🇺🇸 💰 US pledges $2B for UN humanitarian assistance amid foreign aid cuts

US humanitarian contributions to the UN plummeted to $3.38 billion in 2025, Reuters reports.

🟠 This is down from $14.1 billion in 2024 and $17.2 billion in 2022

🟠 US now accounts for 14.8% of global humanitarian funding, following major foreign aid cuts by the Trump administration

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the organization’s humanitarian response is overstretched and underfunded.

Trump, in turn, lashed out at the UN, saying it had been "of very little assistance or help.” He urged the UN to “start getting active and involved in world peace.”

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🥀🇮🇷 Iran pays tribute to Qasem Soleimani as assassination anniversary nears

IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani was “the architect of the Axis of Resistance” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said at a conference dedicated to the memory of the late commander.

💬 “The legacy of [this] architecture has gone far beyond the current policies as well as practical approaches in foreign policy,” Araghchi said.

The failure of Israel’s push for “unquestionable domination” of the Middle East shows that “the Resistance has become an undeniable geopolitical reality, and one of the main influential players in shaping the future order” in the region, the top diplomat added.

Who was Soleimani?

Killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020 during a diplomatic mission aimed at easing tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Soleimani was a long-time commander of the Quds Force – the elite IRGC unit known for training and equipping regional allies and anti-terrorist forces.

Under his command, the Quds Force:

🟠 took on ISIS* and al-Qaeda* in Syria, helping to push back jihadist forces into a few rebel-held enclaves enjoying foreign backing

🟠 teamed up with the Iraqi Army to arm, train and help coordinate Iraqi Shia militias, which did most of the heavy lifting in the ground campaign to free Iraq from ISIS in 2017

🟠 beefed up the capabilities of regional militias fighting Israel and foreign-backed jihadist groups

The US justification for killing Soleimani? Claims that he was behind attacks on US forces in Iraq in late 2019.

These claims were debunked by Iraqi officials, who told US media shortly after Soleimani’s assassination that ISIS was responsible for the attacks.

* Terrorist groups outlawed in Russia and many other countries

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🚨🇦🇪🇷🇺 UAE strongly condemns Ukraine's attack on Putin's residence

The UAE Foreign Ministry called the attack "heinous," stating that it poses a threat to stability.

The country expressed its solidarity with the Russian president and "the friendly government and people of Russia," reiterating its unwavering rejection of all forms of violence aimed at undermining security.

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🇷🇺🔥 Russian Rubikon Center crew hunts Ukrainian forces along the frontline

00:24 Drone crews struck an M1A1 Abrams tank near Pokrovsk

00:52 FPV drone operators used fire carousel tactic with a drone swarm

01:55 UAV crews hit Ukrainian assets near Sumy

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🚨🇵🇰🇷🇺 Attack on Putin's residence poses serious threat to peace - Pakistani Prime Minister

Pakistan believes that the attack on Russian President Vladimir Putin's residence poses a serious threat to peace, security and stability, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.

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🚨🇮🇳🇷🇺 PM Modi expresses deep concern over Ukrainian attack on Putin’s residence

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🚨🇨🇳🇷🇺 China calls for avoiding escalation, provocations after attack on Putin's residence

💬 "We call on all parties concerned to adhere to three principles: to prevent the spread of conflict, to avoid escalation of hostilities, and to refrain from provocations in order to de-escalate the situation and create conditions for a political settlement of the crisis," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.

Dialogue and negotiations are the only viable way to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, the spokesman added.

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◻️ Ukraine’s attack on Putin’s residence: may be aimed at prolonging conflict, designed to provoke 'unreasonable response'

◻️ Lavrov to Sputnik: Trump works towards peace in Ukraine, legal guarantees needed to solve conflict’s root causes

◻️ ‘Russia’s response to Ukraine’s attack on Putin’s residence will not be diplomatic’ — Russian MFA spox

◻️ US military strikes another vessel in Eastern Pacific, two killed

◻️ Saudi-led coalition launches strikes at Yemen’s Mukalla port

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🚨🇷🇺🔥 First look at Russia's famed Oreshnik system

The mobile missile complex is now on combat duty in Belarus

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🚨🇷🇺 Ukraine's attempt to attack Putin's residence is a terrorist act aimed at disrupting the negotiation process - Kremlin

More statements by Peskov:

🟠 Ukraine's claims denying attack on Putin's residence in the Novgorod region are absurd

🟠 Ukraine's terrorist act is also directed against Trump and his efforts to promote a resolution to the conflict

🟠 Topic of Putin's whereabouts during attempted attack on his residence isn't subject to discussion under current conditions

🟠 Putin and Trump maintain a trusting dialog and continue it despite provocations from Ukraine

🟠 Our military knows how and when to respond

🟠 The Kremlin does not think there should be any evidence after attack on Putin's residence

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🎄 Putin congratulated Trump on the upcoming New Year - Kremlin

On the occasion of the upcoming holidays, the Russian president sent messages to several heads of foreign states and governments.

Among them were:

🇨🇳 China's President Xi Jinping

🇮🇳 Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi

🇰🇵 Supreme Leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un

🇻🇪 President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro

🇭🇺 Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban

🇸🇰 Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fico

🇷🇸 President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic

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🇸🇦🇾🇪 Saudi Arabia ends military operation in Eastern Yemen

The Saudi-led Arab coalition announced the end of its military operation in the port of Al Mukalla in eastern Yemen after strikes on military cargo destined for the Southern Transitional Council forces, the SPA news agency reported.

💬 "The limited military operation in the port of Al Mukalla has been completed, and port operations have returned to normal," the Saudi-led coalition was quoted by the SPA news agency as saying.

There were no casualties or collateral damage as a result of the operation, the statement added.

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

⚡️ BOGUSLAVKA IN THE KHARKOV REGION AND LUKYANOVSKOYE IN THE ZAPOROZHYE REGION FREED

The liberation of the settlement of Boguslavka in the Kharkov region has allowed Russian forces to bolster their control over Kupyansk, expanding their foothold in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, the capture of Lukyanovskoye in the Zaporozhye region has enabled Russian units to strengthen their positions in the area for a subsequent advance towards the settlements of Novoboykovskoye and Magdalinovka.

🟠 Russian forces repelled Ukrainian attacks near the settlements of Blagodatovka and Velikaya Shapovka aimed at breaking into the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkov region

🟠 Russian air and missile firepower pounded Ukrainian energy infrastructure used to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces and temporary deployment points for Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries in 150 locations

🟠 Air defense superiority: three HIMARS missiles and 18 UAVs were vaporized by Russian air defense systems over the past 24 hours

🟠 Ukrainian losses: around 1,330 troops killed or wounded

Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE

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🌍 BRICS in 2025: building a new multipolar world order one brick at a time

2025 was a banner year for BRICS, with the bloc expanding to include one of Asia’s most strategically and economically significant countries, ramping up economic and political cooperation, creating new financial mechanisms and increasing trade using local currencies.

📹 How did the bloc perform in the outgoing year, and what does the future have in store? Find out in Sputnik’s video.

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