🇨🇳 China's coast guard is planning to deploy its vessels near a group of islands in the East China Sea to which both Beijing and Tokyo lay claim, known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and the Senkaku Islands in Japan, on a permanent basis next year, conducting inspections of Japanese fishing boats, if necessary.

The Kyodo news agency reported on Saturday, citing sources familiar with the matter, that the plan was prepared after Chinese President Xi Jinping, during a visit to the East China Sea regional command of the coast guard, stated the need to "constantly strengthen" efforts aimed at protecting China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights. The Chinese leader also called for combating illegal activities at sea in accordance with the law and supporting China's maritime economy.

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⚡️ UN on Kiev's strike on Belgorod: attacks on civilian infrastructure and civilians are unacceptable, must be stopped immediately.

Аttacks on civilian infrastructure and civilians violate international humanitarian law, the organization added.

🇷🇺 "Belgorod, we are with you!"

Words of support addressed to Belgorod residents light up the facade of the Rostov Arena stadium in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don right now.

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❗️ Ukrainian troops shelled the center of Belgorod, killing 14 people, two of them children, and injuring another 108, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Saturday.

According to the military department, several Vampire MLRS rockets and parts of cluster munitions from downed Olkha missiles hit the city. If the cluster munitions had fully deployed, the losses among the civilian population would have been disproportionately large.

REACTION TO THE ATTACK ON BELGOROD:

▪️ As stated by the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, the incident has already been reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin. On instructions from the head of state, a team from the Ministry of Health headed by the minister, as well as a group from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation, flew to Belgorod to provide assistance to the victims.

▪️ Responsibility for the terrorist attack on Belgorod rests with the countries that supply weapons to Kiev, which uses cluster munitions against civilians, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik. The terror attack in Belgorod will be subject of proceedings at the UN Security Council at a meeting requested by Russia, she added.

▪️ The Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, wrote in his Telegram channel that a meeting of the UN Security Council in connection with the shelling of Belgorod was requested for 16.00 New York time (00.00 Moscow time) today. Moscow demanded the participation of the Permanent Representative of the Czech Republic so that he could explain himself regarding the supply of arms to Kiev.

▪️ The US condemned the Kiev regime’s terrorist attack. But Maria Zakharova put the blame for the act on Britain, which incites Kiev to terrorist actions in coordination with the US.

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❗️ The death toll from Ukraine’s strike on Belgorod rises to 18 people, 111 others injured, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations reported.

Gaza conflict offered Biden administration a chance to extricate itself from ‘Ukraine fiasco’

The timing of the latest spiral of the Palestine-Israel conflict gave the Biden administration an opportunity to extricate itself from the ‘Ukraine fiasco,’ Dr. Linwood Tauheed, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, told Sputnik.

”The situation as the Ukrainians lose the war and [President Volodymyr] Zelensky is finally admitting that is what’s happening was seen as an albatross [around Biden’s neck], another Vietnam, if you will… For Biden, it would be a loss to support a losing Ukraine... And so it became very obvious that the Biden administration wanted to get out of that fiasco. The Israeli-Gaza situation came at a time when that support could be moved from Ukraine onto Gaza,” Dr.Tauheed noted.

The economics expert stressed that “support for the [US] weapons industry” would be maintained in the hopes of boosting Biden’s dismal approval ratings.

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🇮🇱🇵🇸 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that the military operation in the Gaza Strip will last for many more months, as well as warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement against expanding the scale of its attacks on Israel.

"The campaign in the Gaza Strip will last for many more months," Netanyahu told a press conference.

He added that the Israeli operation will last until all its goals, including the destruction of the Hamas movement, are achieved.

"If Hezbollah expands the scale of the confrontation, we will carry out strikes that neither Hezbollah nor Iran can imagine," Netanyahu stated.

Earlier this month, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the United States agrees with the Israeli assessment that the ongoing conflict in Gaza could go on for several months, adding that it is important that Israeli strikes become more targeted and precise.

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❗️ The Czech Republic's Permanent Representative will skip the Russia-requested UN Security Council meeting on the shelling of Belgorod by the Ukrainian troops which used Czech weapons to kill civilians.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said that they "refuse to be summoned anywhere by Russia".

❗️ Ukraine’s strikes on Belgorod were deliberate terrorist attacks, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said.

❗️ Russia has reports that the UK, US advisers were involved in planning attacks on Belgorod, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, stated.

❗️ Russia’s surprised by the silence of the UN Secretary General on deadly attacks on Belgorod, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, emphasized.

❗️ The Czech Republic's envoy to the UN declined to take part in the UNSC meeting “out of cowardice,” Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, stressed.

❗️ The number of people killed as a result of the shelling of Russia’s Belgorod by the Ukrainian armed forces increased to 20 people, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said.

🇷🇸 Polling stations opened on Saturday in Serbia for rerun elections to fill parliament and the municipal offices in Belgrade, the election commission said.

The Republican Election Commission (REC), in connection with the complaints about the course of the December 17 ballot, has scheduled a repeat voting in the parliamentary election at 35 of about 8,300 polling stations in Serbia, while Belgrade's election commission is holding a repeat voting in the municipal election at three more polling places.

The voting is taking place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time (06:00 to 19:00 GMT), with over 19,500 people eligible to vote.

When the polling places close, their officials must submit protocols to the REC within 96 hours. The REC will then accept complaints and approve the preliminary results of the election within another 72 hours.

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❗️ The number of people killed in Ukraine's strike on the Russian city of Belgorod has risen to 21, including three children, Belgorod Region Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

"To great sorrow, the number of dead has increased to 21 people, three of them are children," Gladkov wrote on Telegram.

He also added that 110 people, including 17 children, received injuries, with 30 of them being in serious condition.

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