🗳 Georgescu wins first round of Romanian presidential election – CEC

With nearly all votes counted, Calin Georgescu, a candidate advocating for normalizing relations with Russia, is leading the first round of Romania's presidential election, according to the country's Central Election Commission (CEC).

The presidential election took place on Sunday and is held every five years.

With 98.7% of the ballots processed, Georgescu has secured 22.65% of the vote, while his main rival, incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, trails with 19.46%.

The runoff is scheduled for December 8.

Georgescu’s performance came as a surprise, as pre-election polls had underestimated his chances. His campaign relied heavily on TikTok, where he promoted traditional values while also praising Romanian military figures who aligned with fascists during World War II. He has openly criticized Bucharest's role in the Ukraine conflict, accusing NATO and the EU of neglecting Romania’s interests and highlighting that American defense contractors are exploiting the war for profit.

Under Romanian law, a candidate must secure more than half of the votes on the electoral rolls to win the presidency outright. If no candidate achieves this majority, a runoff is held two weeks later, and the winner is determined by a simple majority.

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❌Too old, sick or lack motivation - Ukraine's mobilization slacks

Ukraine is facing manpower issues as the army is long out of willing recruits. Its mobilisation campaign is falling short, recruiting barely two-thirds of its target, according to the Economist.

“I’m being sent guys, 50 plus, with doctors’ notes telling me they are too ill to serve,” the report says quoting a senior Ukrainian official. “At times it feels like I’m managing a day-care centre rather than a combat unit,” official said.

The newest of the recruits is a 51-year-old former laborer who wears +9 prenoscription glasses, as per the article.

The man admits he was surprised being enlisted as he did not expect the officers to mobilize someone who was half blind. Unsurprisingly, he is struggling with the physical demands, the outlet reads.

“Anyone can shoot,” the recruit says. “It’s hitting the target I’m not so good at.”

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⛔️Anti-woke warrior: Trump to remove 15k transgender troops from US military

Donald Trump plans to remove all transgender* members of the US Armed Forces in a new executive order, The Times reported, citing defense sources.

The order is expected to be signed on the first day of Trump's return to the White House, January 20.

It is estimated that there are approximately 15,000 transgender individuals among active service personnel. They would be medically discharged, which would determine that they were unfit to serve, the article reports.

💬 Medical care for transgender personnel is an extravagance the Pentagon cannot afford, Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for defense secretary, said, adding that focusing on issues that affect only a small number of people in the military is an example of "trans lunacy".

Trump has repeatedly slammed the woke agenda in the military, saying that some high-ranking officers are often more interested in diversity, equity, and inclusion than fighting.

*LGBT is an extremist movement banned in Russia.

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🔸 New Trump administration to focus on Ukraine conflict resolution in January 2025 – Mike Waltz

🔸 Blinken under fire for "cry sessions" at the State Department – reports

🔸 A Russian aircraft caught fire after landing at Antalya Airport: What is known so far?

🔸 Georgescu wins first round of Romanian presidential election – CEC

Other topics we have covered:

🔹 80 years ago Red Army liberated the Baltics, where today Neo-Nazism has again reared its ugly head

🔹 Iran preparing response to Israel’s aggression, ambivalent about Trump - Khamenei advisor

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📹Trump and Biden are ‘one team’ – Mike Waltz

After a week of Joe Biden's Ukraine escalation actions, Donald Trump’s pick for national security advisor, Mike Waltz, states the Trump and Biden administrations are "hand in glove" and "one team."

💬 "For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity, that they can play one administration off the other, they're wrong," Waltz said.

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📑Israeli reservists increasingly dodge military duty amid war fatigue

War fatigue is starting to erode Israel’s military as it ploughs on with its relentless war on Hamas in Gaza and on Hezbollah in Lebanon. Burnout is making the country’s reservists increasingly unwilling to report for duty, according to Israeli media reports.

Enlistment numbers have dropped by about 15% since the period after Hamas’ incursion of October 7, 2023, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a briefing.

Immediately after the Palestinian-Israeli conflict escalated, about 350,000 Israelis were called up. However, after participating in battles for months, many are now refusing to comply with orders to be deployed for a new round of fighting.

💬 “The resource of reservists is not unlimited, and it is very difficult for people to be so absent in the midst of daily life. That is why there is a silent refusal to report for service, without protests or in a public way. They cannot be argued with, or demanded by force to come,” army sources told Yedioth Ahronoth. There is also anger over a controversial draft bill that seeks to exempt approximately 60,000 ultra-Orthodox Haredi men from military service.

Many of the reservists have lost their businesses and income while being away for extended periods of time. Yet the IDF is seeking to further increase the amount of time connoscripts and reservists serve. Lawmakers will be asked to approve making mandatory army service for men three years long, as it had been until 2015.

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🚀 Soaring to new innovative heights: China sends cutting-edge carrier rocket into space

China successfully launched two new radar satellites aboard a Long March-2C rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country’s northwest.

The satellites are equipped with high-precision phased array radar systems, designed to deliver consistently clear radar images. This innovative technology will significantly enhance capabilities in areas such as natural resource management, urban security, emergency response, and maritime operations.

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👮‍♂️ Lithuanian police are considering various versions of a DHL plane crash near the Vilnius airport, including a terrorist attack, the media reported, citing Lithuanian Police Head Arunas Paulauskas.

The crash took place "most likely due to a technical fault or a human error," the police head said, adding that collecting evidence can take a week.

Paulauskas also said that two injured pilots had been rescued from the cockpit, and the body of another crew member had also been found. The plane was completely disintegrated, and the cargo had been scattered over a wide area, damaging warehouses and a car, the official added.

Paulauskas also said that there were four crew members, meaning that one more person is considered missing.

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🤝 Iran to hold nuclear talks with European diplomats

Iran is set to hold nuclear discussions with officials from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom on November 29.

"Tehran has always believed that the nuclear issue should be resolved through diplomacy. Iran has never left the talks," a senior Iranian official was cited by Reuters as saying.

These discussions come in the wake of a resolution adopted on November 21 by the 35-nation board of governors of the IAEA, which criticized Iran for what it deemed a lack of cooperation.

The resolution, submitted by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the United States, was approved by 19 out of 35 countries. Russia, China, and Burkina Faso voted against it.

In response to the resolution, Iran announced on November 22 that it would begin using advanced centrifuges to accelerate uranium enrichment. Tehran condemned the resolution as "politically motivated, unrealistic, and counterproductive," while affirming that technical and safety cooperation with the IAEA would continue as in the past.

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❗️Russian air defense systems shot down 8 ballistic missiles, the Ministry of Defense stated

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🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

🔸 The Russian Armed Forces hit military airfield and Ukrainian energy facilities.

🔸 Ukraine lost up to 300 servicemen in the Russia's Battlegroup Yug area of responsibility.

🔸 Russia's Battlegroup Zapad repelled five counterattacks, enemy lost up to 400 militants

🔸 Ukraine lost over 440 troops in the Russia's Battlegroup Tsentr area of responsibility.

🔸 Russian aviation shot down six JDAM bombs and 44 Ukrainian drones.

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