😳 Putin as UK Prime Minister?

The poll "Choose your Prime Minister of UK", conducted by David Kurten, the leader of the British Heritage Party, ended with an unexpected result: 87% of netizens would like to see Putin as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

To the great regret of the British, Vladimir Putin is devoted to Russia 🇷🇺

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Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali argue ECOWAS has become a threat to member countries

"ECOWAS, under the influence of foreign powers and having betrayed its founding principles, has become a threat to member states and their peoples... the organization has failed to assist our countries in the fight against terrorism and insecurity," the joint statement published on the National Council for the Defense of the Fatherland of Niger page says.

The countries also note that the regional bloc introduced “illegal, illegitimate, inhumane and irresponsible sanctions.”

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Message for Joe Biden: Don’t mess with Texas!

Sputnik correspondent Russell Bentley (@TXDPR) warns that it would be a massive mistake for the Biden administration to think it can bully Texas into submission.

“Texans will fight. And if they do, they might win just like the people of Donbass did. Some fools say that, ‘There’s no chance that people could have a revolution against the whole national army.’ Yes, there is. We’ve proven it here in Donbass. Nelson Mandela proved it in South Africa many years ago. Fidel Castro proved it Cuba. It takes courage and sacrifice, but it can be done.”

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Russia outguns Ukraine in drones by 7-to-1 – reports

Russia has seven drones for each Ukrainian one, says the Eurasian Times news outlet, citing Ukrainian officers. The media admits that Moscow has an “enormous edge” over Kiev in drone warfare.

It likewise stresses that Russia boosted drone production and plans to produce more than 32,000 drones each year by 2030 with domestic producers reigning the market. Also, Russia's military-industrial complex deploys cutting-edge models such as the Lancet and Orlan-10, while Kiev assembles drones partially via grassroots crowdfunding.

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Which US territories have recently mulled secession?

The most famous secession attempt in US history, the American Civil War, took place in the 19th century when eleven states formed the Confederacy (officially known as the Confederate States of America) and made an unsuccessful attempt to break away from federal rule.

While the Confederacy ended up being crushed by the Union armies, the idea of secession has since been at least entertained by groups in a number of US territories since, with some of these pro-independence groups existing even today.

Here is a brief list of them:

▪️California – its apparent economic power and prosperity make it hardly surprising that entities such as the California National Party and the Yes California political action committee postulate that their state would be better off as independent from the rest of the US;

▪️Texas – the secession of Texas (one of the members of the Confederacy) has been promoted since the 1990s by groups such as the Republic of Texas and factions that evolved from it;

▪️Alaska – established back in 1984, the Alaskan Independence Party lives up to its name by pushing for the state’s independence. The region only became part of the US in 1867;

▪️Hawaii – the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy and subsequent annexation of Hawaii by the United States during the last decade of the 19th century gave rise to a sovereignty movement that regards these actions as illegal and seeks to reestablish the island as an independent nation;

▪️Puerto Rico – factions within Puerto Rico, such as the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, have been seeking independence for the Spanish-speaking island practically since it was seized by the US in the aftermath of the US-Spanish War in 1898.

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❗️Three US troops were killed and 25 injured in a drone attack on a US military base in northern Jordan, according to US Central Command.

US President Joe Biden has already accused "Iran-loyal" groups for the attack.

This is the first time the Pentagon has acknowledged losses from such an attack since the start of the war in Gaza and the escalation in the Middle East.

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Texas border showdown could escalate into national uprising

Sputnik correspondent Russell Bentley (@TXDPR) explained that Texas has become the epicenter of an American national resistance movement.

“There’s people from all over the United States. Not just state governments, but also ordinary people going down to volunteer. There’s a big convoy of truck drivers going down there. So, it can very easily get out of hand. It can genuinely lead to an actual civil war, where the US Army is fighting against US citizens.”

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The attack against the American military took place outside the territory of Jordan. The al-Tanf base in Syria was attacked, the Minister of Government Communications and official representative of the kingdom’s cabinet, Muhannad Mubaidin, told the Al-Mamlaka TV channel.

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Which countries cut funding to UNRWA amid Israel’s accusations?

Nine countries from among the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East's (UNRWA) donors have suspended funding for the organization after Israel accused several UNRWA staffers of participating in Hamas’ October 7 attack.

The nations that paused funding for the UNRWA are:
🇺🇸 United States
🇨🇦 Canada
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇩🇪 Germany
🇮🇹 Italy
🇳🇱 The Netherlands
🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇫🇮 Finland
🇦🇺 Australia

The suspension of funding comes despite the fact that Israel’s claims are yet to be verified, not to mention that UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini has already announced the termination of the suspects’ contracts and the launch of a UN investigation into the allegations.

As Lazzarini pointed out in a statement, “UNRWA is the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza, with over two million people depending on it for their sheer survival,” adding that the agency “runs shelters for over one million people and provides food and primary healthcare even at the height of the hostilities.”

Israeli allegations against UNRWA’s staff emerged as the ICJ ordered Tel Aviv to “take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

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Fear of reputational damage prevented US from sending A-10 jets to Ukraine

While the US supplied vast quantities of military hardware to Ukraine following the escalation of the conflict in February 2022, it has appeared reluctant to provide certain weaponry to Kiev, such as the A-10 attack aircraft.

The US apparently refrained from providing these warplanes to Kiev due to concerns that they would be promptly wiped out by advanced Russian air defenses without making any impact on the battlefield, the Telegraph reported.

These concerns hardly seem unfounded, considering that the sight of destroyed Leopard 2 tanks and Bradley infantry vehicles in the wake of Ukraine's failed counteroffensive last year.

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Seasonal Stations:

🔸"Molodezhnaya" (1962) had long been considered the capital of Soviet Antarctica. There were about seventy buildings at the base, lined up into streets. Closed in 1999, it was switched to seasonal operations in 2006.

🔸"Leningradskaya" (1971) was used for studies of meteorology, Earth magnetism, oceanology and glaciology. It was closed in 1991, but the works at the station partially resumed after 2008.

🔸"Russkaya" (1980) was opened on March 9, 1980, and was closed in 1990. In 2008, it was reopened for seasonal research. In 2019, a decision was made to switch the station to year-round operation and work is still ongoing to make the necessary modifications.

🔸"Oasis Bangera" (1987) Soviet station was built next to the first station, founded in the Bunger Oasis in 1956. The original station was donated to Poland and renamed as Dobrovolskaya station.

🔸"Druzhnaya-4" (1987) is aimed at ensuring the logistic support to Soyuz Station and the Progress Station. The climatic conditions in the base area are favorable for seasonal work.

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Boomerang effect: Ukraine-style repression is coming to the US soon

“I’ve been saying for 10 years that people in the United States should take a lesson from what’s happening in Ukraine. What the US government has done to people in other countries around the world, they will do to their own citizens too,” said Sputnik correspondent Russell Bentley (@TXDPR).

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The United States’ decision to cancel joint military exercises with several African countries seems to signify that Washington’s “ability to basically tell countries what to do and compel countries to follow US policy is slipping,” says retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official Larry Johnson.

The United States military leadership has scrapped plans to hold joint exercises with several African states such as Sudan, Mali, Niger, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Burkina Faso.

Commenting on today’s decision made by Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso to withdraw from the ECOWAS economic community, Johnson admitted that these developments may be related, seeing how ECOWAS is primarily regarded as an entity “under Western influence.”

According to him, the fact that these countries chose to part ways with ECOWAS and pursue “bilateral agreements among themselves” does seem like a sign of them “distancing themselves from US control.”

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❗️ US will "respond at a time and place of our choosing," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement on Sunday after the deadly attack on an American military base in northern Jordan.

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