🚨🇮🇱🇱🇧 IDF says strike in Ain al-Hilweh targeted 'Hamas training compound'

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that its strike in the Ain al-Hilweh area of southern Lebanon hit “terrorists who operated in a Hamas training compound” used for planning and conducting attacks “against IDF troops and the State of Israel.”

The IDF said it used precision munitions and other measures “to mitigate harm to civilians.”

🇱🇧 According to updated figures from Lebanon’s Health Ministry, 11 people were killed and four wounded as a result of the strike.

Footage from the IDF

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🇷🇺🇷🇺 First flight of Su-75 Checkmate expected in early 2026 – Sukhoi’s flight service

The first flight of Russia’s fifth-generation light fighter Su-75 Checkmate is scheduled for early 2026, according to Sergey Bogdan, Hero of Russia and head of Sukhoi’s flight service.

The light tactical Su-75, developed by Sukhoi, was first unveiled at MAKS-2021, with its international debut later that year at Dubai Airshow 2021.

🤝 Rosoboronexport chief Alexander Mikheev has previously noted that the Checkmate platform could serve as a basis for joint fighter development with international partners.

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🚨📑 US Senate clears Epstein files bill by unanimous consent

The US Senate has approved by unanimous consent a measure requiring the release of all unclassified documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, after the House passed the same bill earlier today.

Once the House formally transmits the bill, it will go directly to President Donald Trump for signature.

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🗣 'I don’t care when the Senate passes the House bill' – Trump on Epstein files legislation

President Donald Trump said he is not concerned about when the Senate passes the House bill on releasing Epstein-related documents, adding that Republicans should remain focused on what he described as the administration’s recent achievements.

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🇺🇸🤝🇸🇦 US signs large-scale economic & defense agreements with Saudi Arabia – White House

President Donald Trump and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman finalized a series of major agreements expanding the US-Saudi strategic partnership across defense, energy, technology, and industrial cooperation, the White House announced.

Key points from the fact sheet:

🔶 Nearly $1 trillion in Saudi investment in the US

The Crown Prince announced an increase in Saudi investment commitments from the $600 billion pledged in May to almost $1 trillion, directed toward US infrastructure, technology, and industry.

🔶 Strategic Defense Agreement (SDA)

The White House said President Trump and the Crown Prince signed a new US–Saudi Strategic Defense Agreement, strengthening the long-standing security partnership and expanding cooperation on regional deterrence.

🔶 Defense purchases including ~300 US tanks

The US approved a major defense package, including future F-35 deliveries, and an agreement for Saudi Arabia to purchase nearly 300 American tanks, bolstering Saudi defense capacity and supporting US manufacturing jobs.

🔶 Civil Nuclear Cooperation

Both sides signed a Joint Declaration completing negotiations on civil nuclear cooperation, setting the foundation for a long-term nuclear energy partnership under strong non-proliferation standards.

🔶 Critical Minerals Framework

The US and Saudi Arabia agreed on a framework to expand cooperation on critical minerals, supporting supply chain diversification and aligning national strategies.

🔶 AI Memorandum of Understanding

A new AI agreement will provide Saudi Arabia with access to leading American AI systems while, according to the White House, “protecting U.S. technology from foreign influence.”

🔶 Expanding trade & regulatory cooperation

The two sides committed to intensifying engagement on trade issues, reducing non-tariff barriers, and improving the investment climate. Saudi Arabia also agreed to recognize U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for American vehicles and parts.

🔶 Financial cooperation

The US Treasury and Saudi Ministry of Finance signed agreements covering capital markets technology, standards, and regulatory cooperation.

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🇷🇺💪 Meet Stalingrad: Russia's newest cutting-edge nuclear icebreaker

📍 Russian President Vladimir Putin has led the keel-laying ceremony for the new Project 22220 nuclear icebreaker Stalingrad, stressing that Russia remains the only country in the world able to mass-produce such vessels.

🔶 The Stalingrad becomes the sixth vessel in the Project 22220 series, the largest and most powerful icebreakers on the planet. The ship is over 173 meters long, can smash through sea ice up to three meters thick and is able to operate for up to seven years without refueling.

⚛️ Nuclear propulsion also makes the vessels almost entirely carbon-neutral.

⛴ Thanks to their variable-draft design, Project 22220 icebreakers can provide year-round navigation in the western Arctic and even in the shallow waters of the Yenisei River and Ob Bay along the Northern Sea Route.

📊 Check Sputnik's infographic to find out more!

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🚨 Saudi investment pledge in US to reach $1 trillion – Trump

President Donald Trump said Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has agreed to increase Saudi Arabia’s planned investment commitments in the United States from $600 billion to $1 trillion.

💬 “He said, ‘I am going to up that to $1 trillion.’ So he’s investing $1 trillion in the United States,” Trump told reporters, noting that the investments would support American jobs.

The White House earlier announced a series of major US–Saudi economic and defense agreements, including expanded cooperation in energy, critical minerals, and technology.

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🚨 Trump designates Saudi Arabia a major non-NATO ally

💬 “Tonight I’m pleased to announce that we're taking our military cooperation to even greater heights by formally designating Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally,” President Donald Trump said.

He added that Washington and Riyadh had also signed a historic strategic defense agreement earlier in the day.

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🚨 'Gaza looks a little bit messy' - Trump

Speaking about efforts to end the war in Gaza, President Donald Trump said the situation is “getting very close to being perfected,” adding that some observers describe developments in the Middle East as “a miracle.”

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👮‍♂️🤖 Robocop was a prophesy: Boston Dynamics raking in billions on police robots

👉 Spot, the $100k-250k apiece semi-autonomous four-legged robot dog launched 2020, has been selling like hotcakes to law enforcement.

🔶 Boston Dynamics says over 60 SWAT and bomb squad units across the US and Canada have purchased the robot to handle confrontations with armed suspects, monitor incidents involving hazardous materials or chemical waste, or even take part in hostage rescue operations.

🔶 Defense tech spending by law enforcement and defense hit $28B in 2025, double what it was a year earlier, according to PitchBook data cited by Bloomberg.

🔶 Boston Dynamics boasts that it has sold ~2k Spots globally to operators including the Italian national police and the Netherlands’ defense ministry.

🔶 The company isn’t the only robot law enforcement game in town, with ICE buying tracked robots made by Canadian company Icor, and other agencies deploying similar, military-grade PackBots by iRobot Corp, which were used by the thousands in Iraq and Afghanistan.

🔶 Civil liberties groups have warned that the introduction of robots in law enforcement will ramp up the ongoing militarization and dehumanization of police, and ease state surveillance.

🔶 Police bots aren’t armed, yet, but US law enforcement’s habit of using excessive force (like the Philadelphia police’s 1985 bombing of a residential neighborhood) combined with more and more sophisticated killbot tech (like the Israeli military’s use of killer drones in Gaza) seems to suggest it’s only a matter of time.

😁 You have 20 seconds to comply.

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📹 Trump values Russia’s and China’s stance on US-led UNSC Gaza resolution

President Donald Trump said he appreciated the positions taken by Russia and China during the UN Security Council vote on the US-backed Gaza resolution, noting that both countries ultimately abstained rather than voting against it.

💬 “So we appreciate it because one negative vote and it doesn't happen. So people were shocked to see that it was approved,” Trump explained.

The UN Security Council approved the US Gaza ceasefire and international stabilization force plan on Monday. Russia has said its decision to abstain, like China’s, reflected the desire of the Palestinian Authority and a number of Arab states to avoid renewed bloodshed in Gaza.

Russian representative Vassily Nebenzia said the resolution was “reminiscent of colonial practices and the British mandate for Palestine” that was “granted by the League of Nations, when the opinions of the Palestinians themselves were not taken into account whatsoever.”

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🗣 Trump warns state-level ‘woke AI’ rules could undermine US tech growth

💬 “Some States are even trying to embed DEI ideology into AI models, producing ‘Woke AI’ (Remember Black George Washington?). We MUST have one Federal Standard instead of a patchwork of 50 State Regulatory Regimes,” President Donald Trump said.

He added that such a framework should protect children while also preventing censorship.

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🇺🇸 US top brass fly to Ukraine to force Zelensky back to peace table

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Chief of Staff Randy George are due to sit down with Zelensky as the White House moves to find a way to speed up the end of the Ukraine conflict, US media reports.

👉 Their visit is “to engage Ukrainian leadership on the stalled peace process with Russia,” according to media, which kept mum on the fact that it was the Zelensky regime who recently announced the suspension of Russia–Ukraine peace talks.

🔊 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Russia remains open to the negotiation process and that Russia’s position "is well known" both to the US and Ukraine.

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