📣 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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⚠️ NOW: “War will not end until its goals are achieved and the residents of the northern settlements return to their homes” - Netanyahu

The Israeli PM currently has an arrest warrant out against him for war crimes against Palestinians.

@RiseGS

🇺🇸🇮🇱🇱🇧 Trump's campaign stated that the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon was a result of Trump's election victory, Times of Israel reports.

"His resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos will not be tolerated. I am pleased to see concrete steps toward de-escalation in the Middle East," said Mike Waltz, the incoming National Security Advisor.

🔴 @DDGeopolitics

⚠️Von der Leyen Demands EU Countries Increase Defense Spending to Catch Up with Russia

Russia is spending up to 9% of its GDP on defense. Europe is spending on average 1.9%. There is something wrong in this equation," she said in an address to lawmakers in Strasbourg Wednesday.

"Our defence spending must increase," von der Leyen stated.

Adding: “War is raging on Europe’s borders ... We have no time to waste.”

@RiseGS

🔴JUST IN: Lebanese PM Najib Mikati demands Israel abide by ceasefire deal, withdraws from southern territories it occupied

Footage from a Qatari news channel showed Lebanese locals walking past an IDF tank near Metula while gunfire rang out Wednesday - hours after the ceasefire agreement had started.

@RiseGS

👁 Spain to Force ‘Big Brother’ Security Checks on Tourists

Draconian new rules that demand Spanish hotels gather data on tourists’ family relationships, bank cards and addresses, and pass it to security forces, will come into force on Monday.

Businesses will collect up to 31 pieces of information from tourists which then has to be uploaded onto a platform for sharing with security forces in a requirement likened to “Big Brother” by the country’s leading hotelier association, Cehat.

Spain’s interior ministry claimed the new obligations were necessary to help the police track criminals operating in Spain.

@RiseGS

🎯 JUST IN: “Israeli Government Continues to Undermine Press Freedoms” – FPA statement

@RiseGS

🤡 Hurting EU Lawmaker Summons TikTok CEO over Role in Shock Romania Election Result

EU lawmaker Valérie Hayer has demanded TikTok's CEO testify before European Parliament - to address concerns about fake accounts and the platform's role in spreading disinformation during the election.

The first-round victory of pro-Russian Călin Georgescu has clearly triggered some in the bloc regarding the political trajectory of the EU and strategic NATO country.

"Romania is a warning bell: Radicalization and disinformation can happen all over Europe with harmful consequences," claimed Hayer - a close ally of Macron.

Cry more.

@RiseGS

🥶 Energy Risk: Europe Set for Coldest Winter Since Beginning of Ukraine War

An extended cold front will push up already elevated energy costs as the bloc delves into gas reserves at a faster-than-usual rate. (Bloomberg)

Any escalation in fighting within Ukraine would only add to an already fragile Europe’s energy risk - ideal for the US...

@RiseGS

☠️ Pope’s Surgeon Faces Fraud Trial for ‘Pretending to Operate’

Sergio Alfieri repeatedly claimed to be in theater at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome when he was in fact delivering lectures, travelling or relaxing on a beach, a prosecutor has claimed.

The prosecutor has requested Alfieri be sent to trial after documents were allegedly falsified to show he was in the operating in Rome on at least 29 occasions when he was actually elsewhere.

The investigation into Alfieri’s alleged absenteeism began after a complaint from a female patient who said she did not believe she had been operated on by Alfieri, despite his name featuring in hospital records.

@RiseGS