📹 THROWBACK: DOGE's grand plans of turning US 'from bureaucracy to democracy'

💬 "We're all going to dig in, and we're going to have great pro-growth economic policies, but we're also going to reduce the size and waste and fraud and abuse in our government," congressman Dan Meuser said, exited about the fruitful work ahead.

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🔸 Did Calin Georgescu’s election triumph scare NATO and the Romanian establishment?

🔸 What does Trump’s ‘crypto czar’ move mean for the future of cryptocurrency in US?

🔸 Prosecutor blocks lawsuit against EU’s Ursula von der Leyen over Pfizergate

🔸 ‘Circumstances have changed’ – White House on Biden pardoning his son

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🇸🇾 Syrian army redeployed from Suwayda and Daraa, creating a strong defense line there - Defense Ministry

💬 "The forces in Daraa and Suwayda redeployed and established a strong defensive line in those directions after terrorists attacked military checkpoints in the distance to distract our forces who began to regain control in Homs and Hama provinces," the statement said.

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🇸🇾 2,500 terrorists have been eliminated during the week - the Syrian Defense Ministry

"The death toll of Jabhat al-Nusra [Hayat Tahir al-Sham]* terrorists and their organizations rose to about 2,500 during the week as the army retaliated with the support of the Syrian-Russian air force," according to the statement.

*Terrorist organization banned in Russia

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📹 'It breaks my heart' - Roger Waters on the Ukrainian conflict

💬 "It breaks my heart to see innocent people caught in this ideological battle between the Bandera Nazis and a possible democratic future," Roger Waters, a co-founder of British rock band Pink Floyd, told Sputnik.

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❗️Russian troops liberated the settlement of Berestki in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:    

▪️Ukraine lost up to 490 militants in the Russian Zapad Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Russian air defence systems shot down 26 Ukrainian drones in the special operation zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 325 militants in the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 525 militants in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Russian military damaged energy facilities that ensure the operation of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex.

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🇰🇷 South Koreans demand Yoon's resignation amid impeachment vote

A rally is taking place near the South Korean Parliament, with opposition supporters demanding the resignation of President Yoon Suk Yeol.

The impeachment vote is set to take place today, according to Yonhap. Most of the ruling party walked out of parliament, effectively boycotting the vote.

Meanwhile, Parliament rejected a bill for a special investigation into the president's wife, Kim Gon-hee, as reported in a live broadcast of the plenary session.

Yoon had previously apologized for declaring a state of emergency and promised to accept any consequences if they arise.

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📹 Watch Russia’s Solntsepyok heavy flamethrower in action

Russian servicemen hit a temporary deployment point of Ukrainian troops in the Volnovakha region in the Donetsk People's Republic, eliminating up to 45 soldiers, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.

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🇩🇪 The right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) has officially nominated Alice Weidel as its candidate for German chancellor.

Weidel, a 45-year-old business analyst from western Germany, has been co-head of the AfD since 2017 and is known for her Euroskeptic views. She has stated her intention to pursue peace in Ukraine and to halt the supply of weapons to the Kiev regime.

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📹🇸🇾 Syria's Air Force has struck several terrorist weapons depots in the southeast of Idlib province, a source in the country's defense department told Sputnik.

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🎯Oreshnik deployment in Belarus: Russia's retaliation to US missiles in Germany

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarussian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko have agreed on next year’s deployment of the state-of-the-art Oreshnik missile system in Belarus, where the launchers’ chassis of many Russian air defenses are currently made.

The move comes in response to what Lukashenko described as the West’s growing threat to the Union State of Russia and Belarus, an apparent nod to the US’ previous decision to deploy its intermediate missiles on German soil. Let’s take a look at official statements of the sides at the time.

🔸 Washington and Berlin: "The US will begin episodic deployments of the long-range firing capabilities of its multi-domain task force in Germany in 2026. These will include SM-6, Tomahawk, and developmental hypersonic weapons, which have significantly longer range than current land-based fires in Europe.”

🔸 US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan: “What we are deploying to Germany is a defensive capability, like many other defensive capabilities we’ve deployed across the alliance, across the decades.”

🔸 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz: This is a "very good decision" which is “exactly in line” with the German government's security strategy. “The decision has been in the works for a long time and is not a real surprise for anyone involved in security and peace policy.”

🔸 Germany Defense Minister Boris Pistorius: Germany needs a longer-term plan for investment in “appropriate long-range defense systems” to protect itself and Europe.

🔸 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov: The move is “a very serious threat” to Russia, which would “take thoughtful, coordinated and effective measures to contain NATO."

🔸 Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov: “Without nerves and emotions, we will develop, first of all, a military response” to the move, which is “just another link in the chain of a course of escalation”.

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