Новости за 03.04.2024

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The annual GDP growth in Russia has accelerated to 7.7% in February, while the GDP grew by 6% in January-February when compared to the same period last year, the Economic Development Ministry said on Wednesday in its estimate.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu held a phone conversation with Russian Defense Sergei Shoigu on Wednesday, Reuters reported, citing the French Defense Ministry’s statement.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Surging crude prices have forced the Biden administration to postpone the refilling of the US oil reserve, with the Energy Department reportedly saying on Wednesday that it will not pursue a 3-million barrel purchase in “taxpayers' interest” and analysts adding that the situation would likely continue.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States and the European Union intend to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) technology to find replacements for chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The Watchkeeper program has been blasted by British media outlets and MPs as being overpriced, inefficient and late in delivering.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States is unaware if US-supplied weapons were used in an Israeli strike on World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in the Gaza Strip, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian government plans to "carefully remove" barriers that are holding back greater use of drones in the economy, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during his annual report to the country's parliament.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Two Russian Tu-95MS strategic bombers have carried out a planned flight over the neutral waters of the Barents and Norwegian seas, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) reported on Wednesday.

Ben Saul, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, has since said that the bombing may constitute a violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.

ASTANA (Sputnik) - The terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall was well organized, it was accompanied by extensive and pre-orchestrated media coverage in the West, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said on Wednesday.

The Federation Council passed a resolution urging the United Nations and global parliaments to denounce meddling by Western countries in Russia's presidential election.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia has circulated in the UN Security Council a draft statement of the UN body condemning the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The administration of US President Joe Biden is urging Congress to approve the sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel worth a total of $18 billion, while resisting calls to curb US arms sales to the Jewish state over its military offensive in the Gaza Strip, US media reported, citing US officials.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US Navy shipbuilding efforts for Columbia-class nuclear-armed submarines and other vessels face delays in excess of a year, US Naval Institute News reported, citing a one-page summary of a US Navy shipbuilding review.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden in a statement called for a swift probe into the incident that killed seven humanitarian workers from World Central Kitchen in Gaza.

In September 2022, the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines exploded in what was described as an act of sabotage. Nineteen months later, no guilty party has been fingered by the official investigation, though Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh reported that the US was behind it.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of General Staff LTG Herzi Halevi said on Wednesday that an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip that killed seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen (WCK) nonprofit organization was a "grave mistake" that resulted from a "misidentification" and that it "shouldn’t have happened."

TOKYO (Sputnik) - A 7.7-, 6.6- and 6,3-magnitude earthquakes were registered in the vicinity of Taiwan early on Wednesday, and tremors were felt on the southern Japanese islands of Okinawa and Miyako, prompting authorities to issue tsunami warnings for the islands, data of the Japan Meteorological Agency showed.

On Sunday, a popular US news program ran a feature on the so-called “Havana Syndrome” alleging that Russian spies are utilizing secret energy weapons to damage the brains of US officials. The report came despite a years-long investigation by five US intelligence agencies that determined it was “very unlikely” to have come from a foreign adversary.

Over the weekend, Western media revived the long debunked conspiracy known as “Havana Syndrome” that Russian agents are using secret energy technology to affect the minds of US officials and agents.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - North Korea successfully test-fired a new intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile Hwasong-16B on Tuesday, North Korean state media reported.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The US Treasury Department on Tuesday removed a former European subsidiary of Russia’s VTB Bank from its sanctions list.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The US warning for Russia about a potential terrorist attack allegedly mentioned Crocus City Hall as a possible target, The Washington Post reported, citing an unnamed US official.