❌ Israel's Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi announces resignation

In a statement, Halevi explained that his decision - which will take effect from March 6 - follows his acknowledgment of his responsibility for the Israeli Defense Forces' (IDF) failure during the October 7 Hamas attack.

He made the announcement at a time when the IDF has made substantial progress and is actively working on a deal to secure the release of hostages.

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Trump fires Brian Hook, former special envoy for Iran during his first term

"Brian Hook from the Wilson Center for Scholars [...] YOU’RE FIRED!" US President wrote on his Truth Social page.

Following Trump’s victory in the November election, Hook gave numerous media interviews promising a return to “maximum pressure” sanctions against Iran.

He was the head of the US State Department transition team, leading many observers to conclude that Trump was preparing for escalation against Iran.

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🪖 Joe Biden pardons Mark Milley: what was the ex-joint Chiefs Chairman accused of?

President Biden issued a preemptive pardon for Mark Milley, citing his role in navigating the US military through global security challenges and strengthening alliances.

Previously, Milley expressed concerns about being court-martialed if Donald Trump were re-elected in 2024, calling Trump “the most dangerous person ever.”
What were the allegations?

▪️Milley faced accusations of treason from Trump and Republicans, linked to calls he made to Chinese General Li Zuocheng in October 2020 and January 2021.

▪️The calls reportedly aimed to reassure China that the US would not attack and promised to notify China if such plans arose.

▪️Trump and Senator Marco Rubio accused Milley of undermining the Commander in Chief and leaking classified information.

▪️Trump labeled Milley’s actions as “egregious” and deserving of the death penalty.

Milley’s portrait has since been removed from the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff hallway.

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Who’s eager to get a piece of the Ukrainian pie?

The rights of national minorities living in Ukraine have long been a contentious issue, facing repeated violations throughout history. Since the onset of the Russian special military operation, this matter has gained renewed attention, with politicians from Hungary and Slovakia reaffirming their countries’ territorial claims over parts of Ukraine.

What Ukrainian territories could be claimed by EU states?

🔺Eastern Galitsia

Historically belonged to formerly Polish Kingdom, Austro-Hungarian Empire, USSR

Claimants: 🇵🇱Poland

🔺Transcarpathia (Zakarpattia)

Historically belonged to Austro-Hungarian Empire, Czechoslovakia, USSR

Claimants: 🇭🇺Hungary, 🇸🇰Slovakia

🔺Bessarabia

Historically belonged to Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire, Romania, USSR

Claimants: 🇷🇴Romania, 🇲🇩Moldova

🔺North Bukovina

Historically belonged to Austrian Empire, Romania, USSR

Claimants: 🇷🇴Romania, 🇲🇩Moldova

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THROWBACK: Robert Kennedy Jr: ‘Anthony Fauci got all responsibility for bioweapons development’ in US

Since the US resumed bioweapon development in the early 2000s, the Pentagon was initially concerned about violating international treaties ratified by Congress, Robert Kennedy Jr. explained during interview with Tucker Carlson in 2023.

Thus, the Pentagon opted to shift all responsibility for “biosecurity” in the US to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, thus making its then-head Anthony Fauci the man responsible for bioweapon research in the country.

Kennedy also blamed Fauci for the emergence of US biolaboratories across the world as Fauci, instead of shutting down potentially dangerous biological research on US soil, opted instead to simply move it abroad.

“We have biolabs in Ukraine because we are developing bioweapons,” Kennedy said.

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🇸🇰 Fico: Opposition prepares to stage a coup in Slovakia

"I can't name names, I can't name the circumstances, but I can say with all seriousness that the Slovak opposition is preparing for a 'Maidan'. The Slovak opposition is preparing to occupy government buildings, will resist the work of the government, will cooperate with foreign forces," Slovakian PM Robert Fico said, commenting on the SIS's (Slovak Intelligence agency) statement about an operation to destabilize the country.

Today, the SIS said that it had received information about the organization of a long-term influence operation to destabilize Slovakia.

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🇷🇺🇪🇬 Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Sisi exchanged views on the situation in Syria, emphasizing the need to respect its territorial integrity, according to the Kremlin.

▪️The leaders also discussed the situation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone in light of the agreement concluded between Israel and Hamas

▪️Putin praised the mediation efforts of Egypt and several other countries to help reach an agreement between conflicting parties.

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💥💥💥 How the West profits from Russian energy amid sanctions

Western officials and media have spent nearly three years accusing BRICS members of facilitating the resale of Russian resources, while ignoring evidence of their own nations doing the same. Let’s shed some light on their activities.

▪️In a recent interview with Sputnik, Slovak parliament vice-speaker Andrej Danko accused Western European leaders like France's Macron of hypocritically reselling Russian energy to Eastern Europe at a 400% markup.

▪️The full extent of Paris’s resale activities is unknown, but a FT report calculated that France, Belgium, and Spain reexported 21% of the EU's 17.8 bcm in Russian LNG imports from January to September 2023, netting profits of over $500 million.

▪️Last November, Bloomberg reported record Russian LNG imports at French terminals, with 2024 deliveries exceeding all previous years since 2018. Their ultimate destination? Unknown.

▪️Since spring 2022, US firms have been accused of buying Russian LNG via India and reselling it to Europe, exploiting loopholes in the West's comical sanctions. Unsurprisingly, no hard data on the scale of these activities has been publicized.

▪️Germany was accused of reselling Russian gas to Poland in 2022 after Warsaw halted deliveries via the Yamal pipeline. The profits? Shrouded in mystery.

▪️Geneva-based Paramount Energy has reportedly earned hundreds of millions of dollars a year reselling Russian oil to refineries in Italy and Romania since 2022.

▪️Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary found themselves in a Russian energy "love triangle." In 2023, Romania bought 2.59 bcu of Russian gas from Bulgaria and resold 1.46 bcu to Hungary, which has not shied away from energy links with Russia. At current prices, Romania would have netted $200+ million.

▪️In October, a Polish fertilizer industry rep revealed that Warsaw bought €55.7 million of Russian fertilizers in July 2024, tripling the previous year's imports, and resold some to Ukraine amid high energy costs for local production. Reexport volumes are unknown.

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❓Was Anthony Fauci related to US bioweapons programs?

Anthony Fauci has been “the face of the US bioweapons” practically since he became the head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) back in the 1980s, Jeff J. Brown, co-founder and curator of the Bioweapon Truth Commission, tells Sputnik.

“Since then, he has been the kingpin and financier of coronavirus weaponization and oversaw the birth of SARS in 2002, then MERS in 2012 and lastly, COVID-19 in 2019…Fauci has the deaths of millions of people on his bioweapon hands, including the Western mRNA Covid vaccinations”, Brown insists.

▪️The US “push to develop bioweapons in Ukraine began in 2005-2008, when Obama, Clinton and Biden were together in the US Senate,” and during the Obama administration, from 2008 to 2016, Brown notes.

▪️“We can thank Lt. General Igor Kirillov (RIP) and his Chemical, Biological, and Nuclear Defense Troops of the Russian Armed Forces for bringing much of this information to light,” the expert said.

▪️Joe Biden “invested heavily in US bioweapon laboratories in Ukraine,” using these investments together with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton “as a laundering racket to funnel money back to the US Democratic Party.”

▪️“The middlemen were pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer, Moderna, Merck, Lilly, along with Democratic Party-connected US military contractors, such as Metabiota, CH2M and Black & Veatch.”

▪️”Fauci approved NAIAD funding for these and the 300+ American bioweapon labs scattered across the planet, not to mention many hundreds more in the US itself, until he retired as head in 2022”, Brown explained.

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🇸🇰 Slovakia's opposition parties have decided to withdraw their motion for a no-confidence vote in the parliament that aimed to remove PM Robert Fico's cabinet, parliamentary Deputy Speaker Peter Ziga has said.

The opposition had initially objected to Fico's proposal to hold a secret session, claiming he was sharing confidential information. They also announced plans to introduce a new no-confidence vote in the near future.

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US adding Cuba back to sponsors of terrorism list ‘not about fighting terror’ – Russian FM spokeswoman

"The previous US administration said there was no evidence of Cuba's support for international terrorism. And that remains an undeniable fact. We think it is necessary to reiterate it: Cuba has an impeccable, exemplary reputation as an active participant in international cooperation in the fight against terrorism," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said, stressing that the Trump administration's decision is not about fighting terrorism.

Russia will continue to provide the necessary support to Cuba in defending state sovereignty and upholding the demands for an immediate and complete end to the illegal and inhumane economic, commercial, and financial blockade of the island by the US, as well as the exclusion of Havana from the list of states that allegedly sponsor terrorism, Zakharova added.

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🇰🇷 South Korean President hospitalized after session on his impeachment

The reason for hospitalization of Yoon Suk-yeol has not been revealed, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing Yoon's lawyer.

Earlier in the day, South Korea's Constitutional Court held its third hearing on Yoon's impeachment.

▪️During the session, the president reportedly said that he did not order the suspension of the work of the National Assembly and other legislative bodies, nor did he order the banning of the activities of political parties and the arrest of their leaders during his declaration of martial law.

▪️On December 3, Yoon declared martial law, claiming that the opposition was sympathizing with North Korea and plotting a "rebellion." The parliament defied the presidential declaration and voted to lift martial law hours later. Yoon obeyed and apologized to the nation. On December 14, the South Korean parliament voted to impeach Yoon.

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🇷🇺🇺🇿 Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov has arrived in Uzbekistan for an official visit

While in Tashkent, Belousov is set to meet with Major General Shukhrat Kholmukhammedov, his Uzbekistani counterpart, as well as other top military and political officials.

The discussions will focus on security matters in Central Asia, in addition to enhancing military and technical cooperation between Russia and Uzbekistan.

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‘EU turns a blind eye to national minorities being oppressed in Ukraine’ - expert

Brussels “only cares about its ideological agenda, which is to support Ukraine and to maintain this myth that Ukraine is some kind of a democratic paradise,” George Szamuely, a senior research fellow at the Global Policy Institute, tells Sputnik.

The Kiev regime’s pursuit of the so-called ‘Ukrainization’ policy that “limits the use of non-Ukrainian languages” in the country has a negative impact on minority groups.

“When you enter a store, for instance, you have to speak Ukrainian. If you start speaking in some other language, then you are liable to be fined. In all sorts of ways, this Ukrainian migration policy violates minority rights,” Szamuely emphasizes.

The rights of national minorities living in Ukraine have long been a bone of contention, and since the onset of the Russian special military operation, this matter has gained renewed attention.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently reiterated that while tackling the root causes of the Ukrainian crisis, it is important to seek a long-term peace based on respect for the legitimate interests of all people and all nations living in the region.

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📹 Ukraine was always just anti-Russian ‘battering ram’ to US – ex-Pentagon analyst

The Trump administration has little interest in wasting money on Ukraine, retired US Air Force Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, former analyst for the US Department of Defense, tells Sputnik while commenting on Trump’s decision to suspend US foreign aid programs.

Watch the video to learn more from the former Pentagon analyst!

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🤡 Woke bishop attacks Trump, pleads for 'transgender* children' and illegal migrants

💬 “In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country, who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives,” a bishop at the Washington National Cathedral told US President Trump and Vice President Vance on their second day in office.

*LGBT is an extremist movement banned in Russia.

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