🐾 In Malaysia, a cat got stuck inside an ATM — and a civil defense officer had to climb into the machine to rescue it, with the shaken feline escaping unharmed. 🐾

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🚨🪖 Pentagon puts 1,500 troops on alert for possible Minnesota deployment — reports

The Pentagon has placed about 1,500 active-duty troops on alert for a possible deployment to Minnesota, as President Donald Trump considers invoking the Insurrection Act, Axios reported.

According to Axios, there is no confirmed plan to send troops at this stage. A Pentagon spokesperson said the military is “always prepared to execute the orders of the Commander-in-Chief if called upon.”

The move comes amid escalating tensions following the killing of a Minneapolis woman by an ICE officer and growing clashes between state officials and the federal government. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said deploying troops would be a “shocking step,” while state leaders have urged de-escalation.

Axios noted the Pentagon has neither confirmed nor denied the alert, though multiple outlets reported the troops would come from the 11th Airborne Division based in Alaska.

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🇨🇦🇩🇰 Canada weighs troop deployment to Greenland amid NATO exercises — reports

Canada is considering sending a small contingent of soldiers to Greenland to take part in Danish-led NATO military exercises, as a show of solidarity with Denmark, The Globe and Mail reported, citing senior government officials.

According to the report, the Canadian Armed Forces are awaiting final approval from Prime Minister Mark Carney. If approved, the troops could be deployed as early as this week.

🪖 The Globe and Mail noted that Canada already has CF-18 fighter jets and a Cormorant helicopter in Greenland as part of a NORAD exercise involving the United States.

Carney said recent US tariff threats linked to Greenland represent a “worrisome intensification” of the situation, adding that NATO is capable of safeguarding the island’s security. The potential deployment would be part of Operation Arctic Endurance, a NATO exercise aimed at reinforcing allied commitment to Denmark and Greenland.

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🔥🇩🇪 German lawmaker calls for withdrawal of US forces and weapons

The Member of the Federal Executive Board of the BSW Party, Sevim Dağdelen, said US troops should be withdrawn from Germany, along with US nuclear weapons stored at Büchel, and called for an end to plans to deploy US medium-range missiles.

In a post on X, Dağdelen said the missile deployment would make Germany “even more of a target,” and argued that removing foreign forces and weapons would improve the country’s security.

Her post appeared to be a response to a news report on rising tensions linked to US tariff threats and the dispute over Greenland.

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🇩🇪🇺🇸 Germany weighs higher rent for US bases amid tariff tensions — reports

Germany is considering significantly increasing the rent it charges the United States for operating major military bases on German soil, including Ramstein and Stuttgart, as part of a broader discussion on responses to potential US tariffs linked to Greenland, The Times reported, citing sources.

💰 According to the report, German officials have denied plans to expel US forces but said higher rental fees remain a possible option. The Times noted that the bases are critical for Washington’s ability to project military power into Africa and the Middle East.

🛢 The newspaper added that European leaders are also examining other potential measures, including reciprocal tariffs, export taxes, regulatory restrictions on US goods, and even energy and defense decoupling, though officials acknowledge that any retaliation would carry significant economic risks for Europe itself.

❌ No decisions have been taken and any move could trigger strong countermeasures from Washington, the report said.

The image is AI-generated

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🚨 Ukrainian command uses threats and intimidation to prevent surrender – Russian officer

👉 Ukrainian soldiers are threatened with “public harassment” of their families if they desert their units or surrender, an officer from Russia’s Yug Battlegroup who goes by the callsign “Python” tells Sputnik.

💬 “There have been cases where prisoners said they were told: if you go AWOL, or if you leave frontline positions or surrender, you’ll face up to ten years in prison. On top of that, there will be pressure on your family. As I understand it, not from any special services, but simply harassment. That is, neighbors, acquaintances—everyone will know that the person surrendered,” says the officer.

🔶 He expressed the view that many soldiers do not surrender out of fear for their families.

🔶 Such harassment, he added, may be organized by Ukrainian so-called “civic activists.”

🔶 Another contributing factor is that Ukrainian troops on the front line are disoriented.

💬 “They might want to run, but they simply don’t know where to go. New reinforcements are brought in, dumped into some pit, and that’s where they sit, not knowing where they are. There were cases where we had already advanced far ahead, yet a man had been sitting there for two months—essentially in our rear. When we finally find him and dig him out, he doesn’t understand what happened,” notes the officer.

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🇷🇺🇺🇸 Russia–US trade surged nearly 25% in first Trump year

👉 Trade between Russia and the United States hit roughly $4 billion in the first year of Donald Trump’s new administration, according to calculations based on US Customs data.

From January to October of last year, bilateral trade increased to $3.9 billion, up from $3.2 billion over the same period in 2024 under Joe Biden.

📈 This represents a 23.9% year-on-year increase.

🇺🇸🚢 What the US ships to Russia:

🟠 Medical instruments — $53.9 million

🟠 Sauces and syrups — $34.9 million

🟠 Chemical analysis equipment — $33.8 million

🟠 Pharmaceuticals — $27.9 million

🟠 X-ray equipment — $23.6 million


🇷🇺🚢 Russia also increased its exports to the US:

🟠 Nitrogen fertilizers — $1.1 billion (up twofold)

🟠 Platinum — $732.9 million

🟠 Potash fertilizers — $266.5 million

🟠 Gas turbines — $80.7 million

🟠 Plywood — $61.1 million

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🤡 Kaja Kallas ‘fixated’ on imaginary Russia and China threat – analyst

For EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas it’s obvious there’s no Russian threat in Greenland, and the idea of a Chinese threat is “so fantastic that it belongs in the wilder realms of fiction,” says British military analyst Alexander Mercouris.

Yet she keeps bringing up Russia and China, revealing her “underlying fixation.”

💬 “As a Baltic politician, she senses deep down that after the way in which the Baltic states have massively mismanaged their relations with Russia, the only security that they still have is through preservation of the alliance with the United States,” notes the analyst.

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🚨 West’s gamble to defeat Russia through Ukraine backfired - ex-US army officer

👉 Every real chance for diplomacy over the Ukraine conflict was shot down by the West, says retired US Lt. Col. Daniel Davis.

🗣 “Every time there was an opportunity for a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict, the US rejected it. We said no, we don't want that. We only want Russia to lose,” he notes, adding:

💬 “Europe has been the biggest enabler of this… The Biden administration did nothing but try and defeat Russia through the vehicle of Ukraine. That didn't work.”

🇷🇺 Russia has continued to get stronger, underscores the analyst, and everything that was done by the West to try and “weaken it” has failed.

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🇪🇺🇺🇸 ‘Spineless’ Europe may lose its vitality under US hegemonic pressure

📍 European countries demonstrate blatant double standards by forcefully cutting economic and trade ties with China while "bowing at every turn" to the US, which humiliates the EU by coercing it to forgo Greenland, the Global Times writes.

Here are some key points:

🟠 While European nations tout free trade, they discriminate against Chinese companies such as Huawei despite the lack of any factual basis, so the move risks driving the EU into technological and economic dependence on the US.

🟠 This demonstrates Europe’s "cognitive bias of overstretching security concept,” the Global Times explains — the EU pushes arguments of security to undermine normal economic ties with others.

🟠 This, however, backfires, as European leaders deprive their own citizens of access to cheap goods and advanced technologies, further isolating themselves. 

🟠 In the political sphere, Europe remains silent amid the American op in Venezuela and pressure on Iran, yet it cannot muster a strong response even to US threats over Greenland.

"Europe really needs to wake up: Continuing to be mired in the quagmire of double standards will only exhaust its own vitality," the Global Times concludes.

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🔸 Russian AI-powered Burevetsnik missile to be stealthy

🔸 Why the US is unlikely to send troops into Iran

🔸 Canada weighs troop deployment to Greenland amid NATO exercises — reports

🔸 Russia’s gold reserves surge $130B in a year

🔸 Russia–US trade surged nearly 25% in first Trump year

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🚨🇬🇱 Ret. US Lt Col: Greenland likely to become part of US

👉 Unfortunately, Greenland has little choice, says US Army Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen, adding that the Arctic island may become a part of the United States in the foreseeable future.

Trump’s interest in acquiring Greenland is motivated by the prospect of a stronger presence in the Arctic, access to the island's reserves, control over trade routes in the region and the deployment of strategic weapons and missiles there, the expert added.

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🇷🇺 Russia doesn’t need permission of 'morally vacuous' EU talking shop in Ukraine — journalist

While Europe has always touted itself as a moral beacon, in reality it is exploiting Ukraine to destabilize Russia according to long-established plans, Irish journalist Chay Bowes says.

Under such conditions "Russia doesn’t and shouldn’t need to seek the permission of the European Union," he explains, adding that the EU’s unelected leaders are “utterly morally vacuous, talking shop."

💬 "I don’t see how anybody now, even the most radical anti-Russian, could suggest that the Europeans have any moral authority remaining," Bowes concludes.

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🚨🇷🇺Putin invited to join Gaza 'Peace Council'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has received a diplomatic invitation to join the newly announced “Peace Council” on Gaza, with Moscow reviewing the proposal and broader international developments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Other statements:

🔶Russia is studying all the details of the proposal and hopes to hold contacts with the US to clarify the format and scope of the initiative

🔶The Kremlin is closely monitoring developments around Greenland, noting a growing flow of concerning information in recent days

🔶Moscow remains in contact with Venezuela’s authorized presidential representative through diplomatic channels

🔶No meeting is currently scheduled between President Putin and Venezuela’s representative Delcy Rodriguez in the coming days

🔶Putin will hold a meeting with the permanent members of Russia’s Security Council on Monday

🔶Putin took part in the traditional Epiphany ice bathing ritual

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

⚡️ NOVOPAVLOVKA IN DONETSK & PAVLOVKA IN ZAPOROZHYE REGIONS LIBERATED

📍 The liberation of Novopavlovka made it possible to break the Ukrainian line of defense and create conditions to isolate two large enemy groups.

📍 Gaining control over Pavlovka allows the Russian Army to close in on Orekhovo. The town is one of the key settlements in the Zaporozhye region.

▫️ The Russian Armed Forces struck the launch sites of long-range Ukrainian drones

▫️ Air defense superiority: 2 guided long-range Neptune missiles and 122 drones shot down

▫️ Ukrainian losses: around 1,305 troops killed or wounded

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

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🚨Putin holds urgent meeting with Russia's Security Council

The discussions included the central question of Russia's participation in the construction of a multipolar world.

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