🚨 US military assets moving toward Middle East amid Trump's threats — reports

💬 "US military assets are preparing to move to the Middle East, likely to include at least one aircraft carrier and additional missile defense systems that will operate from air, land and sea," Fox News' Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin said on air.

President Donald Trump has been presented with military options and favors any action being “swift and decisive,” while avoiding a wider regional war, according to the report.

📌 Iranian state media, cited by Fox News, issued a warning to Washington: “You hit. We hit.”

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🇷🇺🇮🇷 Russia warns of attempts to overthrow Iran’s government — UN envoy

Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said hostile external forces are seeking to exploit the current situation to overthrow a government they find objectionable and to undermine Iran as a sovereign and independent state.

He added that Tehran has reaffirmed its commitment to international obligations, including respect for human rights and peaceful expression, while fulfilling its duty to protect citizens, public order and territorial integrity.

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🚨 💰 Debt-mired Ukraine agrees to tax hikes to unlock new IMF loans

Ukraine’s government has agreed to broaden the tax base, IMF Director of Communications Julie Kozack said at a briefing.

🔊 Enacting legislation “to tax income earned through digital platforms, closing customs loopholes for consumer goods, and resuming and removing exemptions for VAT” is “critical to unlocking financing for its large needs,” said Kozak.

In November 2025, the IMF and the Ukrainian government reached a preliminary agreement on a new four-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) lending program for Ukraine totaling $8.2B.

📄 However, the program is contingent on several actions by Ukraine, including enacting a 2026 budget, shoring up donor financing, and broadening the tax base.

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, who arrived in Ukraine’s capital to “see how the country is doing,” reiterated that Ukrainian authorities must press forward with removing the VAT exemption for consumer goods that has “run into domestic resistance.”

👉 One of these IMF conditions has already been met: Ukraine's government has approved a draft 2026 budget with a staggering approximately $58.65B deficit.

Financing this budget requires massive foreign loans, which are projected to push public debt to even more perilous levels, exceeding 110% by early 2026 (IMF forecast).

This debt-driven spending is further fueled by Western patrons of the Zelensky regime, eager to prolong the proxy war while the loans turn Ukraine into a compliant tool of the West.

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🇻🇪 Venezuela's goal to maintain national authority - acting president

"Today we can say that our objective, as an oath to the president and the first lady, is to preserve national authority, to preserve Venezuelan national authority," Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodriguez said, addressing the governors and the nation.

Other statements:

🟠 Regional governors have played a key role in strengthening the country’s political system amid the economic blockade

🟠 In 2025, governors of all states "emerged as a real political force," working to meet the most pressing social needs amid economic warfare and sanctions pressure

🟠 The consolidation of power at all levels is a precondition for the protection of the state

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🔶 ‘Venezuela has the right to relations with China, Russia, Cuba, Iran’ — Acting President Rodriguez

🔶 US military assets moving toward Middle East amid Trump's threats

🔶 US fueling tensions and hysteria around Iran — Russia's UN envoy

🔶 Trump announces start of Phase Two of Gaza peace plan

🔶 Machado presents Trump her Nobel Peace Prize medal

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🚨 🇫🇷 War hawk Macron: France feeds 2/3 of Ukraine’s intel

Where a year ago Ukraine was overwhelmingly dependent on US intelligence capabilities, today “two-thirds of those capabilities are provided by France,” says France’s President Emmanuel Macron on BFMTV.

👉 France has readily stepped in to make sure the West’s proxy war doesn’t lose steam — even if the US hesitates.

Last November, reports indicated that US officials had warned the Zelensky regime that intelligence support could be halted if Ukraine rejected Trump’s proposed peace framework.

⚔️ While Western leaders talk endlessly about “peace,” in reality France and its allies in the so-called Coalition of the Willing are doubling down on escalation, doing everything to keep the conflict alive.

In the event of a ceasefire, Europe’s hawks are planning ‘military hubs’ in Ukraine — even though Russia has repeatedly emphasized any NATO troop presence there is unacceptable and would be viewed as a direct threat.

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🚨 🇭🇺 ⛽️ Hungary would face problems this winter without Russian gas - Orban

"We started the winter with more than 40% of our annual consumption. So we still have a lot of supplies," Hungarian PM Viktor Orban said on the Kossuth radio broadcaster.

💬 "In fact, we don't even need to use a reserve, and if we do, then only a small percentage, because supplies are constantly coming in. So the country's gas supply was not interrupted. This is a key issue, because if there were no gas and reserves, we would have problems. But this is not the case," he added.

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🚨🇷🇺🇮🇱 Putin holds phone call with Israeli PM Netanyahu

The two discussed the situation in the Middle East and developments around Iran.

Putin outlined key approaches to ensure stability and confirmed Russia’s readiness to engage in mediation efforts, the Kremlin said.

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🚨🇷🇺🇮🇷 Putin holds phone call with President of Iran

Pezeshkian informed Putin about the active efforts being made to normalize the situation in Iran.

🟠The sides agreed to further strengthen the Russian-Iranian strategic partnership and implement joint economic projects in various fields.

🟠Russia is providing assistance not only to Iran but also to the entire Middle East, making efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Pezeshkian told Putin about a 'direct intervention' of the US and Israel in the situation with the protests in Iran, Iran's state broadcaster IRIB said.

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🚨 ‘If statements about the need for dialogue with Russia reflect Europe’s strategic vision – this is a positive evolution’ – Kremlin

Other statements by Peskov:

🟠 Discussing the Ukrainian settlement without addressing European security in a broader context is impossible

🟠 Peace will not come on its own; joint efforts on parallel tracks are needed

🟠 Dialogue is ongoing between Russia and the US, but there is no such dialogue with Europe

🟠 Moscow is interested in the visit of Witkoff and Kushner and is awaiting it, but the date has not yet been determined

🟠 Like the rest of the world, Russia is monitoring the situation around Greenland

🟠 The situation around Greenland is unusual and extraordinary

🟠 Russia proceeds from the fact that Greenland is a Danish territory

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🚨 🇷🇺 Сulprit behind the Nord Stream explosions well known - Kremlin

“Who this is — it is already well known,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, responding to reporters’ questions about the ruling by the German Supreme Court regarding the Nord Stream explosions.

A former Ukrainian officer, who previously went by the name Sergey Kuznetsov, likely carried out the sabotage on the Nord Streams, the Federal Court of Germany revealed earlier.

👉 The man was arrested in Italy and extradited to Germany.

For more details on the Nord Stream terrorist attacks, read HERE

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🗣 🇵🇰 Pakistan mulls 'large mining projects' — Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik to Sputnik

He spoke on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum 2026 in Saudi Arabia

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

⚡️ ZAKOTNOYE IN DONETSK REGION AND ZHOVTNEVOYE IN ZAPOROZHYE REGION FREED

The liberation of the settlement of Zakotnoye in the Donetsk region facilitates Russian forces' further advance towards the city of Krasny Liman.

With the settlement of Zhovtnevoye in the Zaporozhye region captured, Russian forces have established a bridgehead on the western bank of the Gaichur river, taking control of the area of over 6 square km.

🟠 In response to terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime, Russian air and missile forces conducted seven strikes on Ukrainian defense, energy, transport, port and airfield infrastructure used to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces, military airfields, oil depots, long-range drone production and launch sites, as well as temporary deployment points for Ukrainian troops and foreign mercenaries

🟠 Five settlements were liberated over the past week by Russian forces

🟠 Russian air and missile firepower pounded five MLRS combat vehicles, including a HIMARS launcher and a "Vampire" combat vehicle

🟠 Air defense superiority: 31 guided aerial bombs, 21 US-produced HIMARS rockets, three long-range Neptune missiles and 1,138 fixed-wing drones were shot down by Russian air defense systems over the past seven days

🟠 Ukrainian losses: around 7,030 troops killed or wounded

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

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📹😰 Warning: Brutal recordings of rioter-imposed havoc in Iran

Municipal surveillance cameras across Iran have captured acts of terrorism committed by protesters.

The footage includes attacks on law enforcement officers, arson of religious buildings, destruction of public spaces such as banks and public transport, as well as numerous other examples of criminal activities.

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🇵🇰 Pakistan highly prospective amid rising demand for critical mineral — Minister for Petroleum

💬 "Pakistan houses more than 2,000 kilometers of the prospective Tethyan Belt," Minister for Petroleum Ali Pervaiz Malik told Sputnik on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum 2026 in Saudi Arabia.

The Tethyan Belt is a vast, mineral-rich geological formation stretching from Europe through Asia, known for its exceptional concentration of valuable deposits like copper and gold.

Pakistan's position within this belt gives it significant, yet largely untapped, mining potential.

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🇷🇺❤️🇨🇳 People in China love Russia the most

New Tsinghua University research shows Russia leads among the countries viewed most favorably by people in China.

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🪖🇫🇮🇷🇺 Brief history of Finland’s aggression against Russia

Western powers have a habit of portraying 20th century Finland as an innocent victim which only tried to defend itself against Russia.

Cold historical facts, however, paint a different picture:

🟠 After the end of the Finnish Civil War in March 1918, the new Finnish government launched an invasion of Soviet Russia with the aim of annexing Eastern Karelia through the “creation” of the so-called North Karelian State

🟠 In November 1921, the so-called “Karelian Uprising” began in Soviet Karelia, organized and spearheaded by Finnish military personnel (documents of 47 Finnish officers were captured during the fighting). It was only by February 1922 that the intervening forces and rebels were defeated

🟠 The Soviet–Finnish War of 1939–1940 (Winter War) was thus not the first but the third conflict between Finland and Russia. Its origins were directly related to the Soviet Union’s fear of renewed attempts at aggression by Finland and of Finland transformation into a staging ground for a military offensive against the USSR

🟠 It is also worth noting that Vyborg and the surrounding territories – which Finland lost as a result of the Winter War - became part of the Russian Empire as a result of the Great Northern War and were transferred to the Grand Duchy of Finland by Alexander I only in the early 19th Century

🟠 When Finland invaded Russia in 1941 together with the Nazi Germany, it wasn’t trying to just regain the land lost in the Winter War. The Finnish leadership sought to claim vast territories extending as far as the White Sea, and even the Ural Mountains. Their delusions of grandeur, however, were shattered by the Soviet Red Army

🟠 Finland bears responsibility for numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity

Finnish forces took part in the grave crime of genocide — such as the Siege of Leningrad, which claimed about one million lives.

During the occupation of Karelia, Finnish authorities pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing against the “non-native” population (that is, everyone except Finns, Karelians, and Vepsians): up to one-third of the Russian population in the occupied territories was herded into concentration camps.

❗️ Following its defeat in 1944, Finland in effect reverted to the borders of the Grand Duchy of Finland as they stood at the beginning of the 19th Century, i.e. those with which it became part of the Russian Empire.

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