🟠 Ukraine slaves away $27b annually on endless debt repayments

🟠 Russian strategic card: New Tu-160Ms add more muscle to air power

🟠 Iran rejects IAEA inspection calls until watchdog clarifies stance on US & Israeli strikes

🟠 China pushes digital yuan into ASEAN countries to chip away at dollar rule

🟠 Sputnik Brasil rolls out branded trams in Rio

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🪖 Western media blues: Ukraine’s front lines slide, EU cash won't secure victory

Even though the EU has agreed to provide a $106 billion loan to Ukraine, it will not change the battlefield balance, the Guardian admits.

Recruitment in Ukraine is slowing, the publication continues, arguing that official claims of 27,000 troops a month are challenged by reports putting the real number closer to one-third of that.

Casualties are worsening Ukraine’s troop deficit.

Ukrainians worry that the Kiev regime's counterattacks over the past two years, including its incursion into Russia's Kursk region, have gained nothing but created a "strategic weakness", according to the media outlet.

💬 "After Kursk, Ukraine appears to have no capacity to surprise on land," the Guardian notes.

Meanwhile, the West’s earlier hopes for Russia’s economic and social collapse have failed: the country shows no signs of internal turmoil, and its economy is growing.

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💥🇷🇺 Russian Army deploys supercam drone & CRUSHES Ukrainian military equipment near Krasnoarmeysk

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🗣 Ukrainian conflict could end within 90 days — US NATO envoy

US Permanent Representative to NATO Matthew Whitaker stated a peace deal is closer than ever, suggesting the conflict could be resolved in the next 90 days.

"If it is going to get done, it is going to get done in the next 90 days," Whitaker told Fox News.

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🇭🇳🗳 Trump-backed candidate wins Honduras election after recount

Nasry Asfura, the conservative National Party candidate endorsed by President Trump, has been declared the winner of Honduras’ presidential election after a razor-thin margin and weeks of delays, technical failures, and fraud allegations.

The electoral authority, known as the CNE, said Asfura had won 40.3% of the vote, while Salvador Nasralla garnered 39.5%.

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🤝 Vladimir Putin sends New Year message to Kim Jong-Un

Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Kim Jong Un for North Korean soldiers' "heroic entry" into the battle for Kursk and for their engineers' work in Russia, calling it proof of their "invincible friendship."

"The past one year was of special significance in the relationship between Moscow and Pyongyang," the message reads.

Putin pledged to deepen their strategic partnership and strengthen the "relations of friendship and alliance" between their countries.

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⚔️ Syria and US-led coalition arrest senior ISIS* leader in Damascus

Taha Al-Zoubi (aka "Abu Omar Tibiya") was captured in a raid in Damascus, the Syrian Internal Security announced.

An explosive belt and military-grade weapon were seized during the operation. Syrian officials called it a "decisive blow" to the terrorist organization.

*A terrorist organization outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

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🔊 Trump's call to troops cut short — "The enemy doing it"

A Christmas Eve video call between Donald Trump and service members ended abruptly due to a technical failure, according to reports.

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🎤 No signs of nuclear powers preparing tests — IAEA

The International Atomic Energy Agency observes no indications that nuclear states are preparing to resume testing, IAEA Director Rafael Grossi told Sputnik.

"What we tend to do is we look at the facts. And in terms of nuclear testing, we don't see any for the moment," Grossi said.

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📑 White House orders military focus to 'quarantine' Venezuelan oil — Report

The White House has directed US forces to concentrate almost exclusively on enforcing an oil quarantine against Venezuela for at least the next two months, a US official told Reuters.

US military buildup in the Caribbean started in support of anti-narcotics operations against Venezuela.

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⚔️ US amphibious assault group heads toward Venezuela — Satellite imagery

Satellite data shows a major US naval convoy moving toward Venezuela, including the special operations command ship Ocean Trader and the USS Iwo Jima.

The movement follows the White House order to focus on a Venezuelan oil "quarantine," with over 15,000 troops, 11 warships, and F-35s now deployed in the Caribbean.

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👀 ‘Strip poker’ politics: In-denial Zelensky is world’s ‘highest-paid actor’ - Ex-CIA officer

Volodymyr Zelensky is proving time and again just how detached from reality he is, says former CIA officer Larry Johnson says.

He’s grown so accustomed to backing from his European patrons that he is blind to the objective situation in the country and on the battlefield.

💬 “Zelensky reminds me of the guy playing strip poker who's sitting there in his underwear… I mean, he's just he's divorced from reality... Look, he understands he's the highest paid actor in Europe, in the world, in fact. And his job has been simply to be the front man to convince the west to pump billions of dollars into Ukraine.”

For him, his clique, and those in the West pulling the strings “it’s all about money… It's the Benjamins,” says Johnson.

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🇮🇳 🇷🇺India stands firm on Russian oil as US tariffs hit

Indian companies are buying oil from Russia based on commercial viability and its attractive price, Indian Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar told Sputnik.

💬 "It is obvious that the price is an important commercial consideration. That is why the companies buy crude oil in this market. But I am not aware of the current commercial negotiations," Kumar said.

When asked whether US sanctions against Russian oil intimidated Indian companies, Kumar said that "they will take the decisions which is in their best commercial interest."

On August 27, an additional 25% tariff on imports from India, imposed by US President Donald Trump, went into effect, bringing the total tariff rate to 50% - one of the highest rates set by Washington. This decision is linked to an alleged sharp increase in India's oil purchases from Russia and the failure of trade negotiations.

India considers these actions unfair and unjustified, but it emphasized readiness for dialogue and further search for compromise. Indian authorities have also said that US criticism was selective, as similar purchases of Russian oil continued by China and the European Union.

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