❗️ At 7 am local time, Russian air defenses intercepted a Ukrainian S-200 missile over the Belgorod region, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. The anti-aircraft missile had been converted to hit ground targets on the territory of Russia.

🇩🇪 Nearly two-thirds of Germans would like German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to hand over his post to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, a poll conducted by the Institute for New Social Answers (INSA) for German newspaper Bild showed.

The INSA poll showed that 64.3% of respondents want to replace Scholz with Pistorius. A total of 1,004 respondents participated in the poll.

Bild and Italian newspaper la Repubblica reported earlier this week that the German chancellor could leave office prematurely this year. The reasons for the possible resignation are low ratings of the ruling coalition, as well as the Wirecard fraud scandal that broke out in 2020, when Scholz was serving as finance minister.

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The Wall Street Journal has crunched some numbers on the Ukrainian crisis and concluded that Ukraine might have to resort to drastic measures if Western support stops flowing.

Pointing to “dwindling” Western financial assistance; lesser interest in continuing to fund the proxy crisis; and Russia outguning Ukraine militarily and economically, the outlet warned that “without sufficient support, Ukraine may have to resort to painful spending cuts or even printing money to fill its deficit” to keep the lights on and the war effort going.

Such a policy “would pose a grave risk to the health of its economy,” the newspaper said, hinting at the danger of hyperinflation which traditionally hits countries that print money to try to fill budget gaps.

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🇦🇺 The Australian government has banned its citizens from performing Nazi salute and displaying Nazi symbols, Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said on Monday.

In the summer of 2023, a bill to ban Nazi symbols was submitted to the Australian parliament.

"It is now unlawful to perform the Nazi salute in public or to publicly display, or trade in, Nazi hate symbols, with the Albanese Government’s landmark legislation coming into force today (Monday, 8 January). The new laws also ensure that glorifying and praising acts of terrorism are criminal offences under Commonwealth law," Dreyfus said in a statement.

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Part of an Alaska Airlines plane that broke off during a flight three days ago has been found in Portland, CNN reported, citing the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

According to an NTSB spokesman, a schoolteacher named Bob discovered the door that flew out of the fuselage in the backyard of his home in Portland and reported his finding to the outlet.

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🇷🇺 Ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet practiced destroying enemy UAVs and unmanned boats

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While some American economists claim a soft landing is possible next year, conservative media outlet The Epoch Times recommends Americans buckle up for a bumpy 2024.

Economists interviewed by The Epoch Times predict a significant slowdown in the coming months with some even hinting at a recession before the 2024 election. Per the Conference Board, a nonprofit business think tank, the recession may arrive as early as the first half of 2024. For his part, CEO of JPMorgan Chase Jamie Dimon warned that the US economy is "sugar high" from stimulus money and the Fed's previous quantitative easing.

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China announced that its security agencies have uncovered another case of espionage involving the British Secret Intelligence Service, commonly known as MI6, employing a foreign individual in China to gather confidential information.

As per China's Ministry of State Security's disclosure on their WeChat social media platform, a person surnamed Huang, overseeing an overseas consulting agency, was discovered to have established an "intelligence cooperative relationship" with MI6 in 2015. Following this connection, MI6 allegedly directed Huang to make multiple visits to China, utilizing his public persona as a facade to gather intelligence on China for British espionage purposes.

Moreover, MI6 purportedly provided professional intelligence training to Huang within Britain and other locations, along with supplying specialized espionage gear for cross-linking intelligence, as stated by China's government.

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📹 Russian reconnaissance units of Yug Group of Forces eliminate Ukrainian infantry using quadcopters with drop mechanisms

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❗️ This morning, a strike was carried out with high-precision long-range sea- and air-based weapons, including hypersonic Kinzhal missiles, on Ukrainian military-industrial complex targets, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported

📹 The T-80 BVM tanks that recently arrived in the Zaporozhye direction are highly appreciated by the military, tank commander with the call-sign Stavropol said.

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WATCH LIVE: German Farmers in Munich Protest Against Fuel Tax Hike

Zelensky’s statements about the absence of serious victories in Russia is a lie, the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, said in an interview with Sputnik.

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🇵🇱 Polish officials hid evidence about movement of suspects in Nord Stream explosions around the country, the WSJ reports, citing investigators.

Warsaw did not respond to requests from European investigators, as well as distorted and provided contradictory information on the Nord Stream explosions, the media added.