🇨🇳🤖China opens training base for humanoid robots in Shanghai

The robots will be trained to perform various tasks, and the collected data will be sent to developers for optimization.

🤩 Looks like a robot resort

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Russia is not interested in sabotage in the Baltic Sea - Finnish President Alexander Stubb

"The Baltic Sea is a small sea. It takes about 30 years for a drop of water to come in and out. That means the two issues: one is the underwater cables and critical infrastructure; the other is environmental catastrophe. And it's not in the interest of Russia or anyone," he told Bloomberg TV, commenting on the investigation of cable breakage in the Baltic.

In November, a communications cable between Lithuania and Sweden and another between Germany and Finland in the Baltic Sea were damaged. The EU rushed to blame Russia without any evidence.

Earlier this month, the WaPo reported, citing officials, that NATO intelligence found “no indication” that the commercial vessels dragging their anchors across underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea “did so intentionally or in the direction of Moscow.”

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❗️Ukrainian forces attacked Energodar, according to preliminary data, using at least four drones. There are no casualties or fires, according to city authorities.

The target of the drone attacks was not the nearby Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, but the civilian infrastructure in the city, the station's communications director said.

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🇸🇰 A group of "foreign experts" involved in the events in Georgia and the 2014 Maidan in Ukraine are operating in Slovakia with the aim of overthrowing the government, Slovakian PM Robert Fico has said.

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🇨🇳 China's super drone: A submarine, a plane, and a fish all in one

Scientists have developed the world's first submarine-launched drone that can both fly and swim underwater, the South China Morning Post writes.

The blades the device uses to fly fold in the water in five seconds, and special propellers provide movement instead.

The drone is supposed to be used for reconnaissance and strikes. According to SCMP, while existing defensive technologies are not capable of stopping such weapons.

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🔥 WATCH: Russian forces strike Ukrainian strongholds close to the Kursk region

Paratroopers destroyed the strongholds of the Ukrainian army, as well as personnel that had made another attempt to infiltrate Russian territory.

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Houthis release crew of Israeli-linked ship Galaxy Leader seized in Red Sea in 2023

Twenty-five sailors were released after mediation by Oman, Yemeni outlet Al-Masirah reports.

The Israeli ship Galaxy Leader was hijacked in November 2023 when Houthis launched a campaign targeting ships in international waters of the Red Sea in retaliation against Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip.

The ship became a local landmark for tourists, and the Houthis launched fireworks from it to celebrate the Uraza al-Fitr.

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📹 Scholz calls Trump a 'challenge' for Europe

"Starting this week, we will have to deal with a new administration in the United States. As has already become clear, President [Donald] Trump will be... a challenge," said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, pausing before the word "challenge."

The German chancellor also expressed concern over the rising influence of far-right movements in the Western world.

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📹 Slovak PM Fico provides details on a group of 'experts' seeking to topple the government in his country

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🧐 Trump, who stated that Russia's economy is failing, should take a look at the facts:

1. Russia has overtaken Japan to become the 4th largest economy in the world (PPP).

2. Russia’s GDP grew by 4.1% in Q2 2024, outperforming Germany, which saw a 0.3% contraction in 2023.

3. Russia’s unemployment rate hit a historic low of 2.3%, compared to 3.6% in the U.S. and over 11% in Spain.

4. Russia’s budget deficit is just 1.7% of GDP, far lower than the U.S. at 5.8%.

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📹 Al-Qassam brigades target Sderot and Jerusalem amid IDF operation

Palestine's Al-Qassam Brigades shared video footage showcasing strikes on Sderot and Jerusalem with M75 and Rajoom rockets, alongside mortar assaults on Israeli command centers amid Tel Aviv's operation in Beit Hanoun, located in northern Gaza.

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‘Sanctions on Russia have only made her stronger and Trump knows this’ - expert

“Europe and Zelensky are desperate to insert themselves into any upcoming negotiations between the US and Russia over Ukraine. He [Trump] needs to play to the American audience about being firm on Russia while placing the blame for the conflict precisely on those that stoked it. He has a free hand because of Biden. I'm watching how harshly he treats Europe on this issue and how little influence Zelensky will have over Ukraine's final fate. If he and the UK are shut out of the negotiating process, we will have a reasonable outcome,” Tom Luongo, financial and geopolitical analyst, told Sputnik.

Earlier on Wednesday, Trump threatened Russia with more sanctions unless it starts peace negotiations with Ukraine.

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👉 Fact check: Trump’s WWII rewrite – Russia didn’t just help, THEY WON

1. The Soviet Union played the decisive role in defeating Nazi Germany on WWII's Eastern Front, suffering over 20 million casualties, including 8.7 million military deaths. The Soviets inflicted approximately 80% of Germany’s total casualties (around 7.4 million).

2. The US entered WWII on December 7, 1941, after the Pearl Harbor attack, while the Soviets had already been fighting Germany for six months.

3. The Soviets tied down most of Germany's forces, winning key battles like Stalingrad (1942-43) and Berlin (1945), which led to Nazi surrender.

4. The US provided aid via the Lend-Lease Act, but it was the Red Army that did the heavy lifting, capturing Berlin and ending the war in Europe.

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🔍 Trump’s foreign policy hawks: who’s in charge?

Donald Trump has begun reshuffling key officials shaping his strategy on China, Russia, and Ukraine. Who are his new picks?

🔻China

David Perdue, Ambassador to China

▪️Ex-CEO of the Dollar General Corporation and a former senator for Georgia, in 2020 faced allegations of insider trading though no charges were brought against him.
▪️Insisted in a Fox News op-ed in 2018 on “a long-term plan to compete and deal with China’s rising economic and geopolitical influence.”
▪️Welcomed the killing of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani by a US drone strike in 2020.

🔻Russia and Ukraine

Keith Kellogg, Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia

▪️Describes the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict as “important” to the US national security, as well as being good for Europe and the rest of the world.
▪️Advocates for finding a “solid” and “sustainable” solution to this conflict as soon as possible, preferably within the span of about 100 days.

🔻Middle East

Massad Boulos, president’s advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

▪️Father of Trump’s son-in-law; last year met with the head of the Lebanese right-wing Christian party Kataeb, also known as the Phalangist Party.
▪️Alleged that Hezbollah should be disarmed, ostensibly in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire agreement between the Lebanese movement and Israel.

🔻The United Nations

Elise Stefanik, Representative of the US to the UN

▪️Believes Israel is ennoscriptd to West Bank due to this Palestinian territory being part of Israel’s boundaries as described in the Bible.
▪️A proponent of the “America First” approach; told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that US tax dollars “should not be complicit in propping up entities that are counter to American interests.”

🔻They all will work under the guidance of Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, who:

▪️Regards China as the “biggest threat” to the prosperity of the US. Claimed that much of what “matters to us on a daily basis” would soon depend on Beijing’s say-so if the US does not change its course.
▪️Praised Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, calling that act a “service to humanity.”
▪️Argued that the Ukrainian conflict should be resolved through a negotiated settlement.

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