⚔️ ‘Ukraine is being decimated’ – Trump

US President-elect Donald Trump, in an interview with Newsmax, expressed hope that the Ukraine conflict would end when he assumes office.

💬 “This was gross incompetence. That's the only reason this war has taken place. But we're going to do everything we can to get it stopped for both countries,” Trump stated.

“The field is flat, and the bullet basically stops when it hits somebody,” he added thoughtfully.

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🔥 Evacuation warnings issued as Jurupa Fire spreads east of Los Angeles – reports

Firefighters are battling the Jurupa Fire, which broke out near the Santa Ana River in Riverside County on Monday evening. Now over one acre in size (approximately 4,000 square meters), the fire is spreading in the riverbed and has prompted evacuation warnings, KTLA5 reported.

The fire began around 5 p.m. and quickly spread at a moderate rate through the riverbed. Crews are working to contain the blaze ahead of severe Santa Ana winds forecast for Tuesday.

Footage from social media

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🇷🇺 North Korea launches several short-range ballistic missiles toward sea of Japan – South Korean Military

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea reported the launch of several unidentified projectiles, presumed to be short-range ballistic missiles, from the Kanggye area in Chagang Province toward the Sea of Japan on Tuesday, January 14, at approximately 9:30 a.m. local time (00:30 GMT).

According to the JCS, the missiles flew about 250 kilometers before falling into the Sea of Japan.

In late 2024, North Korea announced plans to adopt the 'toughest' strategy to counter the United States, blasting an "aggressive military alliance" of South Korea, the US, and Japan.

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Art of threat inflation: Increase defense spending or learn Russian, spooks Rutte

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has threatened EU countries that they will have to learn Russian in 4-5 years if they do not allocate significantly more money for military needs than the current 2% of GDP.
 
"If we don't do this, in 4-5 years we will have to take Russian language courses or go to New Zealand," he said at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly denied claims that Moscow intends to attack NATO members and stated that such discussions are used by the West to divert attention from internal problems.

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Houthis claim missile attack on Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv
 
The Yemeni movement Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, claimed it had hit the Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv with a Palestine-2 hypersonic ballistic missile during the third attack on Israel in 12 hours.
 

"The ballistic missile reached its target, and the [Israeli] interceptor systems were unable to stop it," the Houthis said in a statement.

 
Earlier, the movement announced attacks on several vital targets in Tel Aviv.

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⚡️FSB thwarts Ukraine-backed chemical terror attack against defense enterprise personnel

Russia's Federal Security Service prevented a terrorist attack by Ukraine's special services, who had planned on using toxic substances against employees of a defense enterprise in the Russian Yaroslavl region.
 
What is known by this minute:
 
▪️The terrorist attack was supposed to be staged by a Russian citizen; he was detained.
 
▪️The chemical, which causes burns to the respiratory tract and possible death, was planned to be poured into the air ducts of the company's employees' cars.
 
▪️The actions of the attacker were coordinated from Ukraine through foreign messengers.

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🟠Houthis claim missile attack on Israeli Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv

🟠Zelensky’s TurkStream attack dragging EU into quagmire of Ukraine’s defeat – strategic analyst

🟠Russia-Iran power play: a strategic alliance taking shape

🟠 'Make Greenland Great Again' – Republicans propose bill for Trump to negotiate Greenland purchase

🟠Special Counsel blasts Hunter Biden pardon, suggests more charges could have been filed

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Damage from LA wildfires exceeds possible consequences of nuclear strike — Trump
 

“I believe it’s greater damage than if they got hit by a nuclear weapon. I’ve never seen anything like it. Vast miles and miles of houses just burned to a crisp. There’s nothing standing," Trump told Newsmax.

 
US President-elect also added that the two dozen confirmed deaths are probably just a fraction of the real losses.

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BIG NEWS: Russia offers shelter to California residents whose houses were destroyed by LA fires
 
The authorities of the Kherson region are ready to accept Californian citizens who lost their homes in the fires if they had not participated in financing the Ukrainian forces and supporting the current Kiev regime, Governor Vladimir Saldo told Russian media.
 

"Despite the openly anti-Russian policy of the United States so far, we are well aware that the elements do not divide anyone according to their actions, and as a result of the fires in California, many ordinary residents lost their homes," said Saldo.

 
Americans who have arrived in the Kherson region from California will be provided with temporary accommodation. Foreigners will also be aided in obtaining Russian citizenship in a simplified manner.

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'There were cases when soldiers got drunk and just didn't wake up' - Ukrainian militant
 
Drug use and intoxication are rampant among the military of the Ukrainian armed forces against the backdrop of extreme fatigue and poor morale; captured Ukrainian border guards reported such cases.

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Biden named future nuclear aircraft carriers of the Gerald R. Ford type of the US Navy in honor of former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
 
Biden added that he had personally informed the former presidents about this, who, according to him, "were deeply touched" by this decision.
 
The aircraft carriers will begin to be built in the coming years. At the same time, the type of ship itself is also named after another US president: Republican Gerald Ford headed the White House from 1974 to 1977.

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Weary Ukrainian soldiers pay thousands of dollars to flee abroad - captured border guard
 
Ruslan Zadorozhniy, a Ukrainian State Border Guard officer who surrendered to Russia, said that his fellow villager, along with other Ukrainian servicemen, had been sent to fight against Russian troops with no respite in sight, which left them completely demoralized.
 

"We didn't get much rest, and we weren't allowed to take any leave," he said.

 
Zadorozhniy said that his acquaintance was eventually "fed up" with the military service and paid $3,000 for an opportunity to "escape" to Poland.

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Two can play that game: China drastically cuts drone exports to US 8-fold year-on-year in November
 
The dynamic was also negative as compared to October 2024, when China's drone exports to the US fell twice, namely to $2.9 million in November, according to Sputnik's calculation based on data from the US Customs Service. The figures marked the lowest November purchase volume since 2022, when the US began buying drones from China.
 
The total volume of drone shipments in the first 11 months of 2024 also dropped 2.4 times year-on-year, from $205 million in January-November 2023 to $84.2 million last year, according to the statistics.
 
By the end of November, China was the second-largest supplier of drones to the US, behind Vietnam, with $10.8 million worth of drone exports, followed by South Korea ($1.9 million), Malaysia ($1.6 million), and Switzerland ($1.2 million).

The increase in purchases from Vietnam (by $8.2 million), South Korea (by $1.8 million), and other states was not enough to close the gap, so total imports in November 2024 fell 3.4 times from the previous year, according to the statistics.

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‘Lowest point in US history’: Trump lashes out at Biden for worst foreign policy on record

US President-elect Donald Trump slammed Biden's foreign policy, maintaining it had plummeted to an unprecedented low during his four years in office. He asserted that the state of American foreign relations has never been worse in the nation's history.

“When you look at what happened during this last 4-year period, I think it was the lowest point in the history of our country. It's been so bad,” Trump stated.

Trump also claimed that if he had been President instead of Biden, the world would not be facing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

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'Heartfelt best wishes to all those attending on the occasions of the New Year and Christmas' — Russia's FM congratulated everyone on the holidays

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