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2023-05-19 02:04:02 Pentagon accounting ERROR overvalued Ukraine weapons aid by $3 BILLION Reuters reports that Pentagon overestimated the value of the ammunition, missiles, shells and equipment sent to Ukraine by around 3 billion dollars! "We've discovered inconsistencies… Open / Comment

2023-05-18 23:06:17 Pentagon accounting ERROR overvalued Ukraine weapons aid by $3 BILLION

Reuters reports that Pentagon overestimated the value of the ammunition, missiles, shells and equipment sent to Ukraine by around 3 billion dollars!

"We've discovered inconsistencies in how we value the equipment that we've given to Ukraine," one of the senior defense officials told Reuters.
The official was not named, however, Reuters claims the info to be confirmed from other sources.

What could it lead to? To the additional aid to fill those 3 lost billions!
And also, given the debt ceiling fight, that's a perfectly timed news - now Joe Biden can postpone a new request for aid authorisation from Congress.

Have you EVER made a 3 BILLION dollars mistake? Guess nah, you couldn't...
Now you know who can!
Bets on will there be anyone held accountable?

Oh! Sorry! Just a small mistake, sir!

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2023-05-18 21:01:34 Russia develops 10 gas and oil fields in Iran

Russia has started developing 10 new gas and oil fields in Iran, the country's Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday.

Operations are already underway at the fields, he said, adding that Russian companies are quite successfully implementing several projects and are considering additional ones.

Earlier, Russia's Gazprom and the National Iranian Oil Company signed an agreement estimated at $40 billion, which involves the exploitation of the Kish, North Pars and a number of other Iranian fields.

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2023-05-18 20:00:32 Bank of Russia may start posting ruble exchange rate forecasts

The Central Bank of Russia may consider publishing a range forecast for the ruble exchange rate, if this does not create wrong signals for the market, said Deputy Governor of the Central Bank Alexey Zabotkin.

If the public debate concludes that concerns over the ruble rate forecasts are outdated and it won't create the wrong signals, the Bank of Russia will be ready to consider it, the official noted.

In this case, a range projection for the ruble rate will be provided along with other core economic indicators, such as GDP, the key rate and inflation, Zabotkin added.

So, insider trading in Russia is going to get easier?

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2023-05-18 18:00:34 Russia working on visa-free regime with four Arab nations

Russia is currently developing agreements on visa-free regime with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia, Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov said.

Furthermore, an agreement on visa-free group tours with Iran is planned to be launched soon, the official said.

Russia is now developing tools for cashless payment for goods and services in these countries. This includes tools such as the tourist map, Reshetnikov noted.

According to him, achieving comfortable conditions for tourists is the main objective.

Earlier on May 15, Russia also introduced visa-free regime for Georgian nationals, except for those entering the country for the purpose of labor activity.

Habibi come to Russia?

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2023-05-18 16:00:23 BlackRock gets 10x profit from trading PEPE

Investment giant BlackRock withdrew $1.27 trillion PEPE tokens worth $1.98 million from Binance, making as much as 10x profit, analyst firm Lookonchain revealed.

The BlackRock fund bought $1 trillion of PEPE for $244,000 on April 21, and then sold that amount of coins as early as May 5 for $2.63 million, making a 10x profit of about $2.39 million.

This activity shows not only the extremely successful trading of BlackRock, but also a change in the investment strategy for the fund, ready to invest significantly in meme coins.

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2023-05-18 14:00:37 Sweden must prepare to leave EU, says Democratic party leader

Sweden must fully prepare to leave the European Union to strengthen its negotiation position with the bloc, said Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the right-wing Sweden Democrats party.

Åkesson and Swedish MEP Charlie Weimers, in a Svenska Dagbladet column, expressed their desire for Sweden to "maximize its influence" in the EU.

To do so, the Swedish government should push for a constitutional changes requiring a public vote in the law before any further powers are transferred from Stockholm to Brussels.

A similar mechanism has previously been adopted in the UK and Denmark to provide protection against any attempts by the EU to seize power.

Additionally, the Swedish government should make the necessary preparations to leave the bloc to legitimize any threat to withdraw in future negotiations with the EU.

According to politicians, this requires removing writings in the constitution stating that Sweden is a member of the EU, as well as a detailed study of the Brexit experience.

Åkesson's party is an informal partner of the Swedish government and has long advocated leaving the EU, but accepts this is not currently a majority view among the electorate.

And what should we call Sweden's possible withdrawal – Swexit, Sweparure or Swedone?

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2023-05-18 12:00:47 Montana becomes first US state to ban TikTok

Montana has became the first US state to ban TikTok after the governor signed legislation prohibiting mobile app stores from offering the app within the state by next year.

Montana's new law, which will take effect January 1, bans downloads of the popular social network in the state and imposes a $10,000-a-day fine for each time someone "is offered the ability" to access TikTok or download the app. The penalties would not apply to users, but only to entities.

That said, Montana's ban is expected to face legal challenges and become a testing ground for the TikTok-free America that many national lawmakers have envisioned.

TikTok has already said the bill "infringes on the first amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok," and that the company intends to "defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana."

TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese tech company ByteDance, has come under increasing scrutiny over its ties to China, amid concerns that such links could pose a national security threat.

The federal government and more than half of US states have already banned the app on government devices and the Biden administration has threatened a national ban unless its parent company sells its stock.

TikTok denies it has ever shared data with the Chinese government and has said it would not do so if asked.

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2023-05-18 10:01:15 Tether to buy Bitcoin for stablecoin reserves using realized profits

USDT stablecoin issuer Tether will regularly buy Bitcoin for its stablecoin reserves using a portion of its profits starting this month as part of a new investment strategy, the firm announced Wednesday.

Tether said it will allocate up to 15% of realized investment profits – excluding any unrealized price appreciation of its reserve assets – to purchase BTC and will add the tokens to the reserve surplus.

The company will custody the BTC stash on its own, without using any third-party custodians, according to the statement.

Tether's BTC purchase campaign aims to strengthen and diversify the stablecoin reserves, while capitalizing on its price appreciation as an investment, the press release said.

The development comes after Tether revealed last week it holds $1.5 billion of BTC and $3.4 billion of gold among the assets that backs the value of USDT and its smaller stablecoins. That said, about 85% of the reserves are held in cash and cash-like assets such as US Treasury bonds, according to its 2023 Q1 attestation.

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2023-05-17 22:10:09 Elon Musk apologizes to unfairly compare X-Men's Magneto to George Soros

Musk earlier tweeted that Soros wants "to erode the very fabric of civilization," as he "hates humanity."

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