Brazil has unveiled the logo to be used during its 2025 BRICS presidency: the sumauma cotton tree that grows in the Amazon rainforest.

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🇷🇴 Bucharest should explain itself and take back its words, Russian FM spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik amid the results of the investigation in Romania into "interference" of the Russian Federation in the presidential elections.

The Romanian tax service previously established that the TikTok campaign of the winner of the cancelled first round of the elections, Calin Georgescu, was paid for by the National Liberal Party of Romania. At the same time, Romanian authorities have repeatedly hinted at the possibility of Moscow interfering in the elections at the official level.

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US President Joe Biden signs stopgap budget bill, ending formal federal government shutdown.

Earlier, the US Senate passed the bill to temporarily extend funding for the federal government with 85 in favor and 11 against.

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📹 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was booed on a street in Magdeburg, where he was visiting the site of the terrorist attack that had taken place the day before.

A video is circulating on social media of people booing the chancellor as he walked to the scene of the tragedy. Disapproving shouts can also be heard in the recording.

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Does Israel really dictate US policies in the Middle East?

The US may be eager to leave Syria after the latter was neutralized as “an important pillar in the Axis of Resistance” and became vulnerable to the Israeli land grab, Middle East observer and analyst Sonia Mansour tells Sputnik.

This week, a US Department of State delegation visited Syria to hold talks with the head of the country’s new transitional government, a man on whose head the US government previously placed a now-removed $10 million bounty.

“Syria now is under the influence of two US allies, Israel and Turkiye. Both Israel and Turkiye will ensure that Syria’s foreign policy will conform to the United States’ interests, which are Israel’s interests,” Mansour explains.

Syria’s future both as a country and as a society, along with its territorial integrity, is of no concern to Washington “as long as Israel's goals are fulfilled.”

For it's part, the EU’s goals in Syria align with those of the US, Mansour notes, albeit with one small caveat: Brussels also “hopes to stem the flow of refugees from the region.”

If the Gaza war proved something, it is that the interests of the United States and Israel in the region are now indistinguishable, and whatever interests Israel might have, it decides the means, while the US approves and engages to fulfill Israel’s goals,” says Mansour.

Whereas previously the United States’ goals in West Asia were mostly related to energy, now the US merely wants to ensure Israel’s dominant status in the region.

“Energy no longer dictates US policies in the region, only Israel does,” Mansour says.

“The new Syrian government will not challenge Israel. It will be a weak government, without a real army. It will become a police state that will base its legitimacy on establishing an Islamist society that is market-friendly and Israel-friendly,” she predicts.

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🗣 Vladimir Putin's words about a technological duel were a response to those who talk about the alleged vulnerability of the Oreshnik, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The head of state meant that the Oreshnik is a generation ahead of existing weapons, the presidential press secretary added.

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🤔 X owner Elon Musk says Germany's AfD party is the only hope for the country as the traditional political parties have utterly failed the people.

What do you think?

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Rudeness and blackmail: How Ukraine treats Slovakia

Eastern European countries such as Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria would be the ones to suffer from Ukraine cutting off the transit of Russian gas as they depend on it the most, says political observer and former Slovak MP Peter Marcek.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico recently warned Kiev that a serious conflict may erupt if it were to sever the transit of Russian natural gas to Slovakia via Ukrainian territory.

Natural gas supply via Croatia or Germany would be more expensive for Slovakia, Hungary and Austria which are located far from the sea, he notes.

Zelensky offering Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico €500 million of Russian frozen assets in exchange for Slovakia backing Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership is “100% blackmail”, Marcek says, pointing at the nature of this attempted payoff.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s treatment of Slovakia is nothing short of rude, he complains: while Slovakia keeps supplying Ukraine with electricity, Ukraine has no qualms about cutting the flow of Russian natural gas to Slovakia.

If cut off from Russian natural gas by Ukraine, Slovakia would have to seek an alternative supply of natural gas, Marcek suggests, noting that importing gas from other countries would be more expensive.

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Pokémon: The Electric Tale of Pikachu New Way of Money Laundering
 
Pokémon cards turned out to be popular not only among children but also among the Japanese mafia: criminal syndicates were using rare collectible cards to launder money, a former Yakuza told media.
 
The former criminal told Japanese media that his organization used Pokémon cards as a means of transporting stolen money abroad.
 
According to him, the small size and high cost of rare collectible Pokémon cards allowed the criminals to buy them in large quantities for illegally obtained cash in Japan and sell them in the US and other countries.
 
Especially valuable, as the former criminal explained, were cards with invisible foil embossing. To locate these, they would buy packs in bulk and shine at the encasing metal foil with a special detector. Afterwards, they would hold onto the valuable packs and resell the rest.

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🍏 Innovative Syrian marketing: Trader sells fruit and veg on abandoned tank

The Syrian army left a tank right in front of the entrance to his shop, according to shipowner Ali. He decided to display his goods on the military vehicle because the shop was not visible.

"It became popular all over Syria and even the world. People started coming to take pictures and it became like a museum," he said.

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❗️At least 30 US-made Patriot air defense systems destroyed by Russian forces during special military op
 
One of the latest and most effective strikes the Russian Defense Ministry has mentioned on December 15: four launchers, a combat control vehicle, and an AN/MPQ-65 radar station were destroyed.
 
The strike on May 16, 2023, remains the most effective. Then, according to reliably confirmed data, the strike of the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system on Kiev destroyed five Patriot launchers and a multifunctional radar station all at once.

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EU boosted oil imports from Russia to 8-month high in October

The European Union increased oil imports from Russia to 687.5 million euros ($717 million), the highest since February this year, according to Sputnik's analysis of Eurostat data.

In February, Russia supplied 690 million euros worth of oil to the EU. The increase in October was mainly due to a doubling of exports to the Czech Republic to 185.9 million euros from 91.3 million a month earlier.

Supplies to Hungary also increased significantly, by half to 233 million euros. In addition, the Netherlands increased its imports to 60.7 million euros from 40.5 million a month earlier.

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