📊🇩🇪 German Merz hits record disapproval rating amid country's militarization push

Around 2/3 of Germans disapprove of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s work, Bild reports, citing INSA research institute data.

About 70% of German citizens are dissatisfied with the government’s work, the outlet adds.

💬 "These are the worst values ever recorded for the chancellor and his government," INSA head Hermann Binkert said, as quoted by Bild.

Merz's ratings are in free fall as Germany pushes for military and financial aid to Ukraine amid an economic crisis, harsh connoscription law and attempts to militarize itself to become the "strongest army in Europe," per its chancellor.

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💸 Trump Jr.: Corrupt Ukraine regime lacks ‘incentive for peace’

In Monaco, “50% of the supercars… have Ukrainian plates,” says Donald Trump Jr. at the Doha Forum 2025.

💬 “Do we think that was actually earned in Ukraine?” he queries.

Weighing into the massive unfolding Ukraine corruption scandal, he adds:

💬 “They let what they believed to be the peasant class fight these wars. And there was no incentive to stop because as long as the money train was coming and they were stealing it and no one was auditing anything, the leaders, the decision makers, there was no reason for them to ever come to peace.”

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🇫🇷🇨🇳 Macron threatens China with EU tariffs — without realizing who’d really suffer (spoiler: the EU itself)

The EU may slap tariffs on Chinese goods, following the US model, if Beijing doesn’t address its trade deficit with Europe, Macron told Les Echos.

He said France has already discussed next steps with EC chief Ursula von der Leyen and claimed he still believes a peaceful resolution to the trade spat is possible.

The chest-thumping comes just days after Macron met Xi Jinping in China.

The EU is drowning in corruption scandals and losing US backing — and now picking a fight with China is supposed to be a good idea?

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🗣🇺🇸 Kellogg: US won’t put ‘boots on the ground’ in Ukraine

Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, ruled out the possibility of sending American troops to Ukraine during a discussion panel at the Ronald Reagan National Defense Forum.

🔊 Kellogg also suggested that there remain the “last 10 meters” of trying to end this conflict, and it was “really down to a couple of issues” central to a peace deal: the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the status of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant.

Russia has repeatedly emphasized that foreign troops in Ukraine would be legitimate targets.

👉 There’s no excuse for NATO troops in Ukraine even under a peace deal, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin underscored.

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🇮🇱🇵🇸 Gaza peace plan phase 2 to start soon — Netanyahu

The first phase of the Gaza peace plan is almost complete, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said during a press conference with Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Jerusalem, Times of Israel reports.

💬 “Then we shortly expect to move into the second phase,” he stated, adding that it might be a more difficult one.

After that, there will be a third phase to “deradicalize Gaza,” Netanyahu said.

On September 29, the US revealed a plan for a ceasefire and the post-war future of Gaza, approved by the UN on November 17.

🟠 The plan’s first phase includes the release of all live and deceased hostages held by Hamas

🟠 The second phase involves Israeli forces pulling out of Gaza, the deployment of an international stabilization force, and the creation of a governing body called the Board of Peace

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🪖 Conflicts flaring up in Ukrainian military over attempts to leave positions

A Ukrainian military group of 12 people came under fire, after which they left their positions without notifying their seniors, according to a radio intercept obtained by Sputnik.

The Ukrainian commander tried to send the shell-shocked soldier back to his position, threatening criminal liability for disobeying the order.

"Do you understand that I have a contusion? Or not?" the soldier said.

"What is your reason for leaving us? What is wrong with you? Check your arms and legs. We cannot replace you in any way," the commander replied.

"We have reached the position of '300s' [wounded]. Send those alive to scout," the soldier refused.

"You survived and left your positions with weapons, even though you knew it was a prison. Get back in the position. I am tired of you," the commander said.

The recording of the exchange was obtained in the Dnepropetrovsk region.

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🟠 Gaza peace plan phase 2 to start soon — Netanyahu

🟠 Macron threatens China with EU tariffs — without realizing who’d really suffer

🟠 Coup in Benin: What happened?

🟠Trump Jr.: Corrupt Ukraine regime lacks ‘incentive for peace’

🟠 Scott Ritter: Demilitarization full throttle: Ukraine's army to collapse soon

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🇯🇵🇺🇸🇨🇳 Japan pleads for US backing as it ramps up militaristic urge against China

Japanese officials believe the US hasn’t shown enough support after PM Sanae Takaichi declared a Chinese “attack” on Taiwan would trigger Japan’s military involvement, the FT reports.

Shigeo Yamada, Japan’s ambassador in Washington, asked the Trump administration to boost its public backing, according to people familiar with the talks.

The latest friction between China and Japan began after Takaichi told parliament on November 7 that if, in a hypothetical conflict over Taiwan, warships are used and a naval blockade involves the use of force, then by any measure, this would constitute a situation threatening Japan’s survival.

China reacted sharply, reminding Japan that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.

The dispute led to the indefinite postponement of the Japan–China–South Korea trilateral summit, originally planned for December.

Trump, for his part, advised Japan not to provoke China over Taiwan.

The US only recently stabilized relations with Beijing after the Trump–Xi meeting — and is unlikely to risk blowing that up now.

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🇶🇦🇵🇸 Qatar: Two-state solution for Palestine remains elusive

💬 “With... what we are seeing in the political landscape [in Israel], in the Knesset and all those resolutions that they are passing against the two-state solution, it is setting us apart from this path,” Qatar’s FM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman told Tucker Carlson at the Doha Forum.

💬 “Which is unfortunate to see that there is no enforcement to push them, that this is the only path forward – to have a two-state solution.”

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🇪🇺🇮🇳 India or EU: Which offers better prospects for Russia?

President Putin has just returned from India, where he received a very warm welcome from PM Narendra Modi.

Russia and India agreed to work together in defense, energy, and trade.

India is developing at a great rate, now vastly outperforming all the members of the EU combined.

With its population three times larger than that of the EU, Indian GDP is growing five times faster than in the EU.

GDP growth in July-September 2025:

🇮🇳 India: 8.20%

🇪🇺 EU: 1.60%

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💥🇷🇺 Russia's Yug battlegroup smashes what’s left of Zelensky regime

00:00 Msta-B howitzer crew eliminated Ukraine's 120-mm mortar near Konstantinovka.

00:18 UAV teams of the new Russian unit of Unmanned System Forces destroyed 2 enemy's drone control antennas.

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🔥🇷🇺 Mangal, Meduza & Dikobraz: Russia's top anti-drone defenses for armor

Russian engineers have come up with a number of practical, low-tech inexpensive solutions that help keep tanks and armored vehicles safe from drone strikes.

🟠 Unofficially referred to simply as ‘Mangal’ (lit. ‘barbeque grill’), this contraption is the modern incarnation of the slat armor, which consists of metal lattice or mesh mounted on a metal frame. When attached to a tank’s armor, it creates an additional layer of defense that makes it harder for drones to reach their target

🟠 Meduza (lit. 'jellyfish') is a variation of Mangal. It consists of metal cables wired to a metal frame installed on a tank turret, which vaguely resembles its aquatic namesake. This layer of cables creates an obstacle that drones cannot get through

🟠 Dikobraz (lit. ‘porcupine’) also uses metal cables but in a slightly different fashion. Instead of just hanging down from the frame, these cables stick out like a porcupine’s needles (hence the name), their ends deliberately frayed, creating a barrier for kamikaze drones

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🪖🇺🇸 US puts an end to 'utopian idealism' with new military strategy

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced a change in the Pentagon’s strategy and priorities, which he described as a shift from “idealistic Utopianism” to “hard-nosed realism.”

Rather than 'wasting time' on “democracy building, interventionism, undefined wars, regime change, climate change, woke moralizing and feckless nation-building,” the US will instead focus on its own “practical, concrete interests,” Hegseth said at the annual Reagan Defense Forum.

The US military will prioritize the defense of its own borders while the White House might even adopt a less antagonistic stance towards China.

At the same time, Hegseth used this rhetoric to justify the US military actions in the Caribbean, saying the US allegedly fights “narco-terrorists” in the region.

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🇷🇺 Russian Giatsint-B howitzer crew smashes Ukrainian stronghold near Pokrovsk

Every gain paves the way to ultimate victory🔥

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