'I am Tired of This S***show': Washington and Kiev Fume as Berlin Holds Off on Tanks for Ukraine

Ukrainian officials did not hide their disappointment with Germany’s perceived indecisiveness. Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk, the ex-ambassador to Germany who was recalled over an endless string of insults of German officials, demanded that Berlin "stop hiding behind" Washington and "put an end to this crazy Punch and Judy show around Leopards today at Ramstein and clear the way for a global tank coalition to empower Ukraine to kick out Russian troops."

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🇫🇷 Protesters are marching in Paris against recent government pension reforms raising the retirement age.

Meanwhile, on January 19 over a million people took to the streets of cities across France. What prompted people to pick up placards and flood the streets of their hometowns?

👉 Sputnik explains

Globalization Has Died and Davos 2023 Was Its Funeral Ceremony, Scholars Sum Up

"Davos has become the dressing room of the West and is more divorced than ever from the rest. It no longer represents the real concerns of most of the world’s population. Its obsession with climate change, social justice, gender and other forms of wokeness has made it a laughing stock and target of disdain for most of the world," Gal Luft, director of the Washington-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, told Sputnik.

"There is no return to the post-WWII system. In addition, we are seeing massive repudiation of some of the institutions and individuals who have been most associated with globalization: the media, Davos, entertainment industry etc. De-globalization can also be seen along cultural fault lines. Western ideas, ethics, and 'values' are rejected by billions who see them as dangerous and destabilizing," the US scholar continued.

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Elon Musk Hires 100 Guards for His Father's Home Amid Kidnapping Fears

Errol Musk told journalists that his son's team enhanced security measures — including a high-tech camera system, an electric fence, and around-the-clock monitoring by guards — at his home in South Africa in December 2022. The modifications cost around $14,600, the billionaire said.

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“Castration” is trending on Twitter following news about a married gay couple from Georgia in the US, who, according to media reports, have been charged with not only molesting their adopted sons, but also pimping them out to other local men. Some Twitter users have even been asking whether the couple should face the death penalty.

⚡️ RT France head announces closure of TV channel after France blocks broadcaster's accounts

On Friday, RT France editor-in-chief Ksenia Fedorova said that bank accounts of the broadcaster's desk had been frozen in France, adding that the bank refers to the authorities' order. Despite the fact that RT France does not appear on the sanctions list and has the right to work in France, such a decision effectively paralyzes the work of the media, according to Fedorova.

❗️Key points of press statement by RT France:

▪️The TV channel has been targeted since its launch and there have been calls for censoring the broadcaster with the use of false information;

▪️After five years of harassment, the authorities in power have achieved their goal – the closure of RT France;

▪️EU authorities used the Ukraine crisis, covered by the TV channel in a balanced way, to finally shut the broadcaster down;

▪️123 TV channel employees are at risk of being unpaid in January, losing their jobs, which casts doubt on the future of media independence in France;

▪️The TV channel's closure is only the first and "extremely dangerous" step, after which other Russian media will be targeted.

Full story here

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🇵🇱 Several hundred people took part in a protest organized by the patriotic organization "Compatriots – Comrades" in Warsaw against Poland's involvement in the Ukraine crisis, a Sputnik correspondent reported on Saturday.

The participants, carrying Polish flags and banners with slogans "Who wants Polish blood, get out!", "Poland chooses peace!", gathered in Warsaw's downtown and were marching toward Sigismund's Column. Some protesters were also carrying banners with phrases in Russian.

In their statement, the organizers of the march expressed their dissatisfaction with what they see as "Polish-language politicians and the Polish-language media pounding into the heads and hearts of Poles with pro-war propaganda."

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What is the Sukhoi Su-35 Super Flanker and How Many Does Russia Have?

Iran reportedly plans on acquiring up to two dozen Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Russia. What kinds of capabilities will this aircraft afford the Islamic Republic? And will it be enough to cool the appetites of Tehran's US and Israeli adversaries?

Check out this article to find out

📹 Russian Ka-27 helicopter conducts aerial reconnaissance in Atlantic Ocean from Admiral Gorshkov frigate (video courtesy of Russia’s MoD)

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❗️There will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by 2050 if people keep consuming the materials at current consumption rate, with around 10 million tonnes of plastic waste discharged into the ocean per year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko told Sputnik.

In this regard, the government's task is to encourage businesses to invest in recycling, the Russian senior official added.

💬 "Waste sorting has already become a standard project that the regions have learned to implement. Meanwhile, the creation of utilization capacities remains a difficult task and my role is to remind all participants of the process that we must lower the waste burial twice," Abramchenko said, stressing the need to change the culture of consumption to achieve this goal.

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Ramstein Summit Showed Lack of Unity, Unclear Goals & No Post-War Ukraine Plan, Military Experts Say

The NATO chief praised member states' willingness to provide air defenses, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored vehicles to the Kiev regime and stressed that they need to ramp up the production of weapons and ammunition to rapidly replenish stockpiles. However, Germany's reluctance to provide its Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Kiev popped up as an unpleasant surprise for Kiev and NATO leaders.

The ability to form a consensus in the West has been seriously weakened by domestic problems, economic recession, and very poor intelligence being provided to Western politicians about what has been and is happening in Ukraine and in Russia, according to retired Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, a former analyst for the US Department of Defense.

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📹 Russian Ka-52 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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Mystery Sponsors Helped Bail Disgraced Ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Out of Jail

Bankman-Fried, who is facing convictions on a generous buffet of fraud charges, is currently awaiting trial in a Manhattan federal court, residing under house arrest at his parents' California home.

One of the two unnamed sponsors posted $500,000, with the other posting $200,000 towards guaranteeing the alleged fraudster's $250 million bond, settled in December, 2022. Besides these two bail backers, the bond was also secured by Bankman-Fried's parents, who offered their Palo Alto home, estimated to be worth $4 million, as collateral.

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Access to Almost 2% of Global Copper Supply Under Threat Over Peru Unrest

Loss of nearly 2 percent of the world’s copper output churned out by two of Peru's largest mines - Glencore's Antapaccay copper mine, and Las Bambas, operated by MMG Ltd. - would come as inventory levels of this critical metal have been dropping to historical lows across the world. Copper is a crucial input metal in a number of industries, used in everything from wind turbines and electric wires to electric vehicles.

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Drug-Resistant Gonorrhea Found in the US for the First Time

On Thursday, health officials announced the discovery of a new strain of gonorrhea in Massachusetts which they find to be concerning. The strain is showing a “reduced response to multiple antibiotics”, according to the Department of Public Health.

“The discovery of this strain of gonorrhea is a serious public health concern which DPH, the CDC, and other health departments have been vigilant about detecting in the US,” said Public Health Commissioner Margret Cooke

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📹 A cloud with a very suggestive shape has appeared over the Turkish city of Bursa

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New Zealand Education Minister Chris Hipkins has become the new leader of the country's Labor Party.

He will now become the country's prime minister, taking over from Jacinda Arden who unexpectedly stepped down as premier last week, announcing that she "had no more in the tank".

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