🇸🇪 King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden has once again slammed the law of absolute primogeniture that was introduced in 1980 and made retrospective.

🗣️ “It’s tricky to have laws that work retroactively. It doesn’t seem wise. You can accept the next generation, that’s okay. But it was my son who was born, and they changed quite a lot, and he lost it all. It’s quite strange. You can’t do that,” the 76-year-old monarch said in an interview to mark the start of his Golden Jubilee year

In 1979, Sweden introduced a constitutional amendment implying the throne would be inherited by the monarch’s eldest child regardless of gender, becoming the first country in Western Europe to legally adopt absolute primogeniture

India Surpasses China in Buying Russian Crude Amid G7 Price Cap

🛢 This marks the first time that India's imports of Russian crude have exceeded China's, with the latter decreasing by 27 percent to 770,000 barrels per day in December.

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😨 Amazon.com, Inc. is to lay off around 18,000 staff as part of the massive e-retailer’s move to tighten its belt in the face of a looming extended economic downturn.

Amazon Stores and the Amazon's People Experience and Technology Solutions (PXT Solutions) team are among the ones to suffer cuts, revealed a memo from CEO Andy Jassy. Shared with Amazon staff, the announcement made a reference to the US media reports on the cuts made at the end of 2022, stating:

“We typically wait to communicate about these outcomes until we can speak with the people who are directly impacted. However, because one of our teammates leaked this information externally, we decided it was better to share this news earlier so you can hear the details directly from me.”

Australia Will Buy American HIMARS Missile Systems to Deploy by 2026-2027

The acquisition package, valued at over $1 billion Australian dollars ($682.3 million), will include Kongsberg-made Naval Strike Missiles to replace aging Harpoon anti-ship missiles on Australian warships starting 2024, the government said.

💬 "Defense will also acquire the land-based, long-range, surface-to-surface High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which includes launchers, missiles and training rockets. The HIMARS system will be in use by 2026-27, providing the Australian Army with a significant capability boost," the statement read.

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❗️ Key points of phone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan:

▪️Both parties discussed the Syria crisis, the situation in Ukraine, and bilateral relations;

▪️In his phone conversation with Putin, Erdogan stated the need for political steps by Damascus to achieve results on Syria;

▪️Erdogan discussed the gas hub project with Putin, and hopes to complete work on a road map soon;

▪️Both parties discussed further expansion of trade, economic ties, above all in the field of energy;

▪️Putin noted the West’s destructive role in pumping Kiev with weapons, providing information and target designation;

▪️Putin confirmed to Erdogan that Russia is open to dialogue if Kiev fulfills the known preconditions in line with new territorial realities;

▪️Both parties positively assess Russia-Turkey-Syria defense, intel talks, hope contacts improve the situation in Syria.

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During the New Year celebrations, some cities paid tribute to the king of football, Pelé, who died on 29 December from complications of cancer.

Pele was honored with choreography performed by 80 drones, which through the medium of colored lights recounted his life story from his birth in the mining city of Três Corações to his arrival at Santos FC in 1956. The drones were filled with lights and formed various shapes in the sky, including a silhouette of the late World Cup star

⚡️Germany will require Covid test for China arrivals, minister says

👑 Prince Harry puts blame for his infamous Nazi uniform gaffe on Prince William and Kate Middleton, in his new memoir, British media reports.

💬 “I phoned Willy and Kate, asked what they thought. Nazi uniform, they said,” the Duke of Sussex write. “They both howled. Worse than Willy’s leotard outfit! Way more ridiculous! Which, again, was the point.”

The royal offspring was 20 years old when he stunned 250 guests at a costume party with his choice of costume: a Nazi get-up with a red armband emblazoned with a big swastika.

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

▪️The Russian Army eliminated more than 40 Ukrainian servicemen in the South Donetsk direction;

▪️Russian forces are conducting successful offensive operations in the Donetsk direction, up to 60 Ukrainian servicemen have been eliminated;

▪️Russian troops eliminated more than 40 Ukrainian servicemen in the Kransy Liman direction;

▪️The Russian Air Force shot down a Ukrainian Su-24 aircraft in the DPR;

▪️The Russian Army eliminated up to 30 Ukrainian servicemen in the Kupyansk direction;

▪️Russian air defense systems shot down a Ukrainian Su-25 aircraft and 21 UAVs;

▪️Russian troops eliminated more than 55 extremists from the so-called Sheikh Mansur battalion in the DPR;

▪️Russian forces destroyed two Ukrainian warehouses with artillery ammunition in the DPR;

▪️Russian air defense systems intercepted five HIMARS rockets and four HARM missiles;

▪️The Russian Army destroyed a Grad MLRS system and two Olkha MLRS launchers in the DPR;

▪️Russia troops destroyed a M777 system in the Nikolaev region and an AN/TPQ-37 counter-battery radar in the LPR.

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'The Kraken' Unleashed: What is Known About 'Most Transmissible' Omicron Offshoot

After having faced off against the earlier alpha, beta, gamma, and delta variants of COVID-19, the global population has been dealing with omicron for the past months, with its latest spinoff believed to be the most immune-evasive.

Ominously dubbed "the Kraken" in late 2022, the latest omicron offshoot is officially named XBB.1.5 and is highly contagious, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The global health body confirmed on January 4 that XBB.1.5 has a "growth advantage" above all other sub-variants

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Scientists Grow 'Human Brain' That Successfully Takes Root in Mouse

🧠 A team of researchers led by Duygu Kuzum, an assistant professor at the University of California San Diego's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, conducted an experiment by implanting a human brain organoid in mice.

For the first time, such an experiment gave positive results as the implanted human brain organoids proved able to establish connections with the animal's brain cortex.

🗣 "No other study has been able to record optically and electrically at the same time," Madison Wilson, the paper’s co-author, said. "Our experiments reveal that visual stimuli evoke electrophysiological responses in the organoids, matching the responses from the surrounding cortex."

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Removal of Greek Parthenon Marbles Likened to Stripping Salisbury of Stonehenge by UK's Stephen Fry

💬 “The removal of the Parthenon sculptures could be compared to removing the Eiffel Tower from Paris or Stonehenge from Salisbury. I think this comparison speaks to the cultural importance of the Parthenon sculptures, which are an indelibly evocative symbol of Greek heritage and identity,” Fry said.

Athens has repeatedly called the British Museum’s retention of the Parthenon marble carvings, which were removed from the Acropolis over 200 years ago and have been the subject of ownership dispute since then, illegal and “contrary to any moral principle.”

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A House Divided Cannot Stand: What's Behind MAGA Republicans' Rebellion Against Kevin McCarthy

The US House once again failed to install a speaker after days of voting. Who are the 20 Republicans holding up Kevin McCarthy's election as speaker of the House? What do they want?

Sputnik explains

⚡️ Sputnik Lithuania editor Marat Kasem has been detained by Latvian special services in Riga over suspected violation of sanctions and allegations of espionage

Lawyer Imma Jansone, who will defend Marat Kasem, has not yet received the case files.

The lawyer insisted that Kasem be released on bail, but the court decided to jail the editor on January 5. Kasem has already been transferred to Riga Central Prison. Jansone now has 10 days to appeal the court’s decision.

Marat Kasem is a citizen of Latvia, who has lived and worked in Moscow for several years at the Rossiya Segodnya media group, which also includes Sputnik Lithuania. On December 30, the journalist arrived in Latvia for family reasons.

⚡️ Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered a ceasefire on Orthodox Christmas Eve and Christmas Day along the front in Ukraine.

💬 "Taking into account of the appeal of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, I instruct the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation to introduce a ceasefire regime along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine from 12:00 pm on January 6 to 24:00 on January 7 of this year," the presidential order, released by the Kremlin's press service, reads. "Given that a large number of citizens practicing the Orthodox faith live in areas where hostilities are taking place, we call on the Ukrainian side to declare a ceasefire, and to allow them the opportunity to attend services on Christmas Eve, as well as the Day of the Nativity of Christ," the order adds.

⚡️ Detention of Sputnik Lithuania editor Kasem by the Latvian authorities is illegal and absurd, says Rossiya Segodnya head Kisilev. He added that the situation shows the essence of the Latvian regime, which is a very dangerous trend for the entire EU

❗️Russian Foreign Ministry on the detention of Sputnik Lithuania editor Kasem by Latvian authorities:

▪️Russia calls on international organizations to get involved to clarify the reasons behind the journalist’s detention;

▪️Kasem is facing revenge of dictatorial regimes for his principles;

▪️Detention of Sputnik Lithuania editor Kasem is a violation of international obligations on freedom of speech, protection of journalists’ rights.

⚡️ The Russian Ministry of Defense is introducing a ceasefire regime for 36 hours along the entire line of contact between the parties in Ukraine from 12:00 pm on January 6 to 12:00 am on January 7

North Korean Drone Flew Directly Into No-Fly Zone Around South Korea's Presidential Palace

One of the five stealthy North Korean drones launched into South Korea in late December penetrated the 3.7 km no-fly zone around the country’s presidential office in central Seoul, a South Korean military official has conceded.

The admission, which comes after more than a week of denials from authorities that the violation of the no-fly zone had occurred, and statements by the country’s Joint Chiefs that media reports to that effect were “untrue and groundless,” comes amid heightened concerns in the South regarding the capabilities of its neighbors’ unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The South Korean military clarified that the errant drone had not flown over the presidential palace itself, and that the safety of the building, situated in a secure area known as P-73, was not in jeopardy at any point.

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❗️Kiev will not support the Christmas ceasefire proposed by Russia, Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, has announced

Earlier in the day, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a ceasefire on Orthodox Christmas Eve and Christmas Day along the line of contact across Ukraine so that people can attend services at church.

US Guided-Missile Destroyer Chung-Hoon Transits Through Taiwan Strait in Fresh Provocation

💬 “The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit Jan. 5 (local time) through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law,” the 7th Fleet Public Affairs said in a press release. “Chung-Hoon’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

In December, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin urged the United States to abide by the One-China principle and the provisions of the three joint China-US communiques, earnestly implement its promise not to support the "Taiwan independence," stop selling arms to Taiwan, cut US-Taiwan military ties and stop creating new tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

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