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📹 Russian unmanned aircraft crews of the Airborne Forces of the Dnepr Battlegroup conduct round-the-clock aerial surveillance of Ukrainian units on the right bank of the Dneper river in the Kherson region.

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🇷🇺🇩🇪 Lavrov says Russia not cutting diplomatic ties with Germany

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Moscow was not "breaking off" diplomatic relations with Berlin, pointing to the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted the credentials of a new German ambassador.

On Monday, Putin swore in 21 new ambassadors, including those of Germany, the United Kingdom, and Turkiye.

"We are not breaking off any diplomatic relations... But we will tell them the truth," Lavrov told Rossiya 1 reporter Pavel Zarubin ahead of the ceremony.

In May, the German government announced that only one out of five Russian consulates in Germany would be allowed to operate, along with the Russian Embassy in Berlin.

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🇵🇸 Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Sunday called for imposing sanctions on Israel for its violence against Palestinians and holding the United States to account for supporting Israel's failure to abide by international law and UN resolutions.

"If Israel is above international law, I think Israel should be put on sanctions. Israel should not be allowed to continue violating international humanitarian law, international law [and] the United Nations resolutions … For the United States to block a United Nations Security [Council] resolution, one should hold the Americans responsible [for supporting Israel's violence] in Gaza and in the West Bank," he said at the Doha Forum.

Israel, as an "occupying power," is responsible for providing Palestinians with electricity, water, food and medical supplies, Shtayyeh said, describing Israel's total blockade of the enclave as a criminal act.

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⚡️ Biden invites Zelensky to visit White House on December 12

US President Joe Biden has invited his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, to visit the White House on December 12 to discuss the US's support for Ukraine, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Sunday.

"President Biden has invited President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine to the White House for a meeting on Tuesday, December 12 to underscore the United States’ unshakeable commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine," Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The presidents will discuss Ukraine's "urgent" needs and Washington's support for Kiev, the official added.

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🇮🇱🇵🇸 IDF says hits 3,500 Hamas targets in Gaza Strip since end of ceasefire

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday that it had struck over 3,500 targets of Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip since the end of ceasefire earlier in the month.

"Since Hamas violated the operational pause and the IDF resumed combat, the IAF [Israel Air Force] has struck over 3,500 terror targets in the Gaza Strip... Since the beginning of the war, over 22,000 terror targets have been struck in the Gaza Strip," the IDF wrote on Telegram.

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🇵🇸🇮🇱 Death toll in Gaza Strip from Israeli strikes amounts to almost 18,000

"The number of Gaza Strip residents killed due to Israel's aggression since October 7 has risen to 17,997, with 49,290 injured," Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Qudra told a press conference.

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🚚 Truckonomics: Russia's 2023 HGV sales smash records

New truck sales in Russia are set to break all-time industry records by reaching an unprecedented 128,069 vehicles from January to November this year, an impressive 81.5% annual increase.

November saw 12,067 trucks sold in Russia, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Analysts predict that the end-of-year figures for sales will surpass the previous high of 128,900 recorded in 2012.

Leading the charge is the prominent KAMAZ brand, which secured the lion's share with 26,066 vehicles, holding a 20% market share. Other noteworthy contenders include Chinese manufacturers Sitrak (21,678), Shacman (18,540), and FAW (11,782).

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🇺🇸 “There are more militant groups than there were when we started the so-called ‘War on Terror’ in 2001”

In a rare display of dissent on US corporate media, Stephanie Savell of Brown University’s Costs of War project appeared on television Sunday to recount the tragic consequences of US militarism.

US armed forces have a “footprint” in 78 countries around the world consisting of as many as 900 global military bases.

Additionally 4.5 million deaths have resulted from American interventions since 2001 while the country backs 73% of the world’s dictatorships.

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🇺🇳 Emergency Special Session of UNGA to discuss Gaza to be resumed on Tuesday

UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis will convene the plenary meeting of the Tenth Emergency Special Session on Tuesday to discuss the situation around the Gaza Strip, spokesperson to the UN General Assembly President, Monica Grayley, stated on Sunday.

On Friday, the United States vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that demanded an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

The resumption of the special session was requested on Friday by Egypt's permanent representative to the UN Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud and Mauritania's permanent representative to the UN Sidi Mohamed Laghdaf "in their respective capacities as Chair of the Arab Group and Chair of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation," Grayley added.

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🇮🇷 Iran calls on EU to take more effective steps to stop attacks on Gaza Strip

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian urged the European Union to take more efficient measures to prevent the continuation of the Gaza conflict and lift the blockade of the enclave, the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated on Sunday.

"Amirabdollahian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, addressed a letter to Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. In the letter, Amirabdollahian highlighted the recent positions of the European side, emphasizing the urgent need to establish an enduring ceasefire, halt the massacre of civilians in Gaza, and adhere to international humanitarian law," the ministry said in a statement.

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🇳🇱 The Netherlands resumed buying liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia in September after a three-month hiatus, Sputnik calculated based on Dutch statistical data.

In April, Dutch Energy Minister Rob Jetten said that his country was working to halt all LNG imports from Russia, winding down all the existing contracts. Next month, Dutch imports of LNG from Russia, which had seen no interruptions before, declined by almost 30% and stopped completely in June. The pause lasted throughout the summer.

In September, however, the Netherlands bought 211.5 million cubic meters of Russian LNG for €109 million euros ($117 million). This drove Dutch imports from Russia up 5.4% month-on-month to $410.5 million.

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🇺🇸 Many Americans are unable to afford food, even as unemployment remains low

Hunger remains an issue in the US, even as President Joe Biden has touted his “Bidenomics” as a cause for the economy’s recent recovery. A staggering 76% of Americans said their income is not keeping up with inflation, and as a result the “American Dream” has stumbled. Many Americans are struggling to pay for essential items like food, which has added to a growing demand for social service programs and charity groups.

“This is not just one group’s issue, it’s an American issue. Hunger is an issue in America across every demographic group, and now, growingly, across more and more levels of income,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, the head of Feeding America.

According to a poll released on Sunday, 51% of those aged 30 to 64 believe their standard of living is worse than their parents’ was, as well as 39% of those aged 18 to 29 and 40% of those ages 65 and older.

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🇵🇸 Some children in the Gaza Strip are undergoing amputations without anesthesia due to lack of funds, while others are on the brink of starvation, a representative of the Save the Children humanitarian organization said on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the Special Session of the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO) took place at the request of 17 member states to discuss the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Later, all 34 member countries of the WHO Executive Board, including the United States, approved a resolution on Gaza calling for unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave and the evacuation of injured people.

At the same time, a representative of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said at the session that the organization is still operating in Gaza, but is on the verge of collapse, since more than 134 UNRWA staff have been killed in the enclave since October 7.

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Zelensky shows desperation by trying to curry favor with Argentina's Milei

The Ukrainian president has displayed a penchant for appearing at various events around the globe to ask for money and weapons over the past two years. He now traveled to Argentina to attend the inauguration of the recently-elected President Javier Milei.

Though it is not immediately clear to what extent Argentina may aid Ukraine, considering the latter country’s delicate economic situation, Zelensky’s visit appears to be a “logical” move, explained Dr. Vinicius Vieira, a research associate in international relations at the University of Sao Paulo and an associate professor at the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation.

According to Vieira, Zelensky is “clearly fearing defeat” in the Ukrainian conflict and is eager to search for “an alignment,” especially now that the attention of his Western sponsors seems to be focused more on the crisis in the Gaza Strip.

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⚡️ US F-16 fighter jet crashes in South Korea during training, according to reports

A US F-16 fighter jet crashed into the Yellow Sea on Monday morning during training, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing sources, adding that the pilot ejected.

The jet crashed after taking off from an air base in Gunsan, the report said. It is not yet known whether the pilot survived, the report added.

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🇺🇸 US ruling class fears Trump would withdraw from NATO

The United States has used the ostensible “alliance” to dominate Europe and threaten Russia for decades.

However, the NATO supremacy may soon end, The New York Times worries. The newspaper published an article Saturday agonizing over the possibility that former President Trump would withdraw from NATO in a second term.

“There is great fear in Europe that a second Trump presidency would result in an actual pullout of the United States from NATO,” said James G. Stavridis, a former NATO supreme allied commander. “That would be an enormous strategic and historic failure on the part of our nation,” he stated.

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🇮🇱🇵🇸 Israel is detaining doctors "en masse" in the Gaza Strip, the founder of the Gaza Medic Voices organization, Omar Abdel-Mannan, said on Sunday.

"It's just extremely distressing as a doctor to see that my colleagues are being detained en masse," Abdel-Mannan told Sky News.

A large number of starving, dehydrated people are arriving at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, he said, adding that the enclave could face outbreaks of diseases, including cholera and diarrhea.

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🇯🇵 Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to fire a second top member of his cabinet as well as three party officials, a Japanese newspaper reported, as voter anger grows in response to a funds scandal. The report comes just days after Kishida stepped down as leader of the Kochikai faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in response to the scandal.

According to the report, Kishida has already decided to replace Trade Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, two senior officials in the LDP, as well as a possible third.

Voter support for Kishida, which was already poor, is sinking even further following a fundraising scandal. Lawmakers in Japan’s ruling party have been accused of underreporting funds and are now being investigated. Several dozen lawmakers from the LDP will be investigated this coming week over 100 million yen ($680,000) of fundraising proceeds that were not officially reported.

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🇺🇳 The number of conflicts in the world has increased by a fifth over the past three years, with half of them having serious international involvement, the president of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi, said at a session at the Doha Discussion Forum.

"Over the past three years, the number of conflicts has increased by 20 percent. Ten to fifteen years ago, only 14 percent of these conflicts had serious international involvement; now international parties are involved in 50 percent of conflicts," Kőrösi said.

In his opinion, the UN needs to analyze these conflicts more deeply and determine their characteristics.

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🇨🇳 China rebuffs Philippines after ship collision in South China Sea

China’s coast guard reprimanded the Philippines after a collision between Chinese and Philippine ships in the South China Sea.

The incident occurred Sunday with China accusing the Philippine ship of “intentionally ramming” their vessel as it transported supplies to a grounded warship the Philippines maintains on a reef to preserve their claim in the territory.

The Asian power blamed the United States for encouraging the Philippines’ “provocation” after a US warship passed through the area last week.

The US claims a desire to ensure the South China Sea, which facilitates more than $3 trillion in commercial activity, remains open to global trade but hasn’t explained how sending warships to the region accomplishes that.

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🇪🇬 Nearly 16,000 people have entered Egypt from the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing since early November, the Egyptian State Information Service (SIS) reported.

▪️Egypt allowed 12,858 foreign citizens and persons with dual citizenship to enter

▪️715 patients and 558 people accompanying them also arrived in Egypt from the Gaza Strip

▪️In addition, more than 1,800 Egyptians returned to their homeland from the enclave

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