Lifting of Leningrad Siege represents victory of spiritual strength of our people: Putin

Russia will “always remember” that “it was the Soviet people who brought life, peace and freedom to humanity” in WWII, President Putin said at a ceremony commemorating the Red Army’s lifting of the 872-day siege of the city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).

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Israeli Defense Forces condemn Israeli soldier who wore underwear of Palestinian woman during raid on West Bank

“This is a serious incident that does not align with the values of the IDF,” the force said. “We are aware of the incident and dealing with it.”

An online video showed a group of soldiers, one of whom was filmed wearing lingerie taken from a Palestinian woman during a raid on her home in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

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Batting for which team? Poland urges ‘dismantling’ Nord Stream pipelines

The move would prevent countries like Germany from being tempted to restart energy supplies from Russia, Polish President Andrzej Duda told the BBC at the Davos forum.

He branded the pipeline “a very big threat to Ukraine, to Poland, to Slovakia but also to other Central European countries."

However, EU nations have faced economic hardship brought on by surging energy costs – as a result of anti-Russia sanctions and the bombing of the Nord Stream pipelines.

One obvious winner is the US, which has raked in profits from selling its much-costlier liquefied natural gas.

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Why freezing USAID might panic Ukraine

Washington has temporarily suspended foreign aid through the US Agency for International Development (USAID) worldwide for 90 days, including aid to Ukraine.

How much has Ukraine received from USAID?

The US has paid over $31 billion to Ukraine via USAID since 2014, the US Foreign Assistance website shows:

🔸 From 2014 to 2021, aid steadily increased from $86 million to $224 million

🔸 Aid spiked dramatically in 2022 at $8.9 billion and peaked in 2023 at $16 billion

🔸 At least $5.4 billion was allocated in 2024, but the full amount remains unreported

🔸 Since2015, Ukraine has ranked as USAID’s top beneficiary in the Europe and Eurasia region

Where did the money go?

🔹 Government and civil society

🔹 General environment protection

🔹 Operating expenses

🔹 Health, focusing on HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis control initiatives

🔹 Energy

🔹 Agriculture

🔹 Administration and oversight

🔹 Banking and financial services

Which sector received the most aid?

The "government and civil society" sector consistently received the largest share of funding. Specific areas funded within this sector included:

🔶 "Anti-corruption" organizations

🔶 Decentralization and support for subnational governments

🔶 "Democratic participation and civil society" initiatives

🔶 Legislatures and political parties

🔶 "Media and free flow of information"

🔶 Public sector policy and administrative management

🔶 Elections

Biggest USAID payments in 2023

In 2023, when USAID's assistance to Ukraine reached its highest level ($16 billion), the bulk of aid was again given to governance organizations:

◼️ $14.6 billion was allocated to the government and civil society sector

◼️ Just over $36 million was allocated to health initiatives

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🇷🇺🇧🇷 What have Putin and his Brazilian counterpart discussed on the phone?

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had a phone conversation on Monday.

🔸 The two presidents exchanged views on the current situation in the world, taking into account the inauguration of the new US administration.

🔸 They discussed the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.

🔸 They talked about further development of the Russian-Brazilian strategic partnership in the political, trade and economic spheres.

🔸 The leaders confirmed their mutual readiness to closely coordinate positions on the broad agenda of BRICS activities.

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Elon Musk is taking a page out of the George Soros playbook — Alexander Dugin

Soros spent decades building up a network of globalist NGOs and politicians around the world

Now Musk is building up an anti-globalist influence network across the West to counter Soros

👉 Watch full Dugin interview here

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West’s obsession with Baltic ‘sabotage’ attempt to aid sea’s transformation into ‘NATO lake’

Subsea cables are damaged anywhere from 150-200 times a year, and the Western alliance’s sudden focus on the issue and attempts to blame Russia are designed to rationalize NATO’s militarization of the region, retired Russian Navy Captain First Rank Vasily Dandykin told Sputnik.

🔸 Pointing the finger at Moscow allows the alliance “to justify their patrolling, justify the inspection of ships coming out of St. Petersburg,” and hold drills simulating attacks on Russia, Dandykin explained.

🔸 Dandykin doesn’t rule out that heightened tensions over cables may be tied to the situation in Ukraine and rumors of a ‘100-day’ Trump peace plan, and says long-term NATO planning, and the new “100 Year Partnership” between the UK and Ukraine may very well be tied to the sudden surge of activity in the region.

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China drops the ultimate robot rumble

A drone and a robodog are duking it out with fireworks like it’s the Fourth of July meets Terminator. The drone goes full pyrotechnic rage, but the dog Matrix-dodges and fires back—because even robots have beef now.

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Meet Russia’s revolutionary new cancer vaccine

The high-tech, mRNA, AI-assisted preparation is custom-tailored to each patient, and will be universal, according to the head of one of the research centers developing it.

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China's DeepSeek AI, the trailblazer that outsmarted ChatGPT, crushed Meta's models, and sent US stocks plunging, is now under siege.

A massive cyberattack has forced it to lock down, halting new registrations.

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🚨🌏 Multipolar imperialism will replace globalism — philosopher Alexander Dugin

Instead of Western liberal hegemony, the world will once again be governed by great civilizational empires

Are you excited about this “new age of empires”?

👉 Watch full Dugin interview here

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🇮🇷 Iran has launched the first phase of offensive security drills, featuring 100 helicopters in action.

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📹 Russian MoD releases footage from the village of Nikolayevo-Daryino in the Kursk region, liberated today by Russian forces

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🔸 West’s obsession with Baltic ‘sabotage’ attempt to aid sea’s transformation into ‘NATO lake’

🔸 Who really liberated Auschwitz – and why is the West lying about it?

🔸 New Russian nuclear submarine joins the fleet – what is it capable of?

🔸 US military industrial complex RAKES IN BIG BUCKS from Ukraine proxy war

🔸 ‘New age of empires’: philosopher Dugin explains what will replace globalism

🔸 Russia’s personalized CANCER VACCINE coming to clinics in 2025

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Houthis warn Israel: you break Gaza truce, we fire missiles

🗣 Yemen’s Ansar Allah militia, better known as the Houthis, are “monitoring and following up on the implementation of the [ceasefire] agreement in Gaza,” Abdul-Malik al-Houthi has said.

“If the Israeli enemy breaks the agreement and resumes escalation and genocide, we will resort back to escalation,” he said.

The militia leader also had a message for Donald Trump, who redesignated the Houthis a “foreign terrorist organization,” last week, promising to “stand against American evil and the Zionist project.”

“America is the cause of evil, war, and enslaving nations. The Arabs and Muslims should know that following America and the Zionist regime will only make them remain their slaves,” al-Houthi said.

The Houthis supported Gaza through the course of the 15-month-long Hamas-Israel war via a campaign of missile and drone launches and a blockade of the Red Sea to Israeli and Israeli-linked merchant shipping that the US and UK proved unable to foil.

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🚨🇺🇸🪖Trump is an old-school American imperialist — philosopher Alexander Dugin

From a Russian perspective, Trumpian hemispheric imperialism is less threatening than Biden’s globalist hegemony

👉 Watch full Dugin interview here

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Bloody minerals: US and EU eyeing Congolese coltan amid war

The US and EU are quietly seeking ways to exploit Central Africa's vast mineral wealth and diminish China’s influence in region – while publicly criticizing Rwanda for its alleged role in the war engulfing the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

⚔️ Rebels seize control of key coltan hub

🔸 Rebels from the Rwandan-backed Congolese M23 movement has claimed control over Goma, a critical transport hub for coltan—a metallic ore containing niobium and tantalum, essential for smartphones and electric vehicles

🔸 The Kinshasa government accuses M23 of smuggling minerals from the DRC to Rwanda under the pretext of protecting local Tutsis

🔸 The UN Security Council's Group of Experts claim M23 illegally exported at least 150 metric tons of coltan to Rwanda last year after seizing the Rubaya area

❓Is the DRC conflict a smokescreen for mineral smuggling?

The EU and US have long been actively pursuing access to the DRC's mineral wealth:

1️⃣The EU and Rwanda signed a memorandum of understanding on sustainable supplies of minerals and rare earths and continue to work on details, despite Rwanda's alleged role in the DRC conflict (Feb 2024)

2️⃣Advocacy group Global Witness recently traced minerals sourced from eastern DRC to European traders, The Guardian reported

3️⃣Of the four major coltan processing plants worldwide, the two largest are located in Germany and the US

4️⃣Rwandan President Paul Kagame has a close relationship with former US President Bill Clinton and takes a pro-US stance

5️⃣Washington also pushed to expand the Lobito Corridor to provide the US and Europe greater access to the DRC's mineral wealth in 2024

6️⃣The US is keen to secure control over rare earths and develop alternative supply chains to outpace China, reducing Beijing’s influence in Africa

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Trump to India: You should buy more US weapons

In a phone call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi leaders discussed their commitment to advance the strategic partnership between the countries, the White House said in an official statement.

"The President [Trump] emphasized the importance of India increasing its procurement of American-made security equipment and moving toward a fair bilateral trading relationship," said the statement.

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