Taiwan Hit by Numerous Quakes, Strongest Reaching 6.3 Magnitude

"Taiwan’s capital was hit by a series of earthquakes overnight into the early hours of Tuesday, with the Central Weather Administration saying the strongest was a magnitude-6.3 tremor originating in eastern Hualien. The US Geological Survey put the first one at a magnitude-6.1, followed by a magnitude-6.0. Dozens more smaller tremors were recorded by the Central Weather Administration over the rest of the night, with a new one every few minutes, according to its website — all in the Hualien region." Breitbart

Moment giant TV tower collapses in cloud of smoke during Russian bombing raid on Ukraine’s second biggest city Kharkiv

"This is the shocking moment a giant TV tower collapsed in a cloud of smoke during a Russian bombing raid on Ukraine’s second biggest city.

The major 790ft-tall TV tower was broken apart on Monday in war-torn Kharkiv, after officials reported a Russian air attack on the city.
Video footage and photographs posted on social media showed the top of the tower snapping off and grey smoke billowing from the structure moments after the strike. According to Synegubov, the hit prompted widespread communications outages across the city. It was once the tallest building in the city and the fifth tallest TV tower in Ukraine." MichaelSavage.com

62 combat engagements took place at the front

"Over the past day, 62 combat engagements took place at the front, with the majority of attacks repelled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Lyman, Bakhmut, Novopavlivka and Avdiivka directions.
Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna axes: the adversary maintains its military presence in the russian areas bordering Ukraine. The enemy conducts subversion, continues shelling of Ukrainian settlements from the territory of russia and increases the concentration of mining operations along the state border of Ukraine. More than 10x settlements, including Oleksiivka, Myropilske, Stepok (Sumy oblast) came under enemy artillery and mortar fire.
Kupyansk and Lyman axes: the adversary conducted no offensives. The enemy launched an airstrike in the vicinity of Senkove (Kharkiv oblast). The invaders fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Synkivka, Petropavlivka, Kotlyarivka (Kharkiv oblast).
Lyman axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 14x attacks in the vicinities of Novojehorivka, Serebryanske forestry (Luhansk oblast), Terny, Torske (Donetsk oblast). The enemy fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Nevs’ke (Luhansk oblast), Terny, Yampolivka, Torske (Donetsk oblast).
Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 12x attacks in the vicinities of Zolotarivka, Spirne, Vyimka, Chasiv Yar, Ivanivske, Klishchiivka, Andriivka (Donetsk oblast), where the adversary attempted to improve its tactical position. The enemy launched an airstrike in the vicinity of Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast). Around 20x settlements came under artillery and mortar fire, including Hryhorivka, Kalynivka, Chasiv Yar, Stupochky (Donetsk oblast).

Avdiivka axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 10x attacks in the vicinities of Novobakhmutivka, Semenivka, Umanske, Yasnobrodivka and Netailove (Donetsk oblast), where the enemy, using air attacks, made attempts to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their positions. The adversary launched air strikes in the vicinities of Novokalynove, Berdychi, Oleksandropil, Semenivka, Illinka (Donetsk oblast). The invaders fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Ocheretyne, Novobakhmutivka, Umanske (Donetsk oblast).
Novopavlivka axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to block the enemy near Heorhiivka, Novomykhailivka, Urozhaine (Donetsk oblast), where the invaders made 12x attempts to breach Ukrainian defense. The adversary launched airstrikes in the vicinities of Kostyantynivka, Novomykhailivka and Urozhaine (Donetsk oblast). The enemy fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Krasnohorivka, Kostyantynivka, Vuhledar (Donetsk oblast).
Orikhiv axis: the enemy, with air support, launched 1x attack on positions of Ukrainian defenders in the vicinity of Staromaiorske (Donetsk oblast). The enemy launched an airstrike in the vicinity of Mala Tokmachka (Zaporizhzhia oblast). Around 15x settlements, including Chervone, Novodanylivka, Pyatykhatky (Zaporizhzhia oblast), were under artillery and mortar fire of the occupiers.
Kherson axis: the enemy does not abandon its intention to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their bridgeheads on the left bank of the Dnipro River. In particular during the day of April 22, the invaders executed 4x unsuccessful attacks on positions of the Ukrainian troops in the vicinity of Krynky (Kherson oblast). The adversary launched airstrikes in the vicinities of Novoberyslav and Beryslav (Kherson oblast). The occupiers fired artillery and mortars at around 20 settlements, including Ivanivka, Lvove, Olhivka, Tokarivka (Kherson oblast).....Ukrainian Air Force launched air strikes on 2x anti-aircraft missile systems, 13x concentrations of troops, weapons and military equipment of the russian occupiers.
The Ukrainian Missile Forces hit 1x command post, 2x air defense systems, 1x concentration of russian troops." Ukrin

NATO Member Rolls Out Red Carpet For Hamas Chief

"As head of NATO's second largest military, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has continued to stir controversy among allies by his Hamas-sympathetic stance. Turkey's president played official host to Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul. "The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity," Erdoğan said, referencing Palestinian political unity at this sensitive moment.
Hamas is the main political rival to Fatah - which is the faction that forms the core of the Palestinian Authority (PA) overseeing the West Bank. While the secular-leaning PA is favored as the Palestinians' representative in the West (and at the UN), Hamas is a designated terror organization in the United States and European Union. So in essence Erdogan just held a state visit for a US-designated terrorist." ZH

Ukraine Gets Their Billions Despite CIA Director Reportedly Warning Zelenksy To Stop Stealing So Much Money

"Democrats cheered and waved Ukrainian flags, chanting "Ukraine, Ukraine!" in some pavlovian response to Congress passing a bill that will send (another) $61 billion to Ukraine with no questions asked.
CIA Director Burns had to warn Zelensky to stop stealing so much money.
The issue of corruption was directly raised with Zelensky in a meeting last January in Kiev with CIA Director William Burns.

His message to the Ukrainian president, I was told by an intelligence official with direct knowledge of the meeting, was out of a 1950s mob movie.
The senior generals and government officials in Kiev were angry at what they saw as Zelensky’s greed, so Burns told the Ukrainian president, because “he was taking a larger share of the skim money than was going to the generals.”
Burns also presented Zelensky with a list of thirty-five generals and senior officials whose corruption was known to the CIA and others in the American government.
Zelensky responded to the American pressure ten days later by publicly dismissing ten of the most ostentatious officials on the list and doing little else.
“The ten he got rid of were brazenly bragging about the money they had—driving around Kiev in their new Mercedes,” the intelligence official told me."
Zelensky’s half-hearted response and the White House’s lack of concern was seen, the intelligence official added, as another sign of a lack of leadership that is leading to a “total breakdown” of trust between the White House and some elements of the intelligence community.
Hersh went on to note that one estimate by analysts from the Central Intelligence Agency put the embezzled funds at $400 million last year, at least; another expert compared the level of corruption in Kiev as approaching that of the Afghan war, “although there will be no professional audit reports emerging from the Ukraine.”
But, remember, the first rule of sending money to corrupt Ukraine is... you don't talk about how corrupt Ukraine is (or you get impeached)." ZH

Ukrainian forces repel eight attacks near Staromaiorske, Robotyne, on east bank of Dnipro River

"In the operational area of the Southern Defense Forces, Ukrainian defenders have repelled four assaults by Russian invaders in the Orikhiv sector and four attacks on the east (left) bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region. On the east bank of the Dnipro, in the temporarily occupied Kherson region, the enemy launched four assaults in the area of the settlement of Krynky. As a result, they retreated to their original positions with losses." Ukrin

Father and son servicemen arrested for killing police officer in Ukraine

"Ukrainian authorities have arrested a father and son, both active servicemen, in connection with the fatal shooting of a police officer in Vinnytsia Oblast, the National Police Chief Ivan Vyhivskyi reported. The criminals were detained with the force support of the KORD special forces. The attackers are two military men, father and son, 52 and 26 years old, natives of Vinnytsia Oblast. The policeman, who died in the line of duty while protecting his partner, who was attacked first, managed to make shots and wound the attacker. The circumstances of the incident and the motives for the crime are being established.

Police officers stopped a car with two men in it for inspection around 2 a.m. on April 20, in the Haisyn district of Vinnytsia Oblast. The attackers opened fire on the police. Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that the suspects were formerly part of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade and are currently serving in another military unit. Authorities also recovered the vehicle used in the attack and military-grade ammunition in Vinnytsia Oblast." UV

Top Russian, Chinese Naval Officials Sign Rescue-at-Sea Pact in Qingdao

"The top naval commanders from Russia and China signed a pact in the Chinese port city of Qingdao that will see the two forces cooperate during search-and-rescue missions at sea." Sputnik

Humiliation for Putin after Ukraine strikes prized Russian warship which survived both World Wars

"Ukraine has taken responsibility for a missile strike which left a Russian navy ship - the oldest active duty vessel in the world - ablaze today.

Footage emerged this morning of a fire and heavy smoke billowing from one end of a ship, reportedly the 112-year-old Kommuna salvage vessel, in Sukharnaya Bay in the Russian-occupied Crimean city of Sevastopol. Fire engines were scrambled to extinguish the blaze on board the ship - which has sailed for the modern Russian, Soviet and even Imperial Russian navies since before the start of the First World War.
The inferno followed a series of explosions in the area as authorities were forced to put out missile warnings and temporarily close the Russian-built Kerch Bridge. Local media speculated that a Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missile had damaged the ship, but Russian sources hit back, claiming the missile had been shot down and the resulting debris - "falling fragments" had led to a fire on board." MS

115 combat clashes on front lines, most attacks repelled in Avdiivka sector

"Over the past day, 115 combat engagements were recorded on the battlefield in Ukraine. Over the past day, the following localities were hit by Russian air strikes: Kozacha Lopan, Synkivka, Slobozhanske, Neskuchne, Peremoha in the Kharkiv region; Stelmakhivka in the Luhansk region; Novosadove, Yampolivka, Chasiv Yar, Oleksandropil, Novooleksandrivka, Solovyove, Novobakhmutivka, Berdychi, New York, Krasnohorivka, Ocheretyne, Vodiane, Shakhtarske, Novomykhailivka, Urozhaine, Staromaiorske, Velyka Novosilka, Spirne, Stupochky, Ivanivske, and Andriivka in the Donetsk region; Mala Tokmachka, Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region; Novoberyslav, Lvov, and Krynky in the Kherson region.

More than 120 settlements in the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions came under enemy artillery fire. In the Sivershchyna and Slobozhanshchyna sectors, Russia maintains a military presence in the border areas, continues to conduct sabotage and reconnaissance activities, shelling populated areas from its territory and increasing the density of minefields along the state border.
In the Kupiansk sector, the enemy, with the support of aircraft, attacked the positions of Ukrainian defenders 2 times near Stelmakhivka, Luhansk region.
In the Lyman sector, the enemy attacked the positions of Ukrainian defenders 10 times near the village of Terny in the Donetsk region.
In the Bakhmut sector, Ukrainian forces repelled 28 attacks in the areas of Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region; Verkhniokamianske, Spirne, Klishchiivka, Ivanivske, Novyi in the Donetsk region.
In the Avdiivka sector, Ukrainian defenders repelled 32 attacks in the areas of Semenivka, Novokalynove, Ocheretyne, Berdychi, Umanske, Yasnobrodivka, Nevelske, and Oleksandropil in the Donetsk region.
In the Novopavlivka sector, the Defense Forces continue to hold back the enemy in the areas of Heorhiivka, Novomykhailivka, Vodiane and Urozhayne in the Donetsk region, where the enemy, with the support of aviation, tried to break through the defense of our troops 25 times.
In the Orikhiv sector, the enemy, with the support of aircraft, attacked the positions of Ukrainian defenders 4 times near Staromaiorske, Donetsk region, and Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia region.
In the Kherson sector, the enemy does not abandon its attempts to dislodge Ukrainian units from their footholds on the left bank of the Dnipro River. Over the past day, the occupiers made three unsuccessful attacks on the positions of Ukrainian troops.
At the same time, according to the General Staff, Ukrainian soldiers continue to inflict losses on the occupation forces and their equipment, depleting the enemy along the entire frontline.
Over the past day, the Ukrainian Air Force struck eight enemy manpower clusters." Ukrin

Explosions Rock Middle East: Israel, Syria, and Iran Under Fire

"An attack in Israel occurred overnight. Additionally, explosions were also heard in Iraq and in Syria, targeting facilities associated with Bashar Al-Assad's regime army.

In Iran, early morning explosions were reported. It was noted that air defenses were activated to counter multiple drones, primarily in the Isfahan region, where military and nuclear facilities are situated." MS

US House approves long-awaited $61 billion Ukraine aid package

"The US House of Representatives has approved the vital bill to provide Ukraine with military aid. 311 members of the House of Representatives voted in Favour of the bill, while 112 voted against it. Members of the House also began waving Ukrainian flags. House Speaker Mike Johnson introduced the package of bills that includes support for Ukraine providing about US$61 billion in aid to Ukraine and its allies." Pravada

NASA warns China may try to take over the Moon

"NASA has warned that China may attempt to take over parts of the

Moon within just a few years.

The space agency’s administrator Bill Nelson said he fears the country’s civilian programs launched in the name of science could actually be secret military operations.
Speaking before a House Appropriations Committee to argue why Nasa needed a $25.4 billion budget for 2025, Mr Nelson said: ‘China has made extraordinary strides, especially in the last 10 years, but they are very, very secretive." METRO

Russia Downs 2 Ukrainian Balloons Over Moscow

"Russian air defenses shot down two Ukrainian-launched air balloons over the Moscow and Tula regions." Sputnik

Over 2,100 people forced to evacuate after massive volcanic eruption

"More than 2,100 people were evacuated on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia after Mount Ruang began erupting.
Dangerous ash, falling rocks, hot volcanic clouds and the possibility of a tsunami is causing a risk for those living near the active volcano, AP reports.
Officials fear that part of the volcano could collapse into the sea and trigger a tsunami which happened after one eruption in 1871." MS