❗️A criminal case has been opened into the death of Izvestia newspaper correspondent Alexander Martemyanov and the wounding of four other Russian journalists in a drone attack in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Investigative Committee told Sputnik.

The committee added that it was taking all possible measures to identify and hold criminally responsible individuals from among the Ukrainian armed formations involved in the crime.

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❗️Russian forces hammered a Ukrainian assault group consisting of 2 tanks and 7 armored vehicles carrying troops near the Berdin settlement in the Kursk region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

▪️Ukrainian forces lost up to 340 personnel and 4 tanks in the Kursk region over the past day.

▪️Russian Armed Forces repelled two counterattacks by assault groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region.

▪️Since the beginning of combat operations in the Kursk region, Ukrainian forces have lost more than 49,010 soldiers.

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Video of two trucks colliding in Mexico went viral online

At least two people are dead as a result of the accident.

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📕DID YOU KNOW? The world's rarest and most expensive metal costs millions of dollars per gram!

Californium is considered the world's rarest and most expensive metal, with a price tag of tens of millions of dollars per gram. It's only produced in Russia and the United States.

This extraordinary metal is created by irradiating another element, curium, in a nuclear reactor over a long period of time and then isolating californium through chemical processes.

Its uses are equally remarkable - it plays a key role in nuclear energy, cancer radiation therapy, and advanced materials research!

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🤯 AI take: questions Zelensky would unlikely ever face

Lex Fridman's Zelensky interview is coming – but will he ask the real questions? 🤔 We decided to spice things up and let AI have a crack at it. We challenged Grok and ChatGPT to generate seven uncomfortable questions for Zelensky according to their guidelines using similar prompts.

Here's what we've got!

◻️ What does Grok want to know from Zelensky?

1. How do you justify the significant loss of Ukrainian lives in pursuit of NATO membership?
2. What are your personal financial gains, if any, from the increased Western military aid to Ukraine?
3. Are there any secret agreements with Western leaders that could compromise Ukraine's sovereignty or decision-making?
4. Why has there been apparent corruption in the distribution of Western aid, and what measures are you taking to address it?
5. How do you respond to accusations that your policies are prolonging the war for political gain?
6. What is your plan if Western support wanes, and how will you then protect Ukrainian civilians from the ongoing conflict?
7. Can you explain the seeming contradiction between advocating for peace talks while simultaneously rejecting any territorial concessions to Russia?

◻️ What questions did ChatGPT write for Zelensky?

1. Are you willing to consider territorial compromises to end the war, or is there no scenario where Ukraine would negotiate over its borders?
2. How do you respond to critics who say that pushing for NATO membership has escalated tensions with Russia rather than ensuring Ukraine's security?
3. There have been concerns about corruption and the mismanagement of Western military aid—how do you address these allegations?
4. What measures are being taken to minimize civilian casualties caused by Ukrainian military actions in contested areas?
5. Do you think continued reliance on Western weapons risks prolonging the war without a clear pathway to victory?
6. How do you justify Ukraine's financial dependency on Western nations while domestic economies in those countries face significant strain?
7. Critics claim dissent is being suppressed in Ukraine under the guise of wartime measures—how do you respond to concerns about democratic freedoms being eroded?

👉Whose questions are most incisive? Which should Zelensky answer?

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🤝Talks on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of hostages held by Hamas in the enclave could resume in Qatar within the next 24 hours, Netanyahu's office advisor told Sputnik.

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🔍Ukraine mobilized only 200,000 people in 2024 instead of planned 500,000 - report

The Ukrainian government managed to mobilize only 200,000 people in 2024, while it was planned to mobilize a total of 500,000, The Washington Post reports, citing Ukrainian and Western officials.

According to Roman Kostenko, the secretary of Ukraine's parliamentary committee on national security defense and intelligence, the figures for the necessary mobilization of 500,000 people previously voiced by former Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny are relevant for Ukraine.

Zelensky, for his part, admitted in November that after the adoption of the law on mobilization in May 2024, Ukraine was unable to mobilize 500,000 people and there are still not enough people in the army.

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🪖Palestine 2: what is known about Yemeni missile that can beat Israeli defenses

The Yemeni Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement has moved to put yet another dent in the reputation of Israel’s air defenses by carrying out a missile strike against a power plant located in Haifa.

For this attack, the Houthis used Palestine 2 hypersonic missile that, according to a statement issued by the movement on January 5, successfully reached its target.

🔍Here’s what is currently known about this weapon:

▪️Palestine 2 is a two-stage, solid-fuel missile domestically produced in Yemen
▪️With its range estimated at about 2,150km, Palestine 2 can be considered a medium-range missile
▪️Its warhead payload is believed to be about 500kg
▪️Believed to possess top speed of about Mach 16 and maneuvering capability, Palestine 2 also ranks as a hypersonic missile

Most importantly, Palestine 2 proved capable of bypassing Israeli air defenses which Tel Aviv previously touted as practically unbeatable.

⚔️Palestine 2 attacks on Israel:

▪️On December 31, the Houthis announced a Palestine 2 missile strike against the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv
▪️On December 28, a Palestine 2 missile strike was launched against Israel’s Nevatim air base in the Negev region
▪️On December 16, an Israeli military target in the Tel Aviv suburb of Jaffa was hit by a Palestine 2 missile
▪️On December 11, the Houthis declared that they hit an Israeli military site in Tel Aviv using a Palestine 2 missile

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🔊Almost 90 people killed in Gaza Strip due to Israeli strikes in past day - health ministry

At least 88 people have been killed and 208 injured in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip over the past day, the Gaza Strip's health ministry said on Sunday.

"During the past 24 hours, the Israeli occupation committed five massacres of families in the Gaza Strip, with 88 killed and 208 injured admitted to hospitals," the health ministry said in a statement.

Overall, since the escalation of the conflict in October 2023, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 45,805, with more than 109,000 people wounded, the ministry added.

On October 7, 2023, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. In addition, fighters of Palestinian movement Hamas infiltrated the border areas, opened fire on the military and civilians and took hostages. Israeli authorities say that about 1,200 people were killed during the raid. In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords in Gaza and announced a complete blockade of the enclave.

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❓Why could US military bases in Honduras be closed after Trump’s inauguration?

US troops will be expelled from Honduras if Washington carries out mass deportations of illegal immigrants from the US, Honduran President Xiomara Castro has warned.

“Faced with a hostile attitude of mass expulsion of our brothers, we would have to consider a change in our cooperation policies with the US, especially in the military field, where for decades, without paying a cent, they maintain military bases on our territory, which in this case would lose all reason to exist in Honduras,” Castro said, in an apparent reference to the Soto Cano Airbase.

Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina later pointed out that the country’s president had the power to suspend a decades-old agreement with the US on the airbase without parliamentary approval.

🔍What is Soto Cano Airbase?
The Soto Cano Airbase was originally built by the US in the 1980s to help contain what Washington said at the time was the communist threat in the region. The base currently hosts more than 1,000 US military and civilian personnel.

🎤How did the US react?
Brian Hughes, a spokesman for the Trump transition team, said the Trump administration “looks forward” to engaging its Latin American partners to ensure US southern border is secure and “illegal immigrants can be returned to their country of origin.”

✍️Did Trump outline concrete plan on migrant deportations?
Trump has promised that he will swiftly deport undocumented immigrants from the US when he takes office on January 20. But his transition team has declined to elaborate on concrete plans. During his first term, Trump deported about 1.5 million illegal migrants.

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📹Ukrainian drones attacked a civilian vehicle in Russia's Belgorod region, according to a video shared by Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov.

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🔄 Secretary General to temporarily lead Austria’s OVP after Nehammer’s resignation - reports

Secretary General of the Austrian People’s Party (OVP) Christian Stocker will temporarily lead the party after Chancellor Karl Nehammer announced his resignation as the party’s leader the day before, the Kronen Zeitung newspaper reported on Sunday.

Nehammer's real successor will be determined no later than the municipal elections in Lower Austria, which are scheduled for January 26, the newspaper reported.

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🤡 Hey, man, do you think it will help?

The Ukrainian Armed Forces' Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrsky has ordered the more drone operators assigned to the 155th elite Mechanized Brigade, from which over 1,700 soldiers had previously deserted.

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🗣Trump's sentencing a reminder of Biden administration's corruption

New York Judge Juan Merchan's ruling in the Donald Trump "hush money" case and later sentencing is a "final rallying call" of lawfare against the president-elect, US prominent legal scholar Jonathan Turley has told Fox News.

Trump will not face the "orange jumpsuit moment" many of his detractors had anticipated. Just ten days after his sentencing he is set to walk out of the courtroom and into the White House, Turley noted.

🔍What's really behind the sentencing?

🔊The Democrat judge scheduled Trump’s sentencing just ten days before his inauguration
🔊"Merchan will supply the talking point for the inauguration coverage as reporters repeat the mantra of the historic status of Trump being sworn in as a convicted felon," Turley tweeted
🔊Instead of damaging Trump, the sentencing will serve as a reminder of the alleged corruption within the Biden administration, Republican strategist Katie Frost told Fox News
🔊Highlighting claims of lies about Hunter Biden's ‘laptop from hell’ and questions about Joe Biden's mental state, the "lawfare" against Trump is likely to bolster his political standing, Frost argued

🔍Bizarre case

🔊Turley described the Trump case as "bizarre" from the outset, raising concerns over the judge's conflict of interest, an onslaught of "immaterial and prejudicial evidence" and repeated false assertions that the payments in question were campaign contributions
🔊CNN legal expert Elie Honig also argued that the case was legally dubious, aimed specifically against Trump and unable to succeed outside of an anti-Trump district
🔊The January 10 sentencing will close the case and allow "the full array of alleged errors by Merchan to be placed before appellate judges," Turley tweeted on January 4

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❓Does Biden admin make US consumers suffer for the sake of ‘green agenda’?

The Biden administration has quietly passed a new regulation that may take a big bite out of the family budgets of many Americans.

🚫The rule effectively bans non-condensing instantaneous natural gas water heaters, which are cheaper than the condensing models, ostensibly to help curb carbon dioxide emissions.

The measure means about 40% of new tankless water heaters currently available in the US will be removed from the market by 2029, The Washington Free Beacon warns.

The new rule will also result in average price of water heaters increasing by about $450, according to the American Gas Association.

✍️The move was published by the Department of Energy on December 26, but the agency did not announce it in a press release, which the Free Beacon describes as a “departure from past appliance regulations.”

The water heater ban may be the Biden administration’s parting shot at president-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to roll back many of President Joe Biden’s climate-related regulations to boost energy production in the US.

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