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Moscow says 600 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in what it describes as a retaliatory attack for Kiev's deadly New Year strike on Russian troops.
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50 Russian soldiers return from Ukrainian captivity in a prisoner swap deal, which sees the same amount of Ukrainian troops released following talks. Russia's Defence Ministry says the men were in 'mortal danger.'
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'British intelligence' spies on Russian forces on behalf of Kiev, according to leaked documents reported by the Grayzone media outlet. This is important, there will be consequences, according to Kit Klarenberg who published/authored the report. Two boys were shot on Christmas eve in a drive-by shooting. Another lad was beaten on his way back from worship.
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According to President Vucic, NATO has no right to reject Serbia's request for peacekeepers, citing resolutions 1244, NATO has an obligation to protect the citizens/Serbian population.
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South Africa will have the chair of BRICS this year and it is eager to see BRICS grow under it's chairmanship.
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'A violation of free speech and the rights of journalists' - that's how Russia's Foreign Ministry describes the detention of the regional director of the Sputnik news agency by authorities in Latvia.
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Africa: Tanzania has lifted the ban on political rallies after opposition demands reforms. The ban on such rallies was imposed six years ago by a former president.
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8 Jan, 2023 15:18

1) --- One in four British troops ‘dangerously’ overweight – media

A veteran commander excoriated officials for their ‘failure of leadership’ regarding soldiers’ weight

A quarter of all British soldiers are ‘dangerously’ overweight or obese, according to statistics seen by the Mail on Sunday, fueling a growing health crisis in the ranks. Nearly 40,000 of the 145,000 members of the UK military have been classified as overweight in the last five years.

The alarming statistic “represents a failure of leadership among those responsible for ensuring troops under their command remain fit and healthy and ready to fight,” former British commander Col. Richard Kemp told the Mail.

“Every overweight serviceman or -woman became overweight while serving,” the veteran, who led British troops in Afghanistan, continued. “Allowing soldiers’ health to decline in this way is the same as neglecting a weapon system or combat vehicle to the extent it cannot function when needed.”

The service has reportedly had to medically discharge some 5,200 overweight soldiers since 2010, including one 420-pound (191 kg) soldier let go after failing mandatory fitness tests. More than 800 of those dismissed weighed over 252 pounds (114 kg). However, a Ministry of Defense spokesperson cautioned that “personnel can have multiple causes listed in a medical discharge, so may not have been discharged specifically for weight related issues.”

But the extra pounds can take a toll beyond simply reducing physical fitness. The ministry’s statistics seen by the Mail reveal that over 1,100 servicemembers have developed type II diabetes, 1,113 have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, and 100 have heart disease. Since 2014, 850 soldiers have been prescribed diet pills, while 60 were given liposuction.

Former Army chief Lord Dannatt told the Mail that if the weight of “young overweight soldiers” could not be controlled, “they should be discharged,” describing the “obesity and overweight issue” as “very much a chain of command matter.”

“Rigorous enforcement of the physical fitness tests is essential,” Dannatt continued, arguing that commanders were letting older soldiers off the hook despite putting on weight, as their roles became less active.

By the military’s own Body Composition Measurement metric, which takes into account both the more commonly used Body Mass Index and waist measurement, nearly 40,000 troops are at risk of health issues due to their size, according to the Mail.
https://www.rt.com/news/569567-british-army-overweight-fitness-readiness/
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8 Jan, 2023 13:54

2) --- World's largest experimental nuclear reactor faces delays

An international nuclear fusion project under development in France was scheduled to start providing clean carbon-free energy by 2025

The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), currently under development in France, may take years to start producing useful energy, CEO Pietro Barabaschi told AFP news agency during a visit to the facility this week.

The project, launched in southern France in 1980s and aimed at producing commercial electricity through nuclear fusion, was expected to become a large-scale carbon-free source of power by 2025.

However, according to Barabaschi, that date “wasn't realistic in the first place,” and now the project faces two new challenges.

The first issue, he said, is the wrongly calculated measurements for the joints of blocks which need to be welded together for the reactor’s chamber. The second is the recent discovery of corrosion traces in a thermal shield, needed to contain the heat created in the nuclear fusion reaction.

Barabaschi said fixing these issues “is not a question of weeks, but months, even years.”

During the fusion process, light atomic nuclei are forced together in a heated plasma, which is held within a doughnut-shaped confinement device called a tokamak. The goal is to create a safe and almost limitless supply of electricity.

ITER was set in motion in 1985, after a summit between then-US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. The project has already faced a series of technical challenges and cost issues over the years. Currently, it is being developed jointly by companies from China, the EU, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the US.

Moscow still participates in ITER despite sanctions and the Ukraine conflict. Most recently, in November last year, Russia supplied the project with a giant magnet needed for the construction of the tokamak. According to the project goals, ITER tokamak will be the largest and most powerful fusion device in the world.
https://www.rt.com/business/569554-nuclear-reactor-faces-delays/
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8 Jan, 2023 18:07

3) --- Sweden complains NATO country is asking for the impossible

Türkiye is demanding too much, even after receiving numerous concessions, Stockholm says

NATO member Türkiye has piled impossible demands on Sweden as prerequisites for joining the military bloc, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson complained during a security conference on Sunday.

Türkiye “has confirmed that we have done what we said we would do, but it also says that it wants things that we can’t, that we don’t want to, give it,” he lamented. Still, he predicted Ankara would “make a decision, we just don’t know when” – with the outcome dependent both on internal Turkish politics and “Sweden’s capacity to show its seriousness.”

One of just two holdouts yet to approve Sweden’s accession to NATO, Türkiye officially rescinded its objections in an agreement announced in June, stating at the time that it had “got what it wanted,” including “full cooperation… in the fight against” terrorism, from both Sweden and fellow applicant Finland. Its objections had centered on the countries’ support for the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), a group banned in Türkiye as a “terrorist” organization.

However, just days after Sweden’s Supreme Court blocked the extradition of former newspaper editor Bulent Kenes last month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu scolded Stockholm for what he described as the lack of a “concrete development regarding the extradition of terrorism-related criminals and the freezing of their assets.” The diplomat specifically referred to the Kenes case.

In denying Kenes’ extradition, the court argued that some of the journalist’s alleged crimes were not punishable by law in Sweden and suggested he would be subjected to political persecution if sent home. Kenes received political asylum in Sweden in 2016 following the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ankara has accused him of having foreknowledge of the coup attempt and being a member of a terrorist organization.

Swedes have urged their government to stand firm on judicial independence even if it means delaying joining NATO. A poll conducted earlier this month found 79% of respondents wanted Stockholm to “stand up for Swedish laws” in the face of Turkish demands, while just 10% suggested that the country should prioritize joining the bloc as soon as possible.

Sweden’s troubles could delay the accession of its fellow applicant as well, as Finland doesn’t want to move forward in ditching its longstanding neutrality without its neighbor. “Finland is not in such a rush to join NATO that we can’t wait until Sweden gets the green light,” Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told reporters on Sunday.
https://www.rt.com/news/569571-sweden-turkiye-nato-impossible-terrorism/
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8 Jan, 2023 09:43

4) --- Authorities point to cause of Donbass pipeline explosion

The incident in Lugansk Region left more than 13,000 people without gas, according to emergency services

The explosion that rocked a gas pipeline in Lugansk Region on Saturday was most likely an act of sabotage, the local emergency services have said.

According to preliminary data, the incident near the town of Lugutino was a result of a “deliberate detonation,” rescuers told the media on Sunday.

The explosion has left more than 13,300 people without gas, they added.

Local authorities said that repairs on the pipeline have been completed, with the supply of gas to customers currently being restored.

In recent months, Russia’s security services announced having foiled several attempted terrorist and sabotage attacks in the country, thought to have been planned on behalf of Kiev.

Earlier this week, the Federal Security Service (FSB) said that three men had been caught red-handed trying to disable a railway facility in Chelyabinsk Region, in the Urals.

In December, a group of four Ukrainian would-be saboteurs were killed as they tried crossing into Russia with weapons and explosives on them, according to the FSB.

Moscow blames Kiev for having orchestrated an explosion that damaged the Crimean Bridge in early October. The attack prompted Russia to ramp up its missile campaign against Ukraine’s military facilities and energy infrastructure.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said earlier that Ukrainian saboteurs had tried targeting power lines that connect a Russian nuclear power plant to the national grid, and also a natural-gas pipeline to Türkiye. Kiev has been denying involvement in these and other plots.

The People’s Republic of Lugansk, together with three other former Ukrainian territories – the People’s Republic of Donetsk, and Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions – joined the Russian state in autumn after their populations overwhelmingly supported the move in referendums.
https://www.rt.com/russia/569551-gas-pipeline-explosion-lugansk/
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8 Jan, 2023 08:56

5) --- Germans urged to keep saving energy

The country has enough gas to last through winter, but has to prepare for the next heating season, its energy regulator says

Germany has sufficient energy supplies for the rest of the heating season and the risk of a gas shortage has been overcome, the country’s energy regulator has said.

“Despite all the remaining uncertainty, I don’t expect anything else to go wrong this winter,” Klaus Muller, head of the Federal Network Agency, told Bild am Sonntag in an interview published on Sunday.

“The gas storage facilities are more than 90% full – a remarkable value, as they were rarely this high in January. This is a great joint achievement by everyone who used gas sparingly,” he continued.

“I now assume that the storage tanks will be more than 50% full by the end of the winter,” Muller added, noting that Germany used 14% less gas in 2022 than the year before, largely due to the energy saving efforts of the population.

He highlighted a recent drop in gas prices and said “there is much to suggest that we have reached a gas-price plateau” after record increases in 2022, predicting that prices were likely to remain stable for the next year or two.

“Gas is currently costing the same as it did in December 2021 – mainly because Europe has successfully filled up its gas storage facilities and thus removed the basis for possible speculation.”

The head of the regulator warned, however, that residents should not stop saving energy now, as the next heating season may be unpredictable.

“That would not only be very expensive, but also lacking in solidarity. In the end, increasing gas consumption also leads to higher gas prices for energy-intensive industries, which can lead to further price spikes,” he warned.

“In addition, for every kilowatt-hour that we save now, we no longer have to buy expensively in the summer to refill gas storage tanks…are now concentrating on next winter.”

Muller added that three major risks remain: Next winter could be colder, China’s recently lowered gas consumption may pick up again and heighten global demand, and Europe’s gas infrastructure may suffer from an unforeseen crisis, like the attack on the Russian Nord Stream gas pipelines in September. The attack made pipelines inoperable, cutting off one of the major routes for Russian gas deliveries to Europe.
https://www.rt.com/business/569547-germans-urged-save-energy/
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7 Jan, 2023 18:07

6) --- US general fired after using troops for personal tasks – media

The high-ranking California National Guard officer has reportedly been removed after two investigations

A general in the California National Guard has reportedly been fired after internal investigations found that he had exploited troops for personal use, such as driving him to medical appointments and taking his mother grocery shopping.

Brigadier General Jeffrey Magram will be involuntarily transferred to the US Air Force retired reserve, a punishment that is “parallel” to a firing, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday, citing comments by California National Guard spokesman Lt. Colonel Brandon Hill. He was removed “for cause” after two investigations by inspectors general substantiated allegations against him, Hill added.

“Your conduct has caused me to lose faith, trust and confidence in your ability to continue serving,” Major General Matthew Beevers told Magram in a memo obtained by the Times.

However, an inspector general noted that the general had been told in 2017 that having troops drive him to personal appointments was inappropriate. He also was faulted for assigning a subordinate to work on his travel rewards accounts, and he failed to complete his cybersecurity training. Instead, Magram directed a staffer to complete the online course for him, the probe found.

Like other state guards, the California National Guard is tasked with responding to emergencies, such as wildfires and riots, and it has been deployed for US military operations, including the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

California Governor Gavin Newsom denounced the guard in 2020 for sending a military spy plane to El Dorado Hills, where Baldwin lived, to help monitor protests. In another case, officers allegedly readied an F-15C fighter jet to fly lower over protestors to disperse them. Other allegations included reprisals against whistleblowers and an incident in which someone urinated in a female service member’s boots
https://www.rt.com/news/569531-us-general-fired-for-personal-use-of-troops/
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RT News - January 8th 2023 Late

Moscow says 600 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in what it describes as a retaliatory attack for Kiev's deadly New Year strike on Russian troops.

50 Russian soldiers return from Ukrainian captivity in a prisoner swap deal, which sees the same amount of Ukrainian troops released following talks. Russia's Defense Ministry says the men were in 'mortal danger.'

'British intelligence' spies on Russian forces on behalf of Kiev, according to leaked documents reported by the Grayzone media outlet. This is important, there will be consequences, according to Kit Klarenberg who published/authored the report. Two boys were shot on Christmas eve in a drive-by shooting. Another lad was beaten on his way back from worship.

According to President Vucic, NATO has no right to reject Serbias request for peacekeepers, citing resolutions 1244, NATO has an obligation to protect the citizens/Serbian population.

South Africa will have the chair of BRICS this year and it is eager to see BRICS grow under it's chairmanship.

'A violation of free speech and the rights of journalists' - that's how Russia's Foreign Ministry describes the detention of the regional director of the Sputnik news agency by authorities in Latvia.

Africa: Tanzania has lifted the ban on political rallies after opposition demands reforms. The ban on such rallies was imposed six years ago by a former president.