How West is Politicizing Provision of Aid to Syria, Trying to Capitalize on Disaster

"Syria needs all kinds of help," Samiha Shalati, Syrian political and social activist, told Sputnik. "Syria needs help, especially in the field of oil and energy. We need oil for our driving, for our vehicles. We need oil for our electricity to work. We don't have electricity. We are freezing. We are freezing even inside our houses. We need urgent medical supplies, urgent food supplies, everything in Syria, everyone - all of us - need help. So I think it will be a very good idea for the international community to work together and not to politicize humanitarian issues like what's happening in the US."

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Japan's Hypersonic Weapons Won't Make Asia-Pacific More Secure, But the Contrary, Expert Warns

In the aftermath of the Second World War, Tokyo adhered to a largely pacifist security policy. However, over the last decade, Japan has been gradually revising its defense strategy. Last year, the nation unveiled a bold new military plan that envisages considerably stepping up its defense expenditures within the next five years. The new funding, amounting to roughly $320 billion, marks the country's largest military build-up since the Second World War.

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🔺 Paradise lost? We discuss Austrian FM Schallenberg’s interview and how European politicians are mourning the end of their own illusions
🔺 No regrets: Seymour Hersh calls on the Biden administration to come clean about its involvement in the Nord Stream attack
🔺 Standing up to the big bully: AMLO urges other countries to unite in the movement against US imperialism

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Scott Ritter on Hersh Nord Stream Bombshell: US Sabotaged Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal to Stop Pipeline

The timeline of the Biden administration’s preparations to attack the Nord Stream pipeline outlined by Sy Hersh in his bombshell Substack article offers clues to understanding why former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson flew to Kiev on NATO’s behalf in the spring of 2022 to sabotage a peace agreement which had apparently been reached by Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, former UN weapons inspector and retired Marine major Scott Ritter says.

💬 “If we had accepted peace in April, then Nord Stream would have still existed. In fact, it would have thrived because there would have been peace. No more reason to shut it down. We had to terminate the peace effort while we put the pieces in place to shut down Nord Stream 2, which was the objective,” Ritter said.

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A 12-year-old boy was rescued nine days after the earthquakes hit the Turkish town of Adiyaman. Berat Yucel spent 207 hours under the rubble.

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Swiss parliament rejects proposal to lift Syria sanctions that harm civilians

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council, the lower house of the Swiss parliament, said that it had turned down a proposal urging the government to lift sanctions against Syria affecting its civil population.

The committee added that it had also turned down another proposal calling on the country's government to evaluate these sanctions as to whether they directly affect the civilian population in Syria.

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Ex-South Carolina Governor, Former Trump Toady, Neocon Darling: Who is 2024 Candidate Nikki Haley?

Former Trump UN ambassador Nikki Haley has announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination in 2024. What's her background? Is she part of the Washington establishment swamp or someone who might fight against it? And how might she fare against GOP heavyweights like Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis?

Read Sputnik's explainer to find out

29-year-old Arkansas "woman" Lily Mestemacher is facing charges for making bomb threats, US media reported, citing Oxford, Arkansas police.

Mestemacher was arrested by Conway police and extradited to Oxford, but was later booked in Lafayette County on a $50,000 bond.

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‼️ US Central Command revealed late Tuesday that American forces downed an "Iranian-manufactured" UAV reportedly attempting to conduct reconnaissance at the Mission Support Site Conaco in northeast Syria

🇸🇾🇷🇺 The Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria have delivered over 2.5 tons of food (pasta, flour, canned meat, millet and buckwheat) and disinfectants to the Charity and Mercy organization.

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📹 Two Russian strategic bombers Tu-160 completed scheduled flights over the neutral waters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The total flight duration was more than 13 hours, the ministry added.

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Seymour Hersh: Only 6 Out of 8 Bombs Planted Under Nord Stream Pipelines Were Detonated

Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh said on Tuesday that only six out of eight bombs planted under the Nord Stream pipelines went off as US President Joe Biden postponed the special operation and the bombs were under water for too long.

Last week, Hersh published a report saying that US Navy divers during NATO Baltops exercises in the summer of 2022 planted explosives to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, which Norway activated three months later. According to the report, Biden decided to sabotage the Nord Streams after more than nine months of secret discussions with the national security team.

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🙅‍♂️ 🇺🇸 More than half of registered Democrats want US President Joe Biden to refrain from running for president in 2024, makes him less popular with Democrats than his predecessor is with Republicans, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.

📌 Of Democrats polled, 52% said Biden should not seek a second term, compared to 40% of Republicans who don't want former US President Donald Trump to run again, according to the poll, which tallied responses from nearly 4,500 adults between February 6 and February 13 of this year.

▪️ Though both Biden and Trump garnered the highest percentages with respective polled party members, neither of the potential candidates grabbed enough support from a majority of voters, with Biden taking 35% of the votes from Democrats and Trump 43% of votes from Republicans, according to the poll.

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Bolsonaro Planning to Return to Brazil in March to Lead Opposition Against Lula

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday he was planning to return to Brazil in March to lead political opposition against incumbent President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and defend himself against accusations of inciting January's attacks on the government buildings by protesters.

"The right-wing movement is not dead and will live on... Losing is part of the electoral process... I’m not saying there was fraud, but the process was biased," Bolsonaro said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, adding he would work with supporters in Congress and local governments to promote what he called pro-business policies, fight abortion, gun control, and other policies that contradict family values.

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Hungary, Other EU Countries Have Different Views on Achieving Peace in Ukraine: Szijjarto

The positions of Hungary and other EU countries regarding a peaceful settlement of the situation in Ukraine differ, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said.

“We absolutely agree on one thing: both Hungary and France would like peace... But it is also clear that our approaches differ in how, what tactics and what steps can be taken to achieve peace,” Szijjártó said after talks with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna.

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🇷🇺 Russia has been doing "everything possible" for the protection and safety of Ukrainian children, who were forced to flee the country because of "atrocities" of Ukrainian troops, the Russian Embassy in the United States said on Wednesday.

💬 "Russia accepted children who had been forced to flee with their families from the shelling and atrocities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We do our best to keep minors in families, and in case of absence or death of parents and relatives, to transfer orphans under guardianship. We ensure the protection of their lives and well-being," the embassy said on Telegram.

▪️ The embassy also said that Washington should give "adequate assessment of the actions of the Kiev regime," which "kills and injures children" in the course of the conflict.

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📹 Russia's Armed Forces fire at Ukrainian targets and sheltered positions using Grad multiple-launch rocket systems (video courtesy of Russian MoD)

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