🔺 First, we talk about the new wave of tensions between Kosovo and Serbia
🔺 Next, we preview the US-Africa Leaders Summit taking place in Washington, DC this week
🔺 And finally, another round of Twitter files has arrived! We discuss this in detail with Dan Lazare

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‼️US to have 'engagement' with Russia about Paul Whelan later this week, national security adviser Jake Sullivan says

📹 DPR militia forces have eliminated Ukrainian troops and equipment with TOS-1 heavy flamethrowers near the village of Kamenka

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🤡 German police were forced to dig up a road in Mainz after an eco-zealot had glued himself to it.

Power tools had to be brought to the scene after emergency workers were unable to free him. The man walked away with a chunk of tarmac glued to his hand.

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Tokyo Wants to Get Tomahawk Cruise Missiles in First Offensive Weapons Buy Since WWII

The buy is reportedly being pushed ahead as a stop-gap measure in the wake of the Taiwan crisis, which entered an acute stage in August after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island, as well as an unprecedented flurry of military activity from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in recent months.

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Kosovo Conflict is Part of US, EU and NATO's Broader Plan Aimed Against Serbia & Russia, Experts Say

💬 "Serbian protesters erected barricades over the weekend to stop Kosovo police from entering a town and launching any kind of a terror operation against the Serbian people. Tensions were already running high after Pristina announced snap elections in the area, which were expected to be boycotted by all Serbian parties. On Saturday, Kosovo’s [de facto] President Vjosa Osmani postponed the vote until April," Scott Bennett, a former US psychological warfare officer and State Department counterterrorism analyst, and former Booz Allen Hamilton contractor, told Sputnik.

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‼️Over Half of Donetsk People's Republic Liberated From Ukrainian Troops - Acting DPR Head

More than half of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) territory has been liberated from Ukrainian troops, acting DPR head Denis Pushilin told Sputnik.

"Slightly more than 50 percent of the Donetsk People's Republic's territory has been liberated... If we are talking about the population - this is what's the most important for us - then the figure is much higher," Pushilin said.

"The task is to liberate the entire territory of the DPR within the constitutional boundaries. Our units are doing their best for this to happen as soon as possible," he said

Elon Musk Booed by Crowd at Dave Chappelle Comedy Show

The two newest hate-figures for US liberals shared the limelight at Chapelle's concert in San Francisco on Sunday night.

💬 "Sounds like some of the people you fired are in the audience!" Chapelle quipped, provoking laughter from the hall, before making out that the hostile section of the crowd were also the poorest.

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❗️"Over 150 soldiers from the LPR were liberated from the Ukrainian prison. And each of them told us that they had experienced inhuman treatment. Over 150 of them recounted instances of physical violence against them," the region’s top rights official said on Monday.

Over the past three weeks, there has been a number of prisoner swaps between Russia and Ukraine, with the latest one taking place on December 6 as the sides exchanged 60 servicemen.

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‼️EU ambassadors approve package to provide Ukraine with $19 billion in 2023 - representation

US Gov't Facing Renewed Push to Drop Charges Against WikiLeaks Founder Assange, Reports Say

The administration of US President Joe Biden has been under pressure for the inconsistency between its backing of a new free press policy and the continuous persecution of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, The Guardian reported on Monday.

The pressure to drop charges against the WikiLeaks founder is coming both from within the US and from abroad, from government officials, major media and human rights organizations.

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📹 Over 60 ancient Roman tombs discovered during construction work in Gaza

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👉 Follow our LIVE UPDATES on the Ukrainian crisis

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🇺🇸🌍 The December 13–15 US-Africa Summit will involve 49 delegations from African states and one African Union (AU) delegation. Experts told Sputnik about the prospects of the forthcoming summit against the backdrop of US concerns over China’s growing influence in Africa.

🗣 "Well, it's a sign of desperation. It's a sign of the fact that the United States is becoming ever more hysterical about the closer relations between China and Africa in particular," says Dr. Gerald Horne, author, researcher, and professor of history at the University of Houston, Texas.

👉 READ THE FULL STORY

The corruption scandal in Europe continues to rumble on, and the chairman of the EU legislature Roberta Metsola warned MEPs, that there would be “no impunity” in the inquiry into bribery.

🗣"Make no mistake, the European Parliament, dear colleagues, is under attack. European democracy is under attack," Metsola said at the opening of the December plenary session

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🇸🇪 Swedes are becoming a minority in their own country, warned Hanif Bali, a leading light in the Swedish Moderate Party and former board member, foreseeing the terrible consequences of mass immigration.

🗣 “The so-called majority Swedes are becoming a minority... in some parts of the country it has already happened. In Malmo, only 32 percent of primary school pupils have two Swedish-born parents, in Gothenburg and Stockholm the figure is 46 and 50 percent respectively — and these figures are shrinking every year,” Bali wrote

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A non-binary employee of the US Department of Energy, Sam Brinton, who was accused of stealing luggage at Minneapolis and Las Vegas airports, has been fired, US media has reported, citing a representative of the ministry.

At the end of November, the US media reported that Brinton is accused of stealing luggage worth $2,300 from Minneapolis airport. If found guilty he is liable to five years' imprisonment and a fine of $10,000. Brinton initially denied the theft, but then said that the suitcase had been taken by mistake

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🇺🇸🌍 Leaders of the African countries and the US disagree on how a political settlement to the Ukraine crisis can be reached, with the main point of divergence being sanctions against Russia, the US media reported

🗣"The Africans want to see a diplomatic solution to this conflict. We generally do, too, but 'nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,'" the White House said in a press briefing, adding: "The disconnect comes when some of the countries have expressed discomfort with sanctions and criticisms of Russia that they think make it more difficult to get to a diplomatic solution."

▪️According to the media, the White House will seek ways to boost the US-African partnership during the United States-Africa summit in Washington "rather than paternalism" in its interaction with African countries.

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📹 Karakurt-Class Corvette the Odintsovo has taken part in a drill using artillery, firing at targets in a simulated exercise at sea

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