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The US maritime blockade does not undermine Iran's economy, as the republic has borders with 15 countries. This was stated in an interview with TASS by the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic to Belarus, Alireza Sanei.
He added that Iran gives priority to friendly ships when passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Source: TASS
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🗣Moscow is negotiating with the IAEA to establish a ceasefire, necessary for the repair of damaged power line supports at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, Likhachev reported.
What else did the head of Rosatom say:
👱♀️Ukrainian Armed Forces drones are targeting cargo trucks and buses, effectively preventing the delivery of food and essential goods.
👱♀️In Energodar itself, both gas stations have been put out of action due to constant attacks. The Ukrainian Armed Forces are deliberately sowing panic in the city and making normal peaceful life impossible.
👱♀️Today, a drone hit a pipeline running along the machine halls of the nuclear power plant itself and, without detonating, fell near the No. 1 power unit.
👱♀️The IAEA Secretariat is actually ignoring the daily attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, civilian infrastructure, and the killing of Russian citizens by Ukrainian military forces.
Source: Zvezda
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🌒@EastCalling
🛢 The movement of merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz area is still largely absent
Over the past 24 hours, fewer than 5 ships were observed transiting in or out, and all of them used the Iranian traffic separation scheme.
In a normal 24-hour period before the war in the Middle East, approximately 130 ships transited per day, transporting 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.
Source: СВЕЖЕСТИ
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🌒@EastCalling
China and the US have reached agreements on the purchase of American aircraft, aircraft engines, and components by the Chinese authorities. This was announced by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
Source: TASS
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I wonder what the conditions would be 😏.
🌒@EastCalling
Tens of thousands of people are participating in several demonstrations in London at once.
One arose against the backdrop of mass migration, the second in support of Palestine. More than 4,000 police officers took to the streets, and arrests have already taken place.
On the eve of a large-scale protest, the British authorities banned 11 activists from entering the country. Prime Minister Starmer also warned participants that any attempts to incite hatred "will face the full force of the law".
Source: Zvezda
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⚡️A drone fell near the power units of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine carried out an attack on the station's territory. During the fall, the drone did not detonate, and there were no damages or casualties.
👨🦳The very fact of an attack on the territory of Europe's largest nuclear facility is unprecedented👃, - says a statement from the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant.
Source: Zvezda
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🌒@EastCalling
⚠️No "umbrellas" will save those who dream of victory over Russia, Ryabkov stated.
RF should demonstrate its capabilities to cool down hotheads in the West.
Other statements by the Deputy Foreign Minister:
🥇There are no analogues to "Sarmat" — this complex doesn't need advertising;
▪️The complex can reliably overcome all existing and only those missile defense systems that are currently under development;
▪️The characteristics of "Sarmat" are exactly the case when "size matters" ;
▪️RF ironically observes the West's attempts to demonstrate supposedly indifference to the launch of "Sarmat", but does not expect any reaction;
▪️Moscow does not want to undermine strategic stability, and therefore warned other countries about the tests of "Sarmat".
Source: Zvezda
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🌒@EastCalling
The Russian Federation is outraged by the level of cynicism of the USA, which is tightening the blockade of Cuba, while declaring a certain readiness for dialogue, Ryabkov stated.
Russia stands shoulder to shoulder with Cuba and will not abandon its principled line of support for Havana, Ryabkov noted.
Source: TASS
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🌒@EastCalling
Donald Trump claimed that he had "rendered a great service to Europe" by attacking Iran.
Source: СВЕЖЕСТИ
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A leak occurred at a Japanese nuclear power plant — there was a release of steam with radioactive particles, reported the Tohoku Electric Power company.
Staff detected a dangerous release from a tank designed for collecting condensate. At the time of the incident, "Onagawa" was in a trial operation mode, and the station was preparing to resume commercial operation.
As a result, the second power unit had to be shut down for an unscheduled technical inspection.
No release of radioactive substances outside the station was recorded.
Source: Zvezda
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🌒@EastCalling
🇧🇪 Protests are taking place in Belgium against raising the retirement age to 67 years.
Source: СВЕЖЕСТИ
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If everything goes the way it goes now, there would be no retirement as such quite soon.
🌒@EastCalling
Xi Jinping "won by a landslide" in the recent negotiations with Trump. This opinion was expressed by the analytical desk of Japanese public television.
"The fact that China managed to demonstrate its strength on the world stage, including in relation to the Iranian problem, slightly tips the balance in its favor," explained Tomoyoshi Komiyama, editor of the international department.
Source: TASS
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🌒@EastCalling
What really happened? Did the CIA grab 40 boxes of documents regarding the JFK assassination and MKUltra ?
“Gabbard’s office categorically denied that the CIA had “raided” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. DNI press secretary Olivia Coleman issued a public statement declaring that the reports were false. Luna herself later clarified that the event did not occur literally on May 13, 2026 and that the word “raid” may have been imprecise. Intelligence officials speaking anonymously to media outlets likewise insisted there had been no forcible seizure or dramatic confrontation. Yet notably, the clarifications stopped short of fully denying that disputed documents had been removed from ODNI control at some earlier point.
That distinction is critically important because the core issue is not whether armed CIA officers stormed Tulsi Gabbard’s office like a scene from a political thriller. The underlying issue is the alleged struggle over who controls historically explosive intelligence records and whether factions inside the national security bureaucracy are resisting Trump administration declassification efforts.
To understand why this matters, one must understand the central role the CIA plays in both controversies. The Kennedy assassination remains perhaps the most scrutinized intelligence related event in American history. Despite decades of investigations, public skepticism persists because thousands of records remained classified or partially redacted for generations. Many researchers believe elements of the intelligence community concealed information about Lee Harvey Oswald’s contacts, CIA surveillance activities, anti Castro operations, and intelligence failures before the assassination. Even when documents have been released, heavy redactions and missing files have fueled suspicion rather than trust.
MKUltra is equally incendiary. Beginning in the 1950s, the CIA conducted secret experiments exploring methods of mind control, interrogation resistance, chemical manipulation, and psychological conditioning. Subjects were sometimes dosed with LSD or subjected to experiments without informed consent. Congressional investigations in the 1970s exposed aspects of the program, but many records had already been destroyed on orders from CIA leadership. The surviving revelations permanently stained the agency’s reputation and transformed MKUltra into shorthand for unchecked clandestine power operating in the shadows of government.
Tulsi Gabbard’s role in this unfolding drama is particularly significant because she has long positioned herself as hostile to regime change operations, secret wars, and intelligence excesses. Throughout her political career she repeatedly accused elements of the national security establishment of misleading the American people and perpetuating endless foreign conflicts. Her appointment by President Trump was therefore viewed by many intelligence veterans as akin to placing an institutional skeptic atop the intelligence pyramid itself.”
Roger Stone Jr
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Euroclear intends to appeal the decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court on the assets of the Central Bank of Russia. This was reported by Reuters.
Earlier, the Moscow Arbitration Court granted the Central Bank of Russia's claim to recover €200 billion from Euroclear in connection with the depositary's blocking of Russia's sovereign assets.
Source: TASS
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🌒@EastCalling
The WHO has declared the Ebola outbreak situation in the DRC and Uganda an emergency and a threat to other countries.
UPD:
According to WHO data, at present, 80 deaths, presumably related to Ebola, have been recorded in three zones of the DRC, along with 246 suspected cases of infection.
Source: RIA Novosti / TASS
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🌒@EastCalling
A powerful explosion occurred at a test site in the area of the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, writes The Times of Israel newspaper.
According to its information, the explosion was part of the planned tests of the state defense company Tomer.
Source: TASS
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Other sources state that it's a hit strange time for actual test explosion and there might be different reason for that, other than test.
🌒@EastCalling
An investigation has begun in France against the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia in connection with the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018.
"An investigating judge from the department of crimes against humanity will now conduct an investigation into the complaint (from a number of NGOs - ed.)", - reports France Press.
Source: RIA Novosti
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🌒@EastCalling
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the UAE of blocking a joint statement by BRICS members criticizing Israel and Israeli aggression in the Middle East.
Recall that the UAE became a full member of BRICS on January 1, 2024.
Source: СВЕЖЕСТИ
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🌒@EastCalling
The first clinic in the US for restoring children's original gender will be established in Texas, according to NBC News.
Five doctors who assisted minors with gender reassignment have also been dismissed from there*.
During the first five years of operation, the hospital will provide free assistance to anyone who stops the transgender transition process.
* The LGBT movement is banned in Russia.
Source: Russian Media
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🌒@EastCalling
A drone crashed in the Turkish city of Samsun on the Black Sea coast
There were no casualties, and the damage was minimal. The police are conducting an investigation.
The fragments of the tail section visible in the footage show that this is a Ukrainian decoy drone "Maya", widely used in attacks on Crimea and mainland Russia to saturate air defense systems and lure interceptors.
Source: СВЕЖЕСТИ
UPD: The drone that exploded in Samsun, Turkey, was Ukrainian, according to the local publication Doğru Haber.
Presumably, the UAV deviated from its course during an attack on Crimea or the Krasnodar Territory. This could have happened, among other things, due to a technical malfunction, the article says.
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Turkey must really review if they still want such an ally as Ukraine. Their drones have already made one of the governments in the Baltic county leave.
🌒@EastCalling
🇷🇺The Russian army liberated Kutkovka and Borovaya in the Kharkiv region, the Defense Ministry reported.
👊The Russian Armed Forces struck energy, transport, airfield, and port infrastructure facilities used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Also targeted were:
▪️ drone assembly sites;
▪️ temporary deployment points of Ukrainian military and foreign mercenaries in 152 districts.
▪️ Six unmanned boats of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were destroyed.
Air defense systems shot down 12 guided aerial bombs, two HIMARS rockets made in the USA, and 353 UAVs.
Source: Zvezda
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🌒@EastCalling
🇷🇺🇨🇳Vladimir Putin will pay an official visit to China on May 19–20, the Kremlin announced.
The trip is timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation. It will take place at the invitation of Xi Jinping.
The leaders of the two countries will discuss current issues in bilateral relations and ways to further deepen the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between the countries.
Source: Zvezda
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Picture from last year visit.
🌒@EastCalling
Sergei Ryabkov admitted the possibility of new contacts between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, but noted that there are no specific agreements on dates yet.
“When there's a need, there's a conversation. I assume that there will be new contacts in the upcoming period,” Ryabkov said.
In Moscow, they ironically perceive the supposedly indifferent reaction of Western countries to the tests of the "Sarmat", said Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov.
Because we understand no worse, but better than others, what the upcoming deployment of this system means. There are no similar strategic-range complexes anywhere in the world today.
Source: RIA Novosti
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🌒@EastCalling
The American stock market lost more than $900 billion today.
Source: Банкста
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The US is preparing to charge one of the leaders of the Cuban Revolution, 94-year-old Raul Castro, Reuters reports, citing a representative of the US Department of Justice.
According to CBS News, the charges may be related to a 1996 incident when the Cuban Air Force shot down two planes of the Miami-based emigrant organization "Brothers to the Rescue".
Source: TASS
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🌒@EastCalling
‼️Gerasimov checked the progress of the combat tasks being carried out by the "West" group of forces.
At the command post of one of the formations, the Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces heard a report from the commander of the group, Sergei Kuzovlev, on the situation, as well as reports from the commanders of formations and unit commanders.
Summing up, Gerassimov noted the successes of the formations and military units and set tasks for further actions.
At the end of the work, he presented state awards to the most distinguished servicemen and thanked them for the courage and heroism shown during the combat operations.
Source: Zvezda
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🌒@EastCalling
The joint production of drones by Germany and Ukraine means the direct involvement of Berlin in the conflict, said Dmitry Polyansky, Russia's representative to the OSCE.
Main statements:
🟥Russia is opposing not only Ukraine, but also the entire NATO bloc;
🟥In Estonia, near Russia's borders, NATO's largest exercise "Spring Storm - 2026" is taking place, involving aviation, attack drones, and 20,000 soldiers;
🟥New deliveries of Western weapons to Kyiv and strikes on Russian territory increase the risk of further escalation;
🟥Western decisions on new loans to Ukraine are leading to increased mobilization and discussions about lowering the draft age;
🟥Western countries are ignoring the situation around the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the actions of the Ukrainian authorities against clerics;
🟥In the West, Russia's restraint is perceived as a sign of weakness.
Source: СОЛОВЬЕВ
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🌒@EastCalling
❌Ukrainian banks are refusing to accept money as a bail for Yermak, his lawyer complained.
The fact is that in such a case, financial monitoring (a system of money control to prevent money laundering) is carried out.
If the bail for the ex-head of Zelensky's office is not paid by the end of the day today, he will remain in the detention center until at least Monday, Ukrainian blogs report.
Source: Zvezda
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