Joe Biden on Monday, just hours before he leaves office and Donald Trump becomes president, pardoned Dr. Anthony Fauci, retired Gen. Mark Milley and members of the Jan. 6 #committee. None of those pardoned are known to have been found guilty of any pardonabe crimes, but Trump has vowed to take “revenge” on certain political rivals in his next administration, according to The Associated Press. #Milley was the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who called Trump a fascist and criticized Trump's behavior during the Jan. 6 2021 riot. #Fauci was the leader in coordinating the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and has come under scrutiny for how he handled the role Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfvsQr-iFSM

House Intelligence Committee Chair – ‘There are individuals in the US working with ISIS to harm Americans’ House Intelligence Committee Chair Mike #Turner spoke on CBS’s Face the Nation and revealed that there are active #terror cells in the U.S. homeland working in partnership with #ISIS to harm #Americans.

Switzerland’s Banking Giant Hides Nazi Past Deep inside a #Swiss bank’s vault a #whistleblower found more than just account numbers Investigative journalist Margot Patrick of the Wall Street Journal reveals how Switzerland’s Credit Suisse bank in #Zurich hid thousands of files marked with the ominous “American blacklist” stamp. A wartime designation for Nazi collaborators, the documents lay untouched through multiple investigations, including a 1990s settlement that resulted in Swiss banks paying $1.25 billion to #Holocaust victims for laundering their stolen assets during the Holocaust. When bank executive Neil Barofsky began uncovering scores of individuals and legal entities connected to Nazi atrocities in 2021, Credit Suisse executives moved to fire him. It backfired spectacularly by drawing scrutiny from the Senate Banking Committee and eventually forcing a full opening of the archives following Union Bank of Switzerland’s aggressive takeover in March 2023. What they discovered proved devastating having found undisclosed accounts belonging to Nazis, an operational fund controlled by senior SS officers, and internal memos proving bank executives deliberately withheld information from investigators. Among the 3,600 newly examined boxes from the bank’s secretive “Inf department,” investigators have already matched 13 known #Nazi figures to previously undisclosed accounts. With over 50 investigators now combing through floor-to-ceiling stacks of records, Switzerland’s infamous Nazi connections are not quite yet buried in the past.

Senior Russian general, his aide killed in Moscow blast Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor #Kirillov and his aide were killed in a blast in southeastern Moscow on Tuesday morning. The #blast was caused by an explosive device that had been planted in an electric scooter, Spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko said. "On the morning of December 17, an explosive device planted in a scooter went off near a residential building entrance on Ryazansky Avenue in Moscow, the investigation showed. Chief of Russia’s Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov and his aide were killed in the explosion," she said. According to Petrenko, the Committee’s Moscow department has launched a criminal probe into the attack. Circumstances behind the crime are currently being investigated.

West should read Russia's transparent nuclear doctrine carefully, Sergey Shoigu claims Russia's updated #nuclear doctrine is unambiguous and transparent, and #Western countries should read it carefully and not misinterpret it, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey #Shoigu said on Thursday. "In general, the doctrine is uncomplicated, clear, and transparent. We have explicitly outlined everything, I believe. Therefore, we urge our colleagues, especially those in the West, to read it carefully, without taking pieces out of context or misrepresenting them. Everything is clearly and precisely presented," he said following a joint meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, the Council of Defense Ministers and the Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (#CSTO).

Russia signs documents on military cooperation with 33 African countries #Russia is ready to provide security for #African countries, it has already signed 33 agreements on military-technical cooperation, Russian presidential advisor and Organizing Committee Executive Secretary Anton #Kobyakov said. "For Russia, the role of a security provider for the countries of the African continent is a practical, vital necessity. To date, Russia has signed agreements on regular military-technical cooperation with 33 [states] <...> of the African continent," he said. Kobyakov also noted that delegations from 54 countries and 45 African ministers are taking part in the first Russia-Africa ministerial conference. "More than 1,500 people, including 54 official delegations and 45 foreign ministers of the African continent, are taking part in our conference, which is being held on the Sirius federal territory," he said. According to him, such conferences will be held regularly between Russia-Africa summits. The first ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum is taking place on November 9-10 at the Sirius federal territory. The event is attended by about 1,500 delegates, including more than 40 ministers from the African continent.

Oil price to fall to $50 per barrel, reports WSJ citing Riyadh Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman has said that #oil prices may fall to $50 per barrel unless a number of OPEC+ nations adhere to agreed output limits, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported citing sources. This comes amid an online meeting of the #OPEC+ ministerial monitoring committee aimed at estimating the current situation on the oil market, which is taking place now. Its participants intend to discuss the issue of weakening output restrictions in December, according to the publication. #Riyadh has warned a number of countries, including Iraq, against an increase in oil production, indicating that they should observe their OPEC+ commitments. The price of futures contracts of Brent crude oil for December delivery rose above $76 per barrel on London's ICE earlier on Wednesday for the first time since September 3, 2024. The price of oil is rising amid an escalation in the Middle East.

Macron plans to stop fighting in Ukraine during the Olympics in Paris - 'Stop sending weapons to Ukraine,' Russian diplomat responds to Macron’s ceasefire plan Emmanuel #Macron should stop sending weapons to #Kyv and propose a ceasefire agreement to parties to the Middle East conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. Commenting on the latest initiative by the French leader who said he would ask Russia to observe a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Paris Olympics, the Russian diplomat said: "I come forward with a proposal in response to Macron’s: stop supplying weapons being used to kill [civilians] and also stop sponsoring terrorism." "I also suggest that Macron come up with a similar proposal to the parties to the Middle East conflict. A lot probably depends on what France says there," #Zakharova maintained. Earlier, Macron told an interviewer during a Ukrainian telethon that he will be able to temporarily stop the fighting; he plans to propose to #Russia a #ceasefire during the #Olympic Games, which will be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11. When asked to comment on the potential participation of Russian athletes as neutrals, he said that, as the host country, France is sending a message of peace as it follows decisions made by the International Olympic Committee.

Spain blocks EU participation in U.S. operation in Red Sea Spain has vetoed the European participation in the US operation to ensure freedom of navigation and protection of ships in the Red Sea, the El Confidencial newspaper reported. According to the newspaper, Madrid initially wanted the entire community to participate in the mission. During an emergency meeting on December 20, the EU's Political and Security Committee unanimously approved the community’s participation in the initiative by expanding Operation Atalanta. However, according to the newspaper, on December 21 Madrid changed its position and vetoed the decision at the meeting of the working group of EU advisers on international relations. European diplomatic sources told the newspaper that the Spanish government's "change of position" had not been explained to its partners. On December 20, EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell said that EU member states had decided to participate in the US Operation Prosperity Guardian to ensure freedom of navigation and protection of ships in the Red Sea.

Syria on brink of being drawn into Middle East conflict, says Russian envoy to UN Syria is teetering on the brink of being drawn into a large-scale conflict in the Middle East, Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said at a meeting of the UN Security Council, devoted to the situation in that country. "The difficult situation on the ground in Syria is aggravated by the sharp escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The country, like a number of its neighbors in the region, is literally balancing on the verge of being drawn into a large-scale confrontation," he said. Nebenzya added that Russia supported the restoration of the Constitutional Committee's work "as part of the advancement of the Syrians-owned political process being conducted with UN assistance."