🇺🇸🇸🇾 The US is ramping up air attacks on Syria in a bid to end Syria's decades-long support for Palestinian liberation: investigative journalist Vanessa Beeley told Sputnik that the US was using its aircraft based in the Middle East, along with its proxy forces inside Syria, to destabilize the Arab republic.

"We've seen the US activating the ISIS proxy forces to carry out attacks, particularly in the eastern districts to the east of Homs," Beeley said.

The response from President Bashar al-Assad's government has been to slowly increase pressure on the US troops illegally occupying north-east Syria's oil and gas fields.

"What we're now seeing is direct engagement between the US and the Syrian Arab Army," Beeley stressed. "This hasn't really happened before the attacks on the American illegal American occupation bases that are daily stealing Syrian oil from the north east and destroying agricultural resources."

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🇺🇸🇨🇳 Biden said he had one of his most productive meetings with Xi Jinping. Here's what he took away from the meeting:

▪️ Parties resume military contacts

▪️ The US. and China will resume cooperation against drug trafficking

▪️ The US will continue to compete with China, but will cooperate in areas where their interests coincide.

▪️ The countries will continue high-level diplomatic contacts following the summit in San Francisco.

Biden also warned Xi Jinping against possible attempts by the PRC to interfere in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, and when asked by journalists whether he considered the Chinese leader a "dictator," he replied, "Well, look, he is." At the same time, the American president said that if the leader of the PRC calls, he will "pick up the phone" and "that's important progress."

The main points, according to Xi Jinping:

▪️ The US should support China's inevitable peaceful reunification and stop supplying weapons to Taiwan.

▪️ China has no plans to surpass or replace the US

▪️ The US keeps introducing export controls and unilateral sanctions against China, which seriously harms Chinese interests.

▪️ Beijing hopes Washington will lift unilateral sanctions and ensure a non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises.

▪️ Both countries must effectively resolve differences, respect each other's red lines and principles, and refrain from provocations.

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❗️ The US Senate voted for a bill to fund the government, it does not include additional aid to Israel and Ukraine, the media reports voting results

❗️ On the night of November 16, Russian air defense systems destroyed two Ukrainian drones over the Bryansk region, and three more UAVs were intercepted over the Black Sea near the Crimean coast, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported

🇺🇸 A US guided-missile destroyer in the Red Sea shot down a drone launched from Yemen in the direction of the warship, a US Defense Department spokesperson said in a statement to Sputnik.

Last month, another US Navy warship, USS Carney, shot down three cruise missiles and several drones launched by Houthi forces in Yemen.

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🇷🇺 Moscow hopes that APEC will remain a purely economic forum despite attempts to politicize it, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, who is leading the Russian delegation to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in San Francisco, said.

"As for the politicization of the APEC format, such signals certainly reach us. But we hope there will be no politicization," Overchuk said, also expressing hope that APEC will remain a purely economic forum.

He added that the APEC format is supposed to be a very practical forum aimed at creating favorable conditions for business development.

Deputy Prime Minister indicated that Russia's trade with South American and Asian countries and China is growing, and Moscow notices their desire to trade and develop ties.

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❗️ The IDF reported striking the residence of Hamas Political Bureau head Ismail Haniyeh

Who built Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza?

With the IDF conducting several raids on Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital over the past week, Sputnik explored what is known about this medical complex, which Tel Aviv claims has underground facilities used by Hamas as a fortified command center.

▪️Al-Shifa (“healing” in Arabic) started out as an army barracks during the British Mandate for Palestine era, being turned into a hospital in 1946 during the closing years of British occupation.

▪️The Gaza City-based hospital expanded into an entire medical complex during Egypt’s administration of Gaza between 1953 and 1967.

▪️Israel took control of al-Shifa during the Six-Day War in June 1967, which was followed by the Jewish state totally overhauling the hospital complex in the 1980s.

▪️In 1983, as part of this sweeping refurbishment, “a secure underground operating room and tunnel network” underneath the Hospital’s Building Number 2 was constructed.

▪️Despite Hamas purportedly knowing about the hidden underground fortified areas built by Israel in the 1980s, there is currently no direct evidence of their use.

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❗️ The Chinese Foreign Ministry called Biden's words about "dictator Xi Jinping" irresponsible and wrong.

"There are always people with ulterior motives who try to provoke and undermine China-US relations, but this will not be successful," the ministry spokeswoman added.

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

▪️ The Israeli army is expanding its operation in the al-Shifa medical complex to the southern part of the hospital, media reported.

▪️ The IDF reported striking the residence of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh.

▪️ Israel's president said Israel cannot leave a "vacuum" in the Gaza Strip and must maintain a "strong force," media reported.

▪️ Biden said he told Israel it was wrong to occupy Gaza.

▪️ The UN Security Council should not stop at the adopted resolution on the Middle East, it is necessary to achieve a cease-fire, said the permanent representative of the People's Republic of China.

▪️ Some members of the UN Security Council do not have the courage to support a ceasefire in Gaza, the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN reported.

▪️ Israeli President said that joint measures with Cyprus are being discussed to deliver aid to Gaza by sea, media reported.

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❗️British Foreign Secretary David Cameron visits Zelensky in Kiev two days after the appointment

🎙 Check out AfroVerdict's new episode as the host joins the chairman of a Kenyan NGO who lays out all the details of British Army Training Unit Kenya's (BATUK) activities in Kenya and how his organization is fighting the presence of foreign forces in his country.

🇺🇸 The Pentagon failed its annual audit for the sixth consecutive year. Half of the Defense Department’s assets still don’t meet auditing standards.

An independent audit of the Pentagon’s accounting systems gave only seven out of 29 sub-audits a passing grade, the department’s chief financial officer told reporters.

The Pentagon's assets are estimated to be worth $3.8 trillion, alongside $4 trillion in liabilities. Some US lawmakers have recently called for greater transparency of Department of Defense spending amid growing evidence that Ukrainian officials are misusing American military and economic aid.

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😏 The next victim of "Zelensky curse"?

British Foreign Minister David Cameron went to Kiev for an audience with Ukraine's President almost immediately after the appointment. Well, how long will Cameron last in office after an infamous handshake ("Zelensky's black mark")?

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