THROWBACK: Ukrainian priest denounces Trump as the "Antichrist" and prays that he doesn't return to power.

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🎥🎥 Lavrov talks to media after Valdai Discussion Club Session

👉 Watch the livestream here or follow the link to the Sputnik's website

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🙏 Hope that our colleagues from the Washington Post and New York Times are doing okay

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💬 What does Trump’s win change for Middle East?

On Israel, Donald Trump may take U-turn as compared to his previous term, Michael Maloof, former senior security policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, told Sputnik.

Trump has already been “somewhat critical of [Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu in terms of continuing this war [in Gaza and Lebanon] endlessly,” Maloof said.

“He's recently said to Netanyahu, get this done, finish it, stop the fighting, come to terms. And if he doesn't, then I think he's going to have to undertake a different approach whereas in his first administration, he was very supportive of what Netanyahu wanted. He gave the Israelis everything they wanted,” the ex-Pentagon analyst pointed out.

Trump is going to look more towards Saudi Arabia as the kingdom is now insisting on a two-state solution in exchange for normalizing relations with Israel as well as reactivating the Abraham Accords, according to the analyst.

“This is going to mean a redirection in foreign policy. It's going to mean less emphasis on what Israel wants and perhaps more on what the Gulf Arab countries might want,” Maloof emphasized.

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📑 Key Congressional races unfold as Trump clinches White House victory

As Republican Donald Trump appears poised to defeat Democratic contender Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential election, having crossed the crucial threshold of 270 electoral college votes, it's essential to examine another significant political contest.

🔸 The Republicans are projected to have secured the 51 votes necessary to control the upper chamber of the US Congress - the Senate - following Senator Deb Fischer's reelection victory in Nebraska.

🔸 The GOP anticipated gaining Senate control after successfully flipping two key Democratic-held seats in Ohio and West Virginia.

🔸 In contrast, Democrats were unsuccessful in their bid to flip two Republican-held Senate seats, with GOP Senators Rick Scott and Ted Cruz winning reelection in Florida and Texas, respectively.

🔸 The battle for the House of Representatives, the lower chamber, remains undecided. Current projections indicate that Republicans have secured 198 seats compared to 180 for the Democrats, according to CNN the Associated Press.

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💬 What will Trump's Asia-Pacific policies be?

With regard to the US’ Asia policy, Donald Trump may “try to reactivate his relationship with Kim Jong Un to try to get the North Korean leader to back down on any further testing, Michael Maloof, former Pentagon senior security policy analyst, told Sputnik.

He stressed that the international community was “almost on the precipice” of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula during the Trump administration.

“I think one way you do that is to stop all further US-South Korean military exercises, which North Korea views as a provocation. And I think that if that's diminished, I think then there's a basis for discussion. I think China would probably welcome that as well,” Maloof said.

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📑Wall Street analyst gives top three reasons why Trump won

Donald Trump has been declared the winner of the 2024 presidential race, prompting a meltdown in the Kamala Harris camp and the US corporate media – who are struggling to understand what went wrong.

Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel gives the top three reasons behind Trump's victory:

1️⃣ Abject Failure of “Bidenomics”

Despite Borrowing and Spending Trillions of Dollars*: "Americans vote thinking first about their economic welfare and prospects," Ortel told Sputnik.

"The only beneficiaries of the Biden-Harris administration were connected political donors and insiders. Wages after taxes and inflation for private sector workers – the core slice – are way down and under continuing threat."

2️⃣Soaring Crime, Especially in Cities

"The Biden-Harris Open Borders approach, coupled with George Soros-funded district attorneys refusing to prosecute and the 'defund the police' movement, pushed moderates and first-time voters into the MAGA movement."

3️⃣"Incompetent team backed by classless celebrities”

"The 2024 Democrat 'campaign' was even less competent than Hillary in 2016 and Joe in 2020," the Wall Street analyst points out.

"This time, Harris and Walz were obviously inauthentic, incompetent and abysmal at connecting with likely voters, whereas Trump built a diverse Dream Team of authentic heroes – while Trump himself is a master leader and salesperson."

Ortel drew attention to a high number of black, Latino and women's votes for Trump, even though those demographics have long been considered pro-Democratic.

The analyst believes Democrats tried to rig the 2024 election "in countless ways" but the wave of support from Trump’s supporters "was too big to rig." Misconduct by Democrats can only be fully exposed after Trump gets his cabinet picks confirmed into key positions, Ortel believes.

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💬 Trump’s victory: What awaits NATO?

Donald Trump may “be much more stringent” toward NATO members and “insist that they not only increase their allotments to it or pull out,” Michael Maloof, former senior security policy analyst in the Pentagon, told Sputnik.

Trump will want to make NATO “less aggressive in terms of being offensive in nature, as they've demonstrated in Ukraine, because it's absolutely wrecked the economy of Europe. So the Europeans now have come to realize that and they're paying the consequences. And they do blame the United States for leading them in this direction in the first place,” Maloof said.

According to him, Trump will “begin to cut back on NATO,” which he said is going to “potentially fracture under a Trump administration and become much more regional in nature.”

“There will be far less US encouragement for NATO to survive and thrive than it had under the Biden-Harris administration,” the analyst argued.

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⚛️ The Ukrainian Armed Forces are attacking Energodar and the shoreline near the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant using drones; at least five explosions have been recorded, and the air defense systems are actively responding, stated the governor of Russia's Zaporozhye region, Yevgeny Balitsky.

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💬 'This is where we used to sit and play PlayStation': Young Lebanese mourn friend killed in Israeli airstrike

Two teenage friends, Ali Amir Hashem and Hassan Ahmad Muhammad, wander through the ruins of their friend Hadi's house, trying to find at least some of his photos or belongings. Hadi was killed in an Israeli strike against the village of Haret Sayda in southern Lebanon. The house was reduced to rubble. The friends want to find some valuables and memorabilia to give to Hadi's relatives.

They told Sputnik how the teenager ended up in the house that was attacked:

"I was at home when the strike occurred, I was doing my Arabic lessons when we heard a loud explosion. His house had already been evacuated due to the imminent threat of an attack. He went back home to gather a few things, including a PlayStation, so we could play together. Then all of a sudden, this attack. The house, the apartment, everything's destroyed. There are so many cherished memories here that we won't forget," revealed Ali Amir Hashem.

Another friend of the late Hadi, Hassan Ahmad Muhammad, walking through the now devastated apartment and appealed to Israeli troops who killed his friend:

"I say to Israel, you are killing innocent people who are not guilty of anything. I really want you to stop doing all this, you are the real criminals. We're going to continue the resistance, we're not just going to let this go. You can't kill innocent people," he asserted.

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At least 30 people were killed and 35 injured as a result of Israeli strikes on Lebanon's Baalbek-Hermel province on Wednesday, the provincial governor reported.

A Sputnik correspondent reports that the Israeli Air Force also carried out a powerful strike near Beirut's airport. Footage of the aftermath is being posted on social media.

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