Donald Trump, the likely Republican nominee for president, lashed out at the Biden administration on Saturday for allowing the migrant surge on the southern border to continue.

"Our border has become a weapon of mass destruction — our destruction," he wrote in a series of blog posts on his Truth Social media platform.

The former US president, who is seeking reelection in the 2024 race, wrote that 302,000 migrant encounters were recorded in December, in what he described as "an all-time record."

"Just 3 years ago we had the strongest and safest Border in U.S. History. Today we have a catastrophe waiting to happen. It is the WORST BORDER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, an open wound in our once great Country," Trump argued.

He claimed that "terrorists" were pouring, unchecked, into the United States from all over the world and that there was now a "100% chance" of a major terrorist attack happening in the country.

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☢️ For more than 20 years the US Navy has been aware of multiple environmental contaminants at one of their bases but failed to warn the servicemen, the NBC News revealed.

Gilbert Wyand, a US Navy veteran, had lived and worked at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in California in the 1980s. After Wyand’s cancer diagnosis, his son found a Navy report published in June of 2023 that shows the Navy has been aware of radiation at the shipyard for at least two decades.

According to the report, between the 1960s and until 1980 about 3,000 gallons of chemical waste leaked out of damaged storage drums into the ground.

The Navy veteran could have been exposed to radium-226 and strontium-90, which are radionuclides linked to leukemia and other cancers. But Wyand and other veterans were not alerted about the potential risk of exposure because there is no system in place to notify veterans of potential exposure after a base closes, Navy spokesperson Lt. Cmdr. Joe Keiley said.

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❗️ North Korea has fired several cruise missiles from its east coast, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

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North Korea has fired several cruise missiles from its east coast, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported citing the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

According to the report, the launch occurred at about 8 a.m. (23:00 GMT Saturday) off Shinpo Port. No further details were provided, citing an ongoing analysis.

"While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military has been closely coordinating with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korea's provocations," the JCS told reporters in a text message.

Earlier this month, a spokesman for the North Korean National Defense Ministry said in a statement that Pyongyang had tested the still under-development "underwater nuclear weapon system Haeil-5-23" in the Sea of Japan in response to the joint three-day naval exercises by the United States, South Korea, and Japan involving a US nuclear carrier and other warships.

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A group of 43 prominent figures from throughout Israeli society have released a letter demanding the “immediate removal” of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling him “an existential and ongoing threat to the people and to the state of Israel.”

The missive calls the Israeli leader a “clear and present danger” to the country and claims “Israel has leaders capable of replacing him immediately.”

The letter was signed by six former Israeli military and security chiefs and three Nobel Prize winners, in addition to a number of CEOs, scientists, and former diplomats.

The statement comes amidst continuing societal upheaval in the country and the economic ramifications of Israel’s almost four month-long state of war. Last week Netanyahu voiced his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, a stance that may placate rightwing members of his coalition but will alienate his backers in the Biden administration.

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The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has conducted training exercises to increase readiness on the northern border.

"In the last week, the Northern Command conducted intensive training to enhance readiness for combat on the northern border. As part of recent training programs for reservist battalions on the northern front, soldiers of the Northern Paratroopers Brigade (226) and Combat Engineering forces performed training exercises. The exercises prepared troops for combat in densely populated urban areas, winter weather conditions, and in the northern terrain," the IDF said on Telegram.

The IDF said the training combined tanks, combat engineering, infantry and artillery forces.

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“We get thousands of people into our recruiting stations every year that want to join the Navy but do not have an education credential,” said the branch’s chief of personnel Vice Admiral Rick Cheeseman.

Now, the Navy will accept some of those potential recruits lacking a high school diploma or GED after announcing they’re lowering their recruitment standards. The change in policy comes as the Navy reports having trouble meeting its yearly recruiting goals. The Air Force and Army also reported falling short by thousands of recruits last year.

Recent polling shows Americans’ confidence in the country’s armed forces has reached a two decade low.

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Biden's border 'reforms' are political posturing - expert explains

A bipartisan immigration bill endorsed by US President Joe Biden amid a standoff between Texas and the federal government “is solely designed to persuade gullible Republicans to support sending more money to Ukraine in return for non–existent ‘reforms’ at the border," Michael Shannon, a political commentator and Newsmax columnist, told Sputnik.

"Existing US law provides all the enforcement authority necessary to close the border. Leftists just refuse to use that authority," Shannon pointed out.

Commenting on POTUS' promise that the bill, if passed, would be "the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border," the analyst said the promise "indicates that Joe Biden remains an unrepentant liar."

The Biden administration "has no intention of closing the border, and even if they did, it's too late. What is required is closing the border AND relentless, mass deportations of illegals regardless of how long they've been inside the border breaking the law," Shannon asserted.

Biden on Friday pledged to stop crossings at the country's southern border when it's "overwhelmed" if Congress approves a bipartisan immigration bill giving him such authority.

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▪️North Korea has launched several cruise missiles from its east coast

▪️As Palestinians in Gaza face mass starvation, US & allies cut funding to UN relief agency

▪️Did Biden just admit he's not that smart?

More Stories:

▪️Elon Musk slams Biden's southern border policy, says president wants open US borders

▪️Biden's 'border reform' is bait for 'gullible Republicans'

▪️Israel is doomed? National leaders say Netanyahu poses 'existential' threat to country

▪️Facing recruitment challenges, US Navy removes high school diploma requirement

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Russia exported 76 billion cubic meters of natural gas to friendly countries, according to a presentation by First Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin for the Energy Day speech at the Russia exhibition and forum.

Of the amount, 23 billion cubic meters was sent through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline to China, as seen on one of the slides. The data includes both pipeline and liquefied natural gas supplies.

Gas supplies to Russian consumers in 2023 amounted to 501 billion cubic meters, in line with the presentation.

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