Ex-NATO Secretary General: Arms Shipments Must Be Dispatched 'Now' to Taiwan to Deter Chinese Strike

Former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Thursday called for arms deliveries to Taiwan "now" to prevent China's alleged attack on the island and explain to Beijing the potential economic limitations it would face in the event of an attack.

"European politicians must stop sending mixed signals. China relies on exports to global markets to fuel its growth. It is far more entwined in global supply chains than Russia, so spelling out the economic consequences of an attack in advance can act as a powerful deterrent," Rasmussen wrote for the Financial Times.

"To be an effective deterrent, we should give Taiwan the weapons it needs to defend itself now. Xi Jinping must calculate that the cost of an invasion is simply too high."

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US Aviation Authority Blames Recent Flight Meltdown on ‘Personnel Who Failed to Follow Procedures’

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) offered a new scapegoat on Thursday as to who was at fault for the advisory system outage that left airports throughout the country in disarray the day prior: their own employees.

The FAA determined that a data file in the country’s Notices to Air Missions (NOTAM) database was “damaged by personnel who failed to follow procedures,” the agency said in a statement issued Thursday evening.

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Ex-CIA Officer: Is Special Counsel Probe of Biden Docs a ‘Real Inquiry’ or Cover-Up Device?

The impact of the newly-launched special counsel probe of President Joe Biden's mishandling of classified documents will depend on whether the investigation is a real inquiry or a mechanism for covering up any potential wrongdoing, former CIA officer Phil Giraldi told Sputnik.

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Turkey Scolds Sweden Over Hanged Erdogan Effigy in Stockholm

While condemned by both Stockholm and Ankara, the political action may further imperil Sweden’s stalled NATO bid, which rests on Turkey’s approval. Earlier this month, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that Stockholm “cannot meet” some of Turkey’s demands.

Turkey has accused Sweden of not taking terrorism seriously after an effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was hanged outside Stockholm City Hall. As a result, Turkey accused Sweden of breach of promise and summoned its ambassador for talks.

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Moscow Sees No Progress on Deal on Exports of Russian Agricultural Products - Ambassador

There is no progress in the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between Russia and the United Nations on promoting Russian food products and fertilizers to the world markets, Russian Ambassador in Turkey Aleksei Erkhov said on Friday.

"As of today, 17 million tons of Ukrainian grain have been exported. However, we still observe distortions in the geographic distribution of recipients of Ukrainian food products. The situation with our products does not inspire optimism either. There is no progress in the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between Russia and the UN on normalization of Russia's agricultural export," Erkhov said.

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📹 Combat work of Msta-SM2 artillery installation crews (video by MoD)

Russian howitzers at the forefront of the line of contact hamper the maneuvers of enemy units and destroy key nodes of fortified areas. Artillery crews conduct daily counter-battery combat against the enemy.

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⚠️WARNING: some viewers may find this content disturbing

The cousin of the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, Keenan Anderson, died in the United States after being detained. According to the police, the man was on drugs - cocaine and cannabis.

Anderson was detained on January 3 after causing an accident in Los Angeles. A video from an officer's body camera shows that the man attempting to escape and saying that they are trying to kill him. The police used an electric shocker and later the detainee died in the hospital of a heart attack.

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Huge Ship Graveyard With Dozens of Wrecks Discovered in Norway

Dozens of historic shipwrecks have been located in the lakes Heddalsvattnet and Norsjo in the Telemark region in southern Norway over the course of several weeks.

"We have located more than 75 wrecks in Heddalsvatnet and five in Norsjo. This is the largest ship cemetery ever found in Norway," UNESCO project manager Thor Olav Sperre told local media.

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📹 Russian Armed Forces show footage of the use of incendiaries - ammunition that detonates over enemy positions and covers the area with a rain of burning fragments

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What is Known So Far About Classified Docs Found at Joe Biden's Home & Former Office?

Check out Sputnik's article to find out:

▪️ Where & when were the secret documents found?

▪️ What were the classified docs about?

▪️ What happened after the docs were discovered?

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⚡️The liberation of Soledar, which is important for the continuation of successful offensive actions, was completed on the evening of January 12, Russia's MoD says

▪️Liberation of Soledar makes it possible to cut off supply of Kiev troops in Artemovsk, to encircle remaining units there

▪️More than 700 Ukrainian soldiers and over 300 units of weapons destroyed in Soledar area over past three days alone

🔞 House Democrats have proposed a constitutional amendment to let 16-year-olds vote, thereby repealing the 26th Amendment to the Constitution which decreed that a US citizen had to be at least 18 to be allowed to vote.

Democratic Party representative, Grace Meng from New York, who tabled the resolution, issued a statement in which she expressed her belief that lowering the voting age by amending the Constitution would allow young people to speak out on many positions supported by Democrats.

🗣 "Our young people, including 16 and 17-year-olds, continue to fight for and advocate so many issues that they are passionate about, from gun safety to the climate crisis," she said.

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Catch our Fault Lines program where we provide updates and analysis on all the most pressing stories! Here's our line-up for Friday:

🔺 We kick off with a new cache of secret documents found in different places used by Biden: this time, papers have been found in his Delaware garage;
🔺 Next, we talk about the media’s attempts to whitewash the Hunter Biden story;
🔺 We also discuss the FTX trial and the shake-up at CNN.

Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 7am EST|4am PST|1pm CET via the website or app!

📻 Also in the United States on 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM and 1140AM.

Ex-French Army Soldier in Donbass: ‘France, Other Countries Will Have to Answer for Their Crimes’

Former French serviceman Adrien Bocquet arrived a few month ago in Donetsk. He recently announced that he has asked for political asylum in Russia. He witnessed the "massacre" in Bakhmut and huge losses on the Ukrainian side. Bocquet also saw the Ukrainian shelling of Donetsk and denounced "crimes" committed using "mainly French and American weapons".

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📈 Sweden's inflation rate reached double digits in December for the first time since 1991, as the rise in prices shows no signs of easing despite efforts by the central bank. The CPIF inflation rate tracked by the Riksbank increased by 10.2 percent compared with the previous year, according to Statistics Sweden.

This exceeds forecasts by economists who had predicted 9.8 percent, and the Riksbank which came up with a figure of 9.1 percent

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Sri Lanka to Downsize Army by Third to Cut Costs

🪖 In November, while presenting the budget for 2023, President Ranil Wickremesinghe's government allocated $1.108 billion for the Ministry of Defense. However, the latest move suggests that the Sri Lankan leadership has instructed to slash 5% from all proposals submitted by the ministries allocated in the 2023 Budget.

Details ↗️

Life After Chanel: Most Russians Unruffled By Exodus of Western Clothing Brands, Survey Shows

A swathe of Western fashion brands made a great show of exiting the lucrative Russian market, albeit at their own detriment, following the start of Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. They have been counting their losses since, while the niches that opened up in Russia were not left empty for long.

More than 50 percent of Russians couldn’t care less that a swathe of global fashion brands exited the country last year, a recent survey has revealed. Russia’s consumers are quite content, as they go about their business, browsing the generous array at various shopping centers and online.

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