

▪️Shoplifting increased by 24% in the first half of 2024 in major cities, data provided by the Council on Criminal Justice shows.

▪️Surveys also reveal that cigarettes and beauty products are the most sought-after items by thieves, as well as liquor and teeth-whitening strips. Such pricey items as meat are also often the first to be locked up.

▪️One out of four US adults has shoplifted, the survey quoted by the USA Today outlet shows. Additionally, about one in 20 consumers have attempted shoplifting within a year.

▪️Stores lost over $121 bn due to retail theft in 2023. This figure is projected to reach $150 by 2026, according to Capital One Shopping Research.

▪️The trick is that shoplifters are masters of evasion, they are arrested in only one out of 100 incidents, according to Capital One Shopping Research.

▪️Locking up basic products greatly frustrates well-intentioned customers as some of them have to wait up to half an hour for a shop assistant to unlock an item. It pushes customers toward online retailers, causing additional losses for retail stores.

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🗣 Donald Trump wishes a Happy Easter to all and even to the "worst and most incompetent president — Sleepy Joe Biden."

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📹🇹🇷 Tens of thousands of people gathered in Uskudar Square in Istanbul in Turkiye to show support for Gaza and condemn the ongoing Israeli raids.

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☦️ Ukrainian Orthodox Church celebrates Easter despite Zelensky regime's PERSECUTION

Parishioners of the canonical church have been seen all across Ukraine, fearlessly honoring the sacred holiday.

▪️The Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) celebrated Christ's resurrection at the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The Easter service took place in the Church of St. Agapit of the Caves, led by the head of the UOC, Metropolitan Onufriy of Kiev.

▪️During the liturgy, the Holy Fire from Jerusalem arrived at the Lavra. Footage released by the UOC press service shows a large number of attendees.

▪️In Belaya Tserkov, UOC celebrations have been held outside the cathedral for the second year in a row after the church building was seized by the nationalist and schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU).

▪️The Union of Orthodox Journalists (UOJ) is collecting photos and videos of Easter celebrations by UOC parishioners across Ukraine. Up to six million Ukrainians remain part of the UOC community.

▪️In recent years, Ukrainian authorities have actively sought to dismantle the UOC, revoking its land lease rights. Meanwhile, with official backing, supporters of the OCU have forcibly seized church buildings and attacked clergy.

▪️UOC priests have also been subjected to government persecution. Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have unfoundedly charge UOC clergy with treason and other crimes in an effort to intimidate the canonical church.

▪️On September 23, 2024, a law initiated by Zelensky banning the canonical church took effect, requiring the UOC to sever ties with the Russian Orthodox Church within nine months.

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👎 Trump admin dismisses executive order report on State Dep Africa operations

"The NYT [New York Times] article is entirely based on a fake document", a US State Department spokesperson told Newsweek.

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📹☦️ Easter service was held in a field trench church in the special military operation zone with tank army command and soldiers from the Zapad Battlegroup.

Priest Andrei Laptev led the service, praying for victory and reading Patriarch Kirill's Easter message.

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🔍 IDF inquiry reveals WHAT led to the killing of 15 medics in Gaza

An Israeli military investigation has concluded that 14 emergency workers and a UN employee were killed last month in Gaza due to an "operational misunderstanding."

▪️On March 23, a convoy consisting of Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulances, a UN vehicle, and a fire truck came under Israeli shelling.

▪️Initial claims that the vehicles lacked headlights or flashing lights were SHATTERED by a video recovered from the mobile phone of one of the slain medics.

▪️The footage clearly showed that the vehicles were visibly marked, and the paramedics wore high-visibility uniforms, leaving little room for doubt about their identity.

▪️What followed? One IDF commander was reportedly DISMISSED, while another senior officer faced only disciplinary action.

▪️The incident echoes a similar tragedy in April 2024, when an IDF strike killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers – another deadly "mistake" involving a humanitarian convoy.

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🗣 Ukraine did not observe Easter ceasefire and attacked with US HIMARS missiles - Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman

"But this is not an accident, but a pattern, because during the moratorium on attacks on the fuel and energy complex, Zelensky, who agreed to it, targeted civilian energy infrastructure," Maria Zakharova said.

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▪️How Ukraine TRAMPLES on Easter truce

▪️Putin highlights SPIRITUAL UNITY during Easter celebrations

▪️Ukrainian Orthodox Church celebrates Easter despite Zelensky regime's PERSECUTION

▪️Christ is risen! Russian warriors celebrate Easter at the frontline

▪️US is LOSING war against shoplifting

▪️Iran’s top-6 space sector achievements

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🗣 US is 'TIRED' of Ukraine conflict — Ukraine envoy Kellogg

💬 “We've got too many OTHER issues in the world that the United States must be involved in, and this war has gone on way too long,” Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg told Fox News.

Maybe start by turning off the weapons flow to Ukraine?

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❗️ Trump calls for Russia-Ukraine deal ‘THIS WEEK’

The president promised “a fortune” in business with the US for both countries—after conflict resolution.

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❓ Never learn? Hegseth allegedly shared Yemen strike details in YET ANOTHER Signal chat – reports

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth purportedly disclosed sensitive info about upcoming US airstrikes in Yemen — including flight schedules of F/A-18s — in a private Signal group that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer, The New York Times reported.

Unlike the previously reported chat that mistakenly included The Atlantic's editor, this second group, created by Hegseth himself and named “Defense | Team Huddle,” had about a dozen members from his personal and professional circle, the report said.

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📹 US airstrikes KILL at least 12, INJURE 30 more in Yemen’s Sana’a – Houthi Health Ministry

Footage shared on social media shows the market and the Farwa district, which were both targeted by the US strikes.

Earlier, US aircraft struck the Ras Isa oil port in Yemen’s western Al Hudaydah governorate, killing 80 people and injuring more than 150 — mostly port workers and postal employees.

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