US prefers separate arms control talks with Russia and China - official

The Biden administration prefers a bilateral dialogue with Russia on strategic stability to multilateral talks on the issue involving China, US Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer said.

"These are very different countries, very different contexts, very different capabilities, and I think very different doctrines within those countries. So, our sense is that it is better, more likely to be constructive, and ultimately successful to pursue those conversations bilaterally," he said.

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❓ Pentagon does not know where unused billions for Ukraine would go

Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder failed to answer a question about what would happen to the $5.6 billion under the PDA initiative for Kiev if the current government does not spend it in time.

"We are going to remain committed to spending as much as we can ... I'll take your question," he said.

PDA initiative provides funds for sending Kiev military supplies from Pentagon warehouses.

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🇭🇺 Szijjarto: Zelensky launched an 'ugly campaign' against Hungary

Ukraine has launched an ugly campaign against Hungary in response to the Christmas ceasefire proposal, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said.

"It is easy to see that [Zelensky] has launched an ugly campaign against us in recent days, constantly provoking us in the international arena. I think we should not give in to this provocation," Szijjarto said.

He also added that ultimately it is up to the Ukrainian people to judge Zelensky's refusal to accept a ceasefire proposal.

“Hungary did what it could do as a neighboring Christian country: it created an opportunity for a ceasefire," he said, adding, "the Ukrainian people will judge ... what [Zelensky] told about it,” the minister said.

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✈️ Biden will visit Italy in January - White House

US President will visit Rome on January 9-12 to meet with the country's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, as well as Pope Francis, said press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

📹 During his visit to the Vatican in 2021, Biden introduced himself as "Jill's husband," a precursor to his position after January 20.

🤔 But really, is he going there to confess?

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💸 What a relief: Lil Wayne spends $9M relief funds on luxuries

Dwayne Carter Jr, better known as Lil Wayne, reportedly used $8.9 million from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, which was meant to help struggling artists during the pandemic, to pay for luxury hotels and designer clothes, according to Business Insider.

Despite earning $100 million from his music career in 2020, he used the grant, which was created by the Trump administration as a financial lifeline for artists.

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⚡️ Congress fails to pass GOP funding bill

A government funding bill proposed by Republicans to avoid a government shutdown on Saturday failed to pass the House of Representatives, with 235 voting against it.

Donald Trump said earlier that House Speaker Mike Johnson had proposed a "very good deal" on the government spending bill.

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🤥 US has twice as many troops in Syria as we told you - Pentagon

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder has said that the information about 900 US soldiers deployed in Syria is incorrect, and according to updated data, the number of US troops in Syria is about 2,000 people.

"I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria …These additional forces are considered temporary rotational forces … Where is the core 900 deployers are on longer term deployments," Pat told journalists.

He stressed that these forces were there before the turmoil in Syria began.

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🇷🇺📹 Russian cosmonauts install science gear in space

Cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner performed a spacewalk to install a spectrometer on the Zvezda service module. This device can observe 80% of the celestial sphere and will aid scientists in studying supermassive black holes in the universe.

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🛑 Democratic Rep.: We had a deal, then a TWEET changed everything

Democratic Rep. Richard Neal blamed Elon Musk for sabotaging a bipartisan congressional spending bill and warned about the future of the US under Trump's team.

"If every time the Congress works its will and then there's a tweet from an individual who has no official portfolio, who threatens members on the Republican side with a primary and they succumb?" he said.

Elon Musk previously urged people on X to contact their lawmakers to kill the bill.

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🔥📹 Russian UAVs strike with unstoppable force

The Russian Defense Ministry released footage showing UAV teams from a tank regiment within the Tsentr group of forces targeting and eliminating Ukrainian troops and equipment in the direction of Krasnoarmeysk.

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➖ Russia successfully tests new nuclear-powered submarine
 
➖ Drones are out there: check out key locations of unidentified UAV sightings in US
 
➖Unlimited borrowing? Trump suggests cancelling debt ceiling, dubs it “smartest thing” Congress can do
 
➖ Pentagon seemingly clueless where unused billions for Ukraine would go
 
➖ Szijjarto: Zelensky launches ‘ugly campaign' against Hungary

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Biden’s envoys to meet with Syrian transitional government
 
US President Joe Biden is sending a group of diplomats headed by Barbara Leaf, the State Department’s senior Middle East official, to Syria. There, they will meet with HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who is in charge of running the tumultuous country. This will be the first formal in-person contact between US officials and the new Syrian leader, who is still under Western sanctions.

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Advisers had to babysit "diminished" Biden from the very first day in office - reports

Outgoing US President Joe Biden’s entourage has covered up the extent of his mental decline since he entered office in 2021, the Wall Street Journal reported in its bombshell investigation.

The newspaper cited numerous unnamed Democratic lawmakers, donors, and presidential aides as saying that despite the fact that all US presidents have gatekeepers, the walls around Biden “were higher and the controls greater.”

“There were limits over who Biden spoke with, limits on what they said to him, and limits around the sources of information he consumed,” the sources argued. “They body him to such a high degree,” one insider claimed, adding that there has been more “hand-holding” as compared to other presidents.

Biden’s “tightknit inner circle of advisers” also worked out a strategy to prevent POTUS from making gaffes or missteps that could tarnish his image, according to the sources.

The advisers did their best to keep Biden’s meeting short as his public interactions became more noscripted. The strategy, however, collapsed during Biden’s June 27 debate with Donald Trump, which saw the former being unable to complete his thoughts.

US media reported at the time that the disastrous debate became an eye-opener and a turning point in discussions of Biden’s mental state and his suitability to serve as the next president. The 82-year-old finally dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Kamala Harris as his replacement in late July.

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⚡️The Russian military struck the control room of Ukraine's Secret Service (the SBU), the Defense Ministry said.

This was made in response to a recent Ukrainian attack with Western-made missiles on the Rostov region.
 
Also among the targets were the Kiev Design Bureau "Luch" and the positions of the Patriot air defense system. All facilities were hit, the military department said.

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Footage of massive fires in Kiev appeared on social media

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❗️Russian troops have liberated the settlements of Uspenovka and Novopustynka in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Defense MInistry has announced.

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

🔸 Ukraine lost over 2,945 militants, two tanks and 15 armored vehicles during the week in Russia's Tsentr Battlegroup's area of responsibility;

🔸 Ukraine lost over 3,610 soldiers during the week in the Zapad Battlegroup's area of responsibility;

🔸 During the week, Kiev's forces lost up to 440 soldiers and six warehouses in the Dnepr Battlegroup's area of responsibility;

🔸 Ukraine lost over 2,675 militants during the week in the Sever Battlegroup's area of responsibility;

🔸 The Russian Armed Forces liberated ten settlements in the Donetsk People's Republic during the week;

🔸 The Russian Air Defense Forces shot down a MiG-29 aircraft and 519 Ukrainian drones over the week.

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