2025 US military budget: Where's the money going?

The US defense spending for next year amounts to a record $895 billion. Joe Biden signed into law the defense bill on December 23.

It stipulates hefty sums for nuclear weapons and the Pacific region, East Asia and Taiwan, as Washington continues to ramp up nuclear tensions by taking new steps up the escalation ladder with Moscow and Beijing in Ukraine and over Taiwan, and occasionally waving around the nuclear button.

Take a look at Washington’s biggest defense spending plans in Sputnik's infographic.

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At least 17 people have been killed in a suspected Israeli drone attack on the outskirts of the Syrian capital of Damascus on Sunday, media reported.

An Israel drone hit the town of Adra, northeast of the capital, Sky News Arabia reported. Several others were injured.

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📹 Russia's Dnepr Battlegroup hit a Ukrainian Dana self-propelled artillery system that was concealed in a treeline near the town of Orekhov with Giatsint-B guns.

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Major winners and losers of halting Russian gas transit through Ukraine

As the Ukraine gas transit contract with Russia is set to end, Ukraine’s largest private energy company DTEK received its first delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US on December 27.

✅ Winners

🇺🇸 US LNG producers:

The halting of Russia's gas deliveries through Ukraine will increase the US share and reduce competition in the EU market.

The latest US LNG delivery amounts to 100 million cubic meters of gas (1 TWh of energy, or 3,530,000 MMBtu), bought by D.Trading, DTEK’s pan-European trading subsidiary.

The shipment arrived at Greek LNG terminals such as Revithoussa, where it will be "re-gasified" and distributed "through EU and Ukrainian gas networks," according to DTEK.

One network, the Vertical Corridor, will transmit US LNG deliveries between Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

LNG from the US for Europe is at least 30-40% more expensive than pipeline gas from Russia.

In December 2022, the US became the world’s leading exporter of LNG amid Europe's energy crisis and the sabotage attack on Russia's Nord Stream pipelines.

❌ Losers

Ukraine: Ukraine will lose almost $1 billion annually from Russian gas transit fees. Additionally, Ukraine is likely to pay more for US LNG coming through the Revithoussa LNG terminal than for Russian pipeline gas, which used to come in the form of a "virtual reverse."

🇭🇺🇦🇹🇸🇰 Hungary, Austria, and Slovakia which have long relied on Russian gas transit through Ukraine, will face challenges. Being landlocked, access to LNG delivered to marine terminals is costly and difficult.

Long-term contracts with Russia's Gazprom allowed them to buy natural gas considerably cheaper than EU gas spot prices. For instance, Austria had been receiving Russian gas at a price almost three times cheaper than EU spot prices in 2022, according to Reuters.

🇪🇺 European Union: After sliding to $11.79/MMBtu in October, European gas prices rose to almost $15/MMBtu on November 22. On December 27, benchmark futures rose further by 5% on the news of halted Russian gas transit through Ukraine.

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🇩🇪 German CSU Party leader rules out coalition with Greens

Markus Soeder, the leader of Bavaria's Christian Social Union (CSU), has ruled out any sort of a coalition deal between the German conservatives and The Greens.

CSU is running in the February federal election together with the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of Friedrich Merz, who will be the CDU/CSU conservative alliance's candidate for chancellor.

Soeder described the center-left Greens as the main hurdle to limiting unchecked migration to Germany, saying they were guided by completely wrong ideas in their policy.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier formally dissolved the federal parliament on Friday less than two weeks after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence in his left-green coalition government. New elections are scheduled for February 23.

Scholz's three-party government imploded in early November after he fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the Free Democratic Party leader, citing his unwillingness to greenlight new proposals for the 2025 budget and more aid for Ukraine.

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🇨🇳🚆Train capable of reaching speeds of 450 km/h unveiled in China

A prototype of the CR450 high-speed train debuted in the Chinese capital, Beijing. During testing, the train reached a speed of 450 km/h, while its operating speed is 400 km/h.

Once in commercial service, the CR450 will be the fastest train in the world. Previously, the top speed reached by a train anywhere the world was 350 km/h.

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📹🇬🇪 Opposition supporters have again blocked Rustaveli Avenue near the Georgian parliament building in central Tbilisi, but the situation is generally calm, a Sputnik correspondent reports.

Protesters also blocked the avenue on Sunday afternoon after the inauguration of new President Mikheil Kavelashvili but then dispersed. Local police reported the detention of six protesters.

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❗️Kazakhstan will send the black boxes of the crashed Brazilian-made AZAL plane to the Brazilian Air Accident Investigation and Prevention Center, the republic's Ministry of Transport reported.

Earlier, the department reported that representatives from the aircraft manufacturer Embraer arrived at the crash site.

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📹🇮🇹 In the city of Brescia in northern Italy, protesters clashed with police during an anti-fascist rally

The anti-fascists tried to prevent a rally of supporters of right-wing movements. The police had previously banned both rallies.

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❗️Russian Foreign Ministry on blocking Russian media's Telegram channels: another act of political censorship, the West continues to purge the information space of undesirables.

Russia reserves the right to respond symmetrically to the blocking of Russian media Telegram channels in the West.

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The shift to the right in 2024: a global overview

This year marked a significant shift to the political right, which began in 2023, with liberal parties and their agendas losing ground to conservatives across the globe. Check out how:

🇺🇸 US

Donald Trump and the Republicans: In November, the Democrats lost control of both the White House and the US Congress to Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

🇪🇺 EU

European Parliament elections: In June, right-wing parties made major gains in the elections, despite the centrist European People’s Party winning the most seats.

France: The right-wing National Rally's success in the EP elections led President Emmanuel Macron to call a snap election, which resulted in his centrist alliance losing ground to both left- and right-wing blocs.

Germany: In September, the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) won a regional ballot for the first time in Thuringia and narrowly lost to the Christian Democratic Union in Saxony.

Austria: The right-wing Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) won the country's legislative election in September.

Portugal: In March, the right-wing Chega (lit. "Enough") and the center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) secured the most seats in the parliament.

🇬🇧 UK

Reform UK: Despite the Labour Party winning power from the Conservatives this year, the Eurosceptic and conservative Reform UK gained the third-highest share of the vote.

🇨🇦 Canada

Conservative surge: Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing dwindling support and a no-confidence vote in January, with Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre seen as his probable successor.

🌏 Asia

India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his conservative Bharatiya Janata Party won the general election for the third time in June, albeit in coalition.

Indonesia: Right-wing politician and retired army general Prabowo Subianto won the presidential election and took office in October.

Japan: The long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party lost their majority in October.

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Incumbent president is leading in Croatia's presidential election - CEC

Incumbent Croatian President Zoran Milanovic is leading in the country's presidential election with 50.11% of the votes after the ballots from 51.61% of polling stations were processed, the Croatian Central Electoral Commission (CEC) said.

Milanovic's main opponent, Dragan Primorac, has 22.33%, while six other candidates have less than 10% each.

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What is identity and how does it affect countries’ sovereignty?

The concept of identity came to political science from psychology in the 20th Century, around the time when the term “identity crisis” was coined by Erik Erikson, explains Russian Academy of Sciences’ corresponding member Irina Semenenko.

▪️In political sciences, this concept gained prominence when researchers working on analyzing political processes strove to explain why certain processes occur the way they do and what shapes them.

According to her, the concept of identity is interesting not only because of its “analytic potential” but also because of the fact that it is a rare instance of a concept migrating from political science to public affairs.

▪️Due to people being “social creatures,” their personal beliefs and values are shaped in communication, including political communication, with other people, Semenenko notes.

“Identity in Latin means both ‘I am like the others’ and ‘I am not like some of the others’,” she says. “Thus, identity is a meaning that allows people to self-position themselves, to draw a boundary between them and those they associate themselves with, and those they do not agree with.”

▪️Personal identity aside, Semenenko continues, there are also group and collective identities as people usually belong to a community.

“All these identities are formed, they do not spring up by themselves out of nowhere – they form in social interactions. And certain political powers may influence these social interactions. Political science, among other things, studies mechanisms of identity politics,” Semenenko says.

She also points out that identity forms the basis of country’s “social-cultural sovereignty.”

▪️If people link their future, the future of their family and their children, with the development of the country they live in or want to live in, it becomes a basis for sovereignty, Semenenko elaborates, because “sovereignty is based on the idea of development.”

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⚡️ Jimmy Carter dies at age 100

The former US president Jimmy Carter died on Sunday, the Washington Post reports, citing his son.

He had spent his time at home under hospice care since 2023. Jimmy Carter was the oldest living US president of all time.

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Canada spends $600 million on gun buyback program - zero guns collected

Canada spent $597.9M on a gun buyback program in 2024, but has collected no firearms, True North reported in its article listing top five "ridiculous ways" Canada spent taxpayer money in 2024.

The paper also recalled Trudeau's $71,000 food bill in Italy and Switzerland, the $3 million spent on the COP28 summit, and the $18.4 million the CBC received in bonuses.

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🚀 Elon Musk weighs in on democracy on Mars

SpaceX founder Elon Musk believes that Mars, once colonized, should be governed by direct democracy rather than representative democracy.

"The Martians will decide how they are ruled. I recommend direct, rather than representative, democracy," he wrote on X.

Musk believes crewed Starship missions may reach Mars as early as in 4 years.

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🐼 When pandas fly: Hong Kong's amazing drone show

Hong Kong's first pyrotechnic drone show captivated thousands of people and raised awareness for panda conservation.

📹 Footage from social media

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Biden, Trump offer condolences on Jimmy Carter's death

Incumbent US President Joe Biden issued an official statement released by the White House.

"With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe," the statement said.

Meanwhile, US President-elect Donald Trump posted his statement on Truth Social.

"While I strongly disagreed with him philosophically and politically, I also realized that he truly loved and respected our Country, and all it stands for. He worked hard to make America a better place, and for that I give him my highest respect. He was a truly good man and, of course, will be greatly missed. He was also very consequential, far more than most Presidents, after he left the Oval Office," he wrote.

In honor of the 39th president, the Empire State Building is lit red, white and blue.

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Fico to EU: Zelensky's unilateral gas transit halt will hurt us all

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico wrote a letter to the heads of the European Commission and the European Council calling for a proper analysis of Ukraine's "unprecedented" halt of Russian gas transit.

"The unilateral suspension of transit through Ukraine to Slovakia will deprive European citizens, businesses and infrastructure of tens of billions of euros per year, Ukraine of almost 800 million euros, and the possibility of importing gas from Europe and Slovakia of more than 400 million euros per year in transit fees and well over 1 billion euros in the price of the commodity. The loss for the Russian Federation will be only about EUR 2 billion. EUR, which is only about 3% of the total losses caused by the 27 EU member states," Fico wrote.

Slovak Prime Minister warns that the economic impact of Ukraine's move on the EU may be underestimated.

"I don't know whether the vague approach of the European Commission and most of the member states is based on the fact that the economic impact of the interruption of the transit of Russian or other gas through Ukraine has not been professionally analyzed at all and the whole matter has been assessed only ideologically," he added.

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💉 Biden should approve bird flu tests and vaccines before leaving — TV

Former Baltimore health commissioner Dr. Leana Wen warned that the US could face an outbreak of bird flu if the current US administration doesn't act.

"I think the Biden administration, in the remaining days, should make testing and vaccines widely available so that at least it empowers state and local health officials and clinicians to do the right thing for their patients," Wen said.

Currently, 66 human cases of H5 bird flu in the US have been confirmed by the CDC.

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