Russian TV Shows Map of Countries Who Could Host Missiles

Russia could transfer long-range missiles to several its allies, according to a new map produced by Russian state media, after NATO countries donated long-range missiles to Kyiv and authorized some Ukrainian strikes within Russian territory.
Moscow could "start supplying the same high-precision, long-range missiles, except they'll be of better quality, since they're Russian, to those nations that are ready to strike our enemies," Russian state media host, Olga Skabeyeva, said in remarks translated by the Russian Media Monitor project run by journalist Julia Davis.

Late last month, President Joe Biden greenlit Ukrainian strikes on Russian soil with some U.S.-donated weapons to help Kyiv fend off Moscow's weekslong offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during a visit to the Czech capital, Prague, on May 31 that Ukraine had for weeks requested the go-ahead to use U.S.-provided weapons against forces inside Russia after Moscow opened the new front in Kharkiv.

Several leading NATO nations, including France and Germany, had signaled their permission for Ukraine to use weapons they provide to strike some targets inside Russia.
Russia had vocally condemned the move, calling it an "escalation" of the conflict.

Highlighting several countries on a map, Skabeyeva suggested Moscow could send missiles to Houthi rebels in Yemen and weapons to several other nations.
"We were thinking about where our missiles could go, into which friendly jurisdictions" said state media host, Evgeny Popov.

Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Kremlin would "consider" sending Russian-made weapons to other countries in retaliation for the Western nations' move.

"If they consider it possible to deliver such weapons to the combat zone to launch strikes on our territory and create problems for us, why don't we have the right to supply weapons of the same type to some regions of the world where they can be used to launch strikes on sensitive facilities of the countries that do it to Russia?" Putin said during the country's annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"Now let the U.S. and its allies feel the direct impact of the use of Russian weapons by third parties," former Russian President and current Deputy Chairman of Russia's security council Dmitry Medvedev, then said. "This could be anyone who considers 'Yankeeland' as their enemy, regardless of their political beliefs or international recognition," he added in comments reported by Russian state news agency, Tass.

Russia has already transferred tactical nuclear weapons to key ally Belarus since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.



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https://www.newsweek.com/russia-state-tv-us-adversaries-host-missiles-ukraine-nato-1910138

Macron's Renew party suffered a stinging defeat in the European elections, securing just 15.2% of the votes to the far-right National Rally's 31.5%, according to provisional results.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday evening that he would dissolve the national assembly after the far-right National Rally crushed his centrist Renew party in European elections.
In a five-minute video address released on social media shortly after 21:00 CET, Macron said that "after having carried out the consultations provided for in Article 12 of our Constitution, I have decided to give you back the choice of our parliamentary future by voting."

"I am therefore dissolving the National Assembly this evening," he added.

His address came just one hour after his centrist Renew party was handed a heavy blow by coming in a very distant second in the European elections to the RN, where both parties scored 15.2% and 31.5% respectively.

Jordan Bardella, the RN's lead candidate for these elections, had in his victory speech delivered shortly after the provisional results came out at 20:00 CET, called for such a move.
"The President of the Republic cannot remain deaf to the message sent this evening by the French people. First of all, he must abandon the agenda he was preparing to implement: de-indexation of retirement pensions, the new rise in energy prices from this summer," Bardella told supporters.
"We solemnly ask him to take note of this new political situation, come back to the French people and organise new legislative elections."
"This unprecedented defeat for the current government marks the end of a cycle and day one of the post-Macron era, which it is up to us to build," he added.

Macron retorted in his address that "the rise of the nationalists and demagogues is a threat not only to our nation but also to our Europe and to France's place in Europe and in the world".
"The extreme right is both the impoverishment of the French people and the downfall of our country. So at the end of this day, I can't pretend that nothing has happened," he added.
He said the national ballot, which is to be held on June 30 for the first round and on July 7 for the second, is a "serious and weighty decision" and an "act of trust".
"Confidence in you, my dear compatriots, in the ability of the French people to make the right choice for themselves and for future generations. Confidence in our democracy, in giving a voice to our sovereign people, nothing is more republican," he also said.

Marine Le Pen, the president of the RN's group in the national assembly, told supporters she can "only welcome this decision" to call for snap elections, adding "we are ready for it."
"We are ready to exercise power if the people of France have confidence in us during these future legislative elections. We are ready to put the country back on its feet, ready to defend the interests of the French people, ready to put an end to mass immigration, ready to make the purchasing power of the French people a priority, ready to start reindustrialising the country, in short, we are ready to put the country back on its feet, ready to revive France," she told a jubilant crowd, with Jordan Bardella standing beside her.

Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of France Unbowed, also welcomed Macron's announcement, writing on social media platform X that the French president "no longer has the legitimacy to pursue his policies of social abuse, climate inaction and warmongering".

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https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2024/06/09/french-president-emmanuel-macron-announces-anticipated-elections-after-stinging-eu-electio

Niger’s ruling military junta says it has revoked with immediate effect a military accord that allows US military personnel and civilian staff on its soil.

As of 2023 there were about 1,100 US troops in Niger, where the US military operates out of two bases including a drone base known as airbase 201, built near Agadez in central Niger at a cost of more than US $100m.

Since 2018 the base has been used to target Islamic State militants and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM), an al-Qaida affiliate, in the Sahel region.

The junta’s announcement follows a visit by US officials this week which was led by assistant secretary of state for African affairs Molly Phee and included Gen Michael Langley, commander of the US Africa command. Col Amadou Abdramane said on Niger television on Saturday that the US delegation did not follow diplomatic protocol, and that Niger was not informed about the composition of the delegation, the date of its arrival or the agenda.
He added that the discussions were around the current military transition in Niger, military cooperation between the two countries and Niger’s choice of partners in the fight against militants linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State.
Since seizing power in July 2023, the Niger junta, like the military rulers in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, have kicked out French and other European forces, and turned to Russia for support.

“Niger regrets the intention of the American delegation to deny the sovereign Nigerien people the right to choose their partners and types of partnerships capable of truly helping them fight against terrorism,” Abdramane said.

“Also, the government of Niger forcefully denounces the condescending attitude accompanied by the threat of retaliation from the head of the American delegation towards the Nigerien government and people.”
Abdramane stopped short of saying US forces should leave. But he alleged their status and presence was illegal and violated constitutional and democratic rules because, he claimed, it was unilaterally imposed in 2012.

He said Niger was not aware of the number of US civilian and military personnel on its soil or the amount of equipment deployed and, according to the agreement, the US military had no obligation to respond to any request for help against militants.

“In light of all the above, the government of Niger, revokes with immediate effect the agreement concerning the status of United States military personnel and civilian employees of the American department of defence on the territory of the Republic of Niger,” Abdramane said.
The US defence department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Apart from the Agadez airbase, the US has invested years and hundreds of millions of dollars in training Niger’s military. Some of those forces were involved in the July overthrow of Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum.

In October, Washington officially designated the military takeover as a coup, which triggered US laws restricting the military support and aid that it can provide to Niger. But in December, Phee said the US was willing to restore aid and security ties if Niger met certain conditions.

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https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/17/niger-junta-repudiates-deal-allowing-us-military-bases-on-its-soil

Former U.S. leader Donald Trump will not give money to help Ukraine fight Russia if he wins the presidency again and that will hasten an end to the war, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after meeting him.

Nationalist premier Orban, who is backing his long-time ally's bid to return to White House, met Trump in Florida on Friday.
"He will not give a penny into the Ukraine-Russia war and therefore the war will end," Orban told state television late on Sunday. "As it is obvious that Ukraine on its own cannot stand on its feet."

"If the Americans do not give money and weapons, and also the Europeans, then this war will be over. And if the Americans do not give money the Europeans are unable to finance this war on their own, and then the war will end."

Orban has refused to send weapons to Kyiv and kept up close economic ties with Moscow since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022. He last met Russian President Vladimir Putin in October in China despite European Union efforts to isolate Moscow.

Orban said it was "another matter" how the war will be closed with peace talks after a truce, and how a stable and safe Europe would be created, but first peace must be achieved and "he (Trump) has the means for that."

A statement from Trump's campaign did not mention Ukraine, saying the pair discussed issues affecting both nations including their respective border security.

European leaders have long been nervous that another Trump presidency would mean waning U.S. support for both Ukraine and the NATO transatlantic military alliance.

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https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/trump-wont-give-money-ukraine-if-elected-says-hungarys-orban-2024-03-11/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxZmesD5vI4?si=S4f9hYjkT97xs6Kq

Nikki Haley has ended her White House bid, virtually ensuring Donald Trump will be the 2024 Republican nominee.

“The time has come now to suspend my campaign. I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that,” Haley said in a speech Wednesday morning, hours after the last Super Tuesday results were tabulated.

The 52-year-old then congratulated Trump, 77, but didn’t go as far as to endorse him — instead challenging him to get her supporters on his side.

“It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support [him]. And I hope he does that,” Haley said.

Meanwhile, President Biden issued an invitation to Haley voters to consider joining his campaign.

“Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign. I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground,” the Democrat said in a statement.

The former South Carolina governor had said she would stay in the race if she remained “competitive,” but kept a noticeably lower profile ahead of Tuesday’s contests in 15 states.

The campaign had long said Super Tuesday — where 865 GOP delegates were awarded — would be a critical point in the race and that her path to victory against Trump would be an “uphill battle.” Haley barnstormed the country after suffering defeat in her home state of South Carolina on Feb. 24, telling supporters in Washington on Friday she was “going to fight for Super Tuesday.”

Source: https://nypost.com/2024/03/06/us-news/nikki-haley-to-suspend-presidential-campaign-after-super-tuesday-defeats-reports/amp/#

A RUSSIAN pilot who defected to Ukraine with an Mi-8 armoured helicopter has been shot dead in Spain sparking fears of another Kremlin murder.
Maxim Kuzminov, 33, was found with multiple gunshot wounds in a parking garage in near Benidorm.

His death was reported by Spanish and Russian state media and comes days after Putin’s nemesis Alexei Navalny was allegedly beaten to death in a penal colony.
Kuminov had been promised a $500,000 reward for defecting with Russian military kit to Ukraine.

But he was condemned as a traitor in Russia.
His body was reportedly found in the coastal town of Villajoyosa, in Alicante.

The pilot caused a sensation when he landed his armoured chopper at a military airfield in Kharkiv province in August 2023
Ukraine’s military intelligence later revealed it had courted him to defect and he issued an appeal to other pilots to follow.

In an interview broadcast by Ukraine’s authorities, Kuzimov said: “I contacted representatives of Ukrainian intelligence, explained my situation, to which they offered this option: ‘Come on, we guarantee your safety, guarantee new documents, guarantee monetary compensation, a reward’.”

At the time his age was reported as 28, but the age of the man found in Spain yesterday was reported as 33.

Russian state media sensationally claimed Kuzminov shot and killed two of his crewmates who did not support him before he touched down in Ukraine. Their names were Nikita Kiryanov, 28, and Khushbat Tursunov, 35.

Reports also alleged Putin’s GRU military intelligence agents had orders to “eliminate” him, no matter how long it took.

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https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/26038544/defector-putins-chopper-ukraine-shot-dead-spain-maksim-kuzminov/amp/

Saudi Arabia is preparing to open its first alcohol store in the capital Riyadh which will serve exclusively non-Muslim diplomats, according to a source familiar with the plans and a document.
Customers will have to register via a mobile app, get a clearance code from the foreign ministry, and respect monthly quotas with their purchases, said the document, which was seen by Reuters.
The move is a milestone in the kingdom's efforts, led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to open the ultra-conservative Muslim country for tourism and business as drinking alcohol is forbidden in Islam.

It is also part of wider plans known as Vision 2030 to build a post-oil economy.
The new store is located in Riyadh's Diplomatic Quarter, a neighbourhood where embassies and diplomats reside, and will be "strictly restricted" to non-Muslims, the document said.
It was unclear if other non-Muslim expatriates will have access to the store. Millions of expatriates live in Saudi Arabia but most of them are Muslim workers from Asia and Egypt.

A source familiar with the plans said the store is expected to open in the coming weeks.
Saudi Arabia has strict laws against drinking alcohol which can be punishable by hundreds of lashes, deportation, fines, or imprisonment and expatriates also face deportation. As part of the reforms, whipping has largely been replaced by jail sentences.
Alcohol has been available only through diplomatic mail or on the black market.

The government on Wednesday confirmed reports in state-controlled media that it was imposing new restrictions on alcohol imports within diplomatic consignments.
Its Center of International Communication (CIC) said the new regulations had been introduced to counter the illicit trade of alcohol goods and products received by diplomatic missions.
"This new process will continue to grant and ensure that all diplomats of non-Muslim embassies have access to these products in specified quotas," the CIC said in a statement to Reuters.

The statement did not address the planned alcohol store but said the new framework respected international diplomatic conventions.
Saudi Arabia, which was relatively closed off for decades, has in recent years relaxed strict social codes, such as segregating men and women in public places and requiring women to wear all-covering black robes, or abayas.

Prince Mohammed's tightening grip on power has been accompanied by changes which included opening the country for non-religious tourism, concerts and allowing women to drive, as well as a crackdown on dissent and political rivals.

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https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-prepares-open-first-alcohol-store-diplomats-2024-01-24/

The European Union is unlikely to confiscate Russian central bank assets frozen in Europe, despite G7 plans to discuss the legality of such a move at a meeting in February, senior EU officials said.
The EU, United States, Japan and Canada froze some $300 billion of Russian central bank assets in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine. Some $200 billion of that is held in Europe, mainly in the Belgian clearing house Euroclear.

The discussion comes as U.S. President Joe Biden faces Republican opposition to his request for another $61 billion in aid to Ukraine.
The EU is also struggling to agree on a 50 billion euro ($54.36 billion) aid package for Ukraine until 2027 because of opposition from Hungary, whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban has close ties with Moscow.
Confiscating the Russian assets and handing them over to Kyiv would ease the pressure on the West to finance Ukraine's war effort, but European officials dismiss it as too legally risky.

"Confiscation of the capital of the Russian assets is not going to happen. There is no agreement on this among EU member states," one senior official with insight into talks on the matter said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
In an interview with Reuters, Luxembourg Foreign Minster Xavier Bettel said he was "very cautious" about seizing the assets.
"Imagine if we decide politically to give billions to Ukraine. And in six months we have a judicial decision saying we are not allowed to give it to them. Who will pay will then?," Bettel said.

IMPACT ON EURO
European officials are concerned not only with the legality of such an unprecedented confiscation of sovereign assets, but also with the potential consequences for the euro currency; investors might pull out of euro assets out of concern their money might one day be seized too.
In addition, Moscow has pledged it would retaliate by confiscating Western assets in Russia, which some reports put at $288 billion.

Belgian Finance Minister Vincent van Peteghem, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU until July, is very reticent on the possibility of confiscating the Russian assets.
"We need to be very prudent with that proposition. I think that it's important that what can come on the table should be legally sound and we should avoid any impact on financial stability," he told reporters on Tuesday.

Belgium's Euroclear has "substantial" amounts of assets in Russia, officials said, which could be seized by Moscow in what could pose a financial stability risk to the clearing house, with major repercussions.
"The EU cannot bail out Euroclear," another senior official said. "Euroclear manages trillions and its bankruptcy would be far more than the budget of the EU. We have to balance risk and profit," the official said.
Instead of confiscating the Russian assets, EU governments are likely to back a European Commission proposal from December to take over the only the profits generated by the assets, leaving the principal untouched.
This could generate an estimated 15-17 billion euros over four years that could be transferred to Ukraine, officials said.

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https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-unlikely-confiscate-russian-central-bank-assets-officials-2024-01-23/

Two Navy SEALs who went missing on Jan. 11 while on an interdiction mission are considered dead, the U.S. military said Sunday.

The SEALs were reported missing during a mission near the coast of Somalia to board a ship carrying Iranian weapons, U.S. Central Command said in a statement.

Ships and aircraft from the U.S., Japan and Spain searched more than 21,000 square miles, CENTCOM said, adding that the search for the missing SEALs, who have not yet been publicly identified, has now been changed to a recovery effort.

Defense officials earlier told CBS News that the missing sailors went overboard while attempting to board the Iranian vessel. The SEALs were climbing up a vessel when one got knocked off by high waves in the Arabian Sea, the Associated Press reported. Under their protocol, when one SEAL is overtaken, the next jumps in after them.

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https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/2-navy-seals-dead-massive-search-iranian-weapons-ship-arabian-sea-somalia/

China’s GDP grew by 5.2% in 2023, which was higher than the official target that was set at 5%, the National Bureau of Statistics of China reported referring to preliminary estimates.
As specified in the report distributed at the press conference, last year China's GDP totaled 126.05 trillion yuan (about $17.7 trillion at the current exchange rate).

The growth rate in the agricultural sector reached 4.1% (8.97 trillion yuan, or $1.26 trillion), and in the industry and services sector the growth was 4.7% (48.26 trillion yuan, or $6.78 trillion) and 5.8% (68.82 trillion yuan, or $9.67 trillion), respectively.

In the fourth quarter of last year, China's GDP growth rate was 5.2%, which is 0.3 percentage points higher than in July-September.
On Tuesday, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Chinese Premier Li Qiang stressed that the Chinese economy is developing steadily and will continue to act as a stimulus for global development. He recalled that China's contribution to global GDP growth rates is about 30%.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, the country's GDP growth rate in 2021 was the highest in the last 10 years, reaching 8.4%. However, due to the impact of a number of negative factors, primarily the pandemic, in 2022 the dynamics was 3%.

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https://tass.com/economy/1733481/amp

In an extraordinary tape recording played before the House Assassinations Committee yesterday, Cuban President Fidel Castro denied any complicity in the assassination of President Kennedy and insisted that a warning he issued 2 1/2 months before the 1963 murder had been widely misunderstood.

His voice echoing through the Cannon Building caucus room, followed phrase for phrase by a Spanish interpreter, Castro said he had simply been trying to warn U.S. officials that he was aware of plots against his life sponsored by the Central Intelligence Agency.

‘’So, I said something like those plots start to set a very bad precedent, a very serious one - [and] that that could become a boomerang against the authors of those actions," Castro declared. "But I did not mean to threaten by that . . . I did not mean by that that we were going to take measures - similar measures - like a retaligtion for that."

Castro had made his seemingly ominous remarks to an Associated Press reporter he had called aside on Sept. 7, 1963, during a reception at the Brazillian embassy in Havana. "United States leaders," he warned at the time, "should think that if they are aiding terrorist plans to eliminate Cuban leaders, they themselves will not be safe."

Committee and staff members who interviewed Castro for more than four hours in Havana last April 3 neglected to ask what prompted his remarks that day or why he chose the Brazillian embassy for his forum.

It was reportedly in September 1963, however, that a longtime confidant of Castro, Rolando Cubela, met with CIA case officers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and said he would be willing to attempt Castro's assassination if the U.S. government would support him.

According to Edward J. Epstein's recent book, "Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald," Cubela's startling offer was communicated to CIA headquarters on Saturday, Sept. 7, 1963. Castro's remarks at the embassy in Havana the same day reportedly raised suspicious among some CIA officials that Cubela, code-named Amlash, might be a double agent.

The interview with Castro was played as the House committee reached what appears to be a dead end in its efforts to resolve the question of possible foreign entanglements in the president's assassination in Dalas on Nov. 22, 1963.

The Soviet Union has refused the committee's request for various documents, including the KGB's voluminous surveillance files on Oswald during his 2 1/2-year stay there. Yesterday, chief committee counsel G. Robert Blakey reported that the panel has been "largely frustrated in its attempts to investigate the nature of Lee Harvey Oswald's activities and possible associations in Mexico City" in late September and early October of 1963.


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https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1978/09/20/castro-on-tape-denies-complicity-in-jfks-murder/9d4c71d5-a9ec-401f-af6c-a6b890ae3221/

The seizure of the St. Nikolas, earlier on Thursday, is at the center of a major dispute between Washington and Tehran, and may likely stoke regional tensions.
The tanker was carrying Iraqi crude destined for Turkey.

Vessel tracking software shows its course - the tanker turned off its AIS tracking system as it turned toward an Iranian port.
U.S. authorities seized the St. Nikolas last year in a sanctions operation, and when it had sailed under a different name, Sueze Rajan.

Tehran says its action Thursday was in retaliation for that earlier U.S. confiscation.
The seizure coincides with weeks of attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militias targeting Red Sea shipping routes.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby condemned Iran's actions on Thursday.
"The Iranian government should immediately release the ship and its crew. These provocative and unacceptable actions need to stop.

We'll continue to work with our allies and partners to deter and confront the full range of Iran's concerning and destabilizing behavior in close coordination, of course, with the international community"


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https://news.yahoo.com/british-maritime-officials-masked-gunman-142910839.html

UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ) has reportedly rebuffed a request by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pay "unemployment" stipends to Palestinian workers from the occupied West Bank. Tel Aviv has barred these workers from entering its territory after the October 7 terror attacks by Hamas. 

According to an Axios report quoting unnamed sources, after Netanyahu put forth the request, a sarcastic MBZ told Bibi: "Ask Zelensky for money."

The publication claimed that MBZ was referring to the foreign aid that Ukraine was getting due to the war with Russia that could be used to pay for the workers. 
Notably, immediately after the Hamas attack, the Netanyahu administration announced a closure on the occupied West Bank, citing security reasons. The immediate repercussion was that more than 100,000 Palestinians who worked in Israel but lived in West Bank before the war, could not enter Tel Aviv.
Since then, the majority of Palestinians have been unemployed as the war continues without a break. 

According to reports, MBZ was willing to help Netanyahu but the abrupt request to pay the Palestinian workers startled him, leading to the vexed response. 
“The notion that Arab countries will come in to rebuild and pay the bill for what’s currently happening is wishful thinking,” an official from the UAE told Axios.

Notably, Israel has informed several Arab states, including Egypt, Jordan and the UAE, that it wants a buffer zone in the Gaza Strip once its conflict with Hamas ends. However, the UAE has said publically that it won't pay for the rebuilding of Gaza unless the US-led two-state solution peace process is renewed. 

UAE calls for ceasefire
The UAE and Israeli bilateral relations were forged in 2020 after the signing of the Abraham Accords. 
As a result, since the beginning of the war, UAE has repeatedly urged Israel for a humanitarian ceasefire, whilst also condemning the terrorist attacks by Hamas and bombardment by Israeli forces. 
UAE has also warned against a risk of regional spillover if the war between Israel and Hamas continues.

"As we continue working to stop this war, we cannot ignore the wider context and the necessity to turn down the regional temperature that is approaching a boiling point," said Noura Al Kaabi, a minister of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Despite the insistence by the Gulf regional power, Tel Aviv and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have made it clear that the war would only end with the elimination of Hamas. 
"We won't stop fighting until we've achieved all the objectives we've set ourselves: the elimination of Hamas, the release of our hostages and the end of the threat from Gaza," Netanyahu said last month. 
The war has entered its fourth month and there is no indication that there will be a ceasefire in the immediate future. 

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https://www.wionews.com/world/ask-zelensky-uae-president-gives-vexed-response-to-netanyahu-asking-for-aid-money-678506/amp

Iran's Civil Aviation Authority (CAOIRI) has confirmed the completion of the country's first commercial aviation manufacturing facility. With this news, the group’s director announced the development of the nation's first airliner, titled the Simorgh.

This comes after a press conference at the Tehran International Exhibition of Transportation, where CAOIRI’s director, Mohammad Mohammadi-Bakhsh, confirmed the factory’s establishment. The Iranian government built the facility in collaboration with multiple sectors, including the country's Defence Ministry and Ministry of Trade

Iran had needed to build its commercial aircraft due to a multitude of sanctions imposed by the US and other nations. This had led to airlines throughout the country having a lack of crucial parts resulting in the country's flag carrier, the Iranian Air (IR), retiring most of its Boeing aircraft.

Replacing an Aging Fleet

Iran is no stranger to building its aircraft, having established a military aircraft program in the 1990s. This has birth aircraft like the Azarakhsh and Saeqh, allowing Iran’s aviation industryto apply its knowledge from building these aircraft into the commercial sector.

However there is little question that after the Simorgh is complete, it would take some time before other nations certify it. This leaves IR to continue to operate its ever aging fleet, with its four in service Airbus A300s having an average age of 32.4 years, according to airfleets.net

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https://airwaysmag.com/irans-first-comm-av-manufacturing-complete/

An Italian lawmaker is currently under investigation after bringing a loaded gun to a New Year’s Eve party in the town of Rosazza, in northern Italy, which fired a shot that injured a 31-year-old man.

Emanuele Pozzolo, a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, admitted bringing the .22 calibre mini-revolver - a North American Arms LR22 - that fired the shot but denied firing the shot himself, saying that someone else must have gotten hold of the firearm.

Pozzolo, 38, claimed that the shot was fired by the same man who got injured, whom he said picked up the gun from the floor after he had accidentally dropped it. But Italian news media report that it would have been difficult for the man to shoot himself in the back of the thigh if things had happened the way Pozzolo said they had.

Several witnesses told Italian news media, including La Repubblica, that the lawmaker appeared “allegro” - a word which in Italian means happy but it’s generally used to mean “tipsy” - and was showing the gun to those attending the party. One witness told authorities that Pozzolo was holding the gun when the shot was fired - an incriminating testimony which would be taken into consideration by investigators.

The party was attended by several families, including children, according to witnesses.
The injured man, Luca Campana, was treated at the hospital and is not in critical condition, but was given a 10-day recovery period. He has not yet sued anyone - including Pozzolo - for the damage suffered. Campana is the son-in-law of a member of Andrea Delmastro’s security team. Delmastro is a junior justice minister and a member of Brothers of Italy.

The Italian member of Parliament, who had previously declared to be a pro-gun activist, had a regular firearm licence - the only legal way for anyone in Italy to have a firearm. This same licence was removed after the New Year’s Eve accident.

Pozzolo has regularly declared he is in favour of the right of citizens to bear arms for self-defence, though Italy has strong gun legislation for civilians. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the controversial lawmaker often spoke against vaccinations, declaring himself to be a no-vax - or anti-vaxxer.


He was elected as MP in 2022, at the same time when his party, Brothers of Italy, won the general election.

Right after the incident, Pozzolo refused to undergo the test that would have determined traces of gunpowder on his hands and clothes. Six hours after the incident, he agreed to have the test done on his hands, but refused to relinquish his clothes to authorities, calling for parliamentary immunity.

The case runs the risk of becoming political, as the centre-left opposition has pointed to Pozzolo as an example of the kind of people within Meloni’s ruling party and called on her to take action against the MP. The prime minister, on the other hand, has appeared furious in the aftermath of the incident.

“Here there are people who haven’t understood what their role is,” Meloni said, according to the newspaper Corriere. “There are some members of Parliament and senators who think they’re on holiday,” she added. “And they cause damage, they make us look unreliable.”

The prime minister also condemned the “folly” of Pozzolo in taking a gun to a New Year’s Eve party.

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https://www.euronews.com/2024/01/03/meloni-faces-pressure-after-italian-mp-brings-loaded-gun-to-nye-party-and-one-man-is-injur

The "double" took the opportunity to put a question to Putin about artificial intelligence during an annual news conference where dozens of callers from around the country were hooked up to the president by video link.
"Vladimir Vladimirovich, hello, I am a student at St Petersburg state university. I want to ask, is it true you have a lot of doubles?" the double asked, prompting laughter among the audience in the hall with Putin in Moscow.

The question prompted a rare hesitation from Putin, already in his fourth hour of taking questions at the marathon event.

"I see you may resemble me and speak with my voice. But I have thought about it and decided that only one person must be like me and speak with my voice, and that will be me," he said.

"That is my first double, by the way," Putin added as an afterthought.

There has been recurrent speculation, particularly in Western media, that Putin has one or more body doubles to cover for him in some public appearances because of alleged health problems. The Kremlin had denied that and said the president's health is excellent.

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Chinese state media unveiled new images of China's most advanced aircraft carrier yet, including next generation launch tracks that can catapult a wider range of aircraft from its deck.

First shown to the public in June 2022, the Fujian was entirely designed and built domestically.

Yet to conduct its first sea trials, the aircraft carrier is larger and technologically more advanced than the Shandong, commissioned in 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted domestically.

On state television late on Tuesday, the Fujian was seen being towed by a smaller vessel with all of the three tracks of its electro-magnetic catapult system visible on its deck.

"In the new year, we will seize every minute, work with determination, and strive for combat readiness as soon as possible," state television cited a Fujian officer as saying.

The Fujian has been conducting tests including mooring tests before its sea trials, which some observers expected to have taken place by 2023. The carrier started launch tests for its electromagnetic catapult system in November, according to state-controlled Chinese newspaper Global Times.

Other than Ford-Class aircraft carriers, a new class of nuclear-powered carriers being developed for the U.S. navy, the Fujian will be the only aircraft carrier in the world equipped with the latest Electro-magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS).

China's version of the EMALS can launch more kinds of aircraft than the Shandong or the Liaoning, and will also be more reliable and energy-efficient, marking a milestone in the modernisation of the Chinese military.

President Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for increased combat-readiness and technological advances ahead of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in 2027. Some senior U.S. military officers previously said China would launch a military takeover of Taiwan by that year.

In the run-up to its Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections, Taiwan has reported China continuing with its daily military activities in the Taiwan Strait and around the democratically governed island.

Chinese fighter jets have also on occasion crossed the strait's median line, which previously served as an unofficial barrier but which Beijing says it does not recognize.

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https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-unveils-new-images-its-next-generation-aircraft-carrier-2024-01-03/

President Vladimir Putin has asserted that Ukraine is not the primary adversary in the ongoing conflict, but rather the Western elites supporting it are the real enemies of Russia. Putin made these remarks while visiting a military hospital in Moscow on Monday, where he met with servicemen injured in the conflict.

"We're going to intensify the strikes. No crime against civilians will rest unpunished, that's for certain," Putin said during his visit to the military hospital. Putin said Russia would continue to hit what he called "military installations".

Discussing the continuous Western backing of Kiev, Putin emphasized that it's not merely assistance to an enemy, but rather that the elites of the collective West themselves are the true adversaries. He said “The point is not that they are helping our enemy, but that they are our enemy. They are solving their own problems with [Ukraine’s] hands, that’s what it’s all about.”

Putin suggested that the conflict between Moscow and Kiev was orchestrated by Western elites aiming to defeat Russia. Despite their efforts, he noted, the collective West has failed to achieve its objectives, a fact he believes is evident in the changing rhetoric surrounding the conflict. “Those who only yesterday were talking about the need to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia are now looking for words on how to quickly end the conflict,” Putin remarked.

He expressed Russia's desire to conclude the conflict swiftly but on its own terms, saying, “We want to end the conflict too, and as quickly as possible, but only on our terms. We have no desire to fight forever, but we are not going to give up our positions either.”

Putin observed that the battlefield situation is evolving, despite the extensive support Kiev has received from the West. He claimed that Russia has been outperforming the entire Western alliance in military production, with expectations for further growth in output. “Despite the fact that from time immemorial [the West] has had such a goal – to deal with Russia, it looks like we will deal with them first,” he said.

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https://m.timesofindia.com/world/europe/vladimir-putin-western-elites-not-ukraine-are-russias-true-adversaries/amp_articleshow/106470918.cms

Venezuela said on Saturday it would continue to deploy nearly 6,000 troops until a British military vessel sent to neighbouring Guyana left the waters off the coast of the two South American nations.

In a video posted to X, Venezuelan Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino appeared surrounded by military officers in front of a marked up map of Venezuela and Guyana, a former British colony.
Padrino said the forces were “safeguarding our national sovereignty”.

“Armed forces have been deployed not just in the east of the country, but across the entire territory,” he said. “They will be there until this British imperialist boat leaves the disputed waters between Venezuela and Guyana.”

The defence ministry confirmed to Associated Press that the video was made at a military base in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.

The video comes after weeks of tensions between the two countries over Venezuela’s renewed claim to a region in Guyana known as Essequibo, a sparsely populated stretch of land roughly the size of Florida that is rich in oil and minerals. Operations generate some $1 billion a year for the impoverished country of nearly 800,000 people that saw its economy expand by nearly 60 per cent in the first half of this year.

Venezuela has long argued it was cheated out of the territory when Europeans and the United States set the border. Guyana, which has controlled the zone for decades, says the original agreement was legally binding and the dispute should be decided by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands.

The century-old dispute was recently reignited with the discovery of oil in Guyana, and has escalated since Venezuela reported that its citizens voted in a December 3 referendum to claim Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of its smaller neighbour.

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https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3246796/venezuela-says-troops-will-stay-deployed-until-british-military-vessel-leaves-waters-guyana?campaign=3246796&module=perpetual_scroll_0&pgtype=article

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrated New Year's Eve by watching an art troupe perform at Pyongyang's colossal May 1 Stadium accompanied by his daughter and wife, state media reported on Monday.

The May 1 Stadium is believed to have a capacity of as many as 150,000 spectators, which would make it the world's largest.
Footage from official broadcaster KCTV shows Kim and his family being greeted by cheers from tens of thousands of spectators packing the venue, with daughter Ju Ae holding Kim's arm as she walked to her seat and her mother Ri Sol Ju clapping and smiling beside her.

Kim responded to the roaring crowd with waves, and was seen kissing Ju Ae on the cheek at one point.
The performance marked the beginning of the new year, state-run KCNA reported, with bells "tolling solemnly... at 00:00 on January 1 along with the ignition of the torch of celebration and the display of fireworks" in the sky over the capital city.

"At the end of the performance, loud cheers of 'Hurrah!' for Kim Jong Un rocked the venue again and fireworks were let off," a female narrator says over footage showing performers waving North Korean flags in celebration.

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https://www.barrons.com/news/n-korea-s-kim-celebrates-new-year-s-eve-with-performance-daughter-by-side-d234112e

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrated New Year's Eve by watching an art troupe perform at Pyongyang's colossal May 1 Stadium accompanied by his daughter and wife, state media reported on Monday.

The May 1 Stadium is believed to have a capacity of as many as 150,000 spectators, which would make it the world's largest.
Footage from official broadcaster KCTV shows Kim and his family being greeted by cheers from tens of thousands of spectators packing the venue, with daughter Ju Ae holding Kim's arm as she walked to her seat and her mother Ri Sol Ju clapping and smiling beside her.

Kim responded to the roaring crowd with waves, and was seen kissing Ju Ae on the cheek at one point.
The performance marked the beginning of the new year, state-run KCNA reported, with bells "tolling solemnly... at 00:00 on January 1 along with the ignition of the torch of celebration and the display of fireworks" in the sky over the capital city.

"At the end of the performance, loud cheers of 'Hurrah!' for Kim Jong Un rocked the venue again and fireworks were let off," a female narrator says over footage showing performers waving North Korean flags in celebration.

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https://www.barrons.com/news/n-korea-s-kim-celebrates-new-year-s-eve-with-performance-daughter-by-side-d234112e

China's "reunification" with Taiwan is inevitable, President Xi Jinping said in his New Year's address on Sunday, striking a stronger tone than he did last year with less than two weeks to go before the Chinese-claimed island elects a new leader.

The Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections are happening at a time of fraught relations between Beijing and Taipei. China has been ramping up military pressure to assert its sovereignty claims over democratically governed Taiwan.

China considers Taiwan to be its "sacred territory" and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under Chinese control, though Xi made no mention of military threats in his speech carried on state television.

"The reunification of the motherland is a historical inevitability," Xi said, though the official English translation of his remarks published by the Xinhua news agency used a more simple phrase: "China will surely be reunified".

"Compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose and share in the glory of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," he added. The official English translation wrote "all Chinese" rather than "compatriots".

Last year, Xi said only that people on either side of the strait are "members of one and the same family" and that he hoped people on both sides will work together to "jointly foster lasting prosperity of the Chinese nation".

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https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-calls-taiwan-president-frontrunner-destroyer-peace-2023-12-31/

The Vatican marked the first anniversary on Sunday of the death of Pope Benedict XVI, with one of his closest aides saying he never would have approved a recent declaration allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples.

Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, who was the Church's doctrinal chief under Benedict, and Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, who was Benedict's private secretary, both German, were two headliners at an event marking the anniversary and organised by the conservative U.S.-based Catholic television network EWTN.

"It never would have happened (under Benedict) because it was so ambiguous," Mueller said on the sidelines of the event when asked by Reuters about the landmark declaration issued on Dec. 18.

While the December declaration says such blessings cannot resemble the sacrament of matrimony between a man and a woman and cannot be part of rituals or liturgies, some advocates of more inclusion of LGBT people saw it as a possible precursor of same-sex marriage in the Church.

"There is no homosexual matrimony. It does not exist, it cannot exist, despite ideologies we have (today)," said Mueller, whom Francis removed as head of the Vatican's doctrinal department after Benedict resigned in 2013.

Francis briefly noted the anniversary in his Sunday blessing to crowds in St. Peter's Square, saying Benedict had "served the Church with love and wisdom" and that he "We feel so much affection, so much gratitude, so much admiration for him".

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Israel must take full control of the Gaza Strip border corridor with Egypt to ensure a "demilitarisation" of the area, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday, as Israel's military pushed deeper into central and southern Gaza.

Speaking at a press conference, Netanyahu said: "The Philadelphi Corridor - or to put it more correctly, the southern closing point (of Gaza) - must be in our hands. It must be shut. It is clear that any other arrangement would not ensure the demilitarisation that we seek."

He did not elaborate. If accomplished, such a move would mark a de facto reversal of Israel's 2005 withdrawal from Gaza, placing the enclave under exclusive Israeli control after years being run by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Netanyahu's comments about the buffer zone came as Israeli military forces pressed ahead with an offensive that the prime minister reiterated will last "for many more months."

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https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/fighting-between-israeli-forces-hamas-rages-after-nearly-200-killed-gaza-2023-12-30/

China's defence ministry on Thursday urged the Asia-Pacific to be on high alert as the United States steps up forward military deployment in the region, after reports of a U.S. plan to revive a Pacific airfield that launched atomic bombings of Japan.

The Chinese military is paying close attention to moves by the United States, and will firmly safeguard China's maritime rights, security and sovereignty in the region, Wu Qian, a spokesperson at the defence ministry, told a regular news conference.

Earlier in December, a U.S. air force general told Japan's Nikkei newspaper that the U.S. military will make "significant progress" towards reclaiming the Tinian North airfield from overgrown jungle vegetation in the coming months, as part of a plan to disperse aircraft across the Indo-Pacific region as China's missile threat grows.

The airfield, abandoned after World War II, lies on Tinian island, part of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, and about 200 kilometres (124 miles) north of Guam.

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https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-urges-regional-alert-us-military-steps-up-forward-deployment-2023-12-28/

An Israeli strike killed Razi Moussavi, a top Iranian general, near the Syrian capital on Monday. Moussavi was the most senior commander in the Quds Force – the foreign arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – to be killed outside Iran in nearly four years. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi expressed condolences for Moussavi's death, saying Israel "will certainly pay for this crime". 


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https://www.france24.com/en/video/20231226-iran-backed-groups-in-syria-iraq-and-yemen-have-launched-a-slew-of-attacks-on-us-and-allied-forces

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has said his troops have seized the key town of Mariinka in eastern Ukraine - a claim immediately denied by Kyiv.

Mr Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin assault units had taken the "powerfully fortified" area just outside Donetsk, a Russian-held regional capital.

But Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun said "fighting for Mariinka" continued.
Mariinka - seen as a gateway to Donetsk - has been almost completely destroyed.

In recent weeks, Russian forces have intensified their attacks in several key areas of a more than 1,200km-long (745 miles) battlefront.

Alongside Mariinka, they have been trying to encircle Avdiivka - another key town near Donetsk.

Ukrainian forces are seeking to extend their bridgehead on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro river in southern Ukraine.


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A UFO was spotted hovering over Air Force One during a fundraising trip President Biden took to Los Angeles earlier this month in footage shared online by two amateur plane trackers.

The footage, captured from a live stream of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) by brothers Peter and Joshua Solorzano, shows a mysterious balloon-like object seemingly hovering over Air Force One during Biden’s Dec. 10 trip.

“A few viewers are saying we saw a UFO,” Peter says in a clip shared to their YouTube channel L.A. Flights.

The pair, filming at LAX as two F-35 fighter jets monitored the skies for the Ppresident, excitedly pointed out the jets being refueled mid-air before the shiny white or silver object darted across the sky.

The object first appeared on-screen at 10:18 a.m., prompting Joshua to ask his brother,

“You saw that? We got something flying in the way.”

“I’m not too sure what it was,” he adds.
The object appears twice more in the video with the final spotting made at 11:08 a.m.

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A drone launched from Iran struck a chemical tanker in the Indian ocean early on Saturday, the U.S. Department of Defense said.

"The motor vessel CHEM PLUTO, a Liberia-flagged, Japanese-owned, and Netherlands-operated chemical tanker was struck at approximately 10 a.m. local time (6 a.m. GMT) today in the Indian Ocean, 200 nautical miles from the coast of India, by a one-way attack drone fired from Iran," a Pentagon spokesperson told Reuters.

The incident highlights escalating regional tensions and new risk to shipping lanes after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

The Iranian government, as well as its allied militant forces in Yemen, have publicly criticized the Israeli government's military operation in Gaza. Thousands of Palestinian citizens have been killed in the ongoing conflict, according to aid monitors.
The Pentagon statement said this was the "seventh Iranian attack on commercial shipping since 2021.”

There were no casualties as a result of the attack and a brief fire on board the tanker was extinguished. The incident took place only 200 nautical miles from the coast of India.
A spokesperson for the Iranian delegation at the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Chinese scientists say they have found a way to efficiently extract uranium – the heavy metal used to fuel nuclear reactors – from seawater using electricity.

The team from Northeast Normal University in Changchun, Jilin province developed an electrode to capture the uranium through electrochemical reactions. They say this is at least three times faster than existing methods, and is effective at shielding against impurities in the seawater – meaning it could be suitable for large-scale applications.

The researchers, led by Associate Professor Zhao Rui and Professor Zhu Guangshan, published the results of their groundbreaking study in the peer-reviewed journal ACS Central Science on December 13.

China is building more nuclear power plants than any other country, but the country’s uranium ore is low grade so it relies on imports to fuel its reactors. The ability to extract uranium from seawater could be a game changer for China’s – and the world’s – energy structure, and progress on the technology is closely watched by policymakers and the nuclear industry.

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https://amp.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3245779/how-chinese-scientists-are-extracting-uranium-seawater-faster-ever

A high-ranking official within the Ukrainian Defence Ministry has been apprehended on charges of embezzling

USD 40 million (1.5 billion Ukrainian hryvnia) related to a contract for artillery shells, CNN reported the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU).
The SBU alleged that the official, in December of the previous year, entered into an agreement with a specialised export company for the procurement of a substantial batch of artillery shells.

Subsequently, a more advantageous contract for the supply of these shells, excluding intermediaries, thereby reducing delivery time and costs, was later signed with the same manufacturer, CNN reported.

According to the SBU, the defence official extended the original, costlier contract, resulting in the transfer of funds amounting to USD 40 million to the accounts of a connected foreign intermediary firm. The SBU claimed that it is in possession of documents substantiating these illicit activities, with the accused facing a potential prison sentence
of up to 15 years if proven guilty.


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https://m.economictimes.com/news/defence/ukraine-detains-defence-official-of-embezzling-usd-40mn-in-artillery-deal/amp_articleshow/106244003.cms