India to Get Potent Nuclear & Biological Capable Warship

🇮🇳🚢 The Mormugao, a P15B stealth-guided missile destroyer, measures 163 by 17 meters in length and breadth, respectively, with a displacement of 7,400 tonnes. It is also equipped to fight under Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) warfare conditions, the Indian Defense Ministry stated on Friday.

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EU Ready to Relax Sanctions Against Key Russian Fertilizer Producers, Reports Suggest

The European Union may lift some of the sanctions on Russian fertilizer companies to ensure stable food exports, especially to Africa, local media reported on Friday.

According to the reports, EU countries are considering unfreezing money from Russian chemical and fertilizer companies to finance shipments of those products to Africa in a deal reached in the bloc on Thursday. This comes after a group of EU countries including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal argued that the current sanctions create huge difficulties for the export of fertilizers to third countries.

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Fault Lines discussed western assistance to Ukraine with Eva Bartlett - an independent writer and journalist.

💬 "They talk about sending these air defense systems or whatever, but the average Ukrainian soldiers aren't trained up on that, so they're not going to be able to deal with it. So then you have like, well, it's going to be NATO's soldiers going in there. But anyway, the point being, regardless if it's like NATO's soldiers or whomever, from what I can tell from all these different, very informed and knowledgeable analysts, they're screwed. They can't stand Russia. When Russia does begin to actual offensive to take out Ukrainian positions in Avdeevka, for example, one of the areas not far from Donetsk, when that actually starts they will take them out. "

🎧 Listen to more of Eva Barlett's analysis on our podcast: White House Makes a Case Against Yemen Resolution While Sen. Bernie Sanders Pulls Back

🎥 How scouts are trained at Belarusian training grounds (video courtesy of Russian MoD)

Thanks to comprehensive training, each fighter, without exaggeration, can be considered a universal warrior. The requirements for reconnaissance are special, so they work at the firing line for hours, honing their shooting skills from all types of standard weapons to the ideal. In addition, all military personnel are trained as snipers and work with drones.

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Assange's Wife Says Concerned About Conditions of His Detention in UK Prison

Julian Assange's wife Stella Moris spoke about her husband's condition. She explained that she is concerned about her husband's state of health and conditions of his detention in a UK prison.

"A third of prisoners in his wing are charged with manslaughter or premeditated murder. He shares a space with very dangerous people. Some of them are mentally ill. So I am very concerned about his well-being as a well-known person," Moris said.

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'Never': Spanish PM Sanchez on Renewed Call for Catalonia Independence

There will never be a referendum on self-determination in Catalonia affirmed Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at a press conference in Brussels, adding that the region’s independence process is over. Catalonian authorities held a referendum on independence in October 2017 which Madrid refused to recognize, rather imposing direct rule on the autonomous community and dissolving the regional parliament.

“In Catalonia, there is not going to be any self-determination consultation. Not only because it does not fit in the Constitution, that would be enough, but also because we have to contribute with solutions that overcome the fracture,” he stated.

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Border Between Hong Kong and Mainland China May Get Fully Opened in January, Reports Say

Hong Kong authorities intend to fully open the border with mainland China in January to boost the country's economy, media reported on Friday citing city government sources.

Hong Kong intends to fully open its borders with mainland China and resume high-speed train service to China's southern province of Guangdong early next month, which is also welcomed by authorities in mainland China, Chinese press has reported.

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UK Gov't Contracts $157Mln Worth of 'Mini Drones' for Army From US' Lockheed Martin

The UK-based arm of US aerospace and defense company Lockheed Martin has received a 10-year state contract to deliver over 250 mini drones worth 129 million pounds ($157 million) to the British armed forces, the UK government said on Friday.

This is the second time in a day that the company's products have appeared in the news. Earlier today, Lockheed Martin's F-35B jet crashed during a test flight at a base in the state of Texas.

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Fault Lines discussed cash injections into Ukraine with Eva Bartlett - an independent writer and journalist.

💬 "But how do Americans feel knowing all this money is going to them instead of to programs, social programs, whatever, to improve society back in the states. Are people pissed off there about that, about so much money being sent to Ukraine or they are not aware?"

🎧 Listen to more of Eva Barlett's analysis on our podcast: White House Makes a Case Against Yemen Resolution While Sen. Bernie Sanders Pulls Back

Washington's possible delivery of advanced electronic equipment to Kiev to convert missiles into "smart bombs" makes no sense as the Ukrainian forces no longer have military aviation capable of using such munitions, Russian military expert Alexei Leonkov has told Sputnik.

Citing senior US officials familiar with the matter, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the White House was planning to supply Ukraine with advanced electronic equipment to convert unguided aerial munitions into high-precision "smart bombs" to target Russia's military positions.

According to the report, the delivery would include global positioning devices for precision that could be deployed onto a variety of arms and create what the Pentagon calls a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM).

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🎥 Training of T-80 crews in the rear zone of the special operation (video by Russian MoD)

The instructor staff trains military personnel taking into account modern combat experience. Gunners practice firing on the move at targets at a distance of up to two kilometers.

💬 “The most important thing from subordinates is attentiveness to training, so that all requirements are met. They must learn what awaits them on the front lines, they must be able to control a tank, use its weapons in full,” said one of the instructors.

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"A decree was given from Kiev to turn a blind eye to everything that the Polish creatures do," An underground activist in Nikolaev revealed how Polish mercenaries rape girls with impunity with the connivance of the authorities.

TikTok Promotes Videos About Eating Disorders and Self-Harm, Research Shows

TikTok is boosting videos about destructive behavior like eating disorders and self-harm, researchers from the Center for Countering Digital Hate said. In a paper noscriptd “Deadly by Design”, they discuss the possible hazards people with mental health issues may face when they use a popular social network.

“It’s like being stuck in a hall of distorted mirrors where you’re constantly being told you’re ugly, you’re not good enough, maybe you should kill yourself,” claims Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

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‼️Air raid sirens heard across Ukraine - ministry data

'EU And US Hypocrisy': RT & Parent Company Sanctioned Over Claims of Disinformation

The European Union's ninth round of sanctions targeted RT and its parent company Ano TV-Novosti, it has been detailed.

The designation has prompted Brussels to seize the funds and assets of those belonging to RT in Europe over its allegations that the non-profit parent firm and RT work to "spread propaganda and disinformation."

George Szamuely, a senior research fellow at the Global Policy Institute, spoke to the development with RT, underscoring that the move was a "great shame" and simply the product of "EU and US hypocrisy."

"What they call disinformation is information they don't like... it's a perspective that they want to deny to the European public," he stressed, adding that he did not believe western journalists would condemn the EU move as "they're much too busy getting indignant about a handful of journalists getting suspended by Twitter."

Fault Lines discussed western policy towards Russia with Eva Bartlett - Independent Writer & Journalist

💬 "If we go back to Russia's position and the way Russia behaved, in contrary to all these claims of the Russian invasion in 2014, it never happened. Russia was for all these years pushing the negotiation process, pushing for the Minsk accords to be adhered to. And then we learn this, that they never had any intention, the Ukrainian side and their allies never had any intention to adhere to them at all. I mean, that explains a lot."

🎧 Listen to more of Eva Barlett's analysis on our podcast: White House Makes a Case Against Yemen Resolution While Sen. Bernie Sanders Pulls Back

📹 "One can say they were made into suicide bombers," Russian intelligence officers said they found Ukrainian tanks with hatches welded shut from the outside

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Biden Admin. to Start Refilling US Oil Reserve With 3Mln Barrels Purchase in February

The Biden administration plans to start refilling the heavily drawn-down US Strategic Petroleum Reserve with a purchase of 3 million barrels of crude in February, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced in a document inviting US energy companies to tender for the sale.

Last week, the balance was at its lowest level since 1984 at 382.3 million barrels.

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Insanely Huge Marsquake Had Energy Equal to All Previous Quakes Ever Seen, Scientists Say

A marsquake tracked by Earth scientists earlier this year has had its power quantified for the first time, and the results are off the scales.

"The energy released by this single marsquake is equivalent to the cumulative energy from all other marsquakes we've seen so far," seismologist John Clinton of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Switzerland, said in a release. ‘[A]nd although the event was over 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) distant, the waves recorded at InSight were so large they almost saturated our seismometer."

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📹 The wife of a DPR militiaman, convicted by a Ukrainian court, recalled how her case was fabricated in order to force her husband to come to Ukraine

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High Heating Bills Force Some Cafes in Budapest to Close Until Spring

Some pastry shops in Budapest are being forced to close or reduce services until spring or for a longer period due to unaffordable heating bills, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Friday.

Several employees of bakeries and cafes in the Hungarian capital have spoken about the difficulties their businesses are facing amid the energy crisis in Europe.

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