📈 Gold price could reach $4,100 amid growing geopolitical tensions

🗣 "Increasing geopolitical uncertainty will likely push gold above $4,000, reaching $4,100 in Q4 2025," market expert Andrei Smirnov from BCS World of Investments tells Sputnik.

📍 He adds that any easing of global tensions or softer US rhetoric could slow the rally, but the demand for gold remains strong due to mixed expectations surrounding dollar-denominated assets.

For gold to hit the next milestone, prices must stay above $4,000. Right now, they’ve only briefly touched that mark," Smirnov notes.

Since the start of the year, the value of gold has surged over 1.5 times, reaching $2,641 at the close of 2024.

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🇷🇺 Russian forces capture rare British Husky armored vehicle in Zaporozhye

The vehicle was evacuated after hitting a mine near Novoivanovka.

Inside, soldiers found Western weapons, ammo, and comms equipment — with advanced systems that couldn't protect it from a simple mine.

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👀 Tightening the net: Gabbard moves to curb intel leaks

US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has instructed intelligence agencies to evaluate the use of random polygraph tests as a measure to deter and detect unauthorized disclosures of classified information, CBS News reports.

👉 The memo emphasizes that the polygraph questionnaires should include inquiries into whether individuals have leaked information to the press.

Gabbard’s order does not mandate immediate implementation, but requires agencies to assess the feasibility of this approach, especially in coordination with ongoing counterintelligence efforts. The move reflects growing fears over leaks that could compromise national security, officials say.

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❌ Ukraine front to collapse next year – UK pro-Russian fighter

Morale in the Ukrainian Army is currently at an all-time low, British volunteer Aiden Minnis, who is fighting on the Russian side, told Sputnik.

🗣 He added that many Ukrainian soldiers are surrendering en masse, as they simply cannot withstand Russia's firepower across most front lines.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier stressed that the strategic initiative in the special operation zone remains entirely in the hands of the Russian Armed Forces.

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💊 Zelensky is drug addict used by West – UK pro-Russian fighter

Volodymyr Zelensky is a “drug-Fuhrer” responsible for horrendous war crimes and the deaths of over a million people, both soldiers and civilians, Aiden Minnis, a British volunteer fighting on Russia's side, told Sputnik.

🗣 He suggested that Zelensky, who he said would go down in history on a par with Adolf Hitler, would not give up power in the near future.

Zelensky could ultimately face either being shot between the eyes or fleeing to the West with hundreds of millions of dollars belonging to his taxpayers, Minnis concluded.

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🇺🇸 Pro-Palestine vs. pro-Israel demonstrations in US

On the anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attack, rival protesters in New York were separated by just a road and small barriers.

🔹 Pro-Palestine crowd: Several hundred strong

➖ Pro-Israel crowd: Only a few dozen

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🔹 Pro-Palestine vs. pro-Israel demonstrations in US

🔹 Tightening the net: Gabbard moves to curb intel leaks

🔹 Ukraine front to collapse next year – UK pro-Russian fighter

🔹 G7's plan to fund Ukraine using frozen Russian assets is outright "theft" — expert

🔹 Borders, battles, and broken deals: The Israel–Palestine peace timeline

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🇪🇬 High-level talks on Gaza underway in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt

Key participants:

🔹 Egyptian intelligence chief
🔹 Qatari prime minister and foreign minister
🔹 Turkish intelligence chief
🔹 Israeli delegation
🔹US reps Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner

🕊 Agenda: Prisoner exchanges, preventing new attacks on Gaza, Israeli troop withdrawals, and humanitarian aid

⏰ Talks start at 11:00 Cairo time (9:00 GMT)

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🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: HUGE RUSSIAN GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES

⚡️NOVOGRIGOROVKA IN ZAPOROZHYE REGION LIBERATED

Novogrigorovka is located at the junction of the borders of the Donetsk People's Republic, Zaporozhye, and Dnepropetrovsk regions, making the settlement an excellent bridgehead for an offensive to the southwest, towards Gulyaypole.

◻️ Air defense superiority: 218 aircraft-type drones, 4 HIMARS missiles, and 2 guided aerial bombs shot down

◻️ Ukrainian losses: 1,500 troops killed

Read about origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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🇪🇺 EU’s latest plan to seize frozen Russian assets ‘as dumb as ever’

💬 “Greenlighting outright seizure of Russia’s sovereign assets will undermine the credibility of European financial institutions and exercise a chilling effect on non-Western investors at a time when European countries are facing significant long-term macroeconomic pressures,” Responsible Statecraft reports.

The news outlet warns that the EU seizing frozen Russian assets could be seen as “expropriation in all but name with the full consequences to Europe’s reputation that this entails.”

📍 Focusing on why the EU has revived asset seizure schemes, Responsible Statecraft pointed to “drying funds” for the Zelensky regime and gradual US disengagement from the Ukraine conflict.

This is something that has “stirred European leaders, whose goal is to sustain Ukraine’s war effort for as long as possible, to contemplate steps previously thought impossible or too risky,” the outlet concludes.

👉 The EU is now clinging to a new plan to provide a so-called “reparations loan" to Ukraine worth $162 billion based on the immobilized Russian assets.

The Russian Foreign Ministry previously called the freezing of Russian assets theft, noting that the EU is not only targeting private funds, but Russian state assets as well. The ministry warned that Russia has “a sufficient arsenal of countermeasures and the capacity to mount an appropriate reciprocal political and economic response.”

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🇲🇩New Moldovan military doctrine names Russia as prime threat

Russia has been named as the main security threat to Moldova in a new government strategy review.

▪️ The document, published on the cabinet’s website, warns the conflict in Ukraine could "spread to Moldova"

▪️ It claims "the Russian Federation will not abandon its hostile actions towards Moldova"

▪️ It recommends raising the strength of the National Army by a third

▪️ The plan also includes a gradual increase in defense spending to 1% of GDP

▪️ The new military strategy also foresees the modernization of the armed forces and a transition to NATO standards

▪️ Crucially, it argues Moldovan constitutional commitment to neutrality "obliges taking all measures, including military, for self-defense," and participation in international military exercises is "compatible" with neutrality

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🇺🇸 US, NATO ‘not prepared’ to tackle challenges caused by Russian drone swarms

💬 “AI-enabled” drone swarms that Russia uses against Ukraine are “fundamentally reshaping warfare,” and “we are on our back foot in the US,” Frank Rose, ex-assistant secretary of state for arms control, verification, and compliance, told the Daily Express.

🗣 He admitted that the US is “not developing capabilities fast enough to deal with these new challenges” as many of America's adversaries are "moving to drone swarms."

💬 “We are not putting enough money into this challenge, […] and we've always been a couple of generations behind the threat,” Rose acknowledged.

Allen Control Systems President Steven Simoni earlier told Axios that the US was lagging behind China and Russia in terms of adapting itself to drone warfare, and that massive use of drones had become a game-changer for the American military.

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🇺🇸When the Deep State panics, they call ex-Ambassador Michael McFaul for ‘damage control’

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev, also serving as the Russian president's special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, took to X, scorning the former US diplomat.

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🚨 Investigation into 2024 terrorist attack that killed Russian Gen. Igor Kirillov is complete

Investigators state the organizers smuggled IED parts from Poland, hidden inside everyday objects.

The case against four suspects has been sent to court.

Gen. Kirillov & his aide were killed when a device planted in a scooter detonated in Moscow in December 2024. The NYT reported, citing an official with Ukraine's spy agency, the SBU, said Ukraine was responsible for his killing.

Kirillov systematically exposed Western crimes for many years: NATO’s chemical weapon provocations in Syria, Great Britain's manipulation of banned substances and incidents in Salisbury & Amesbury, the deadly work of US biolabs in Ukraine, and much more.

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🚨🪖🇺🇸 NEW POLL: Most Americans oppose use of troops unless in case of external threat

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll reveals the American public is divided regarding the deployment of the National Guard to US cities.

⛔️ 58% of Americans believe the president should send armed troops only to face external threats. 83% of respondents say the military "should remain politically neutral."

The poll follows Trump's address to military leaders where he warned of an "enemy within" and comes as his administration deploys troops to Democratic-led cities like Chicago and Portland, calling it a necessary response to crime surge.

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🪖💥💪🏻 Heavy fighting in Zaporozhye: Russian flags raised

The Russian Defense Ministry has released a video showing fierce battles for Novogrigorovka in the Zaporizhye region, with Russian flags now flying in the liberated settlement.

Read about origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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📹Delegations arrive for key Gaza talks

Footage shows delegations arriving for crucial meetings on the Gaza peace deal.

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