⚡️Japan has protested to North Korea through diplomatic channels in connection with the launches of two missiles, Japanese State Minister of Defense says

‘Ghost of Soviet Union’ Still Haunting Washington, Russian Ambassador Says

In its relations with Russia, the United States is still driven by a "Cold War" mentality and finds it hard to accept the changes on the international arena, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with Newsweek.

💬"Washington seems to need to constantly assert itself through competition with Russia. It looks as if the 'ghost' of the Soviet Union is still haunting the corridors of power in the American capital, and the ‘Сold War’ has not ended at all," Antonov said.

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🇺🇸US President Joe Biden has been roasted for making a couple of anti-Irish comments during his address to US veterans in Delaware

🗣During his speech, the President joked: "I may be Irish, but I'm not stupid. I married Dominic Giacoppa’s daughter so, you know, I got a little Italian in me now."

▪️These words went viral on social media making users suggest that Joe Biden was repeating an anti-Irish statement as well as getting his wife’s genealogy wrong.

▪️Mary Olohan, a reporter for a US media outlet, outlined that Biden’s dig at the Irish was a ‘hate crime’.

▪️In addition, Conservative digital strategist Greg Price explained Biden’s latest embellishment, noting that "Jill Biden's father's name is Donald Jacobs," adding, "Giacoppa is apparently the Italianized version of Jill Biden's maiden name lol."

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🇦🇷President of Argentina Alberto Fernandez says he will not travel to Qatar for the final match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

💬"Like millions of compatriots, I will enjoy the World Cup Final at home. I will live this fantastic moment as before, together with my people. The best of ours will be on the field and glorious fans will be in the stands," Fernandez said on Twitter on Saturday.

⚽️On Sunday, December 18, Argentina will play against France in the finals of the FIFA World Cup.

🇫🇷French President Emmanuel Macron has said that he would travel to Qatar on Sunday to attend the World Cup final.

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🇬🇷The Greek parliament has adopted the 2023 budget, which will include defense spending worth 5.65 billion euros ($5.9 billion), Minister of National Defense Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos said.

💬"This [defense] budget will change from 6.39 billion euros in 2022 to 5.65 billion euros in total for defense in 2023," Panagiotopoulos said on Saturday, during the discussion in parliament of the state budget for fiscal year 2023, as broadcast by Greece’s defense ministry.

According to Greek media reports, the budget was adopted by the votes of the ruling New Democracy party, while all opposition parties voted against it.

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❄️Record snowdrifts have grown in Moscow - from 33 to 38 centimeters, Phobos (Russia's weather investigation center) told Sputnik

📌The leading specialist of the weather center said that there have never been such snowdrifts on this day in the city's meteorological history, according to the statistics.

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🇨🇫 🇷🇺 The terrorist attack in the Central African Republic (CAR) against the head of the Russian House, Dmitry Syty, will not affect relations between Bangui and Moscow, and the CAR will continue to support Russia

🗣 “I don't think it's going to affect our relationship. We are always for Russia and support the Russian people, the Russian state, so there will be no changes. The people are for the Russians, and that's it,” the CAR's Ambassador to Moscow Leon Dodonou-Pounagaza told Sputnik on Sunday

📌 On Friday, a high-ranking source in the local police told Sputnik that the investigation into the assassination attempt on Syty would be carried out jointly with Russia.

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🇬🇧Prince Harry and Meghan Markle “want their own apology” as they seek to “sit down with Royal Family” before May to address “issues” and force the Firm to admit wrongdoing in how the couple was treated, unnamed sources have told the UK media.

The sources recalled that the scandal-hit couple's drive follows Royal Family aide Lady Susan Hussey meeting black charity founder Ngozi Fulani for “reconciliation” talks at Buckingham Palace.

Earlier this week, Hussey extended apologies to Fulani over last month’s incident at the Palace, which saw Lady Susan repeatedly repeatedly asking the charity boss what part of Africa she was from and when she first came to the UK.

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Bank of France: Economy Faces Sharp Slowdown, Unlikely to Bounce Back Quickly

📉The French economy is facing an extremely difficult period, according to the Bank of France. Several parameters: French exports, inflation and interest rates, have led bank experts to believe that the French economy will only grow by 0.3% in 2023, despite previous expectations of 1% growth. This subdued growth could lead to problems for government budgets.

💬“After showing good resilience during most of 2022, activity will go through two distinct phases: a sharp slowdown from this winter, followed by an easing of inflation tensions and a gradual recovery of economic growth in 2024 and 2025,” the Bank of France stated.

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Pope Francis said on Sunday that after he was elected in 2013, he signed a letter of resignation to be used if his health seriously deteriorated and created impediments to his duties.

💬"I have already signed the document on my resignation. Secretary of State was then [Cardinal] Tarcisio Bertone. I signed it and told him: 'In case of impediments for medical reasons or for any other, here is my resignation,'" the 86-year-old pontiff said in an interview with Spanish press.

Rumors of the pontiff's resignation have been circulating since July, though he denied all allegations as unfounded.

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Sending Rescue Ship to ISS to Replace Damaged Soyuz May Take About One Month, Source Says

The Russian space agency Roscosmos can send a Soyuz rescue ship to the International Space Station (ISS) to replace the damaged Soyuz MS-22 in a month, a Sputnik source has reported.

"No decision has been made yet regarding the acceleration of preparations to send Soyuz MS-23 to the ISS in connection with the accident at Soyuz MS-22. If such a decision is made, the timeframe for the preparation of the spaceship could be reduced to one month," the source said.

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🇪🇺EU Clinches Deal to Overhaul Bloc's Carbon Market

▪️The new agreement is part of the EU's efforts to help the global community fight climate change and achieve a target of slashing net greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030.

▪️The EU has rolled out a provisional deal on bolstering its carbon market, the bloc's main policy tool to combat global warming, the Czech EU presidency and the European Council announced on Sunday.

▪️The agreement, which has yet to be formally adopted by the European Parliament, also obliges the 27 EU member states to accelerate the pace for their companies, from power producers to steelmakers, to reduce pollution.

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❗️Russian MoD’s briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️Russian Forces eliminated up to 25 Ukrainian troops, as well as destroyed an armored carrier and two other vehicles near Kupyansk;

▪️Russian troops eliminated or wounded up to 60 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as destroyed one tank and two pick-up trucks;

▪️The Russian Army eliminated more than 40 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as destroyed two Ukrainian armored combat vehicles and three other vehicles near Donetsk;

▪️Russian troops eliminated or wounded up to 50 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as destroyed an armored combat vehicle and three other vehicles in the Zaporozhye region and in the DPR;

▪️Russian Forces hit 109 Ukrainian units at their firing positions;

▪️The Russian Army destroyed a US-made AN/TPQ-36 radar station in the DPR;

▪️Russian air defense destroyed one Ukrainian UAV, as well as intercepted nine HIMARS rockets.

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Japanese Society Opposes Government's Push For Military Build-Up

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida intends to dramatically increase his country's defense budget. However, roughly 65% of the Japanese disapprove of Prime Minister Kishida's plans to raise taxes to cover the rising budget, a local media poll shows. According to the poll, only 30% support this idea.

Plans to partially divert funds from the restoration of regions affected by the tsunami and earthquake of 2011 to the defense budget caused particular disapproval. The poll shows that 74.5% of citizens opposed this plan.

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🇩🇪Germany has adopted a package of measures to curb illegal immigration and is cooperating on the issue with neighboring Austria, Czech Republic and Switzerland, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said

💬"We have long had a whole set of countermeasures, both European and national. I am in close contact with my Austrian and Czech colleagues. Both countries have started to implement border control with Slovakia," Faeser told German press, when asked if she was seeking to stem the flow of illegal immigration.

The minister also noted that Germany extended temporary stationary control on the Austrian border and boosted monitoring on its border with the Czech Republic.

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German Military Experiencing Technical Issues With Puma Fighting Vehicles, Reports Say

The German Armed Forces, the Bundeswehr, detected multiple technical issues with the Puma infantry fighting vehicles (IFV), German press reported on Sunday, citing a letter by an army commander Ruprecht von Butler.

Puma IFVs were to be used by the NATO Response Force, according to the newspaper. However, a shooting and combat test showed that all 18 Pumas deployed were not combat-ready, the report said. The electronics of high-tech vehicles proved to be especially vulnerable, the letter read.

"Of the 18 [Puma] infantry fighting vehicles the unit began service with, during the last eight days of training, the readiness dropped to 0 infantry fighting vehicles," the letter said, according to the report.

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