👮 Australian Open guards received instructions on how not to confuse “prohibited” and “permitted” countries.

The flags of Russia and Belarus are prohibited.

The similar flags of France and Paraguay are allowed.

The instruction surfaced after yesterday's incident, when the guards did not let Serbian fans in, confusing their flag with the Russian one.

"It is forbidden to bring the flags of Russia and Belarus (t-shirts with Z symbols) to the stadium," the cheat sheet says.

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Finnish Foreign Minister Says May Consider NATO Entry Without Sweden

Finland, which jointly applied with Sweden for NATO membership in May, may consider continuing the accession procedure without Stockholm, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said Tuesday.

"But we have to be ready to re-evaluate the situation. Has something happened that would in the long run prevent Sweden's application from progressing? Now it is too early to take a view on that," Haavisto told a Finnish broadcaster when asked if Finland should proceed at the same pace as Sweden in seeking approval for the application.

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One Dead & Seven Injured in California's Third Mass Shooting in Three Days

The shooting occurred on Monday evening in the 5900 block of Macarthur Blvd.

"At this time, we are aware of eight victims, one who is deceased and the remaining victims were listed in stable condition," the police said late on Monday.

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⚡️ Turkey-Sweden-Finland talks on joining NATO postponed indefinitely at Ankara's request - source to Sputnik

🇵🇱🇩🇪 Poland Requests Permission From Germany to Supply Leopard 2 Tanks to Ukraine

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that the Polish authorities were waiting for a quick response from the German government to the request to allow the transfer of Leopard tanks to Ukraine.

"I hope that the answer from Germany will come quickly this time," he said, rebuking Germany for constantly dragging out the resolution of such issues. "We can clearly see that they don't want to broadly help a defensive Ukraine," Morawiecki noted.

"What does this mean? Fear or misunderstood fears to the end, or faith in the possibility of restoring normal relations with Russia? It is worth asking these questions. Because the coalition of countries that want to help Ukraine <...> must expand. Germany is the largest country, and it should make a huge contribution to the common coalition of countries that help Ukraine," the head of the Polish government added.

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Roscosmos Chief Says Russia Must Increase Satellites in Orbit Fivefold by 2030

Russia must increase the constellation of its satellites in orbit from the current 200, the head of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos, Yury Borisov, said on Tuesday.

"In our opinion, we should have a constellation of at least 1,000 satellites by 2030," Borisov said at the Korolev Academic Space Conference in Moscow.

Russia's current satellite production is "insufficient," Borisov added.

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Biden May Transfer ‘Significant Number’ of Abrams M1 Tanks to Ukraine - Reports

The Biden administration could announce the deliveries of a "significant number" of Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine as early as this week, western media reported on Tuesday, citing US officials familiar with the matter.

The coming announcement would be part of a broader deal made with Germany, which would pledge to supply a small number of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine as well, the report said.

Germany would also allow countries operating Leopard 2 tanks, notably Poland, to supply Ukraine with units of their own reserve, the report also said.

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⏰ The doomsday clock of the US magazine Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has been advanced 90 seconds before midnight.

This is the closest arrow position in history to a nuclear Armageddon.

The magazine's president, Rachel Bronson, said there were 90 seconds left before the "nuclear apocalypse point".

Bronson noted that this decision was made mainly in light of the situation around Ukraine. According to her, "the likelihood that the conflict could get out of anyone's control remains high."

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🇷🇺❄️ While in some parts of Russia, citizens are trying to keep warm in -50 Celcius, in resort city Sochi, locals have turned to shamans to "summon" snowfall amid the unusual winter "heatwave".

Sochi is a popular ski resort among Russians.

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🇷🇺🇸🇾 Russian and Syrian troops restore Jirah airfield destroyed during operations (video by Russian MoD)

The airfield has been fitted with restored lighting and elements of the maneuvering area. The air traffic control post has been fitted with communication and radio facilities, designed to provide for the arrival and departure of aircraft at day and night.

The joint deployment of Russian and Syrian aircraft at the Jirah airfield allows for the protection of the border, and ensures the safety of civilians in the northern and northeastern areas of the Syrian Arab Republic.

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❗️Swedish PM says Stockholm wants to return to "dialogue" with Ankara on NATO accession

⚡️ Scholz decided to send Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine, German media reports.

In Joe & Donald's Footsteps? Classified Memos Found in ex-Veep Mike Pence's Home

A lawyer for former Vice President Mike Pence has found a dozen documents marked classified in the former Trump official's new home in Carmel, Indiana.

Reportedly, the lawyer handed the sensitive government records to the FBI. It's unclear what issues the documents in question are related to and what level of sensitivity or classification they have.

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💬 "Sweden is asking to be added to NATO and it's having to basically get the approval of Turkey, a member of NATO that has its questions about Sweden hosting all these Kurdish terrorists and giving them protections and in retaliation, imagine trying to get the approval of the Turks, so you go burn the Koran in front of their embassy. Of course now the Scandinavian countries that are trying to be members of NATO will be rejected and will not have a chance to be in it. It's also clearly showing a beginning of a collapse of what we know as NATO, and the EU eventually will begin to start collapsing. This is above and beyond, of course, what people in the Muslim world are already doing. Most people in the Muslim world, just like the rest of humanity, are not consuming that much coming out of Europe and the United States. We are all consuming locally and exchanging with their biggest partners of trade being China. This is just going to accelerate. And the more the West has such kind of politicians as this lunatic, as the representatives of the quote unquote "civilization of the West", the faster the ejection of the West will be from the rest of humanity." says Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon.

🎧 Listen to more of Laith's analysis in our Fault Lines podcast: Germany Pushes Back on Tanks for Ukraine; DC Anti-War Protest; Nord Stream Investigation

🧊🇦🇶 A giant iceberg the size of London has seperated from the Antarctic ice shelf

A massive iceberg measuring 1,550 square kilometers (and 150 meters thick) has broken away from Antarctica, British scientists report.

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‼️Report: Biden may announce decision on Ukraine-bound Abrams tanks as soon as Wednesday; however, it could take either 'months or years' to be delivered

🔺 First, we discuss the disagreement between NATO allies over Leopard tanks to Ukraine
🔺 Next, we talk about the resignation of several high-profile Ukrainian officials amid Kiev's anti-corruption drive
🔺 And, John Burris joins us to discuss another wave of senseless mass shootings taking place across the US

And lots of other topics will be covered today! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

📻 Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

📹 Russian tanks under the cover of Terminator BMPT neutralize an AFU attacking infantry group on IFV (video courtesy of Russian MoD)

The advancing attacking group was uncovered in the wooded area by a reconnaissance team using unmanned aerial vehicles.

A Russian Terminator tank support combat vehicle advanced towards the militants and opened fire on the adversary.

As a result of the battle, the enemy IFV and tank were destroyed and the AFU fighters suffered losses and fled.

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