▫️ Zelensky’s ‘elections’ gambit designed to muddy the waters of Trump’s peace push – analyst

▫️ Cracking of Seversk fortress is ‘catastrophe’ for Ukraine’s military – expert

▫️ Russia vows swift response to EU asset freeze

▫️ Two US soldiers killed in shooting in Syria’s Palmira

▫️ Kim Jong-un: Western forces 'cannot match' North Korea's army

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💬 Trump vows retaliation after ISIS* attack in Palmyra

"The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is extremely angry and disturbed by this attack. There will be very serious retaliation," the US president wrote on Truth Social.

* Terrorist organization banned in Russia

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🚨🇺🇸Members of Refuse Fascism movement gather near WH to protest against Trump's policies - RIA Novosti correspondent

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🇨🇳 China warns against revival of ‘militarism’ at Nanjing Massacre anniversary ceremony

💬 “History has proven and will continue to prove that any attempt to revive militarism, challenge the postwar international order, or undermine world peace and stability will never be tolerated by all peace-loving and justice-seeking peoples around the world, and is doomed to failure,” CCP Politburo member Shi Taifeng said Saturday.

Shi made the comments at a memorial ceremony dedicated to the 1937 Nanking Massacre, in which up to 340k Chinese people were killed by invading Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

🔊 “History has fully demonstrated that the Chinese nation is a great nation that fears no power and stands on its own feet,” Shi said.

The remarks come amid rising tensions between China and Japan, which launched a $300B five-year militarization drive in 2023, and recently expressed aggressive support for Taiwan, which Beijing and 3/4 of the UN consider to be an integral part of China.

🗣 “China will never allow Japan’s right-wing forces to turn back the wheel of history, never allow external forces to lay their hands on China’s Taiwan region, and never allow the resurgence of Japan’s militarism,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Friday.

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📉 💵 Customs duties drop, dashing Trump’s hopes of using tariffs to pay off debt

The Treasury Department’s monthly update on tariff revenues show a $600M drop between October and November, from $31.35B to $30.75B.

📍 It is the first time since April and the Trump administration’s introduction of Liberation Day tariffs that collections have shown a decline, in spite of the traditional uptick in imports associated with the holiday season.

Market experts associate the drop in revenues in part to the president’s move in mid-November to cut tariffs on over 200 other food products amid spiking grocery prices.

📊 The tariffs have also led to a weakening of imports, which dropped 7.5% year-on-year in October, and 7.8% year-on-year in November amid falling demand and efforts by US manufacturers boosted by a newfound ability to compete with cheaper imports.

President Trump has touted tariffs and crypto as key elements of his plans to pay down the US’s national debt, which is rapidly approaching the $38.5T mark. Instead, Washington has so far opted for tax cuts and an increase in spending under the One Big Beautiful Bill, and floated $2k rebate checks to Americans from tariff proceeds.

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🔥 Dmitriev taunts Merz as German Chancellor admits: "We are falling behind"

Speaking at CSU Party Convention in Munich German Chancellor Friedrich Merz admitted Germany's fall:

"We are falling behind, and this has accelerated in recent years — partly due to US trade and tariff policy… We are witnessing a fundamental change in the transatlantic relationship."

Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev responded to Merz with a direct jab:

"You are falling behind because you make stupid & illegal decisions," he wrote on X.

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✍️ Lavrov warns West is 'restructuring' Bosnia, violating Dayton Agreement

In an article for Serbian newspaper Politika, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov accused the West of launching a "multi-tiered campaign against the Serbs" aimed at dismantling the Dayton peace framework and forcibly integrating Bosnia into NATO.

Key details:

🔶 The West is forming an illegal Kosovo-Albanian "army" and building military alliances with Pristina, altering the Balkan balance of power.

🔶 A imposed "civic concept" seeks to erase the identity of Bosnia’s constituent peoples, centralizing power against Serb and Croat rights.

🔶 The goal is to forcibly integrate Bosnia into NATO and allow one externally backed group to dominate, repeating the unilateral moves that sparked the 1990s war.

"What is happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina is by no means an isolated example of disregard for international law. Similar cases include the Kiev regime and its European patrons in Berlin and Paris blocking the implementation of the Minsk Package of Measures approved by the UN Security Council," Lavrov wrote.

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🔥 Thailand defies Trump-brokered ceasefire

Hours after President Trump announced a new ceasefire in the long-running Thai-Cambodia border dispute, Thai fighter jets struck targets and the caretaker PM vowed to continue military action.

"We will continue to perform military actions until we feel no more harm and threats to our land and people," Thai caretaker PM Anutin Charnvirakul declared.

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📑 US struggling to recruit countries for Gaza security force — Reports

The US has asked over 70 countries to contribute troops or funds for a Gaza stabilization force, but only 19 have expressed tentative willingness — and none have formally committed, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Potential contributors are reportedly only ready to deploy in Israeli-controlled areas (behind the "Yellow Line"), while the US wants them to also operate in Hamas-controlled zones. Many fear being drawn into direct combat to disarm Hamas.

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🎤 Venezuela condemns EU asset freeze as 'theft' and 'piracy'

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez has denounced the EU's decision to permanently freeze Russian Central Bank assets as a blatant violation of International Law that "undermines the legal security of investments."

Delcy calls it an illicit action by the "global North" building a "new world of legality against theft, piracy, expropriation and looting."

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🔍 Judge orders evidence returned in Comey case — door remains open for new warrant

A federal judge has now ruled that prosecutors wrongfully retained evidence seized from former FBI Director James Comey’s former lawyer.

The materials must be returned, though the DOJ may seek a new warrant.

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💬 China tells the US: Denuclearize first

Creating conditions for global nuclear disarmament depends entirely on the United States, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Sputnik.

"China always maintains its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level necessary for national security. It never participates in an arms race with anyone," he added.

The US, as the country with the largest nuclear arsenal, must fulfill its "special and primary responsibility" by further reducing its stockpiles.

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🔥🇷🇺 Russian drones decimate Ukrainian weaponry & defenses ALL along front

00:00 Tsentr battlegroup's drone operators eliminate Ukraine's manpower, robotic systems & fortified firing position

00:20 Vostok battlegroup's UAVs hit Kozak-5, HMMWV armored vehicles, motor vehicles, thwarting preparations for enemy's rotation

01:10 Russian drones destroy Ukraine's pickup truck & ATV

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🚨 US Brown University shooting: What’s known so far

At least two people have been killed and nine others injured when a shooter opened fire at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, СNN reports.

Key details:

🟠 Tragedy occurred at 16:05 local time (21:05 GMT) on Saturday, during a final exam review session in an engineering and physics building classroom

🟠 Two persons killed in the shooting were students, Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said, adding that some of those wounded are in critical condition

🟠 Police are still searching for the shooter, who was described as a male dressed in all black and estimated to be in his 30s

🟠 US Secret Service and FBI have been deployed to Providence to assist more than 400 law enforcement officers on the ground searching for the gunman

🟠 FBI has launched a tip site for members of the public to submit photo and video evidence they may have of the shooting suspect

🟠 Trump said he had been briefed on the shooting, which he slammed as a “terrible thing”

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🇷🇺 🇺🇸 Both US, Russia interested in denuclearization, non-proliferation - ex-Trump advisor

👉 The use of a nuclear weapon in a conflict could lead to "tremendous damage" to the entire world, George Papadopoulos, a foreign policy advisor to the first Trump presidential campaign, told RIA Novosti.

The fact that the US and Russia have the two largest nuclear arsenals was the reason to establish the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, he added, noting that whatever country has the third-largest arsenal "does not even come close."

"I think [Putin and Trump] are peacemakers. They want to see the best for their countries," Papadopoulos said.

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🔸 US soldiers attacked in Syria, Trump vows retaliation

🔸 US Brown University shooting: What’s known so far

🔸 Lavrov warns West is 'restructuring' Bosnia

🔸 Venezuela condemns EU asset freeze as 'theft' and 'piracy'

🔸 Venezuelans protest across the country against US actions in the Caribbean

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