❗️The Russian Sever battlegroup surrounded Ukrainian troops in the area of Olgovskaya grove in the Kursk region.

Ukrainian formations attempted to break out of the resulting cauldron in groups of 15-20 militants. More than 80 nationalists were killed by Russian fire and about 40 wounded, some of whom were abandoned by their own troops.

The Russian Defense Ministry said 24 Ukrainian soldiers were taken prisoner, adding that the area is currently being cleaned up and the remaining enemy troops are being eliminated.

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💰 Week-and-a-half after blowout defeat, Kamala Harris campaign still soliciting donors for more money

Despite raking in over $2.3 bln in cash for her campaign and billions more in indirect support through the PAC-based campaign financing loophole, Vice President Kamala Harris and her campaign surrogates are reportedly still prodding disheartened donors for more money after her blowout election loss.

👉 The reason?

The campaign reportedly spent more than it raised on an array of election-related content, from TV, internet and mail ads to lavish payments to social media influencers, concerts and rallies, and want supporters to help it climb out of the financial hole it has dug for itself.

Small-time supporters subscribed to Harris’s email donor list are reportedly facing a deluge of almost-daily donation appeals, while personal calls are being made to bigger donors (whose generosity measures beyond hundreds of dollars).

👉 The sweetener?

Democrats say that despite losing the war, there’s still a battle to be fought over Donald Trump’s cabinet – many of whom will have to undergo grueling confirmation hearings in the Senate, and point to outstanding seats in the House of Representatives, the election results for which have yet to be called.

NYT reported last week that the Harris campaign had landed itself $20 mln in debt after the election. The outlet hinted at the source of the debts, pointing to last-minute concerts in seven swing states featuring big name (and big bucks) artists like Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga.

Harris’s dramatic loss left supporters stunned and dismayed, with Republicans taking not only the presidency, but the House and Senate too.

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Slovakia: Europe still thirsty for Russian gas
 
Slovak state-owned firm SPP said it is still receiving gas from Russia after Gazprom turned off the tap on gas heading to Austria early Saturday. The country’s largest energy supplier added that others were buying even more.

"The situation when a large consumer stopped taking gas from the east, but the same volume flows through the territory of Ukraine, shows that there is still great interest in this gas in Europe," SPP said in a statement.

Russian gas giant Gazprom suspended gas supplies starting November 16 to Austrian energy company OMV.

Earlier, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico repeatedly spoke about the importance of maintaining economic relations with Russia.

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🤡 Woke and Woker: Geology is racist, British university professor claims

Geological science is based on "systematic racism" and linked to white supremacy, according to professor Kathryn Yusoff at Queen Mary University of London in her book Geologic Life.

Yusoff insists that geology began as a “colonial practice” of extracting resources from land that led to "geotrauma" and contributed to establishment of economic hierarchies, which are – of course – dominated by white men.

"Geology continues to function within a white supremacist praxis", she writes, adding that "black, brown, and indigenous subjects... have an intimacy with the earth that is unknown to the structural position of whiteness."

"Geology is no more racist than ‘fish ’n’ chips’!" retorted Campaign for Real Education Chairman Chris McGovan. "It is an entirely neutral term. Those seeking to decolonize the curriculum are, in fact, building their own sinister empire of thought-control and intolerance."

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Zelensky promises to legalize same-sex marriage* in Ukraine

"Yes," Volodymyr Zelensky responded when asked by a student about ratifying a law that would allow same-sex couples to form "family unions."

The bill has not yet been debated in the Verkhovna Rada parliament, despite being introduced more than a year ago.

*banned in Russia

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⚡️Biden for the first time reportedly authorized Ukraine's use of long-range ATACMS missiles on Russian territory - NYT quoting sources

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🇬🇪 Opposition supporters who refuse to recognize the results of the recent elections in Georgia are holding another rally in front of the parliament building in the capital Tbilisi.

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❗️Biden reportedly authorized first-ever Ukrainian use of long-range ATACMS missiles on Russian territory

Unnamed sources told the New York Times that the decision has divided US President Joe Biden's advisers and comes just two months before president-elect Donald Trump takes office – having pledged to reduce further support for Ukraine.

Some Pentagon officers opposed sending the missiles to Ukraine as the US Army has limited supplies. Some White House staff have also expressed concerns that Russia might escalate the war in response.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously warned that the use of such weapons on Russian soil would mean the US and other NATO states were directly at war with Russia. He not that Ukrainian forces cannot independently operate long-range weapons without intelligence and targetting data from the West, along with direct support from NATO military personnel.

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Ukraine is preparing to carry out its first long-range attacks on Russia in the coming days, the Reuters news agency reported – quoting sources who withheld specific details for operational security reasons.

The White House did not comment on the report.

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Democrat prosecutors vow to continue trying to jail Trump allies as party floats ‘shadow cabinet’ idea

District attorneys pursuing Donald Trump in his federal criminal cases reportedly plan to ease off the pressure on the president-elect, but have vowed to continue fiercely pursuing his surrogates and allies, both at the federal and state levels.

“In all likelihood, the state criminal cases will be put on hold during Trump’s presidency. If they try to continue with the prosecutions, or even to impose a stayed sentence, I suspect the decisions will be reversed on appeal. It is even possible that the cases will be dismissed,” Syracuse University law professor Gregory Germain wrote in a post-election analysis of Trump’s legal status.

For Trump’s allies, however, among them former chief of staff Mark Meadows, attorney Rudy Giuliani, and other lawyers and aides, the situation is not as rosy, The Hill reported.

“In fact, with Trump effectively out of the picture, any limitations the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision would have put on the prosecution-barring certain evidence and causing further delays – are now gone,” the outlet said, paraphrasing Georgia State University law professor Michael Kreis.

Georgia Democrat DA Fani Willis, pursuing Trump in the Georgia election interference case, has vowed to continue her work. “If someone has an indictment in this office, no matter who they are, we continue to pursue those charges,” Willis said.

Legal pressure is one of the ways Democrats hope to keep the Trump team on its toes. Another idea – floated by Democratic Rep. Wiley Nickel, is setting up a “shadow cabinet” – a British political tradition of appointing ‘shadow ministers’ (or in the US case ‘shadow cabinet heads’ for executive branch departments, like the Departments of Defense or Justice), to marshal the opposition and challenge government decisions.

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🔸 Russia’s massed strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure: key points

🔸 Trump not even in power yet, already wreaking havoc on European markets

🔸 Week-and-a-half after blowout defeat, Kamala Harris campaign still soliciting donors for more money

🔸 Democrat prosecutors vow to continue trying to jail Trump allies as party floats ‘shadow cabinet’ idea

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📹 THROWBACK: The use of Western long-range missiles on Russian territory will mean that NATO countries are fighting Russia — Putin

Back in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukrainian use of Western-made long-range missiles is only possible if using intelligence from NATO satellites, that is, direct NATO participation in the conflict.

"And if this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for us," President added.

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