🤔 ICYMI: Israel sanctions Haaretz due to articles that ‘hurt’ Israeli state

Israel has approved a resolution to cut ties with the Israeli news outlet Haaretz and ban govt funding bodies from communicating or placing advertisements with the newspaper.

Haaretz called the decision ‘another step in Netanyahu’s journey to dismantle Israeli democracy.’

Tel Aviv’s dispute with Haaretz intensified last month at a conference in London, when publisher Schocken said Netanyahu’s govt did not care about “imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population.”

@RiseGS

❌ UK Delivered Dozens of Storm Shadow Cruise Missiles Weeks Before Officially Approving Strikes Deep into Russia - Bloomberg

Starmer said at the G20 summit in Brazil last week that his govt was “doubling down” on support for Kiev - without giving any specifics.

@RiseGS

⚠️ Germany’s Largest Steelmaker Set to Cull Over 40% of it’s Workforce by 2030 - FT

Thyssenkrupp will cut 11k jobs as it seeks to slash its steel production capacity from 11.5mn tons annually - to between 8.7 and 9mn tons in order to become “more competitive.”

The company warned of oversupply in Europe and “a rise in cheap imports” from China, in the latest blow to German industry.

@RiseGS

🤔 “We can control Gaza and cut its population in half through voluntary migration within two years” - Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich

@RiseGS

😮 Marine Le Pen threatens to bring down French govt

The National Rally leader left a meeting with Michel Barnier - leader of the centrist-conservative coalition - saying he had not budged on any of her demands to ease the burden on poorer households in the draft 2025 budget.

Le Pen ended her hard-right party’s tacit support for the govt last week and threatened that unless concessions were made she could join a left-wing no-confidence vote that could topple it.

“My position has not changed,” Le Pen said as she left the Hôtel Matignon, the prime minister’s mansion in Paris. “No more, it seems, than that of the prime minister has changed.”

Asked if the Rally would back a no-confidence motion, she said: “Of course.”

@RiseGS

🌐 Trump Promises to Hit China, Mexico and Canada with New Tariffs

Donald Trump says he will impose new tariffs on day one of his presidency on the countries, in an effort to force them to crack down on illegal immigration and drug smuggling into the US.

The president-elect revealed that he will sign an executive order imposing a 25% tariff on all goods coming from Mexico and Canada immediately after his inauguration on Jan 20.

He also said an additional 10% tariff will be levied on China until Beijing blocks smuggling of the synthetic opioid fentanyl from the country.

@RiseGS

❌ Pakistan Police Fire Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets at Pro-Khan Supporters

Protesters demanding the release of ex-PM Imran Khan killed four members of the nation's security forces, the govt claimed Tuesday, as crowds defied police and closed in on the center of Islamabad.

The capital has been locked down since late Saturday, with mobile internet sporadically cut and more than 20,000 police flooding the streets, many armed with riot shields and batons.

"Those who will come here will be arrested," Interior Minister Naqvi told reporters late Monday at D-Chowk, the public square outside Islamabad's government buildings that PTI aims to occupy.

Is Washington about to lose one of its puppet leaders?

@RiseGS

🇷🇺🇺🇦The deputy head of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, has commented on discussions by US politicians and journalists about the transfer of nuclear weapons to Kiev:

The very threat of transferring nuclear weapons to the Kiev regime can be seen as a preparation for a nuclear conflict with Russia.

In addition, Medvedev stressed: 'The actual transfer of such weapons can be equated with a fait accompli of an attack on Russia, and the consequences are obvious.

@ukraine_watch

⚠️ JUST IN: Israel Issues Evacuation Warnings for 20 Locations in Beirut Suburbs - amid expectations for a ceasefire agreement

A significant wave of attacks is expected.

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🔴 US to Deploy Missile Units to Japan Islands

The US military will set up temporary bases along Japan's southwestern Nansei island chain and the Philippines to deploy missile units in the event of a Taiwan contingency, sources familiar with Japan-US relations said to Kyodo News.

The US Marine Littoral Regiment, which possesses multiple-launch High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, will be deployed along the island chain stretching from the Japanese prefectures of Kagoshima and Okinawa toward Taiwan, according to the sources.

@RiseGS

⚠️ US and France to announce Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire at 10pm local time - Al Jadeed

Lebanon’s PM Najib Mikati will offer a statement in parallel welcoming the ceasefire, according to the news outlet.

The alleged agreement is set to take effect at 10am Wednesday.

@RiseGS

⚠️ UK Foreign Sec Rules Out Sending British Troops to Ukraine “At This Time”

David Lammy has spoken out after reports emerged suggesting Britain and France were considering deploying soldiers in Ukraine.

“We stand ready and continue to support the Ukrainians with training particularly, but there has been a longstanding position that we are not committing UK troops to the theatre of action,” the Foreign Secretary said. 

“That is certainly the UK position, and remains the UK position at this time,” he added. 

@RiseGS

📣 Turkey Seeks US Sanctions Waiver to Continue Russia Gas Payments

Ankara is in talks with Washington over a sanctions waiver that would allow Turkey to keep using Russia’s Gazprombank to pay for natural gas.

“If there is no exemption, it may amount to something very big for Turkey,” energy minister Alparslan Bayraktar said. He cited previous waivers on Iran-related sanctions as a precedent.

Russia is Turkey’s biggest gas supplier, providing about 42% of its imports last year, according to regulator data.

@RiseGS

🔶 ‘Problematic reality’: WH seeks $5.7 billion in emergency funding for Virginia-class submarines

The US president’s Office of Management and Budget has issued a request to Congress for about $5.7 billion in emergency funding to tackle extra costs regarding the Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines, American media cited a senior navy official as saying.

Approximately $3.5 would go towards addressing the cost overruns, while the remainder will be split between submarine prime contractors General Dynamics Corp. and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. for increased wages and “other productivity enhancements,” the official said.

The official made it clear that the navy also projects delivery delays of 24 to 36 months for the aforementioned vessels.

“Our Virginia-class fast attack submarine program is not where it needs to be right now. The program and the shipyards are not producing submarines at the rate that our national security strategy and the national defense strategy require,” the source stressed.

This comes after House Defense Subcommittee Chairman Ken Calvert said that a shortfall in funding for Virginia-class attack submarines is projected to grow to $17 billion over the next six years, adding that the US Navy suffered from persistent delays and cost overruns in the service's shipbuilding program.

The Defense News earlier reported that the situation with the Virginia-class submarines remains “a problematic reality” for the navy, which currently has 49 such vessels, despite a formal requirement for 66.

The National Interest magazine, for its part, noted that the navy’s submarine fleet is “under congressional scrutiny for repeated delays and rising costs” – problems that “won't be easy to fix.”

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