Germany approves new arms exports – media
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Berlin previously embargoed weapons sales to Saudi Arabia over the war in Yemen

Germany’s coalition government approved $35 million in new arms sales to Saudi Arabia before Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Riyadh last week, Der Spiegel reported on Thursday. Sales were halted in 2018 over the war in Yemen, but Berlin has relaxed its stance on sending weapons to warzones since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck confirmed in a letter to the German Bundestag (Parliament) that several deals had been approved by Scholz shortly before he traveled to the Gulf region last week, the newspaper...

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UK intelligence agency hacked – media
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The website of MI5, Britain’s domestic spy service, was briefly taken down by a DDoS attack

The website of UK domestic intelligence agency MI5 was briefly knocked offline by a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack on Friday, according to Reuters, citing a BBC report. The culprits were not named, and it is not clear if they have been identified. 

It is not the first time Britain’s security service infrastructure has been compromised. In 2009, a group called Team Elite reportedly infiltrated MI5’s website to log visitors’ identity and scrape years of their browsing history. While the vulnerability was quickly fixed, London was appalled at the idea that “...

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Putin names chief suspects for Nord Stream attack
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Sanctioning Russia is no longer enough for the 'Anglo-Saxons,' the president claimed

The US and UK orchestrated the blasts on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, which delivered Russian natural gas to Germany, because they “obviously” benefit from it, President Vladimir Putin insisted on Friday.

Putin accused Washington of trying to pressure the EU into banning Russian supplies to “completely get its hands on the European market.”

“But the sanctions are no longer enough for the Anglo-Saxons,” he said, using Russian shorthand for the US-UK transatlantic alliance....

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Ukraine insists it can strike Russia despite US ban
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Restrictions only apply to targeting Russia with certain kinds of weaponry, Kiev’s envoy to Washington claims

The US only forbids Kiev’s forces from attacking Russian territory with HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems), not all American weapons, Ukrainian ambassador to Washington Oksana Markarova said on Thursday.

The US has been Kiev’s main backer during the conflict with Moscow, providing Ukrainian forces with billions of dollars worth of military aid, including sophisticated hardware such as HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, M777 howitzers, and combat drones.

Last month, Ukrainian Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov said...

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West and Russia already fighting WW3 – former US advisor
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Fiona Hill argues that Americans have “failed to recognize” the scope of the Ukraine conflict

The West has been fighting World War III against Russia “for a long time” without being aware of it, former White House advisor Fiona Hill told the New Yorker magazine on Thursday. Moscow, however, is aware, with President Vladimir Putin accusing the collective West of waging “hybrid war” on Russia.

“We’ve been in this for a long time, and we’ve failed to recognize it,” said Hill, who serv...

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This winter will be hard but next one will be even worse – EU
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Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson warns of a “difficult” winter amid the energy crisis

EU energy officials are concerned about the effects the ongoing energy crisis in Europe will have on the continent once cold weather sets in, Commissioner Kadri Simson told journalists on Friday.

“Ministers were concerned, as am I, that this will not be an easy winter for us, and the next winter will be even more difficult,” said Simson during a press conference after an extraordinary meeting of EU energy ministers.

The meeting was meant to address the skyrocketing gas prices in Europe and to develop a package of emergency measures aimed a...

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Nuking Ukraine would be an attack on NATO – US senator
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Sen. Lindsey Graham warned Russia that using nuclear weapons in Ukraine would provoke a massive retaliation from NATO

Any Russian use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine would be the equivalent of an attack on “NATO itself,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham declared on Thursday, adding it would be met with a “catastrophic” response.

Speaking during a joint press conference with Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Graham noted that in such an attack the radiation “would not be confined to Ukraine, you would be irradiating parts of Europe that are under the NATO banner.”

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Majority of Brits want Liz Truss to resign – poll
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Over one-third of Conservatives surveyed also want the prime minister to quit

More than half of Britons want Prime Minister Liz Truss to resign, a new poll published on Friday by YouGov shows. According to the survey, 51% of almost 5,000 respondents want her to quit, while only about a quarter of those polled believe she should stay. Just under a quarter said they did not have any particular opinion on the matter.

The news comes as Truss and Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng face a backlash over a new spending plan designed to spur e...

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White House responds to Ukraine’s NATO request
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Now is not the time, says national security adviser Jake Sullivan

The US is committed to the “open door” policy when it comes to NATO, but now is the wrong time to consider Ukraine’s membership application, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Friday.

“Right now, our view is that the best way for us to support Ukraine is through practical, on the ground support in Ukraine, and that the process in Brussels should be taken up at a different time,” Sullivan told reporters at the White House press briefing.

Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Vladimir Z...

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China, India and Brazil abstain in vote on US resolution, Russia vetoes
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Russia blocked a US-sponsored resolution condemning its acceptance of former Ukrainian regions

Russia has accused the US of baiting it into using its UN veto power in a bid to limit Moscow’s influence on the Security Council. Russia blocked a US-sponsored resolution on Friday that would have condemned its acceptance into the Russian Federation of four former Ukrainian territories.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed accession treaties on Friday, starting the process of bringing the two Donbass republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions into the Russian Federation following successful referendums. Within...

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US avoids shutdown of ‘critical’ Ukraine aid
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The bill intended to keep the US government running includes $12.3 billion in Ukraine aid

US President Joe Biden has signed a temporary spending bill into law, avoiding a federal government shutdown until mid-December. The stopgap funding bill, however, is largely focused on keeping the flow of military and other aid to Kiev uninterrupted.

The House passed the bill 230-201 on Friday in a vote largely split on party lines, except for 10 Republicans who joined Democrats in backing the legislation. Biden signed the bill ahead of a midnight deadline, barely averting a shutdown due to a lack of funding.

While the temporary spending package will provi...

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Bill Gates warns of ‘scary’ winter for Europe
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The billionaire climate-change crusader said Western reliance on Russian fossil fuels will not abate anytime soon

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said Europe may face a “very scary situation” this winter, warning that surging energy prices across the region could mean that people will be unable to heat their homes, amid efforts by some nations to ditch Russian energy without any viable alternatives.

Speaking to Bloomberg journalist Akshat Rathi for a...

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North Korea responds to US-led drill
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The missiles may have flown on “irregular” trajectories, Japan has said

North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Saturday, just after a US-led joint anti-submarine drill took place, making it the fourth such launch in one week, South Korea and Japan say.

According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the projectiles were fired from near Pyongyang, traveling around 350 kilometers (217.5 miles) towards the Sea of Japan, which Koreans call the East Sea.

Japanese Vice Defense Minister Toshiro Ino said that the missiles may have flown on “irregular” trajectories, as quoted by Kyodo News....

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Washington split over Ukraine’s NATO bid – Politico
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Zelensky’s unexpected demand to fast-track membership talks has reportedly been met with a mixed reaction

Ukraine’s bid for accelerated accession to NATO caught Washington off-guard, driving a wedge between a number of US lawmakers, Politico reported on Friday.

When the outlet asked US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi if she supports Kiev’s demand to join NATO, she stopped short of unequivocally endorsing the move, saying the US is “very committed to democracy in Ukraine.”

“Let’s win this war. But I would be for them having a security guarantee,” she told Politico.

Democratic Party colleague Representative Mike Quigle...

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