⛸❄️🏅Social media reacts to the “first transgender figure skater”

We all have a sense of what figure skating is supposed to be: a sport where swan-like athletes gracefully glide up and down the ice to the accompaniment of various musical compositions while performing dangerous, potentially career-ending moves like spins and lifts. But the International Skating Union is looking to break away from these established stereotypes.

▪️The 2023 European Figure Skating Championships’ opening ceremony was graced by the “first transgender figure skater,” biologically male trans woman Minna-Maaria Antikainen. Social media reactions were not long in coming:

🔺“Yep, it's 2023, welcome to ‘Clown World’”
🔺“Should be given a Nobel peace prize like Obama”
🔺“He identifies as being good at skating”
🔺“I'm actually glad for Russian athletes who weren't allowed to participate because this isn't a sport competition anymore, it's schizophrenic freak circus show”

The organizers of the championships in Espoo, Finland set the promotion of diversity and inclusivity as the main goal...while barring Russian skaters from participating in all ISU-sanctioned events.

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🇷🇺 🇲🇱 Moscow explains why Mali is looking for new partners

According to the Russia’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, this is due to Western neocolonialism as well as the instability which still reigns in the country after years of foreign military presence.

▪️ Nebenzia in this sense brought up the assistance granted by Moscow to Bamako, which consists in particular of the training of soldiers and the increase in the combat capacities of the Malian Army.

▪️ While the West is not happy with this rapprochement, the ambassador believes this work is bearing fruit.

▪️ Thus, Malian forces are successfully carrying out counter-terrorism operations and continuing their efforts to retake territories controlled by insurgents, he notes.

▪️ Nebenzia also pointed out that such cooperation is carried out at the request of Bamako and in strict compliance with international law.

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🇪🇺 The amount of gas reserves in Europe’s underground storage facilities (UGS) has dropped below 75%, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data.

European UGS are filled by 74.5%, containing a total of 81.2 billion cubic meters of gas, as of January 28 gas day, which ended at 04:00 GMT on January 29, after losing 1.14 percentage points in a day.

On January 28, 2022, Europe's gas storage capacity was almost half that level, namely at 38.93%, according to the operator.

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Samantha Cristoforetti, the first Italian female astronaut in space, hopes that working together beyond Earth will one day help overcome differences on the planet

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🇬🇧 Ukrainian tank crews arrived in the United Kingdom for training to operate Challenger 2 tanks, which London plans to send to Kiev this spring, the UK Defense Ministry said.

On January 15, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the country will send 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Earlier this week, UK deputy Defense Minister Alex Chalk said that the tanks would be supplied at the end of March and the Ukrainian military would start training to operate them on January 30.

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The wettest day in Auckland: New Zealand sees record rainfall and severe flooding

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Why We Fight: US Openly Salivates Over Ukraine's Vast Untapped Titanium Reserves

Ukraine's mineral, agricultural, energy and human resources are a little-reported on aspect of the ongoing NATO-Russia proxy war in the Eastern European country. Amid growing pressure to justify pouring more and more money and weapons into the conflict while ordinary people in the West face recession, energy and cost of living crises, congressional aides on Capitol Hill think they have the solution: reminding lawmakers about Ukraine's "really significant deposits of rare earth minerals."

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Heavy snowfall in northern Japan leaves 20,000 homes without electricity

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UK Reportedly Wants Kiev to Restrict Use of Challenger 2 Tanks to Prevent Russia From Capturing Them

“If a tank is destroyed or disabled the first option is always to try and self-recover. You tow it with another tank or use a specialist armored repair and recovery vehicle – which looks like a tank with a crane,” a defense source told British media, adding that the “worst case scenario” would be one where the tank is destroyed as the front line collapses and friendly forces are forced to fall back.

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A team of 25 medics performed a grueling 11-hour operation to separate conjoined twins in Texas

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has urged his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts to show "maximum" responsibility and avoid the actions, which may further escalate the situation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

🗣️ "On January 28 and 29, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held phone talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki ... Lavrov called on Israeli and Palestinian counterparts to show maximum responsibility and refrain from any actions that could provoke further escalation of the situation," the ministry said in a statement.

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Erdogan Suggests Including Iran in Planned Talks With Russia and Syria

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Iran could join the planned talks between Turkey, Russia and Syria at the highest level.

"We say: let Russia-Turkey-Syria unite in a trio. Let Iran also join, let's conduct our talks this way, and let there be peace in the region," Erdogan said on Sunday, at a youth meeting in the Turkish city of Bilecik.

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👉 Follow our LIVE UPDATES on the Ukrainian crisis

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US ‘Main Beneficiary’ of Ukraine Crisis, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Says

Washington is largely benefiting from the Ukraine conflict, particularly from European countries’ weapon supplies to Kiev, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sputnik.

"It is obvious that the United States is not only the main conductor in the Ukraine crisis, but also its main beneficiary. Among other things, Washington considers Ukraine as a testing ground for its military-industrial products, where various weapons systems and methods of their use, including modern, very long-range ones, are being tested… for resistance to Russian weapons," Ryabkov said.

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Russian forces struck the Ukrainian military's ammunition with the help of the world's most powerful self-propelled mortar 2S4 Tyulpan ("Tulip") in the Donetsk direction

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👨‍🚀NASA astronaut Warren Hoburg told Sputnik how American astronauts learn Russian so that they might work in space with Russian colleagues. Warren also said that he considers his Russian colleague Andrey Fedyaev to be a friend and can't wait to fly to space with him

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❗️ An explosion rocks Pakistan's Peshawar, several people are injured — local media

❗️ According to local reports, about 50 people have been injured as a result of the blast inside a mosque located near Police Lines during the noon prayer.

One side of the mosque has reportedly collapsed.

❗️Moscow strongly condemns drone attack on military facility in Iran, it could have unpredictable consequences, Russian Foreign Ministry says