Defense Minister: Israel took down Assad, Hamas leader, Houthis are next

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, in a warning to Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, admitted Israel's involvement in the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, highlighting Israel's aggression in the region.

“I want to convey a clear message to them: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded Iran’s defense systems, and damaged their [missile] production capabilities,” Katz said. “We have overthrown the Assad regime in Syria,” he claimed, vowing to deliver a decisive blow against the Houthi-led government in Yemen.

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The Russian Defense Ministry has unveiled which officials from the United States and various African nations are involved in the implementation of military biological programs on the African continent.

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📑Find out how the New Sahel bloc challenges Western neocolonialism

The Alliance of Sahel States, made up of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, has firmly rejected an ECOWAS proposal to postpone their withdrawal from the regional bloc by six months. Resolute in their decision to exit in January 2025, the trio labeled the ECOWAS timeline as destabilizing.

What is the new Sahel confederation?

The confederation is an alliance of former French colonies—Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso—that has called for the withdrawal of French and US troops, citing their ineffectiveness in fighting terrorism in the region. Established under the 2023 Sahel pact, the bloc aims to:

➖ Strengthen defense capabilities;

➖ Collaborate in the fight against jihadist groups;

➖ Establish a joint investment bank;

➖ Share resources for economic development projects.

How strong is Sahel bloc’s military?

🇲🇱🇳🇪🇧🇫 Both Niger and Mali have thousands of troops across the army and air force, while Burkina Faso’s military also includes servicemen from the People’s Militia

They utilize a range of military equipment, including Soviet-era tanks, Russian Su-25 fighter jets, Mi-type helicopters, Chinese Type 62 tanks, Bayraktar drones, and other advanced systems.

What prompted the pact?

➖ The West's troop pullout from Africa, which undermines US and European control over regional resources.

➖ The looming threat of military intervention by ECOWAS following the coup in Niger.

Why were Western forces in the region?

While Western forces were officially deployed to combat ISIS* in the Sahel, they also sought to exploit the region's rich resources:

🇲🇱 Mali ranks as Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer and possesses significant lithium reserves.

🇳🇪 Niger is the world’s seventh-largest producer of uranium.

🇧🇫 Burkina Faso is abundant in gold, copper, and arable land.

What are Russia’s relations with the trio?

➖ Moscow is actively enhancing the military capabilities of the Sahel nations and providing personnel training, said Ambassador Igor Gromyko;

➖ Russian military instructors arrived in Niger in April, and Russia is increasing its deployment of counter-terrorism experts in Burkina Faso.

*ISIS (also known as ISIS/IL/ISIS-K/Islamic State) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries.

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💸BlackRock bets on Bitcoin: Is the US dollar’s era over?

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, in a recent ad said that Bitcoin is no longer a "radical idea" but has become a legitimate asset.

This change of heart is an eye-opener, since other Wall Street giants, like Vanguard and State Street, view Bitcoin with caution.

BlackRock's transformation is explained in its Outlook 2025 report, which views Bitcoin as a "tactical hedge," similar to gold, against specific risks. But what risks are they referring to?

🔹 The firm warns of a coming economic evolution outdoing the Industrial Revolution, marked by "geopolitical fragmentation" into competing blocs and powerful forces reshaping the global economy.

🔹 Bitcoin is not only a hedge but also gaining traction as a payment technology likely to achieve widespread adoption, BlackRock contends.

So, why is such a prominent firm interested in a new payment technology, especially one that is not dollar centered?

This evolution shows that investors are shifting reserves from the dollar to trade finance with non-dollar currencies, as the firm noted.

Does this suggest that BlackRock is on board with de-dollarization and preparing for a post-dollar, decentralized global order?

Wall Street analyst Charles Ortel thinks it's plausible for a firm like BlackRock to position itself against the dollar, much like George Soros' gamble in 1992.

"Soros broke the Bank of England [in 1992], so, perhaps a firm like BlackRock believes it can profit from breaking over-leveraged nations that today still rely on 'hard' fiat currencies," the analyst concludes.

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Trudeau’s track record of failures and scandals: why Canadians want him gone

Justin Trudeau’s tenure as Prime Minister appears to be nearing its end, with over 50 Ontario Liberal Party members calling for his resignation. This follows a federal MP’s claim that a “vast majority” of the national Liberal caucus wants the same thing.

What's behind the push:

◾️ An Ipsos poll shows 73% of Canadians want Trudeau out, including 43% of Liberal voters.

◾️ Conservatives launched 3 no-confidence votes, most recently December 9, with Trudeau surviving thanks to NDP support.

◾️ Chrystia Freeland’s resignation and the NDP’s vow to table its own no-confidence motion after Parliament’s return January 27 return add to the pressure.

Canadians' beef with Trudeau:

▪️ Economic malaise: inflation has surged 14.5% over 4 years, housing made unaffordable due to high immigration and insufficient construction.

▪️ Job market decline: official unemployment at 6.8% (8.2% counting by 2019 labor participation data).

▪️ Strained social services: long waits for medical procedures and cutbacks in education and public services undermine confidence in the system.

Other reasons for Trudeau fatigue:

▪️ Unyieldingly harsh Covid-era policies.

▪️ Invocation of the Emergencies Act in 2022 to crush a trucker-led protest (ruled unconstitutional in 2024).

▪️ Proposed Orwellian speech law threatening jail time for thought crimes.

▪️ Aggressive LGBT* agenda being pushed through Canada’s schools, including support for ‘gender-affirming care’ for young people.

Foreign policy mishaps:

◾️ fanatical support for Israel amid the Gaza crisis.

◾️ funding the Kiev regime costing taxpayers nearly $7.7 bln.

◾️ billions more for other aid abroad while Canada’s Indigenous communities continue to lack clean drinking water.

Personal corruption:

A seemingly never-ending series of ethics and corruption probes, including the SNC-Lavalin and WE Charity affairs, and alleged pay-to-play corruption involving the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation.

* Banned in Russia as an extremist organization.

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Vladimir Putin visited the Hermitage, one of Russia's main museums

The president was shown the results of restoration work, including the ancient bronze statue of the goddess of victory, Victoria Calvatone, as well as the 18th-century collection of pieces by imperial jewellers Jeremiah Pozie and Louis-David Duval.

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💊 Big Pharma influence, corruption and rape allegations: The hidden scandals of the WHO's history

US president-elect Donald Trump plans to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) on the first day of his second term. That follows Trump’s 2020 decision to leave over unproven claims of Chinese control and his blaming of China for the COVID-19 pandemic. The move could save $850 million in annual contributions.

The incoming Trump government is also concerned with the WHO's lack of transparency, corruption and pay-to-play deals.

Notable WHO scandals include:

◻️ Widely-criticized COVID-19 lockdown measures, mask mandates and vaccination campaigns, which some argued favored Big Pharma

◻️ WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was investigated by the Ethiopian government for embezzling public funds and rigging tenders

◻️ Ghebreyesus has ties to the Bill and Hillary Clinton Foundation’s health initiatives, criticized by some investigators for alleged fraud

◻️ In 2021, 21 WHO staff members were accused of sexual abuse during the response to the Ebola crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo

◻️ The WHO faced scrutiny in 2017 for spending $200 million annually on luxury travel while allocating only $71 million to combat AIDS and hepatitis

◻️ Critics have raised concerns over the lack of transparency in the WHO's use of "assessed contributions" based on member states' GDP

◻️ In 2011, the WHO was criticized for its handling of the H1N1 flu pandemic, with accusations it caused unnecessary panic and overspent on control measures

◻️ In 2010, the British Medical Journal reported that key WHO advisers had ties to Big Pharma, which could profit from their decisions

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If Ukraine gambles on strikes against Moscow, it would face devastating blow – expert

Russia will use high-precision strikes to wipe out Ukraine's missile production lines if it develops a long-range weapons system capable of reaching Moscow, military expert Yuri Knutov told Sputnik.

Once Russia receives reliable information that such weapons have been created or are in the final stages, the corresponding workshops will be targeted with hypersonic and cruise missiles, he said.

The expert was weighing in on a report in The Economist claiming that Ukraine was brainstorming on how to increase the range of its missile, called Trembita, so that it could reach Moscow. Currently, the missile has a speed of up to 400 km/h and a range of 200 km.

Could Ukraine pull this off?

It could, provided it receives hefty Western technological support and funding, said the expert on Russia’s Air Defense Forces. He noted that Ukraine has been developing modifications of the Grom-2 missile - a modern take on the Soviet-era Tochka-U ballistic missile system - for at least 15 years.

Furthermore, the US and Britain supplied Ukraine with the technology required to upgrade the Grom missile and ready it for serial production, the pundit noted.

Ukraine’s efforts to build domestic long-range weapons come as US President-elect Donald Trump has indicated that Kiev is unlikely to receive the same levels of aid under his administration. Russia has always maintained that the West's pumping of Ukraine with weapons only serves to fan the flames of the conflict to dangerous new heights.

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What are Turkiye’s interests in Syria?

“I think politically and economically, it's quite important for Turkiye to have a strong Syria in the southern border,” Turkish security policy expert Furkan Halit Yolcu told Sputnik, commenting on the news of President Erdogan’s looming visit to Syria along with senior economic officials.

“That means stability. That means less danger from the YPG, that means less threat of instability and less headaches with the migration problem with the Syrians influx into Turkish territory,” Yolcu explained.

“Turkiye always had a foot in the soil itself,” the observer emphasized. “They were controlling Idlib province through non-state actors and their own soldiers. So it's not like a direct increase in the engagement or the interest towards Syria, but I think it's the manifestation of an infrastructure in diplomacy that was already there.”

Maintaining strong influence over the development of Syria’s new political framework is “essential” for Ankara, Yolcu says, not only given the two countries’ roughly 800 km-long common border and Turkish concerns related to the Kurdish problem, but Turkiye’s interest in natural gas deposits in the Mediterranean Sea region.

Building on established roots

“The Turkish government has great influence on the new Syrian administration because most of them have been educated in Turkiye, trained by Turkiye, and now even some in the government speak perfect Turkish because they have been educated in Turkish universities,” Turkish international relations expert Huseyin Bagci said, commenting on the opportunities afforded to Ankara by the post-Assad authorities.

In the economic sphere, besides trade and reconstruction, Ankara’s interests include efforts to ensure the return of the millions of Syrians living in Turkiye back to Syria “in the coming months and years,” Bagci said.

Trade, which reached roughly $2.3 billion in 2010 before the onset of the Syrian civil war, could easily top $20 billion, the analyst believes, with plenty of opportunities available amid the nearly complete destruction of Syria’s infrastructure in the 13-year-long dirty war.

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🎥🎥 Putin meets with Tajik President Rahmon

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

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon meet for talks at the Igora ski resort complex in the Leningrad region.

The Kremlin stated earlier that the meeting would focus on key aspects of further developing bilateral relations across various sectors. Regional issues, including the situation in Afghanistan, are also on the agenda.

Additionally, the leaders plan to address matters related to migration.

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🛰 The Parker Solar Probe is gearing up to set a new record

According to NASA, the spacecraft will reach its closest point to the Sun, known as perihelion, on Tuesday, coming within just 6.1 million kilometers of the star—nearly 10 times closer than Mercury.

Since its launch in 2018, Parker has repeatedly broken records, inching closer to the Sun with each orbit. It remains the only human-made object to venture this close to our star.

The next signal from the probe is expected on December 27, confirming whether it has successfully endured the extreme heat.

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European countries failed to heed the signal sent by Russia when it tested one of its latest missile systems, the ‘Oreshnik’, under combat conditions, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl told journalists.

"They did not understand President Putin's message, which was about not wanting to escalate toward nuclear war," Kneissl said. "He wanted to emphasize that there are many other options in the arsenal... with capabilities comparable to nuclear weapons. Yet, this signal was not heard."

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◻️ BlackRock bets on Bitcoin: Is the US dollar’s era over?

◻️ If Ukraine gambles on strikes against Moscow, it would face devastating blow – expert

◻️ What are Turkiye’s interests in Syria?

◻️ Pentagon’s African biolabs: Russia warns of global pathogen threat

◻️ Find out how the New Sahel bloc challenges Western neocolonialism

◻️ Trudeau’s track record of failures and scandals: why Canadians want him gone

◻️ Big Pharma influence, corruption and rape allegations: The hidden scandals of the WHO's history

◻️ Rising desertion crisis: Ukrainian army faces growing exodus

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US navy cruiser nearly shoots down second jet after F/A-18 is downed in apparent friendly fire

The US Navy cruiser USS Gettysburg, which apparently shot down an F/A-18 jet last week in a "friendly fire" incident, nearly hit a second jet on the same day, Fox News reports citing a source with knowledge. The second jet evaded a missile with defensive maneuvers.

The incident occurred during airstrikes on Houthi targets, sparking criticism of the Gettysburg’s crew training. Both pilots from the downed jet were rescued with minor injuries.

The Houthis, however, claimed responsibility for the attack.

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Good news for treasure hunters – 250 sunken ships laden with riches lie off the coast of Portugal

According to archaeologist Alexandre Monteiro, just one of the ships could hold as much as 22 tons of gold and silver.

But the researcher lamented that Portugal currently lacks the means to protect the discoveries from treasure hunters, meaning anyone could potentially find one of the historic wrecks.

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‘A blow to victims’: Trump slams Biden for sparing 37 convicted murderers

US president-elect Donald Trump criticized outgoing President Joe Biden for commuting the sentences of federal death row inmates, calling it a disservice to the victims' families.

"Joe Biden just commuted the death sentences of 37 of the worst killers in our country. Relatives and friends of the victims are devastated. They can’t believe this is happening!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Biden changed the murderers' death sentences to life imprisonment without parole. They included some convicted of heinous crimes such as child murders and mass killings.

But the outgoing president excluded three high-profile cases — Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof and Pittsburgh synagogue shooter Robert Bowers.

Biden expressed grief for the victims and their families but justified the order by his opposition to the death penalty, stressing his desire to end its use at the federal level.

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Revellers dressed as Ded Moroz, the Russian Santa Claus, invaded the Moscow metro. 100 festive characters greeted passengers of the capital’s transport network, treating them to some lively dances.

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