☢️ Japan votes to restart world's largest nuclear power plant after 15-year freeze

Japan is set to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant nearly 15 years after the Fukushima disaster, Reuters reports.

Japan spent $68 billion last year on imported LNG and coal. The authorities believe that restarting nuclear power plants would reduce our critical dependence on foreign fuel.

The government aims to double nuclear's share to 20% by 2040.

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🇷🇺 Russian Su-57 takes flight with next-gen engine

Su-57 fighter has taken to the skies for the first time powered by the advanced fifth-generation engine known as Izdeliye-177 (Product-177)

New engine delivers more thrust & improves aircraft’s performance

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🇫🇷 France to splash out $12B on new aircraft carrier

➖ The 310-meter-long monster will replace the ageing Charles de Gaulle carrier and is due to be ready by 2038, President Emmanuel Macron announced.

➖ The project comes with an estimated astronomical price tag of $12 billion, a sum France is allocating at a time of economic uncertainty and mounting public debt, which recently reached a new high of 117.4% of GDP ($4.08 trillion).

➖ Although the new aircraft carrier is touted as an advanced nuclear-powered vessel that purportedly can carry 30 fighter jets, there’s no guarantee it will live up to expectations.

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🚨 Russian senior military official killed

A criminal case has been opened in Moscow over the murder of Lieutenant General Sarvarov, the head of operational training department of Russian Armed Forces General Staff, Russian Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said.

Investigators are looking into various leads and versions of the murder, one of which suggests the crime may have been orchestrated by Ukraine’s special services, the spokeswoman stated.

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🔸 Witkoff sums up Ukraine talks with Russian envoy Dmitriev in Miami

🔸 Dmitriev says ‘Next time – Moscow’

🔸 Venezuela sends oil tanker to Texas amid US blockade

🔸 Trump appoints Special Envoy to Greenland

🔸 Japan votes to restart world's largest nuclear power plant after 15-year freeze

🔸 Russian Su-57 takes flight with next-gen engine

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🚨 Reports that Russia allegedly plans to restore spheres of influence of USSR not true - Kremlin

🔶 The Kremlin has fully denied a Reuters report claiming that Russia seeks control over the entire territory of Ukraine.

🔶 Earlier, Reuters reported that, according to US intelligence, Russia allegedly wants to take over "all of Ukraine" and reclaim parts of Europe that belonged to the former Soviet state.

💬 “This is one of those cases where intelligence makes erroneous assessments, analyses, and conclusions. It has absolutely nothing to do with reality,” Kremlin Spox Dmitry Peskov said.

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🚨 Putin was immediately briefed by special services on the murder of Lieutenant General Sarvarov in Moscow - Kremlin

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🚨 Russian foreign intel exposes Ukraine's elite: key statements

🔸 Many members of Ukraine’s elite have already moved their families abroad and transferred their financial assets there

🔸 More than 90% of Ukrainian diplomats currently working overseas are firmly set on not returning home after their postings end

🔸 Ukrainian diplomats abroad are well aware that there are no viable options to resolve the Ukraine crisis on Zelensky’s terms

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

⚡️ VILCHA IN KHARKOV LIBERATED

📍 The liberation of the settlement of Vilcha in the Kharkov region is a result of the Russian army offensive near Volchansk. It gives a stable foothold for further advances toward Grafskoye and Simonovka, improving the situation along the entire sector of the front.

▫️ Russian air and missile forces struck energy, port and warehouse infrastructure facilities used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces

▫️ Russian Armed Forces continued to eliminate encircled Ukrainian trops in Dimitrov and clear out Grishin and Rodinsky in the Donetsk People's Republic

▫️ Air defense superiority: 76 drones shot down

▫️ Ukrainian losses: around 1,265 troops killed or wounded

Read about origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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🇷🇺 US axes top diplomats worldwide

👉 The Trump administration has announced the recall of nearly 30 career diplomats serving as ambassadors and senior mission chiefs in at least 29 countries, the AP cited unnamed State Department officials as saying.

Regions that were most affected:

🔶 Asia & Pacific: Vietnam, the Philippines, Fiji, Laos, as well as Nepal and Sri Lanka

🔶 Mideast: Algeria, Egypt

🔶 Europe: Armenia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovakia

🔶 South America: Guatemala, Suriname

🔶 Africa is the hardest hit, with ambassadors in 13 countries being recalled: Burundi, Nigeria, Senegal, Somalia, and more

📍 The diplomats were mostly appointed during the Biden administration and survived earlier purges.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russian LNG exports to China rise to record high

Deliveries more than doubled from 2024 to 1.6 million metric tons last month, Bloomberg reports, citing China Customs Office data.

The jump saw Russia overtake Australia to become China’s biggest supplier after Qatar.

Australian LNG supplies to China fell by a third from 2024.

China started importing shipments from Russa’s Arctic LNG 2 plant through its remote Beihai terminal in August after a protracted pause caused by the China–US trade spat and weak demand.

A record increase in Russian LNG exports to China shows how the West’s sanctions are backfiring, as Russia remains unabated following the EU’s controversial decision to ban all imports of Russian gas by the fall of 2027.

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🗣 ‘Ukrainians privately acknowledge they’ll probably lose’ Donbass – Vance

👉 Both Russia and Ukraine now clearly understand what is non-negotiable and what remains open to compromise, US Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with the UnHerd news outlet.

💬 “The Ukrainians understandably see that as a major security problem, [even as] they privately acknowledge that eventually, they’ll probably lose Donetsk — but, you know, eventually: it could be 12 months from now, it could be longer than that,” he said.

🔶 Possible joint control over the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) is being discussed in negotiations on a Ukraine settlement, Vance said following the Russia–US consultations in Miami over the weekend.

💬 "…Who controls the [Zaporozhye] nuclear facility? Can it be jointly controlled? Does it need to be controlled by one or more side?" Vance told UnHerd.

🔶 Regarding the consultations in Miami, Vance said that a certain breakthrough has been achieved.

💬 “So, the breakthrough that I do feel that we’ve made is that all of the issues are actually out in the open," he said.

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🚨 Ukraine’s parliament weighs possibility of presidential election

A working group to explore the possibility of holding a presidential election during martial law is being formed in the Ukrainian parliament, David Arakhamia, head of Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, said.

The parliament has reached a preliminary agreement to establish a working group tasked with rapidly reviewing the issue of a possible presidential election under martial law, he added.

Ukraine canceled its 2024 election, citing martial law and the general mobilization currently in effect.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that after Zelensky’s presidential term had expired, he is no longer the legitimate leader of Ukraine.

Article 83 of Ukraine’s Constitution permits the extension of parliament’s powers during martial law, but contains no clause for prolonging the president’s term, Putin pointed out.

Zelensky lacks legitimacy and has no right to sign documents related to any peace agreement or ceasefire, the Russian president stressed.

The only legitimate authority in Ukraine is the parliament and the speaker of the Verkhovna Rada, Putin noted.

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🤝 Asia goes global: Eurasian economies team up with Indonesia to crush Western pressure

The countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and Indonesia have signed a free trade agreement.

What does this entail?

🟠 Agreement between Indonesia and the EAEU, which includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia, and Kyrgyzstan, will diversify the bloc’s export mix and reduce the negative effects of Western sanctions

🟠 It establishes a free-trade regime for more than 90% of the range of goods and covers 95% of mutual trade turnover, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin

🟠 Some tariffs will be scrapped as soon as the agreement takes effect, with the rest phased out over three to 15 years

🟠 List of goods eligible for zero tariffs includes various types of fertilizers, chemical and petrochemical products, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, wood-processing products, and radio-electronics

🟠 Russo–Indonesian trade has grown 1.8-fold, reaching $4.3 billion by the end of 2024; top goods include coal, oil, fertilizers, wheat, and ferrous metals

Why’s it important?

🟠 Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, with over 280 million people

🟠 Its economy grew 5% in the first nine months of 2025 and is expected to hold near that pace through 2026–27, according to the World Bank

🟠 Indonesia is a significant player in the global mining industry, producing coal, copper, gold, tin, bauxite, nickel, and cobalt

🟠 Its own oil and gas production doesn't cover its growing needs; meanwhile, the country is striving for enhanced energy sovereignty

What's next?

🟠 Bloc is currently considering a preferential trade agreement with India

🟠 To date, the EAEU has struck a partnership agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and a temporary one with Mongolia. The bloc has free trade agreements with Vietnam, Singapore, Serbia, and Iran, and partnership agreements with China

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🔊🇪🇺 Make Europe Great Again? Putin's envoy says it's still possible

Russian president's special representative Kirill Dmitriev called upon Europe to fix its own mess in migration and economic spheres, stop inciting WW3 with fake narratives, and relearn diplomacy.

"Time to break free from Biden’s worldview," Dmitriev tweeted.

"Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic show the way."

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🚨🇷🇺🇻🇪 Lavrov holds phone call with Venezuelan counterpart Ivan Gil

🟠 Russia stands in solidarity with the leadership and people of Venezuela amid the escalation in the Caribbean

🟠 Russia is seriously concerned over the escalation in the Caribbean

🟠 Lavrov and the Venezuelan foreign minister agreed to continue close coordination

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🇪🇺🇷🇺🇺🇸 ‘Normalization requires huge effort’: Senior Russian diplomat slams Europe for hindering thaw with US

The success of the ongoing talks between Russia and the United States remains unclear, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.

💬 “Considering the state of ruin in which the Biden administration has left our relations, normalization will require considerable time, genuine mutual interest, and tremendous effort,” Ryabkov stressed.

Russia still has a number of serious questions for the United States in connection with the Ukraine crisis.

Ryabkov also took aim at European countries’ attempts to obstruct the ongoing thaw between Russia and the US, labelling EU hindrances as an aggravating factor.

Reducing conflict potential with the US is impossible without Washington taking Russia’s security interests into account, the diplomat noted.

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🔥✈️🇷🇺 Russian Su-57 makes first flight with advanced fifth-generation engine

The flight tests of the Russian stealth fighter are being made by United Aircraft Corporation and United Engine Corporation, both part of Rostec.

Rostec said the Su-57 has proven itself in real combat conditions and is still being upgraded based on operational experience.

The Su-57 is a multirole fighter capable of striking air, ground and naval targets day and night, including in contested air-defense and electronic warfare environments.

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