🇰🇵 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has instructed the country's military to destroy the United States and South Korea with "a blow" and "without hesitation" if they choose a confrontation path and provoke a conflict in the Korean Peninsula, the state-run KCNA news agency reported on Sunday.

The North Korean leader added that Washington's "inveterate hostile acts" against Pyongyang "have evidently evolved into a stage of execution which can lead to actual military actions and thus trigger a conflict between the armed forces of both sides."

Kim has reiterated the need to "steadily step up the work for getting the overwhelming war response capability and the full and perfect military combat readiness to deter any form of provocation and action at a blow since the enemies' desperate efforts get more serious."

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🇹🇷 Several earthquakes with a maximum magnitude of 4.5 hit the Turkish southeastern province of Hakkari on New Year's Eve, leaving people in panic, Turkiye's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) said Sunday.

AFAD said in a post on X that magnitude 4.4 underground tremors were recorded around 7:37 p.m. local time (16:37 GMT) at a depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in the area of the city of Yuksekova.

In the follow-up posts, the authority said another magnitude 3.5 earthquake hit at 7:52 p.m. local time and was followed by a magnitude 4.5 earthquake at 8:06 p.m. local time, adding that there have been no reports of negative consequences after the earthquakes.

In the meantime, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that panicked residents of Hakkari Province lined up in dense queues outside gas stations and were planning to spend New Year's Eve there.

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Tal Mitnick, an 18-year-Israeli activist was sentenced to 30 days in military prison after he refused to enlist in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in the face of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Friends of Mitnick have sworn to follow suit in solidarity with the conscientious objector. The objectors are part of a group called “Mesavrot”, or “We Refuse”, one of several networks of “activists and former military objectors” whose goal is to “support political refuseniks and to promote discourse on refusal among the Israeli public”, according to their social media.

"But the current war is a revenge war against the whole of Gaza, not only Hamas," one member explained."One massacre does not justify another one."

On Sunday, a Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson said that the death toll from Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip has now reached 21,822.

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🇰🇵🛰 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the country intends to launch three more spy satellites in 2024, after the successful deployment of the first one earlier this year, the state-run news agency reported.

The announcement was made at the plenary session of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, which was held from December 26–30.

"In the field of space exploration, the target of launching three more reconnaissance satellites in 2024 was announced, building on the successful experience of launching and operating the first reconnaissance satellite in 2023. Comprehensive national measures have also been elaborated to vigorously advance the development of space science and technology," Kim was quoted as saying by the news agency.

Pyongyang needs to be able to respond quickly to a "possible nuclear crisis," he added.

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🇺🇸💸 Word of Kaine: US Senator demands answers on $147.5M weapons deal with Israel

Democratic Senator Tim Kaine has raised concerns over the recent US State Department decision to greenlight a $147.5 million arms deal with Israel. Kaine insists on transparency, calling for a public explanation on why the Biden administration bypassed congressional review.

The approved deal includes the sale of M107 artillery shells and related equipment to Israel, deemed "immediately" necessary by Secretary of State Antony Blinken due to the extraordinary situation of the latest military operation in the Palestinian Gaza Stirp.

Kaine argues that Congress should have full information on weapons provided to other countries, stressing that bypassing its oversight leaves the American people in the dark. The situation adds a new layer to the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict, a complex and longstanding issue in the Middle East.

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The United Kingdom and the United States are preparing a "direct action" against Yemen's Ansar Allah rebel movement, also known as the Houthis, against the background of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, UK newspaper The Telegraph reported Sunday, citing UK Secretary of Defense Grant Shapps and source in the Pentagon.

The newspaper cited sources as saying that London and Washington are preparing an unprecedented joint statement in the form of a "verbal final warning" to the Houthis that could be issued as early as Monday, adding that talks were underway on Sunday evening on the participation of at least two other actions in action against the movement. But the joint statement is not expected to set out any specific military action, the report said.

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📈 Gold's glittering forecast for 2024!

As geopolitical tensions continue to simmer and nations pivot to gold due to the weakening of the US dollar, the precious metal shines brighter than ever.

Priced at $2,060/ounce and bolstered by a 13 percent surge in 2023, experts predict even grander heights for 2024. J.P. Morgan eyes a potential peak at $2,300, while the World Gold Council emphasizes the metal's allure amidst a shifting global currency landscape. But gold is not alone; silver, platinum, and palladium also carve unique paths in the year ahead.

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Former CIA officer compares Ukrainian officials to “rats fleeing the Titanic”

Tens of millions of Ukrainians fled their country after the escalation of the Donbass crisis into a full-blown NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine. Commenting on reports of Ukrainian lawmakers seeking to join their countrymen abroad, former CIA officer and State Department analyst Larry Johnson took it as a signal that the end is near for the Kiev regime.

“The fact that the Ukrainian legislators recognize that the end is near, which is why they’re trying to get out, it’s like that scene from the movie Titanic. The passengers are moving one direction, the rats are moving the opposite way. That’s what’s going on in Ukraine right now. The rats are heading for the lifeboats,” Johnson told Redacted Saturday.

The military and recruitment crisis in Ukraine is quickly turning into a political crisis, and there seems to be little even Kiev’s US sponsors can do “to control those events,” Johnson said.

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Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has commented on the shelling of Donetsk by Ukrainian forces on New Year's Eve:

"Only a terrorist beast could do such a thing," she said.

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More than 2,500 pieces of military and special equipment as well as weapons were received by Russian paratroopers in 2023, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"In 2023, formations and military units of the Airborne Troops received more than 780 new and modern pieces of military and special equipment. Among the newest pieces of heavy weapons received by the troops, it is worth mentioning the most modern tank - the T-90M, as well as proven in the course of the special military operation BMD-4M paratrooper combat vehicles, and BTR-MDM and BTR-82A armored personnel carriers," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Russia’s paratroopers are considered elite forces, equipped with advanced weapons systems and technology, further enhancing their capabilities.

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A tsunami of 0.4 meters high was recorded at the world's largest nuclear power plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa.

As a result, Japanese television stations have cancelled New Year's Day programs, informing about the consequences of the catastrophe.

No malfunctions at the nuclear power plant were reported, the Cabinet secretary general said later.

A tsunami threat has also been announced for Russia's Sakhalin region, with parts of the island's west coast likely to be affected by the waves, according to the Sakhalin Emergency Situations Department.

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❗️Putin made an address in connection with the beginning of Russia's presidency of BRICS, noting that Moscow will focus on constructive cooperation with all interested states.

During the BRICS presidency, Russia will continue its efforts to cooperate in three areas: politics and security, economics and finance, culture, he said.

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❗️Putin: During BRICS chairmanship, Russia will focus on increasing coordination and joint search for answers to challenges and threats

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❗️Russia, assuming responsibilities of chairman of BRICS, counts on fruitful work with all countries

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On New Year's Eve, riots occurred in Berlin, as a result of which 15 police officers were injured and more than 230 people were detained, the police said.

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US pulls back aircraft carrier from Mediterranean

The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group is to depart from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea in the “coming days,” unnamed US officials have told ABC News. Together with other surface ships that comprise the strike group, the US Navy’s largest aircraft carrier will reportedly return to its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia, where it will prepare for future deployments.

In October, the carrier strike group was redirected to the Eastern Mediterranean to bolster “regional deterrence” after the latest flare-up of the Palestine-Israel conflict.

Despite the return of the aircraft carrier, the US will retain sufficient military capability in the Mediterranean and the Middle East, sources were cited as saying. The Pentagon has not offered any official comment on the decision to bring back the aircraft carrier strike group.

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📹 Russian Grad MLRS destroys Ukrainian manpower on right bank of Dnieper River

Russian soldiers received the coordinates of an accumulation of Ukrainian manpower from artillery spotters. After several shell strikes, the Grad crew fired a full volley at the enemy.

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❗️On December 31, the Russian Armed Forces, using high-precision long-range air-based weapons, struck infrastructure at airfields where Storm Shadow cruise missile carriers were based, hitting all targets, the Defense Ministry reports

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❗️Russian troops hit an enterprise for the production of drones near the city of Chuguev, Kharkov region, four fuel depots for Ukrainian military equipment in the Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk regions, as well as in the settlement of Konstantinovka, the Defense Ministry reports

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❗️Ukraine is not our enemy, but those who want to achieve the strategic defeat of Russia, they are enemies, Putin said at a meeting with the military at the Vishnevsky Military Hospital

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Putin at meeting with military personnel:

◾️They want to divide Russia, the Kiev regime has been nurtured for a long time to escalate the conflict;

◾️The situation on the battlefield is changing, the enemy is being weakened;

◾️Ukraine is running out of military equipment, whereas we will increase production;

◾️The rhetoric in the West is changing and they are looking for a way to end the conflict. Russia also wants to end the conflict in Ukraine, but on our terms;

◾️Kiev wants to intimidate Russia, but Russia will step up attacks on military facilities - not on moms with strollers.

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