✋ China calls on US to stop cyber attacks around the world

The United States is an "initiator and master of cyber attacks" worldwide, said a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, Liu Pengyu.

"We urge the United States to stop engaging in cyber theft and attacks around the world and stop using cyber security issues to smear other countries," he said.

Liu also denied accusations of Chinese government involvement in hacking attacks on the Treasury Department, saying the US is using cybersecurity to "smear" other countries.

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🐦 Sourced locally: NYC food truck worker filmed catching pigeons

Social media footage shows a Queens food truck worker using a plastic bag to catch a pigeon.

Coworkers claim he was rescuing a bird with tied legs, and the Health Department reported no evidence of pigeons after an inspection, the NY Post reported.

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Biden will deliver two major speeches before leaving office - reports

President Biden plans to deliver two major speeches in his final days in office to outline his legacy, NBC reports, citing sources familiar with the plans.

Biden also is expected to issue additional pardons before January 20.

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🏮📹 Lantern festival lights up Nanjing, China

Tourists and locals marvel at Nanjing's Lantern Festival, featuring stunning light installations and drone shows. This year's event celebrates the Year of the Snake, blending tradition with technology. Dazzling displays run until the end of April.

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🐟📈 Tuna auction signals positive outlook for Japan in 2025

At Tokyo's Toyosu market, a 276 kg tuna sold for 207 million yen in the first auction of 2025, the second-highest price after the record set in 2019.

The tuna auction is traditionally seen as an unofficial economic forecast for the coming year.

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Sputnik journalist Maxim Romanenko found a fragment stuck in his clothes near his heart after a Ukrainian kamikaze drone attack in the DPR:
 

“It was only after the evacuation that I discovered a small abrasion on my chest in the area of my heart. In the same place, a small metal fragment got stuck in the clothes,” he said.

 
According to him, thankfully, an examination in the traumatology department of a hospital in Donetsk found no fragments or damaging elements in his body.

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NATO to urge UK to boost air defense spending over country's vulnerability

NATO will urge the United Kingdom to sharply increase spending on air and missile defense amid concerns that the British military will not be able to repel attacks on cities and outposts in 15 years, the Times reported citing sources.

As military sources told the newspaper, a number of NATO members have recently expressed disappointment that London was not doing enough to protect Europe from long-range missiles.

A draft NATO plan called Capability Target 2025 will raise the need for the UK to invest in land-based air defense systems, to protect nuclear power plants and military bases, the newspaper said.

The UK had failed to invest in missile defense systems for decades, experts told the outlet.

Thus, British ships could be attacked by more modern ballistic missiles if they are transferred to players such as the Yemeni Houthis.

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Germany to tighten policy on Syrian refugees, while Baerbock builds bridges with new gov't - report
 
In less than 24 hours since the visit of German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock to Syria to get acquainted with the new leadership, the German authorities decided to complicate the rules of staying in the country for Syrian refugees, encouraging them to return home.
 
The action plan presented by German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser in case of stabilization of the situation in Syria provides for:
 
▪️ depriving refugees of the status of protected persons and subsidies for protection, as a result of which they will be forced to leave the territory of Germany.
 

She noted that the deprivation of the status of protected persons will apply to those who "do not have the right to reside (in Germany) for other reasons, such as work or education, and do not want to return to Syria voluntarily."

 
▪️supporting refugees who want to return to their homeland. Faeser noted that the state program aimed at those who want to voluntarily return to Syria will be expanded.
 
▪️speedy deportation of criminals and Islamists.

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