Will Germany complete it's investigation into the Nord Stream terror attack after Sweden quit?

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has once again drawn attention to the lack of interest among Western elites to complete their investigation into the September 2022 Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipeline blast, which delivered natural gas to the EU. Russia was excluded from the European investigation.

Even though Sweden and Denmark kicked off their probes days after the incident, nothing about the cause of the underwater bombings, let alone the perpetrators, has been heard from either Stockholm or Copenhagen, according to Hersh's recent piece.

What's more, the leadership of Germany, the country that is sinking into a recession in the wake of the attack that deprived it of cheap energy, has demonstrated little enthusiasm in getting to the bottom of what happened.

The US didn't kick off its own probe in the matter and even vetoed at least one attempt by Russia to get an independent United Nations investigation, he pointed out.

The investigative journalist believes that the Nord Stream attack was carried out by the US and Norway to drive a wedge between Russia and Western Europe and that other European leaders are aware of the plot, hence the delays and secrecy surrounding the probes.

Meanwhile, Sweden has announced that it would drop the probe and hand evidence uncovered over to Germany.

The spotlight is now on Berlin, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov: "Now we need to see how Germany itself reacts to this, as a country that has lost a lot in relation to this terrorist attack. (…) It will be interesting to see how scrupulously the German authorities will conduct this investigation."

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Tucker Carlson's upcoming interview with Vladimir Putin has caused an explosive reaction in the United States.

What do Americans think of this interview?

📹Watch the Sputnik's video to find out

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Thumbs up and all clear: Russia rolls out swarm of mine-detecting drones

Developers from Grozny – the capital of the Chechen Republic in Russia’s North Caucasus, have created a swarm of drones to help sappers clear mines.

The swarm includes ten ultra-light unmanned aerial vehicles, which are capable of swiftly scanning a large area and drawing up a map of mines for further demining of hard-to-reach areas.

“Since demining the areas stipulates flying at low altitudes, the UAVs will be equipped with optical systems to track and avoid obstacles,” project engineer Islam Salamov from the Grozny State Petroleum Technical University, told reporters.

The swarm will be controlled with the help of a hybrid positioning system, which combines satellite and local communication system. It allows the drones in flight to exchange information about obstacles in the area and adjust the trajectory of movement, something that facilitates rapid scanning of the territories, Salamov specified.

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Unsettling videos filmed by Israeli soldiers in Gaza

Since the beginning of its invasion of the Gaza Strip last year, Israel repeatedly justified its actions by pointing out that they were a response to Hamas' attacks on Israel on October 7.

The videos recorded by some Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers, which have been uploaded on social media, paint an image of the Israeli military (IDF) that does not quite match the statements coming out of Tel Aviv.

In some of these videos, IDF troops can be seen obliterating civilian buildings, mistreating Palestinians and even calling for the occupation of the Gaza Strip by Israeli settlers. Though Israeli military command bans filming acts denigrating human dignity, it seems that some IDF soldiers do not care much for these restrictions.

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🇺🇳 United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the deepening dysfunction within the UN Security Council is more dangerous because the world lacks the mechanisms to manage conflict that existed during the Cold War.

“Today’s dysfunction is deeper and more dangerous. During the Cold War, well-established mechanisms helped manage superpower relations. In today’s multipolar world, such mechanisms are missing. Our world has entered an age of chaos,” Guterres told the General Assembly.

The UN itself already recognizes the flawed nature of this organization, its inability to solve key world problems and the need for reforms.

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📹 American journalist Tucker Carlson left the Moscow Four Seasons Hotel. He was taken out through the back entrance, thus almost passing all the journalists waiting for him at the hotel.

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Russia may create new Arctic partnerships with Asian & Mideast players

Moscow does not rule out withdrawing from the Arctic Council if the organization fails to meet its interests. The comments come amid the West's efforts to sideline Russia over its special military operation in Ukraine.

But Grigory Dobromelov, head of the Department of State Consulting, believes that Arctic cooperation, stability, and security are impossible without Russia. "Sooner or later, all the countries of the Arctic region will be forced to sit down and discuss issues of security and sustainable development."

Meanwhile, Russia could jump at the opportunity to enhance cooperation on Arctic projects with Asian and Middle Eastern countries, he told Sputnik.

China has been cooperating with Russia on various Arctic projects, including, in particular, Yamal LNG and Arctic LNG 2 gas plants. In 2023, Moscow and Beijing agreed to expand collaboration on Arctic energy and transport, including the joint exploitation of the Northern Sea Route (NSR).

Given the recent tensions in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden, the NSR offers the reliable and safe passage of cargo vessels in the future, according to Dobromelov.

🇮🇱 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered troops to "prepare to operate" in Rafah in southern Gaza, promising a "total victory" by Israel over Hamas in just months.

His disclosure came after a meeting with US Secretary Antony Blinken over a proposed deal by Hamas to pause fighting in the four-month-old war, which the Israeli leader called "bizarre".

"We are on the path to complete victory, and it is close. We are talking about months, not years or decades. The Israel Defense Forces is doing miracles," Netanyahu said.

Meanwhile the Hamas delegation will head to Cairo to continue negotiations on the Gaza ceasefire agreement, according to a political office member.

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Hamas 3-stage plan hanging in balance because of Israel

Hamas has reportedly proposed a three-stage 135-day truce and hostage deal, as well as Israel's' withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

"Everyone except for Israel appears to have an incentive for a cessation of hostilities," Mehran Kamrava, professor of government at Georgetown University, Qatar, told Sputnik.

Some Israeli officials deem that Hamas' proposals are unacceptable: "What Hamas' proposal is basically, after the horrific massacre that they carried out against Israel on October 7th, is that they would be given, in fact, immunity if not even reward," Prof. Meir Litvak, a leading Israeli expert on Hamas, told Sputnik, commenting on Tel Aviv hard-liners' stance.

Palestinian militant group Hamas views a ceasefire as the only way out of the ongoing bloodshed in the Gaza Strip which has seen over 27,000 Palestinians killed. Qatar and Egypt are seeking to stop hostilities with the backing of their Arab allies.

For its part, the Biden administration understands that it is getting bogged down in the MidEast conflict which could backfire during the 2024 elections, according to Ayman Yousef, professor in political sciences and international relations at the Arab-American University in Palestine.

"At this stage, the United States is really more involved now in the Middle East affairs, they are in direct confrontation with Iran, whether it is in Iraq, in Syria, in Yemen," Yousef told Sputnik. The White House is running out of time as the election nears and Joe Biden is rapidly losing support of his Democratic base, including youths, non-whites, Arabs and Muslim Americans.

🔸What do Americans think of the upcoming Tucker-Putin interview? Watch the Sputnik's video to find out

🔸Russia may create new Arctic partnerships with Asian & Mideast players

🔸Hamas proposed a 3-stage ceasefire plan. Is it going to work out?

🔸US ‘hired gun’ neutralized by Russian forces in the Kherson region, Sputnik discovers

🔸Will Germany complete it's investigation into the Nord Stream terror attack after Sweden quit?

🔸Ukrainian opposition politician reveals how Zelensky capitalizes on war

🔸Why have seven EU members not adopted the euro yet?

❗️ The United States and the United Kingdom on Wednesday launched two new strikes targeting north of Yemen’s Hudaydah province, a source in the local authorities told Sputnik.

"US and UK fighter jets carried out two raids on the Ras Isa district in the As-Salif area in the north of the coastal province of Hudaydah on the Red Sea," the source said.

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💵 The US national debt is estimated to increase to a record 116% of the gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of 2034 and will continue to grow afterward, according to a new Budget and Economic Outlook report published by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) on Wednesday.

"Debt held by the public increases from 99 percent of GDP at the end of 2024 to 116 percent of GDP - the highest level ever recorded - by the end of 2034. After 2034, debt would continue to grow if current laws generally remained unchanged," the report said.

The US deficit is expected to grow from $1.6 trillion in 2024 to $2.6 trillion in 2034, according to the report.

“The deficit totals $1.6 trillion in fiscal year 2024, grows to $1.8 trillion in 2025, and then returns to $1.6 trillion by 2027. Thereafter, deficits steadily mount, reaching $2.6 trillion in 2034.,” the report read.

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❗️ Three people killed, two injured after presumably a drone hit a civilian car in Baghdad, an Iraqi security source told Sputnik.

“According to preliminary data, a civilian car was blown up by a drone in the east of Baghdad, killing three and wounding two people,” the source said.

People who were killed in the explosion could have been linked to Iraq's Shiite militias affiliated with the Islamic Resistance group, namely the Kataib Hezbollah militant group, the source added.

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❗️ Iraq’s major militant group Kataib Hezbollah confirmed that a car explosion in Baghdad killed one if its leaders on Wednesday.

"We announce that one of the leaders of Kataib Hezbollah, Abu Baqir al-Saadi, also known as Abu Baqir Diyala, was martyred as a result of a car attack in eastern Baghdad," the group wrote on its Telegram channel.

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💸🚫 The US Senate on Wednesday blocked a $118 billion supplemental funding bill with aid for Ukraine and Israel, as well as immigration reforms and national security measures.

A motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the legislation failed to receive the 60 required votes, although voting continues.

On Sunday, Senate negotiators released a bill text for the $118 billion supplemental funding legislation, following months of bipartisan talks on the matter. The Biden administration initially requested supplemental funding from the US Congress in October.

The Senate is now set to consider a revised version of the legislation, which includes Ukraine and Israel aid but not immigration reforms. The revised bill provides $95.34 billion in funding, including more than $60 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel.

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