❗️Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu's government approves Golan Heights development plan, including strengthening settlements and doubling the population, according to his office.

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Killed in line of duty: Paying tribute to fallen Russian journalists

December 15 marks Russia’s Remembrance Day of Journalists Killed in the Line of Duty.

In this context, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized UNESCO for its “biased” draft report on the safety of journalists and impunity for their killers in 2022–2023, which excluded Russian reporters. Ultimately, the report was not approved.

Let’s recall some high-profile murders of Russian journalists that have occurred over the decade.

Heinous crimes of the Kiev regime:

▪️Killed by Kiev shelling in 2014: Sputnik photo correspondent Andrei Stenin (Ukrainian fire aimed at a refugee convoy), Channel One cameraman Anatoly Klyan (killed when a bus carrying soldiers’ mothers came under shelling), VGTRK correspondent Igor Kornelyuk and Rossiya TV channel sound engineer Anton Voloshin (both killed by mortar fire while reporting).

▪️Killed in Ukrainian drone strikes in 2023-2024: VGTRK correspondent Boris Maksudov, Izvestia daily correspondent Semyon Yeremin, NTV cameraman Valery Kozhin, NEWS.ru correspondent Nikita Tsitsagi.

▪️Killed in the Ukraine conflict zone in 2022-2023: Sputnik war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev, Russian National Guard press service employee Sergey Postnov, chief editor of Tavria broadcaster Oleg Klokov.

▪️Assassinated in targeted pro-Kiev terrorist attacks outside Ukraine in 2022-2023: journalist Darya Dugina (killed in a car bombing orchestrated by Ukrainian special services in the Moscow region), war correspondent and blogger Vladlen Tatarsky (killed by an improvised explosive device in St. Petersburg).

The day in memory of journalists who died while performing their professional duties was established in Russia in 1991 following the murder of Russian television correspondents Viktor Nogin and cameraman Gennady Kurennoy, who covered the war in former Yugoslavia in September of that year.

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📹 Ukrainian restaurateur Evgeniy Klopotenko staged a culinary show at the ancient Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Orthodox monastery, the Ukrainian publication Apostrophe reports.

Believers criticized the chef's actions on social networks. The Ukraine Orthodox Church considers the incident as disregard for religious tradition and holy places.

"The Church should remain a place for prayer", "the atheists mock the holy place", "fear God" - wrote netizens.

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🇷🇺🇸🇾 The work of the Russian Embassy in Syria's Damascus continues, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Earlier, Russia has evacuated some personnel from its foreign missions in Damascus, the ministry added.

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🇩🇪 Germany's Social Democratic Party to which Chancellor Olaf Scholz belongs intends to include a refusal to supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles in its election program, the Funke media group reports, citing a document.

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🧄😱 Space nukes, spy balloons and garlic: The art of American scaremongering

Republican Congressman Jefferson Van Drew has claimed on Fox News that alleged drone sightings over New Jersey were part of an Iranian plot involving a "mothership" off the US east coast, citing unnamed "high sources" despite a lack of evidence.

US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, meanwhile, has stated that no evidence of foreign interference in drone activity over the country has been found, but the investigation continues. If only that was the only instance of scaremongering the American people were subjected to by their own authorities.

🔻Not just vampires are afraid of it

This December, the people of the United States learned of the existence of a terrible threat to their national security in the form of… garlic from China.

In a letter to the US commerce secretary, Senator Rick Scott claimed that garlic in China may be grown in unsanitary conditions and that its impact on the US security thus warrants an investigation.

🔻Weather balloons and the art of blowing things out of proportion

When a wayward weather balloon from China strayed into the US airspace by accident in February 2023, the Biden administration was quick to scream bloody murder and claim that the balloon was part of Beijing’s spy program.

The Pentagon did later admit that the balloon did not collect intelligence while flying over the US territory.

🔻Nuclear scare, now in spaaaaaace!

Iran, China – this list of bogus threats to the US would not be complete without Russia, would it?

In February this year, US media sounded the alarm over Russia’s alleged plans to deploy some kind of nuclear anti-satellite weapon in space, with the only proof of these plans essentially being “trust me bro” from the Biden administration.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin himself refuted these allegations during an address to parliament, branding them baseless.

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💥 ❗️Israeli attack on school kills 20 people in Khan Yunis

A UNRWA school housing displaced people was targeted by Israeli forces in Khan Yunis today. The Palestinian News Agency reports that 20 people were killed, including children.

📹 Video taken from social media.

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Legacy of US war kills 140 Afghans in 2024

Unexploded mines in Afghanistan have claimed the lives of 137 people and injured another 333 people, including children, in 2024, the country's Directorate for Mine Action Coordination, Nooruddin Rustamkhil, said.

"Since the start of 2024, nearly 240 incidents have occurred nationwide, resulting in a total of 470 victims. Among them, 386 are children who have either been martyred or injured," he said.

Afghanistan leads the world in the number of deminers working in the country, with 2,235 deminers clearing its land of unexploded ordnance and mines, according to James Cowan, head of the international mine clearance charity HALO Trust.

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Mike Waltz: DoD is focused on bombers, not drones

The drone issue points to gaps in the authority of US departments, Donald Trump's national security adviser pick, Michael Waltz, said in an interview on CBS.

"I can tell you from the Defense Department standpoint, they're focused on bombers and cruise missiles. And it's pointing to gaps in our capabilities and our ability to clamp down on what's going on here," Mike added.

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Syria's al-Julani and UN envoy discuss refugees, revision of UN Security Council resolution

The leader of the armed opposition in Syria, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, discussed with the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, the adaptation of the 2015 UN resolution on Syria to the "realities on the ground" and the creation of conditions for the return of Syrian refugees, the high command of the Syrian armed opposition said.

"The importance of revising Resolution 2254 was discussed in connection with changes in the political sphere, which made it necessary to update the resolution in accordance with the new realities. The leader also stressed the importance of creating safe conditions for the return of refugees," the statement says.

According to the leader of the armed opposition, it is important to ensure the territorial integrity of Syria and achieve the restoration of the country's economy, the high command noted.

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Trump's team will take a 'hard look' at Orban's ceasefire plan in Ukraine - Mike Waltz

President-elect Donald Trump's team will examine Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine, the president-elect's incoming national security adviser Mike Waltz said.

"We need to stop the fighting. And if that is some type of cease-fire as a first step, we'll take a hard look at what that means," he said in an interview to CBS.

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⚡️ Syrian embassy will open in the US tomorrow - local media

Syria's embassy will open in Washington DC for the first time since 2014, when diplomatic relations were suspended, according to sources at a pro-opposition Syrian TV channel.

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