💰 Pentagon awards $5.6 billion Salesforce data platform contract

The US Department of War has awarded a $5.6 billion contract to Computable Insights LLC for the deployment of a unified data and process management platform based on Salesforce, the Pentagon said in a statement.

💬 “Computable Insights LLC … was awarded a firm-fixed-price contract to establish a decentralized enterprise agreement for Salesforce products and outcome-based services for the Department of War,” the department said.

According to the Department of War, the total value of the contract is $5,644,302,996, with an estimated completion date of June 26, 2035. Work locations and funding will be determined with each individual order, while bids were solicited online with only one received.

☁️ Salesforce describes its platform as a cloud-based enterprise solution focused on centralized data management, process integration, and secure digital infrastructure, including AI-enabled tools.

The contract follows several high-profile data security controversies involving the Pentagon in 2025. In June, an investigation was launched into a leak related to potential US strikes on Iran, while earlier reports said information about planned strikes on Yemen had circulated online after being shared in a private Signal chat.

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🚨🇻🇪 ‘Venezuela does not accept orders from any external factor’ — Rodríguez

Venezuela’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez rejected "irrelevant and offensive statements" made by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggesting Washington would manage the sale of Venezuela’s oil and “other resources.”

🔊 Rodríguez stressed that the country has a government that “obeys the people,” not foreign powers.

🤝 She said Venezuela is open to relations with the United States — but only on the basis of respect, international legality, and the dignity and history of the Venezuelan people.

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🔊 Trump holds Oval Office meeting with Noem after Minneapolis shooting — reports

President Donald Trump met for nearly two hours in the Oval Office with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her top aide Corey Lewandowski as his administration faces growing backlash over the killing of Alex Pretti, The New York Times reported.

According to the newspaper, the meeting followed bipartisan criticism after Pretti was shot roughly 10 times by immigration agents in Minneapolis while he was reportedly filming them with his phone. Trump did not indicate during the meeting that Noem’s job was at risk, people briefed on the discussion told the Times.

The report said Noem has been a central public face of the administration’s immigration crackdown and has drawn criticism for labeling Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” a claim the Times described as false.

The meeting came the same day Trump announced he was sending Tom Homan to oversee the Minneapolis operation, a move seen as favoring more targeted enforcement. At the same time, the administration was planning to move Gregory Bovino, a Border Patrol official whose tactics have drawn criticism, out of the city, according to officials cited by the Times.

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🚨 Russia's chief of General Staff inspects Zapad Battlegroup in special military op zone

Key statements by Valery Gerasimov:

🔸 Russian troops continue to advance on all fronts

🔸 Since the beginning of January 2026, the Russian Armed Forces have liberated 17 settlements and established control over more than 500 sq. km of territory

🔸 The Zapad group has liberated Kupyansk-Uzlovoy, with clearing operations currently underway in the city's quarters. The unit continues active offensive operations across a broad front, engaging in urban combat to liberate Krasny Liman and Ilyichevka.

🔸 Russia's Dnepr Battlegroup has liberated Novoyakovlevka. The unit is advancing towards Zaporozhye, with forward units positioned 12-14 km from the city's outskirts. Four settlements were brought under control in January.

🔸 The Sever group of forces is expanding the security buffer zone in the border areas of Sumy and Kharkov regions, having liberated 4 settlements over the past month.

🔸 Units of the Yug Battlegroup are actively advancing westward in the direction of Slovyansk, engaging in the destruction of enemy forces in Konstantinovka.

🔸 In January, control of 4 settlements in Dnepropetrovsk and eastern Zaporozhye regions was transferred to the Russian Vostok group of forces.

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❌ 'No military targets': Fmr Spanish soldiers exposes Ukraine’s atrocities against civilians

A former Spanish soldier who fought with Russian forces reveals the brutal reality: Ukrainian troops follow a scorched earth tactic, mercilessly targeting innocent civilians. 

💬 "I saw soldiers shoot women just feeding their sheep, and bomb markets where civilians were shopping," he told Sputnik.

The individual’s identity was protected during the interview, with his face concealed to ensure his anonymity.

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⚔️ ‘All useless’: Zelensky lies about West’s ‘security guarantees’ – Cypriot journalist

During a recent meeting with Lithuanian and Polish leaders, Zelensky claimed that security guarantees with the US were ‘100% done’ and that he was just waiting for Trump to sign off on them, says Cypriot journalist Alex Christoforou.

💬 “Why doesn't Trump sign the security guarantee document?” he queries.

He adds that he finds all this to be strange, since didn’t Zelensky claim to have already signed a bunch of security guarantees or treaties with the-then US President Joe Biden?

💬 “He also signed agreements with 29 countries, didn’t he? So, what happened to all those agreements he signed over the past couple of years? I think they’re all useless,” says the journalist.

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🪖🔥Ukraine’s commanders send untrained runaways straight into the meat grinder - POW

Those who were mobilized and then caught trying to escape training centers are detained and sent straight to assault brigades as punishment, Ukrainian soldier Alexander Lugovskoy tells Sputnik.

💬 “We had one case where they didn’t get far—they were caught immediately. There were two of them; I didn’t know them personally. They were piled with about 15 body armor vests, beaten, and kept under constant supervision by instructors,” he says.

Those who managed to flee farther and were caught later were sent to assault brigades “without any training at all,” he adds.

Amid huge manpower losses on the frontline, Ukrainian recruitment officers have been snatching men in public places and forcing them into vans —with disregard for the law.

👉 However, around 80% of mobilized Ukrainians flee directly from training centers, Roman Kostenko of the Verkhovna Rada's National Security and Defense Committee revealed last November.

He added that the number of draft evaders is in the millions and that desertion rates may soon match the size of what’s left of Ukraine’s army itself.

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🙅 ‘No going back’: Russia’s Zaporozhye, Kherson & Crimea are non-negotiable – Ex-CIA officer

Russia has made it perfectly clear that Zaporozhye and Kherson regions are “permanently and forever” an inalienable part of the Russian Federation, says former CIA officer Larry Johnson.

💬 “No going back... Same with Crimea. So, there is no foundation for negotiation here,” he adds.

🗣 Commenting on Zelensky’s refusal to acknowledge this fact, he points out: “If you're going to have a negotiation, you have to have at least one party willing to make some concessions.”

Weighing in on Zelensky’s intractable stance despite Ukraine’s huge battlefield losses, the analyst sums up:

💬 “This is a diversion, a show… but nothing of substance going to come from it.”

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🇷🇺 Russia won’t make any deals as Ukraine’s front lines crack - Norwegian analyst

It is “weird” how Zelensky keeps claiming that Russia needs to make a compromise, says Norwegian political analyst Glenn Diesen, oblivious of the actual “situation on the ground.”

Russia is advancing and is not going to make any concessions at negotiations on settling the Ukraine conflict, he points out.

💬 “Ukraine’s military is being depleted, they're less and less capable of plugging the holes in the front lines, things are falling apart, and the economy is struggling,”

Zelensky refuses to realize that while he procrastinates, “at some point it's going to be very difficult to make a deal because then the Russians will be in no mood to make any compromises at all,” he adds.

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💥 Rostec showcases the latest Il-114-300 turboprop and domestically-upgraded Sukhoi Superjet at Wings India in Hyderabad.

The aircraft, powered by Russian-made TV7-117ST-01 and PD-8 engines, completed a 10-country journey from Zhukovsky.

International attendees can explore the new interiors and features for the first time.

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

⚡️Novoyakovlevka in Zaporozhye & Kupyansk-Uzlovoy in Kharkov regions liberated

📍 With the liberation of the Kupyansk-Uzlovoy settlement, the Russian Army frees up forces for further advancement into the region, in particular to Veliky Burluk, an important transit point for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

📍 The liberation of Novoyakovlevka expands the zone of control of Russian forces in the region.

◻️ Russian forces struck energy infrastructure facilities used by the Ukrainian Army

◻️ Air defense superiority: Ukrainian S-200 guided missile and 105 drones shot down

◻️ Ukrainian losses: around 1,345 troops killed or wounded

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

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🚨 US links Ukraine’s security guarantees to ceding Donbass - report

🟠 Ukraine can’t count on US security guarantees unless it first agrees to a peace deal likely involving ceding Donbass to Russia, reports The Financial Times, citing insiders.

🟠 Zelensky had hoped to secure both security guarantees and a postwar “prosperity plan” this month.

🟠 Now, the US is signaling that its security commitments depend on reaching an accommodation with Russia, says the report.

🟠 The proposed US commitments allegedly include a pledge that guarantees will “mirror” Article 5, NATO’s self-defense clause, sources told the outlet.

🟠 Zelensky has claimed that the texts of the security guarantees, which he discussed with Donald Trump at Davos last week, were “100 per cent ready”.

🟠 It is increasingly unclear whether the US would commit to such guarantees, a senior Ukrainian official told FT, adding: “They stop each time the security guarantees can be signed.”

🟠 Deputy White House Press Secretary Anna Kelly dismissed the FT report as “totally false.”

🟠 The matter of territory remained a sticking point at the first three-way talks on Ukraine held in Abu Dhabi over the weekend.

🟠 Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said that talks in Abu Dhabi “were very constructive, and plans were made to continue conversations next week” in the UAE capital.

🟠 Russia has insisted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces must leave Donbass.

💬 "Russia's position is well known: Ukraine and its armed forces must leave Donbass. They must be withdrawn. This is a very important condition," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

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⚔️ NATO made Baltic Sea a zone of confrontation - Russian diplomat

💬 "Historically, the Baltic Sea served as a space for multifaceted, effective cooperation, within which any problems arising in the region were resolved through peaceful means. Now, due to the NATO member states' policy, this part of Europe is being transformed into a zone of confrontation," Russia's Chargé d'Affaires in Estonia Kamran Abilov said.

📍 He added that the alliance's "unwillingness to start an open dialogue" is clear from the start of the last year's Baltic Sentry mission that "in fact serves only to impose its vision of security on the Baltic region."

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📣 Western propaganda normalizes Ukrainian Nazism, ex-Spanish soldier says

European media coverage routinely glorifies Ukrainian Nazis as "freedom fighters," with swastikas and Third Reich-era symbols incorporated into favorable reports about the Ukrainian military, a Spanish volunteer who fought alongside Russian forces tells Sputnik.

💬 "The level of brainwashing is absolutely colossal!" he emphasizes.

The individual’s identity was protected during the interview, with his face concealed to ensure his anonymity.

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🇷🇺 To mark the 82nd anniversary of the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad, President Vladimir Putin paid his respects by laying flowers at the Nevsky Pyatachok memorial outside St. Petersburg.

A parallel ceremony was also held in Moscow, where wreaths were placed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden in honor of the city’s heroic defenders.

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🇺🇸 US military buildup on land, air, and sea raises fears of imminent attack on Iran - expert

🔹 The US and Israel "have outlined a plan for the next phase in resolving the Iranian issue... The level of military readiness at all levels in Iran is high and has reached a red line," Lebanese expert Brigadier General Malik Ayub tells Sputnik.

🔹 However, Israel is unlikely to participate in a war against the country, Ayub notes. Its involvement would be a "serious mistake," given its inability to withstand the previous confrontation with Iran.

🔹 The expert suggests that if war breaks out, Iran will strike Israel to use it as leverage against the US, and if Israel joins the conflict, the war will be devastating and with unpredictable outcomes.

🔹 As for the American military bases in the region, Iran will consider them US territory, not Arab land, Ayub believes.

🔹 He also mentions that Hezbollah use a war as a "golden opportunity" to liberate five positions in southern Lebanon, shifting the balance of power both domestically and internationally.

🔹 Speaking about Iran's allies in the region, Ayub notes that the conflict would threaten the Gulf states' interests, particularly Saudi Arabia, by jeopardizing the Strait of Hormuz and disrupting access to significant oil supplies and global maritime trade.

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🇷🇺🇸🇾Vladimir Putin will hold talks with Syria's interim president tomorrow, January 28, during his working visit to Russia - Kremlin

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🇷🇺💪 Russia’s military might: Why Global Firepower ranks it second only to the US

📊 New Global Firepower rankings are out: Russia holds second place - but who’s in the top three and how is their power measured?

Top 3

🇺🇸 The United States

🇷🇺 Russia

🇨🇳 China

🤔 How military power is measured

🟧 Global Firepower ranks 145 countries using dozens of metrics — from troops and air forces to naval strength and financial power.

🟧 Each nation is scored by a proprietary formula to produce a ‘Power Index,’ where 0.0000 represents the theoretical perfect score.

How objective is the scoring?

📍 Nuclear arsenals aren’t counted — though they could be a game changer or key restraint. Some numbers raise eyebrows, and some seem outdated: for instance, Russia’s jump to 1.5 million active personnel is ignored. Even so, this self-proclaimed independent resource is worth a look.

🇺🇸 The US, PwrIndx: 0.0741

🔸 Troops: 1.3 million active personnel and 799,500 in reserve

🔸 Air power: 13,032 war-making aerial systems excluding trainers and drones

🔸 Land power: ~414,000 tanks and vehicles; 5,130 artillery units

🔸 Naval power: 465 total assets

💰 Financial (waging a war requires a massive financial commitment):

🟠 Purchasing power parity (PPP): ~$25.6 trillion

🟠 Foreign exchange/gold: $910 billion

🟠 Defense budget: ~$831.5 billion

🟠 External debt: ~$24.5 trillion

🇷🇺 Russia, PwrIndx: 0.0791

🔸 Troops: 1.3M active personnel; 2M in reserve; 250K paramilitary

🔸 Air power: 4,237 war-making aerial systems

🔸 Land power: ~132K tanks and vehicles; ~12K artillery units

🔸 Naval power: 747 total assets

💰 Financial:

🟠 PPP: ~$6 trillion

🟠 Foreign exchange/gold: ~$597B

🟠 Defense budget: ~$212.6B

🟠 External debt: ~$226B

🇨🇳 China, PwrIndx: 0.0919

🔸 Troops: 2M active personnel; 510K in reserve; 625K paramilitary

🔸 Air power: 3,529 war-making aerial systems

🔸 Land power: ~158K tanks and vehicles; ~7.1K artillery units

🔸 Naval power: 841 total assets

💰 Financial:

🟠 PPP: ~$33.5 trillion

🟠 Foreign exchange/gold: ~$3.45T

🟠 Defense budget: $303B

🟠 External debt: ~$488B

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🚨 Russian mathematician cracks 'UNSOLVABLE' equation describing nature’s core processes

📍 Ivan Remizov, a senior researcher at HSE University in Nizhny Novgorod, has derived a universal formula that analytically solves a whole class of equations that have stumped the mathematical community since the 19th Century.

💬 "Such equations are a fundamental scientific tool: they describe everything from pendulum oscillations and signals in electrical circuits to planetary motion," notes HSE University in a statement.

🟠 Remizov, who is also affiliated with the Institute for Information Transmission Problems (IITP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, borrowed ideas from quantum mechanics — specifically, techniques used to describe the evolution of quantum particles — and applied them to classical problems.

🟠 The result dramatically reshapes our understanding in one of mathematics' oldest and most fundamental branches, with deep implications for fundamental physics and economics, says the HSE press release.

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