Year of ‘Great Life-and-Death Struggle’: What Happened on the Korean Peninsula in 2022

Pyongyang formally laid out its goals for strengthening national defense in 2023 on Wednesday amid an escalation of tensions with Seoul and Washington during the outgoing year. What changes, good and bad, has 2022 brought to the Korean Peninsula?

Let this punchy Sputnik year in review bring you up to speed

🇷🇺🇸🇾🇹🇷 The defense ministers of Russia, Syria, and Turkey held trilateral talks in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss ways to resolve the Syrian crisis, the issue of refugees, and joint efforts to combat extremist groups, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

After the meeting, the defense ministers noted the constructive nature of the dialogue and stressed the need to continue the talks to further stabilize the situation in Syria and in the region as a whole, the ministry added.

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F-35 Crash in Texas Prompts US, Israel to Ground Part of Their Fleets

The US and Israeli militaries have grounded part of their F-35 fleets in response to the December 15 crash in Forth Worth, Texas. The office did not specify which planes it considered “higher risk” and un-airworthy, whether the TCTD applied F-35Bs or all variants of the aircraft.

The F-35 crash in Texas involved an F-35B, which is a short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) variant of the plane used by the US Marine Corps, as well as the British Royal Air Force and Navy. Italy, Singapore and South Korea also plan to order this particular model of the aircraft.

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⚡️ Washington explains through diplomatic channels that it has no plans to send US specialists to Ukraine to control Patriot air defense systems - Lavrov

🥴 When two poster children collide: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg chalked up another win on Wednesday - but not against governments with pollutive industries.

Andrew Tate, who has had his Twitter account back for barely a month after being reinstated by Elon Musk, took aim at Greta, boasting about his supercars and their 'enormous emissions.' The pint-sized sharp-tongued Swedish climate activist’s response to Tate's trolling has since gone viral online.

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Face of US Changing as Migration Becomes Major Driver of Population Growth

Net international migration (the number of people moving in and out of the country) was the primary driver of growth, adding a whopping 1,010,923 people between 2021 and 2022. For comparison's sake, the "positive natural change" – births minus deaths – increased the US population by 245,080. Remarkably, the year-over-year increase in total births was the largest since 2007, as Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the Population Division at the Census Bureau, said in an official statement.

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🇷🇺🇨🇺 Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and discussed topical issues of bilateral cooperation, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, adding that special attention was paid to mutually beneficial joint projects in energy, industry and other areas.

Both parties confirmed their readiness to implement the agreements of November 19-22, considering the will of the Cuban side, the statement said.

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‼️US to require negative COVID-19 tests for travelers from China starting January 5, 2023

➡️ Tests will be required regardless of one's vaccination status, and must be administered within two days before their scheduled departure

🇷🇺🇨🇳 The joint Russia-China exercises dubbed "Naval Interaction-2022" ended in the East China Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

💬 "Detachments of warships of the Pacific Fleet and the Navy of the People's Liberation Army of China completed practicing tasks as part of the bilateral naval exercise 'Naval Interaction-2022', which took place in the waters of the East China Sea," the ministry said.

Earlier, the ministry said that the main purpose of the exercise is to strengthen Russian-Chinese naval cooperation, as well as to maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

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💬 "Now, this has been a longstanding policy from the U.S. of antagonizing Russia and expanding NATO and expanding the influence of the US military to the Russian border. In fact, you can see it in 2019 Pentagon study in which the study recommended spending billions of dollars to arm Ukraine in order to harass Russia, in order that they might overextend themselves and get more involved in the region," says Bryce Greene, a contributor to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.

🎧 Listen to more of Greene's analysis in our podcast: Ukraine Foreign Minister Proposes Peace Talks - Without Russia

EU, US Working With Serbian, Kosovar Leaders to Defuse Tensions on Border

The EU External Action Service and the US State Department called on Kosovo and Serbia to "exercise maximum restraint, to take immediate action to unconditionally de-escalate the situation, and to refrain from provocations, threats, or intimidation."

They welcomed Kosovo's assurances that no local Serbs would be arrested or prosecuted for protesting peacefully or mounting barricades. The US said it would support the EU's Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo to ensure respect for human rights.

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Russian Mi-35 and Mi-28 attack helicopters in action as part of the special operation in Ukraine (video courtesy of Russia’s MoD)

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Sexting Scandals & Wardrobe Malfunctions: What Were the US Pop Culture Events That Shocked in 2022?

From the closely-followed trial involving Johnny Depp and Amber Heard to the shocking Oscars moment between Will Smith and Chris Rock, and the more recent outrage prompted by Kanye West, 2022 delivered in more ways than one on the pop culture front.

🤔Can you recall some of the major events that happened?

➡️Read on for a look back on some of the most notable pop culture events of the year!

💬 “I am absolutely certain that the CIA is helping the SBU to plan attacks. There are sabotage attacks. There are some fuel depots been blown up and the like behind Russian lines. It is well publicized. It is not hidden,” says Mark Sleboda, a foreign affairs and security analyst.

🎧 Listen to more of Sleboda's analysis in our podcast: Nationwide Freeze Deaths, Southwest Delays, Ukraine Peace Forecasts

Civil Rights Group Says Holds Biden Admin Accountable for US Border Crisis

💬 "LULAC is disappointed in today's 5-4 court decision because of the suffering we are witnessing among migrants fleeing very difficult situations in their countries of origin," the statement said. "We hold the Republican governors, Congress and the Biden Administration accountable for the state of affairs along our southern border."

On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration's request to end the Title 42 immigration policy after several Republican states urged the court to leave it in place in order to avert a worsening of the current border crisis. The COVID-era Title 42 allowed the authorities to deny entry to migrants seeking asylum in the United States based on their health status.

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💬 “Obviously, Russia's terms are not acceptable to the Kiev regime and more importantly, they're not acceptable to the US and NATO, who is the one really calling the shots. Likewise, Kiev put out this laughable PR statement that they want to have peace talks... with themselves. They want to hold a summit with themselves and the UN mediating between themselves and themselves,” says Mark Sleboda, a foreign affairs and security analyst.

🎧 Listen to more of Sleboda's analysis in our podcast: Nationwide Freeze Deaths, Southwest Delays, Ukraine Peace Forecasts

Biggest, Baddest and Most Brazen Cyberattacks, Hacks and Data Leaks of 2022

The private information of hundreds of millions of people has been hacked, stolen or illegally shared online this year, with cyberattaks, hacking and leaking reaching epidemic proportions and threatening trillions of dollars in damage to companies, governments and private individuals.

👉 Find out about some of the biggest and most significant hack attacks of 2022 here

At least 32 people have died and 24 are missing because of the floods which swept through the Philippines over the weekend after heavy rains, the National Disaster Agency said on Thursday.

More than 56,000 people are still in emergency shelters after bad weather disrupted Christmas celebrations in the eastern, central and southern Philippines

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👉 Follow our LIVE UPDATES on the Ukrainian crisis

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