Cutting the fat or dreaming big? Trump, Musk and Ramaswamy plan $2 trillion US federal budget cut

President-elect Donald Trump, tech tycoon Elon Musk and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy aim to cut US federal government spending by $2 trillion by shrinking government agencies and eliminating fraud and waste, the New York Times reports.

The proposal is expected to be implemented through a new government efficiency department (DOGE) and comes as the US faces a $6.7 trillion budget spend for 2024.

But experts who spoke to the newspaper were skeptical, citing challenges to slashing spending amid rising costs for programs like social security and Medicare.

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OSCE in decline amid Western manipulations

The foreign ministers' meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Malta has demonstrated that the organization is in decline and its Western members cannot be trusted, Russian Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich said.

According to the diplomat, in 2015, the OSCE had a historic opportunity to facilitate the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict based on the Minsk agreements, but it missed that chance.

Moreover, the OSCE has failed in Georgia, in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, and in Transnistria.

Although the OSCE’s most important function is early warning and conflict resolution, in reality, wherever the OSCE appears, chaos or war emerges, because Western countries attempt to manipulate these destructive processes.

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TGI Fridays and Stoli: guess who else went bankrupt this year in the US

While the US focuses on the economies of other countries – often trying to undermine and destabilize them – its own economy is not faring very well despite the lack of foreign meddling.

Several major US companies filed for bankruptcy this year:

◻️ Some notable bankruptcies in 2024 include restaurant chains TGI Friday’s and Red Lobster, spirits maker Stoli, kitchen products maker Tupperware and Spirit Airlines.

◻️ Several retailers such as Big Lots, Joann, LL Flooring and Party City also went bankrupt this year.

◻️ Over 7,100 stores have closed down in the US this year, CNN reports, adding that about 14,000 jobs in total were lost due to bankruptcies.

There is no respite for the weary US economy, also rocked last year by bankruptcies of prominent finance houses, Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank – the largest such collapse since 2008.

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Houthis claim to uncover CIA and Mossad spy ring in Yemen

Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, claims to have uncovered a spy network working for the Mossad and the CIA.

The group said the spies were tasked with monitoring military sites and gathering intelligence on Houthi leaders and US- and Israel-wanted individuals in Yemen.

The network has allegedly operated since October 7, 2023, attempting to recruit locals to hinder Yemeni armed forces operations supporting Hamas in Gaza and targeting international shipping routes.

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🇮🇷 Does the new Iranian proposal for Middle East stability have a chance?

The idea voiced by veteran Iranian diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif to establish a Muslim West Asian Dialogue Association (MWADA) to establish stability in the Middle East “may never see the light of day,” warns global energy expert Dr Mamdouh G. Salameh.

Zarif’s initiative, Salameh explains, is “grounded in the common Islamic values and principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-intervention and collective security.”

But it comes “amid a changing world where brute force is being used and where the United States is fighting desperately with all power available to it including waging wars, genocide and regime change” to safeguard its “unipolar World Order.”

The fact that the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf region “don’t trust Iran completely” and are reluctant to “get too close to Iran because of threats from the US and Israel” does not help, Salameh adds.

“Based on these considerations, I see Mr Zarif’s proposal as a non-starter,” he concludes.

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Why does the US really want to annex Greenland?

Though Greenland’s natural resources are considerable, US president-elect Donald Trump’s interest in buying the arctic island from Denmark likely stems from military considerations first and foremost, argues military analyst Alexei Leonkov.

With the climate in Greenland warming, the US could be able to establish a chain of naval facilities there that could allow Washington to “cover” all of North Atlantic and monitor the Arctic, explains Leonkov, editor of Arsenal Otechestva (Arsenal of the Fatherland).

The US already attempted to establish a naval base in Greenland, “right amid the ice,” but ended up aborting the construction of the outpost because of how troublesome it would have been to provide power and heating there, he notes.

According to Leonkov, the existing US naval assets in North Atlantic region still fail to reliably track Russia’s submarine operations there, so the United States may try to fix the problem by beefing up its naval presence through expansion to Greenland.

“Their solution comes down to maintaining permanent naval presence there, especially naval and submersible drones, that would actively search for Russian submarines,” Leonkov says, citing this as the likely reason for the US drive to acquire Greenland.

Using Iceland for such purposes is out the question, he argues, both due to the island’s relatively small size and because of all the risks related to volcanic activity.

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◻️ Could the US grab Greenland? Exploring options from deals to diplomatic rows and war

◻️ Greenland’s mineral riches unearthed: Why Trump is eyeing North America’s biggest island

◻️ TGI Fridays and Stoli: guess who else went bankrupt this year in the US

◻️ Money for nothing, but guns not free: NATO military spending soars in 2024

◻️ Voices of witnesses: First-hand accounts of the Kazakh airline disaster and its aftermath

◻️ Christmas without a holiday: Bethlehem not decorated in solidarity with Gaza

◻️ The Soyuz-2.1b rocket has launched from Baikonur carrying a high-resolution Earth observation satellite

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We will never know who brought cocaine into the White House — ex-Secret Service agent

The name of the person who smuggled cocaine into the White House in July 2023 is unlikely to be revealed, said Robert McDonald, a former US Secret Service agent who worked in presidential security.

"I don’t think that we are ever going to hear anything about the cocaine ever again, unfortunately. It seems like 'the perfect crime' because the Secret Service said there was no DNA or fingerprints on the packet and video evidence was insufficient," the Washington Times quoted McDonald.

Cocaine was found in the White House on July 2, 2023, and by July 13, it was reported that the Secret Service had completed its investigation into the incident. The New York Post reported last August that the bag of cocaine belonged to a man in Biden's family circle, and that the head of state himself knew whose drug it was.

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❗️ Trump picks ambassador to Panama

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera will serve as the US Ambassador to the Republic of Panama in Donald Trump's incoming administration.

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💸 Biden orders Pentagon to increase military aid to Ukraine

US President urged Defense Department to continue increasing military supplies to Ukraine, commenting on recent Russian Air Force strikes targeting Ukrainian energy facilities that support the military-industrial complex.

"In recent months, the United States has provided Ukraine with hundreds of air defense missiles, and more are on the way. I have directed the Department of Defense to continue its surge of weapons deliveries to Ukraine, and the United States will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in its defense against Russian forces," Biden said in a statement.

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❗️Criminal case opened over Ukrainian terrorist attack in Lgov — ICRF

The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against Ukrainian militants who committed a terrorist act against civilians in Lgov, Kursk Region.

Footage from social media

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🏒 Trump offers Wayne Gretzky to run for Canadian prime minister

President-elect Donald Trump continues to meddle in Canadian affairs, this time suggesting that hockey legend Wayne Gretzky should run for prime minister, "soon to be known as the Governor of Canada," in the 2025 election.

"[Wayne] had no interest, but I think the people of Canada should start a DRAFT WAYNE GRETZKY Movement. It would be so much fun to watch!" he wrote on Truth Social.

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🐜 Ants outsmart humans in maze experiment

A recent study led by a team at the Weizmann Institute of Science examines both humans and ants to test their decision-making and teamwork efficiency.

Both species were tasked with solving the so-called "piano moving problem". According to the study, result showed that ant collective intelligence increased, while human group formation did not enhance cognitive abilities.

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Russia does not consider pulling out of OSCE - Russian envoy

Russia is not considering the option of withdrawing from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Russian Permanent Representative to the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich told Sputnik. He also pointed to the lack of legal procedures for the process.

"In the international legal sense, an organization must have a constitutive document - a charter. The OSCE does not have such a document, and there are no plans to get one in the near future," Lukashevich said.

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Terrorist attack on 'Ursa Major' - here is what we know so far:

The Russian cargo ship Ursa Major sank in the Mediterranean Sea after three explosions on the starboard side in a terrorist attack, Oboronlogistika, a company that owns the ship, told Sputnik.

More details about the incident:

🔶 The ship sank 67 miles off the coast of Spain and 45 miles off the coast of Algeria. The ship left St. Petersburg for the port of Vladivostok 12 days ago.

🔶 "During the emergency external inspection of the vessel, a hole of 50x50 cm in diameter was discovered above the waterline, the edges of the hole were torn and turned inward. The deck of the ship was strewn with fragments," Oboronlogistika said.

🔶 The Russian Foreign Ministry's crisis management center reported that 14 of the 16 crew members had been rescued, while two were missing.

🔶 According to its owner, the vessel is one of the largest bulk carriers in Russia, with a maximum carrying capacity of 9,500 tons. At the same time, the cargo weight was 806 tons.

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