🤔Syrian state media has challenged the US version of events concerning the killing of the leader of the Daesh* group Abu al-Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurashi on Wednesday.

▪️Damascus argued that it was the Syrian government army that liquidated him and not the Syrian opposition (FSA) alongside the US military, as Washington claimed.

▪️Moreover, according to some Arabic media Abu al-Hasan al-Hashemi al-Qurash and Abd al-Rahman al-Iraqi, known as Saif Baghdad are the same person.

▪️According to the Syrian state media, the latter was eliminated during the security operation carried out by the Syrian Arab Forces, in cooperation with civil groups from Daraa, against Daesh* in the northern neighborhood of Jasim city on October 15, 2022.

*Daesh (IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.

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Kanye West's Twitter Account Only Lasted One Month — What Happened?

Hip-hop star Ye (formally Kanye West) only had his Twitter suspension lifted in late October before being banned again as early as October.

He posted a claim of malpractice against a Jewish doctor who treated him for mental illness and called out the number of Jewish executives in the entertainment and media industries.

Rapper Ye has been banned from Twitter for the second time in weeks after voicing his admiration for Adolf Hitler.

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💬“There has to be some sort of logic in the whole thing and the definite form of oil embargo on Russian oil, which means that no more oil transport of Russian oil would be ensured, would be financed by any EU related institution which will formally enter into force on December 5th, so early next week. And here we are. So the next days will really be interesting because if they don't reach a compromise on that, a major demand might not materialize,” Dr. Karin Kneissl – former minister of foreign affairs of Austria and an energy analyst said.

🎧Listen to more of Kneissl’s analysis in our podcast: 'Strategic Intimacy': How Europe Got Screwed by the US.

📹WATCH: Newly-mobilized Russian personnel undergo mine detection exercises (video courtesy of Russia’s MoD).

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📹The Russian Defense Ministry has published footage showing Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft in combat action as part of the special military operation in Ukraine.

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“Once, a Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicle went out there and fired a shot at my house”: A DPR pensioner describes how the Ukrainian military acts towards civilians.

📹The Russian Defense Ministry has published footage showing how Russia's newly mobilized citizens practice their tank-operating combat skills.

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“The European Union has opened, if you want, a two-front conflict or two-front economic war - one is against Russia and the other one is against China, because China has already been declared a rival and not anymore a partner. The Doctrine of Change through trade for nearly a decade and then, as of May 2019, the EU changed its doctrine and ever since has considered China as a systemic rival,” Dr. Karin Kneissl – former minister of foreign affairs of Austria and an energy analyst – said.

🎧Listen to more of Kneissl’s analysis in our podcast: 'Strategic Intimacy': How Europe Got Screwed by the US.

Twitter censored bombshell Hunter Biden laptop scoop back in 2020 in run-up to presidential election

New Twitter boss Elon Musk tweeted on Friday a link to the account of independent journalist Matt Taibbi after the commentator shed light on Twitter’s controversial move to censor the explosive story by posting what appeared to be redacted emails between Twitter staff.

The decision was made “at the highest levels of the company”, Taibbi said, although he added that it was without the involvement of the site's co-founder and former chief executive Jack Dorsey. 

According to Taibbi’s report, Twitter's high-ranking executives deliberately marked the story as hacked as they looked for an excuse to censor it.

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Macron Anxious to Resolve EU-US Spat Over Biden's Inflation Reduction Act 'in Early 2023'

Emmanuel Macron has voiced intention to resolve fissures between Brussels and Washington over the contentious US $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act as early as “in the first quarter of 2023,” according to media reports.

“We need to find a way to solve these issues and we need to be able to invest much stronger and faster,” the French President told journalists in New Orleans on December 2, adding that the European Union was hoping to be granted exemptions from the protectionist US legislation, similar to those that Canada and Mexico have.

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Russia Confident Demand For Its Oil to Remain Despite Price Cap: Embassy

Russia has no doubt that its oil will continue to be in demand on world markets even after the introduction of the price cap, the Russian Embassy in the United States said.

"The result of such steps will be a widespread increase in uncertainty and higher costs for consumers of raw materials. Moreover, no country is now immune to the imposition of a ‘ceiling’ on its export products for political reasons," the Russian embassy in Washington said on Friday, adding that regardless of the "current ‘flirting’ with a dangerous and illegitimate tool, we are confident that our oil will continue to be in demand."

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📹 A resident of Rubezhnoe tells how she lived for two months in the basement of a school mined by Ukrainian militants

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China Completes First-Ever In-Orbit Rotation of Crews at Tiangong Station

China's taikonauts held a successful in-orbit rotation of crews at the Tiangong space station for the first time in the country's history, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said.

During the rotation held on Friday evening, the crew of the Shenzhou-14 manned spacecraft officially transferred its duties to the Shenzhou-15 crew, which is replacing taikonauts from Shenzhou-14 and will work at the station until May, 2023.

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📌 LIVE UPDATES: Emergency Blackouts Introduced in Kiev - Energy Company

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US Air Force Reveals Their B-21 Raider to Compete With China

On Friday, the Pentagon unveiled its new stealth bomber, the B-21 raider, at an Air Force facility in Palmdale, California. The aircraft is just one of three other sectors the Pentagon is working to modernize to match China's growing military efforts. The US military is also reportedly developing silo-launched nuclear ballistic missiles and submarine-launched warheads.

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🇮🇹 Italy is hosting its biggest public diplomacy of the year – the Mediterranean Dialogues conference. Even though the overall tone of the event is dominated by the Euro-Atlantic agenda in regards to 🇷🇺 Russia-Ukraine issue, some participants say that their country puts its own national interests first. I spoke with Dr. Ebtesam Al-Ketbi, the President and Founder of the 🇦🇪 Emirates Policy Center, who shared her view on the Ukrainian crisis: «Russia is one of our strategic partners, and we have military cooperation, we have economic cooperation, so why should we take other people's position? In fact, we should use this good relationship for mediation to reach a peaceful solution between the two parties.» - Dr. Ebtesam Al-Ketbi said. Subscribe to @BolotskySputnik

❗️ 5.7-magnitude quake hits Indonesia's Java island: USGS

🌍🇺🇸 African leaders may resent the lack of face-to-face meetings at US-Africa summit, US officials say

▪️These concerns were raised as it transpired that no one-on-one meetings with US President Joe Biden had yet been arranged for the African leaders coming to the US-Africa summit this month.

🗣“We would not organize a summit with any other region of the world like this - and, as far as I can tell, have not,” said John Peter Pham, a former top State Department official and a specialist in African affairs in the Trump administration.

▪️According to another official, cited by the media, Burundi’s ambassador to the US, Jean de Dieu Ndikumana emphasized that African delegations remain “hopeful” for bilateral meetings, as the African leaders are “crossing the ocean to come” for discussions.

▪️Calls and emails to several African embassies in Washington remain unanswered, the official added.

▪️The US-Africa Leaders summit will take place in Washington from 13 to 15 December and will cover a wide range of global issues, including the economy, security, climate change, and healthcare

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❗️ Key takeaways from exposed censorship of Hunter Biden laptop scoop:

▪️ 'Unsafe' Story
Twitter posted warnings that the bombshell Hunter Biden story might be “unsafe” at an early stage, not only ditching all links to it, but even blocking its transmission via direct message (a measure used for extreme cases such as child pornography).

▪️ 'Hacked Material'
A small group of top-level executives at Twitter opted for the decision to label the original Hunter Biden story as “hacked material” without any evidence.

▪️ 'Freelanced Decision'
The move to censor the laptop reporting was taken behind the back of then-CEO and founder Jack Dorsey. Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s former head of legal, policy, and trust, had taken on a “key role” in the decision.

▪️ ‘Twittergate’
Meanwhile, the first instalment of the “Twitter Files” elicited an immediate response from the Republicans, including House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, Sens. Rand Paul and Josh Hawley, and the House Republican’s official Twitter account.

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Russian Lawmaker Says Price Cap on Russian Oil Will Lead to Explosive Rise of Fuel Prices

The introduction of a price cap on Russian oil would lead to the explosive growth of fuel prices across the world, the first deputy chairman of the Russian Federation Council's Committee on Economic Policy, Ivan Abramov, told Sputnik on Saturday.

"Consequences of such a decision are obvious: it will lead to a booming demand, disruptions of supply chains and the explosive growth of fuel prices across the globe," Abramov said.

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📹 Russia’s MoD has released footage of 2S3 Akatsiya 152mm artillery units of the Russian Armed Forces as part of the special military operation

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