🇺🇸💸 The US's desire to pay Ukraine's way hits a new low as Israel and border issues take priority

Ukraine is “running out of money and time” and “could get left behind” by Congress as US lawmakers shift their priorities and focus to staving off an imminent government shutdown, and to ramping up funding for Israel and the southern border with Mexico. That’s according to a fresh US media report assessing the mood in Washington at the moment.

“Ukraine funding, I believe, if it’s worth doing, needs to stand on its own,” Republican Representative Mark Alford of Missouri said, addressing recently elected House Speaker Mike Johnson’s commitment to keep funding bills separate to prevent the bundling of a large number of unrelated priorities into a single piece of legislation.

“It should not be in any way tied to Israel. These should be separate votes to show our districts exactly where we stand,” Alford said.

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North Korea Develops, Test-Fires New IRBM Solid-Fuel Engines

North Korea has developed and test-fired new-type high-thrust solid-fuel engines for intermediate-range ballistic missiles, North Korean state-run news agency KCNA reported Wednesday.

The North Korea "has developed new-type high-thrust solid-fuel engines for intermediate ballistic missiles again, which are of important strategic significance," with the tests "provided a sure guarantee for reliably accelerating the development of the new-type IRBM system," reported Korean Central News Agency.

The tests were aimed at evaluating the technical specifications of new IRBM engines, the media reported, adding that the tests were "very successful" and the "reliability and stability" of the engines and manufacturing technologies were verified.

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Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the most powerful of them all?”

📊 Test your knowledge on the militaries of the Indian subcontinent in this quiz!

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🇬🇧 Former British PM David Cameron's return to frontline politics as foreign secretary was immediately controversial. Geopolitical analyst, researcher and blogger Ian Shilling said Cameron's legacy was one of corruption and war crimes.

David Cameron is still unfit to hold office seven years after he resigned as British prime minister, says a political pundit.

Current PM Rishi Sunak surprised the nation when he resurrected Cameron's failed career as part of his cabinet reshuffle on Monday, which began with the sacking of outspoken home secretary Suella Braverman. Cameron was made Foreign Secretary as James Cleverly moved to the Home Office.

Cameron must now be granted a peerage in the House of Lords by King Charles III so he can qualify to serve as a minister. That prompted a protest from House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle that Cameron would not be answerable to fellow MPs in the elected lower house of Parliament.

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🇺🇸 The US Senate blocked a motion to consider House-passed legislation that would provide Israel an additional $14.3 billion in security assistance.

The Senate voted along party lines, 51-48, on Tuesday to block consideration of the bill.

Senate Democrats stopped the effort by Republicans to begin debate on the Israel security aid only bill because it included IRS funding cuts.

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The leader of Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis and controlling the country's north, on Tuesday threatened to attack Israeli ships in the Red Sea to support Palestinian movements in the Gaza Strip.

He said the Houthis' "eyes are open to constantly monitor and search for any Israeli ship in the Red Sea, particularly in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the waters that border Yemeni waters, although Israeli ships disable devices in the Red Sea, they will not be able to hide," adding that the movement "will search for its ships and will not hesitate to attack them."

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🇷🇺 The second Arktika-M satellite, necessary for monitoring the Northern Sea Route among other goals, will be launched into orbit from the Baikonur spaceport on December 16, a source in the rocket and space industry has told Sputnik.

"According to the preliminary plan, the launch of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the Fregat upper stage and the Arktika-M satellite №2 is scheduled for 12.17 p.m. Moscow time [09:17 GMT] on December 16, 2023," the source said.

The Arktika-M satellites operate in a highly elliptical orbit, which allows them to explore the Arctic region. The two spacecraft would provide round-the-clock monitoring of the Earth's surface and clouds, as well as seas in the Arctic region.

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US Rep. Paul Gosar has voiced concerns that the State Department continuously fails to acknowledge the neo-Nazi Azov group* ongoing presence in Ukraine's armed forces, and that it circumvents US violations after changing its name to the Special Purpose Azov Regiment under the National Guard of Ukraine.

Gosar recently raised concerns in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken about US aid possibly benefiting the neo-Nazi Azov group in Ukraine.

He referred to a State Department response to his earlier inquiry, highlighting concerns about the transformation of the Azov Battalion into the Azov Special Purposes Regiment within the National Guard of Ukraine. Gosar emphasized that this change does not alter the group's neo-Nazi character and urged that the US should not support such organizations.

*terrorist organization banned in Russia

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❗️ Israeli Forces 'invaded' Shifa hospital and attacked patients, general director of hospitals in Gaza Strip told Arabian TV Channel Al Mayadeen

🇵🇸 What we know about Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital:

▪️ The Israeli military has announced that its forces are carrying out a "precise and targeted operation" at the Al-Shifa hospital.

▪️ Israel has long claimed that Hamas has its headquarters hidden underneath the medical complex.

▪️ The US cited ‘newly declassified intelligence,’ allegedly showing Hamas was using Al-Shifa “to conceal and support their military operations and hold hostages.” Neither Israeli nor US claims have been independently verified.

▪️ Hamas denied that it was using Al-Shifa to conceal a command base. The militant group accused the US of giving Israel, “a green light … to commit more massacres against civilians.”

▪️ Reportedly, several thousand people are sheltering inside the largest medical facility in the besieged enclave, alongside hundreds of patients and staff, seeking refuge from Israel's relentless campaign.

▪️ An Israeli army spokesman, Peter Lerner, was quoted as saying Israeli forces sought to “mitigate” the impact of the operation on the hospital, citing the presence of medics among those carrying out the raid.

▪️ Palestinian Health Minister Dr. Mai Al-Kaila decried Israel’s raid as, “a new crime against humanity, medical staff, and patients” fraught with “catastrophic consequences.”

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🇵🇸🇮🇱 Latest updates on Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

▪️ Israeli forces 'invaded' the al-Shifa medical facility and attacked patients, the general director of hospitals in the Gaza Strip told the Beirut-based TV channel Al Mayadeen

▪️ The IDF said that incubators, baby food and medication were successfully transported by tanks from Israel to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.

▪️ The Palestinian Red Crescent Society says patients, the wounded and medical staff were evacuated from Al-Quds hospital in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday

▪️ Yemen's Houthi rebels say they have launched ballistic missile attacks on several targets in Israel, among them against Eilat.

▪️ The Pentagon claims that US intelligence had information that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are using Gaza’s hospitals, including al-Shifa, for military purposes.

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🤖🌘 The centaur robot, designed to aid in lunar exploration, was initially unveiled at a conference held at the Cosmonaut Training Center in Russia

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📹 Russian Su-25 aircraft strike Ukrainian military facilities and hardware in Donetsk direction

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❗️ The IDF announced a temporary ceasefire in northern Gaza for four hours, from 10am to 2pm local time, its spokesman Avichai Edri said.

❗️ Israel built the Al-Shifa hospital, which it claims has a Hamas headquarters burrowed deep underneath it, Israeli media have pointed out.

Commissioned by the Department of Public Works, the hospital complex was designed by Israeli architects led by Gershon Zippor and Benjamin Idelson during the British Mandate, and built in 1983.
The medical facility is described as having both an underground operating room and tunnel network beneath Building 2 of the hospital – all built by Israel.

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❗️IDF blew up warehouse of medicines and medical equipment in Shifa hospital - reports