🎥🎥 Putin joins plenary session of Russia's AI Journey 2024 conference

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

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⚡️Ukraine's attack with ATACMS missiles on a military airfield in Russia's Taganrog will not go unanswered - Russian Defense Ministry

A strike on Taganrog on the morning of December 11 was carried out by six ATACMS missiles, the target of the Kiev regime was a military airfield, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Two missiles were shot down, the rest were deflected by electronic warfare. The falling debris caused casualties among the personnel, two buildings and three military vehicles, as well as civilian cars in the nearby parking lot, suffered minor damage.

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➖ Russia puts forward BRICS+AI alliance plan

The Russian Direct Investment Fund has proposed the establishment of an alliance within BRICS focused on the development of artificial intelligence.

This proposed alliance will include six member countries: Russia, Brazil, India, China, Iran, and the UAE.

To date, over 20 companies from these nations have expressed their support for joining the BRICS+AI Alliance, alongside more than 50 international companies that have endorsed the idea of creating such an initiative.

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🗣'Revolution is coming in a number of spheres due to AI' - Putin

"It is extremely important that domestic companies are quickly putting all these innovations and achievements to use, keeping up with the times," Russian President said on a plenary session of Russia's AI Journey 2024 conference.

Vladimir Putin stated that the restrictions imposed on Russia, on the Russian economy, force Russia to find new solutions.

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💪Neither THAAD nor any other existing air defense system can stop Oreshnik – expert

"This is propaganda designed to reassure the American and European public that NATO countries are not lagging behind Russia technologically," Yuri Knutov, military expert and historian of the Air Defense Forces, told Sputnik.

He was responding to Western reports that the US-made Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system can intercept Russia's Oreshnik.

The expert explained why THAAD can't stop Oreshnik:

🔸 THAAD can technically hit targets flying at speeds up to Mach 14, but that only applies to targets in near space. At an altitude of 40 to 70 km, THAAD's capabilities are sharply reduced

🔸 The Oreshnik’s hypersonic warheads are surrounded by a bubble of plasma, which absorbs the signal from the interceptor's guidance radar – making them invisible to air defenses

🔸 THAAD is designed to intercept ballistic missiles during their terminal phase of flight – but is not fast enough to detect, track and destroy the Oreshnik that approaches the target at hypersonic speed

🔸 Israel's Arrow 3 exoatmospheric hypersonic anti-ballistic missile system cannot intercept the Oreshnik either, given that it failed to shoot down Iran's Fatah-1 and Fatah-2 missiles – which are claimed to be hypersonic

🔸 The air defense capabilities of other Washington allies and partners are even poorer than those of the US and Israel – so no existing air defense system can stop Oreshnik

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🗣Zelensky has rejected Hungary's proposal for a Christmas ceasefire in conflict with Russia and a large-scale prisoner swap, Hungarian PM Victor Orban said.

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🏗 Notre-Dame’s lead roof: restoration or toxic time bomb?
(Part 1 👉 Part 2)

The reopened cathedral of Notre-Dame is under fire over potential health risks.

Reconstruction of the spire and roof with the same kind of lead sheeting it had before the 2019 fire was a dangerous and “irresponsible choice”, Benoit Martin, general secretary of the Paris branch of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), told Sputnik.

What are the risks of Notre-Dame's lead roof?

🔸 An estimated 400 tons of lead from the cathedral's roof and steeple melted in the blaze, with some of it entering the atmosphere as soot

🔸 A child tested positive for more than the regulatory limit of 50 micrograms of lead per liter in their blood shortly after, according to the Regional Health Agency (ARS)

🔸 Of around 400 children tested who lived in the area or went to nearby schools, 8.5% showed levels at or above risk thresholds, according to ARS

🔸 French environmental campaign group Robin des Bois filed a lawsuit in 2019, accusing health agencies and government officials of “deliberately putting people in danger” by not taking swift measures to limit exposure

How toxic is lead?

▪️ “There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects," according to the World Health Organization (WHO)

▪️ 5.5 million people worldwide died from lead-related cardiovascular illnesses in 2019, a study published in 2023 by the Lancet Planetary Health journal found

Who is most vulnerable?

🔹 Children, especially under-fives, absorb up to four to five times the amount of lead that adults do. Lead accumulated in the bones of pregnant women can be released back into their bloodstreams during pregnancy, exposing their baby in utero, warns UNICEF. Pregnant or nursing mothers can pass it on to their children through the placenta or milk.

How does lead harm you?

🔸 Lead affects multiple body systems, causing neurological defects, kidney problems and the nervous system disorders, according to the US National Institutes of Health

🔸 Lead poisoning can cause neurological, renal and cardiovascular problems, fertility, miscarriages, increased risk of cancer or fetal abnormalities in pregnant women. It can harm the baby's brain, kidneys and nervous system or cause learning or behavior problems, the US Centres for Disease Control warns

👉 Part 2

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🔎 Notre-Dame’s lead roof: restoration or toxic time bomb? (Part 2 👉 Part 1)

Why did the French authorities decide to use lead again?

🔸 The Macron government reportedly decided to retain the historic 19th-century Gothic design of Notre-Dame's roof after abandoning several modernization plans

🔸 Rebuilding Notre-Dame de Paris, the organization overseeing the restoration, asserts that the lead structure poses no danger as it is located 40 meters above the ground

🔸 Architects insist that sophisticated fire protection systems in the roof will prevent another fire

What do the French say?

🗣“It was the perfect opportunity to raise awareness of the dangers of lead. But we missed our chance," Mathé Toullier, a member of the Notre-Dame Lead group, told media.

🗣"Notre-Dame is an allegory of the Macron method: a mixture of opportunistic action, shameless communication, and pharaonic spending. In the meantime, we still know nothing about the fire, and we let lead pollution slip away," tweeted French journalist Laurent Valdiguie.

🗣"An entire seven-year term with the only result being Notre-Dame once again filled with 700 tons of lead and... 3,500 billion in debt," tweeted X user Lezineau Jean-Marc, mocking the French president as "Micron".

👉 Part 1

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🔹 Russia vows response to Ukraine’s attacks with ATACMS missiles on Taganrog airfield.

🔹 Unstoppable Oreshnik: Why neither THAAD nor any other existing air defense system can stop Russia’s ultimate weapon

🔹 Seizure of frozen Russian assets: Is EU setting a legal trap for Euroclear?

🔹 What Iran’s Supreme Leader had to say about the Syrian crisis.

🔹 Scholz signs motion of confidence in him as German Chancellor.

🔹 US trade spat with China spills over to drones, threatens more fallout.

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❗️ FBI Director Christopher Wray announces his resignation – reports

FBI Director Christopher Wray has resigned, choosing to bow out before being fired by incoming US President Donald Trump, Fox News reported on Wednesday.

Wray, who is seven years into his 10-year-term, reportedly is making the announcement right now during an all-staff town hall with thousands of FBI employees from across the country, the report said.

On November 30, Trump nominated his aide Kash Patel to lead the FBI.

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❓What is the strategic importance of Deir ez-Zor and could it cause new Kurdish-Syrian conflict?

Syrian militants have seized the city of Deir ez-Zor from US-backed Kurdish militants.

Dr Lorenzo Trombetta, a UN Consultant on Middle East, explained the province’s significance:

🔸 "Deir ez-Zor is a crucial hotspot between central and eastern Syria," the pundit said, and "the main hub along the Euphrates River running from Turkiye towards the Gulf."

🔸 According to some estimates, Deir ez-Zor holds 70% of Syrian oil reserves and a major gas field. It is linked via a pipeline to Syria's other fossil fuel deposits in Al-Hasakah and Homs

🔸 "Nowadays it's the major hub of confrontation between two areas of influence," Trombetta stressed: the US and the SDF on one side and the new transitional government-aligned Syrian armed groups on the other.

🔸 But he suggests that the US might abandon its Kurdish allies at any time and "replace them with other tribal Arab clans on the Euphrates River."

🔸 While the US seems ready to negotiate the Kurdish withdrawal up to north-eastern Syria, Washington wants to retain control over Syrian oil and gas, the expert argued.

🔸 The US wants to "maintain their military bases and the positions along the main energetic spots of Al-Omar oil field and the Conoco gas plant and other strategic positions along the eastern bank of the Euphrates river," he said.

🔸 Trombetta expects short-to-mid-term battles between the Kurdish and Syrian militants – which would not translate into a long-term conflict, as it is the US which will call the shots in the region.

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💬 Trump calls resignation of FBI Chief Wray ‘great day for America,’ end of weaponization of agency

“They have used their vast powers to threaten and destroy many innocent Americans, some of which will never be able to recover from what has been done to them,” US President-elect Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.

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🤡 ‘I’m sorry, what is the question?’ – Pentagon fails to explain what legal authority allows US to have a military presence in Syria

💬 “Under what legal authority, either international or national, does the US have a force posture in Syria?” a reporter asked Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh during a press briefing.

🗣 “I’m sorry, what is the question?” Singh replied, seemingly puzzled by the inquiry. “We’ve had a true presence and arrangement there for a number of years. Again, we continue to operate with the SDF to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS*. That has been our mission from the very beginning,” the deputy press secretary claimed.

Since 2015, parts of Syria’s oil-rich eastern region have been occupied by US and allied militant forces. The US has refused to withdraw, justifying its presence as part of the fight against terrorism, despite the Syrian government consistently denouncing the American presence as an act of military aggression and calling for the immediate withdrawal of US troops from its territory.

*designated as a terrorist organization and is banned in Russia and several other countries

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❓ Will Syria fragment along sectarian lines or stay united?

After president Bashar al-Assad’s resignation, the question is how Alawites, Druze, Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds will coexist in the "patched-up" state.

Dr Lorenzo Trombetta, a UN Consultant on Middle East, outlines potential scenarios.

🔸 Libyan scenario: Syria may see "many opposite militias fighting one against each other, trying to assert control of different regions supported by different regional and international powers that are occupying the ground."

🔸 Lebanese scenario: "Central and western Syria will be united under one formal state... excluding the Kurdish forces on the east and northeast". Warlords of different factions and sectarian groups "will be transformed into legitimate political representatives."

🔸 Trombetta says the Lebanese scenario would be "the most comfortable one for the international community" with a new state able to work with the West, Gulf kingdoms, Turkiye, Russia and Israel.

🔸 "The Sunnis are the majority, but for many decades are not fully in power. In the Lebanese scenario, the Sunni can count more than other factions," the pundit says, adding that the future Syria should adopt a more sensitive approach.

🔸 "There should not be a sectarian and communal partition of the political posts and resources," the pundit stresses, "but there should be a consensus based on citizenship principles away from belonging to that sect or that community."

🔸 He suggests that the model for a new Syrian state should not be a pseudo-unified society suffering from sectarian and ethnic divisions.

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❗️ Trump invites China's Xi to inauguration – reports

President-elect Donald Trump has allegedly invited Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend his inauguration next month, CBS News reported, citing sources.

The invitation came in early November, soon after Trump won the presidential election, the media said, adding that inauguration officials are also making arrangements for other foreign dignitaries to be present at the swearing-in ceremony, the media said.

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