🔎Syrian Kurds: between a rock and a hard place

The future of the Syrian Kurds and their militias is uncertain, according to Andrea Glioti, an expert on Syrian and Kurdish affairs, who shared insights with Sputnik about the aspirations of major regional parties.

Kurdish hopes for autonomy

Syria's Kurdish-led Self-Administration aims to achieve autonomy similar to that of Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Glioti.

Glioti believes that the Self-Administration might seek to retain control over some of its own ‘ministries’, while accepting Damascus' control over the ministries of defense and foreign affairs.

The initial step toward this autonomy involves recognizing Kurdish identity and cultural rights, according to the pundit.

Syrian transitional government

HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani, now using his birth name Ahmed al-Sharaa and playing a key role in the new Syrian transitional, government insists that "Syria must remain united."

Although al-Sharaa has stated that Kurds are "part of the homeland" and would face "no injustice," it remains uncertain whether the Syrian transitional government will accept the Kurdish autonomy, Glioti said.

Turkiye's conflict with Syrian Kurds

Ankara opposes the presence of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Turkiye designates as terrorists along with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

Glioti explains that Turkiye views the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria as a threat to its national security due to its ties with the PKK movement.

Given Turkiye's influence in post-Assad Syria, it is unlikely that Kurdish politicians from the Self-Administration will be included in the new transitional government in Syria and be part of the settlement process, the pundit believes.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Ukraine confirms it killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov - NYT

The New York Times, citing an official with Ukraine's spy agency, the SBU, said Ukraine was responsible for the killing.

🗣Earlier, CNN and The Independent made similar reports.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Suspect in murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO faces life in prison

Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has been charged with murder as an act of terrorism and faces life imprisonment, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤨 State Dept.: It’s not up for anyone to dictate to Ukraine

The Biden administration believes it is inappropriate for anyone outside to dictate what Ukraine should do, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

Trump said on Monday that Volodymyr Zelensky should be prepared to make a deal to end the Ukraine conflict.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🧊 Ice float therapy in Murmansk: A COOL way to restore

Feeling burned out? Try ice therapy! In Murmansk, tourists don special suits and float for a few hours on an ice floe in Kola Bay. A unique way to relax and recharge by literally chilling out.

📹 Video taken from social media

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤫 Musk and SpaceX face federal review for possible secrecy violations - Reports

The Pentagon and the US Air Force have opened several federal investigations into Elon Musk and his rocket company, NYT says. The billionaire reportedly failed to comply with federal reporting protocols, including reporting on meetings with foreign leaders.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Keith Kellogg will visit Ukraine before January 20 - reports

Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, will travel to Kiev, Paris and Rome before Trump's inauguration, Reuters reports, citing sources with knowledge. The trip will reportedly not be aimed at active negotiations, but at fact-finding for the future administration.

Keith does not plan to visit Moscow during the trip, the sources said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤨 Pentagon official uses Jedi mind trick to distract journalists from drone issue

Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder quoted Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars when a reporter asked him about drones.

"I would probably have to think back to the words of a very wise prophet Obi-Wan Kenobi, who said, 'These are not the droids ... the drones you're looking for,'" Ryder said.

In the movie, Obi-Wan Kenobi uses this phrase to fool the guards who were searching for the "droids".

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💰 Top US universities face lawsuit over wealth-based admissions

A lawsuit against 17 universities, including Georgetown University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, alleges that the schools consider applicants' family wealth and giving potential when deciding who to admit.

The new lawsuit argues that colleges should be "need blind" and not consider family income.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

✅ Trump officially secures presidency with Electoral College votes

Donald Trump officially wins the presidency as Texas electors give him 40 votes, pushing him over the required 270. Since every elector voted for the candidate, Trump won 312 to Harris's 226.

Congress will count the votes on January 6th and declare Trump and JD Vance as President and Vice President.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ Netanyahu stalling to derail Gaza deal - official

Mediators in Qatar and Egypt are now working hard to reach an agreement before Trump's inauguration, but the problem for the talks is posed by the Israeli side, Mashour Abdel Halim, a member of Hamas' political leadership, told Sputnik Arabic.

"The problem is that Netanyahu is trying to stall and impose new conditions to thwart efforts to reach an agreement. But any prisoner swap deal must lead to an end to the aggression in Gaza, the return of displaced people and a guarantee of humanitarian aid," he said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️ Azerbaijani President: Turkiye base is not necessary in the country

Media reports about Turkiye's alleged plans to establish a military base in Azerbaijan are political speculations, as there is no need for its creation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev told VGTRK and RIA Novosti on Wednesday.

"Taking into account that such information appears from time to time in some media, I must say that there is no necessity [to establish a Turkish base]," Aliyev said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗓 Starliner crew stranded on ISS will not return to Earth until March 2025

SpaceX Crew-10 with crew will go to the ISS in late March 2025, and it will also return the Starliner crew, NASA said.

🔄 Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who originally went on an 8-10 day trip to the space station via the Boeing-built "Starliar" in June, remained there due to problems with the capsule.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

CIA-linked US cybersecurity firm blacklisted for spying on Russia - top prosecutor

The Prosecutor General's Office has labeled the activities of the American non-governmental organization, Recorded Future, as undesirable. The agency reports that this cybersecurity and data analytics firm, bankrolled by US corporations, is engaged in the collection and analysis of information regarding the operations of the Russian Armed Forces.

Specializing in cyber threats, Recorded Future maintains active collaboration with the CIA and intelligence agencies from various countries.

Recorded Future offers Ukrainian specialists complimentary access to "programs used to prepare and conduct offensive information operations against Russia," the Prosecutor General's Office stated.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Two suspects in the murder of General Igor Kirillov have been apprehended, a law enforcement source told RT.

The suspects were identified through footage captured by surveillance cameras. However, the source noted that it is too early to determine whether these individuals are directly connected to the terrorist attack.

One of the suspects is believed to have delivered the booby-trapped scooter to the entrance of General Kirillov's residence.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️The perpetrator of the terrorist attack, which killed General Kirillov, was taken into custody, the FSB reported.

The bomber is a citizen of Uzbekistan, he said that he was recruited by the Ukrainian special services.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

⚡️The individual responsible for the terrorist blast that killed General Kirillov had planted the explosive device on an electric scooter.

Additional details have emerged:

▪️To conduct surveillance, the bomber rented a car-sharing vehicle and equipped it with a Wi-Fi camera. The captured footage was transmitted to the organizers of this terrorist plot in Dnepropetrovsk.

▪️Once the video confirmed that the military officers were exiting the building, the perpetrator remotely detonated the booby-trapped explosive device.

▪️In exchange for his involvement in the murder, the Ukrainian security services promised the Uzbek citizen a reward of $100,000, as well as relocation in the European Union.

▪️The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has vowed to identify and hold accountable all Ukrainian intelligence agents involved in orchestrating this act of terrorism.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt