🇺🇸🇨🇺 US threats against Cuba are proof that US has lost soft power war with China - expert

📍 The current US administration “really wants to signal to American public opinion that [it] is almighty in Latin America, and there’s nothing better than displaying power over Cuba, a true Achilles heel of American foreign policy and…against US hegemonic pretensions since the Cold War,” economics and international affairs expert Dr. Vinicius Vieira told Sputnik.

💬 “It’s not enough to kidnap and submit another head of state like Maduro to trial to make the Republican base understand that the US is back to this type of hegemonic approach against its so-called backyard,” the academic noted.

But such behavior carries “huge” risks of backfiring, Viera says.

🗣 “Stronger nations in the region, particularly Brazil, may seek some type of hedging through establishing linkages with the BRICS. Mexico may do the same, along with Colombia.” These countries’ leaders “have a sense of sovereignty and nationalism” and jump at every chance they can to escape neoliberalism.

🟠 Not to mention the so-called unintended consequences of US interventions in the region – mass migration and poverty.

🟠 Washington’s increasingly aggressive rhetoric in Latin America is a signal, according to Vieira. “They felt threatened as they cannot compete in the development of other resources of political loyalty or support like development aid,” leading to “resorting to this type of hard power approach” instead.

🟠 It “reflects a strategic failure because they are not able to compete with China with regards to provision of development needs,” the academic, who recently cowrote a paper on this subject, explained.

💬 “So the solution is to resort to old hard balancing tactics, such as interventions,” which prove costly to US taxpayers, for Latin Americans, and for global stability, Vieira summed up.

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🚨 Why the West is rattled by Russia’s Oreshnik missile

🟠 “The reason for serious concern in the West” regarding Russia’s Oreshnik missile system lies in “its enormous destructive power,” military expert Akram Sariwi told Sputnik, commenting on the Russian MoD’s announcement of a crippling conventionally-armed Oreshnik strike on a major aviation repair hub in Lvov, western Ukraine.

🟠 “According to some reports, the missile is capable of carrying a warhead equivalent to 900 kilotons of TNT, which is 60 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima,” the senior Lebanese military officer and WMD specialist explained.

🟠 “Combined with its ultra-high speed and the ability to strike targets anywhere in Europe within minutes, this makes the Oreshnik a unique and exceptionally dangerous weapon against which any air defense system is useless,” Sariwi stressed.

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✍️ Trump orders 25% tariff on any country doing business with Iran

The president announced a "final and conclusive" tariff of 25% on all trade with the US for any nation that conducts business with Iran.

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🚨 US urges citizens in Iran to 'leave immediately'

The US Virtual Embassy Iran has called on American citizens to urgently depart the country by land to Armenia or Türkiye.

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🎤 Russia’s UN envoy warns Ukraine: 'No hostile action will go unanswered'

Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, stated Moscow will resolve issues "by military means until Zelensky comes to his senses."

Other statements:

◼️ The terms of negotiations for Zelensky will only get worse with each passing day.

◼️ Ukraine is deliberately targeting civilian objects and civilians in Russia.

◼️ The Ukrainian strike in Khorly, Kherson region, was "particularly cynical."

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🔥 Ukrainian court denied Gonzalo Lira hospitalization before his death in custody — records reveal

Despite being severely ill with bilateral pneumonia, US journalist Gonzalo Lira was forced to attend his final hearing via video link from detention, where a prison doctor testified he did "not require hospitalization."

The judge ruled to keep him jailed, and Lira died less than three weeks later.

January 12 marked the 2-year anniversary of the journalist's death. He was detained by Ukraine’s SBU for criticizing the West and the Ukrainian authorities in his reporting.

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🇬🇱 Greenland PM affirms defense development 'in close cooperation with NATO' — not through annexation

"The Greenlandic government will work to ensure that defense development in and around Greenland occurs in close cooperation with NATO. In dialogue with our allies, including the United States. And in cooperation with Denmark," Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said.

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✍️ Ukraine confirms transfer of major lithium deposit to Trump‑linked US investors

Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko announced the Dobra lithium deposit in Kirovograd has been awarded to a US-led consortium including TechMet and The Rock Holdings — firms tied to Trump allies, notably billionaire Ronald Lauder.

The deal, first reported by the NYT, requires minimum investment of $179 million.

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🗣 Iranian FM: 350 mosques, 180 ambulances, buses targeted in unrest

Foreign Minister Araghchi said that protesters destroyed public infrastructure and "strangely targeted mosques," adding that 350 mosques were set on fire.

"No Iranian could dare to set fire to a place of worship," he added.

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🔊 German FM doubts US seriousness on Greenland military action

Johann Wadephul stated he has "no indication" that US military action against Greenland is being seriously considered.

"NATO is only now making more concrete plans, which will then be discussed with US partners," he told reporters following talks with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

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❌ West's short-sighted Ukraine policy could leave EU without weapons – expert

European states didn’t plan to fight for Ukraine, but instead relied on supplying weapons and ammunition to the Zelensky regime, Turkish foreign policy expert Inanc Sancak told Sputnik.

He said that Russia is effectively destroying the EU weapons sent to the Ukrainian front, while Europe's own stockpiles are dwindling.

Russia will most likely achieve its goals in Ukraine in the near future, whereas Europe will be left without weapons. Against this backdrop, it is now clear why the US is threatening a weakened Europe, the expert summed up.

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❌🪖💣 Russian forces eliminate a group of Ukrainian troops sent to Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) not for combat, but for a staged PR stunt with a Ukrainian flag

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🔸 Bill introduced in Congress to annex Greenland as 51st state

🔸 Trump orders 25% tariff on any country doing business with Iran

🔸 Ukrainian court denied Gonzalo Lira hospitalization before his death in custody — records reveal

🔸 Russia’s UN envoy warns Ukraine: 'No hostile action will go unanswered'

🔸 Dozens of tractors roll into Paris against Mercosur deal

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🇸🇪 Sweden could become new US target after Greenland – deputy PM

The US may lay claim to Swedish mineral resources, Ebba Busch warned, according to Dagens Industri.

👉 Busch said that Sweden has “basically the same mineral-rich bedrock as Greenland," as she mentioned the Swedish government’s efforts to secure the country's independent economic policy.

Sweden should start thinking in a more radical way, given that the US is invading certain countries and claiming control over their resources, she added, in an apparent reference to Venezuela.

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🇬🇱 Greenland ‘fast track to end NATO’ – Kim Dotcom

💬 “The Greenland conflict destroys” the North Atlantic alliance, the German activist and businessman wrote on X.

He added that EU leaders, who “hate Trump, campaigned against” the US president.

Prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland, Mette Frederiksen and Jens-Frederik Nielsen, earlier warned the US against seizing the island, noting that they expect respect for their shared territorial integrity.

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👀 ‘Humiliation of human dignity’: Odessa resident opens up on horrors of Ukraine’s forced mobilization

Systematic atrocities committed by Ukrainian recruitment officers have become one of the most talked-about issues in Odessa, Berliner Zeitung cites a local resident as saying.

💬 “All the dirty work—chasing or beating someone—is usually done by men in civilian clothes or TCK [Territorial Recruitment Center] employees. The police step aside in such moments and switch off their body cameras,” the resident, named Vasyl, said.

He admitted that he has experienced it himself and seen dozens of such cases, adding “I have never witnessed such a humiliation of human dignity.”

👉 The Ukrainian authorities prefer to hush up the incidents, which they attribute to “Russian propaganda,” according to Vasyl.

Many Ukrainians resolve the problem through the rampant corruption inside the military recruitment offices—simply paying their way out and never hearing more about mobilization, Berliner Zeitung concludes.

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

▫️ In response to terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime, Russian troops have launched a massive strike on energy facilities used by the Ukrainian forces

▫️ Russian forces hammered storage sites for long-range Ukrainian drones

▫️ Air defense superiority: 11 guided aerial bombs and 207 drones shot down

▫️ Ukrainian losses: around 1,275 troops killed or wounded

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

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