US Command Renamed to Counter China; Russian Journalist 'Shot Dead' Revealed

Less than 24 hours after the press reported that journalist Arkady Babchenko died from three bullet wounds in the back on the stairs of his apartment, he appeared healthy today at a press conference in Kiev in a surprising development.

Vasyl Grytsak, the head of Ukraine's security service, said his death was faked and part of a "special operation" to prevent a real assassination attempt on him.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called the incident a provocation against Moscow. Ukraine “deceived the entire international community” with a ruse that has now been clearly exposed as an attempt to discredit Russia, the ministry said.

Syrian President Assad announces plan to completely liberate the country

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (center) inspects the front line in Eastern Ghouta on March 18. Source: THX/TTXVN

On May 31, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gave an interview to Russia's RT television, in which he said the Damascus government plans to liberate and restore control over the entire country's territory. The Syrian leader also said that US forces should learn the lessons of the war in Iraq and leave Syria.

According to Mr. Assad, the Damascus government must liberate all Syrian territories and to achieve this goal, the Syrian government has negotiated with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Malaysia: Cannot conclude Russia is responsible for shooting down MH17

After Dutch and Australian investigators said that the missile that shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, killing 298 people, originated from a Russian military brigade, Malaysian transport authorities, Mr. Loke, made a contrary assertion at a press conference on May 30, saying that so far there is no convincing evidence among the evidence released by the international investigation team (JIT) showing that Russia is responsible for the shooting down of flight MH17.

Malaysia's transport minister said someone would be held accountable for the incident but that all the blame could not be placed on Russia and that "any other conclusions must be based on convincing evidence".

Germany spends 20.8 billion euros to solve refugee problem in 2017

Migrants cross the German-Austrian border in the Bavarian village of Simbach, southern Germany. Photo: AFP/TTXVN

According to a report released by the German Federal Government on May 30, in 2017, Germany spent a total of about 20.8 billion euros (24.2 billion USD) on the refugee issue, of which about 6.6 billion euros (7.7 billion USD) were spent to reduce the burden on states and local governments on asylum and integration costs, and about 6.8 billion euros (7.9 billion USD) were spent on resolving the causes of asylum.

According to the agreement to form the governing coalition, the German Government will continue to implement measures to support refugees and it is expected that by 2021, the budget allocated for the refugee issue will be reduced to about 15 billion euros. In 2016, the German Government spent 20.3 billion euros to deal with refugee-related issues.

According toExpress,To celebrate Prince Harry and actress Meghan Markle's May 19 wedding, many companies sent gifts to Kensington Palace. However, all of the promotional gifts, worth up to $9.3 million, are being returned.

This is one of the rules that the British royal family has applied for many years. Kensington Palace's official regulations on accepting gifts from businesses say: "Members of the royal family will only accept gifts based on the business's commitment not to give them for commercial purposes."

South Korean prosecutors raid Korean Air headquarters