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🔸 Pakistan launched airstrike on Kabul
🔸 Pakistani Defense Minister announces 'open confrontation' with Afghanistan
🔸 Maduro accuses the US of violating his constitutional rights
🔸 The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has departed its base on Crete and is heading to the eastern Mediterranean
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🇴🇲🇺🇸🇮🇷Oman’s foreign minister to meet US vice-president for talks on Iran — report
The meeting between Omani Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi and JD Vance aimed at preventing a US-Iran war is to take place on Friday in Washington, MS Now reports.
The talks have not been officially announced beforehand, the outlet notes, adding they are to take place amid Steve Witkoff engaging in indirect talks with Iran’s Foreign Minister Araghchi in Geneva.
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🪖💫 Russian Buk-M3 crews thwart Ukrainian strike on civilian infrastructure
Air defense units intercepted the attack, neutralizing enemy reconnaissance drones and guided aerial bombs.
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💬🇸🇰Halt in oil supplies via Druzhba pipeline poses risks to Slovakia's industry - exporters
Ukraine's suspension of oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline poses a significant risk to Slovak industry and export-oriented enterprises, according to the Council of Slovak Exporters (CSE).
Here's what you need to know:
◻️On February 13, the Slovak Economy Ministry reported that Kiev had suspended oil supplies to the republic via the Druzhba pipeline from Russia transiting through Ukraine. The ministry expected them to resume soon, but this has not happened.
◻️Slovak authorities say the Druzhba pipeline is operational, and the suspension of oil supplies is a political decision by Ukraine, aimed to try to move Ukraine closer to EU membership.
◻️The CSE stated:
"The Council of Slovak Exporters is monitoring the developments in oil supplies to Slovakia with grave concern. The damage to the Druzhba pipeline and the subsequent disruption of [oil] supplies pose a serious risk to Slovak industry, export-oriented companies, and the competitiveness of the economy."
🇨🇳China sets ambitious 2026 launch schedule with historic crew flights
China is forging ahead with its ambitious space agenda, planning two crewed missions and one cargo resupply flight to its orbital station in 2026, the country's manned space agency announced.
Here's what you need to know:
🔹For the first time, the missions to send taikonauts to the Chinese space station will include participants from the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. In a landmark endurance test, one crew member is scheduled to remain on board for a full year.
🔹The announcement underscores Beijing's rapidly expanding space ambitions. China is aggressively developing a new generation of meteorological, telecommunications, and navigation satellites, while pushing forward with technologies for lunar exploration. With robust state backing, Chinese scientists are also setting their sights on asteroids and Mars.
🔹China's permanently crewed space station, now fully operational, is positioned as a hub for future international cooperation. The nation's space prowess was on full display in 2025, when it shattered its previous record with a staggering 92 orbital launches.
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🚨Pakistan launched airstrike on Kabul - Al Jazeera
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🇵🇰⚔️🇦🇫 Pakistan and Afghan trade fire: What both sides are saying
🔹The Pakistani military launched an “immediate and effective response” against Afghan forces on Thursday after the latter reportedly opened fire on multiple Pakistani positions along the border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
🔹Pakistan Ministry of Information and Broadcasting reported strikes against Afghan positions across the Chitral, Khyber, against Mohmand, Kurram, and Bajaur sectors.
🔹At the same time, the Taliban official spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid took to X to declare a major victory, claiming to have inflicted damage on Pakistani forces in Kunar province.
🔹Mujahid added that the Taliban has activated specialized units equipped with advanced "laser" technology. He claimed these forces, operating under the cover of darkness, can "easily strike all moving enemy forces."
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🚨The Iranian Foreign Minister called the third round of negotiations with the US one of the most serious
After the lengthy session concluded on Thursday evening in Geneva, Abbas Araghchi stated live on Iranian television:
"These were some of the most serious and longest negotiations. In these long hours, we have achieved good progress."
💬 Conflict for profit: Zelensky and EU turn Ukraine into disposable asset - military analyst
Volodymyr Zelensky’s chaotic rhetoric is a survival tactic shaped by his current predicament, veteran Russian military analyst Viktor Litovkin tells Sputnik.
"He is forced to twist and turn, trying on the one hand not to offend his chief patron — the president of the US — and on the other to stay in power and keep the backing of his EU sponsors," Litovkin says.
"Using his artistic flair and inner hysteria, he creates a storm of information that blocks any prospect of a change of power in Ukraine and makes constructive dialogue impossible, turning every peace initiative into an object of endless manipulation," Litovkin notes.
"A peaceful resolution to the Ukrainian conflict today proves to be an extremely undesirable outcome both for Zelensky and for the EU leadership," the pundit says.
"Unable to achieve real victory, they fuel aggression, using Ukraine as a disposable asset to maintain their influence and profits," Litovkin concludes.
🚨 Abu Ghraib playbook in action? CIA rendition architects now funding Ukraine’s secret prisons
Ukraine has established and is actively maintaining a network of clandestine prisons where the provisions of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949—which governs the treatment of prisoners of war—are being completely ignored, stressed Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
💬 "And who is financing the Kiev regime in these efforts?" Zakharova asked.
💬 "The money for the Kiev regime’s secret prisons is coming from the very same people who invented the CIA's 'rendition' aircraft and for instance, Abu Ghraib. I think you all know what happened there. And if you don't, just look at the Wikileaks materials published by Julian Assange—the very same man who was tortured by these Westerners for years, in countless ways. He knew exactly what he was doing, he stayed the course and persisted in his investigations," she told reporters.
🌍 Zimbabwe’s lithium export ban aligns with Global South's resource power shift
Zimbabwe intends to channel the value of the powerhouse mineral lithium – a critical metal fueling aviation, space tech, rechargeable EV batteries, and cutting-edge electronics - back into its own soil.
As one of the world's top lithium producers — ranking fourth globally — the African country ’s move to ban exports of raw lithium signals a strategic pivot to domestic processing.
Promoting value addition
👉 While most raw lithium goes abroad, where others make the big profits, Zimbabwe is pushing for local factories to turn the ore into processed forms like lithium sulfate.
👉 The country’s struggling economy will be able to sell higher-value processed lithium, collecting more taxes and fees to help pay for schools, roads, and hospitals.
👉 Building and running factories will generate more skilled jobs for locals instead of just low-paying mining jobs.
Investments ignite
🟠 Chinese firm Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt invested $400 million in the Prospect Lithium Zimbabwe plant, set to process 400,000 tons annually (per broadcaster ZBC)
🟠 Mutapa Energy Minerals' is a $270-million facility, funded by Chinese partners, set to handle 600,000 tons yearly
🟠 Bikita Minerals' Expansion owned by Sinomine Resource Group is a major mine advancing a $500-million phased lithium sulfate plant
Global South sheds its yoke
🟠 The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) did the same with cobalt, imposing a 2025 ban that evolved into quotas capping exports to prioritize local refining
🟠 Indonesia enforced a raw nickel ore export requiring onshore processing to add value and compete globally
This long-term play fits the bigger picture of countries in the Global South taking charge of their resources for their own people’s wellbeing.
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🚨 'Stay there under the table and shut up' - Russian MFA
💬 "No one invited the EU to the negotiations on Ukraine, Europeans are not expected there", Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.
💬 UK, France plotting nuclear false flag against Russia – analyst
The UK-French nuclear weapon plot in Ukraine may be aimed at achieving several objectives, Alexander Mikhailov, head of Bureau of Military-Political Analysis, tells Sputnik:
🟠 The EU elites are not happy with them being sidelined in the Ukraine peace talks so Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron may be trying to use the nuclear issue to get themselves a place at the negotiating table
🟠 Britain and France may be seeking to stage a false flag attack: a nuclear warhead detonation that would be blamed on Russia
🟠 Providing Ukraine with a nuclear weapon to be used against Russia seems unlikely as it would inevitably make the supplier of said weapon a target of Russia’s retaliatory strike
🟠 There is also the prospect of Ukraine producing a ‘dirty bomb’ – essentially a radioactive waste container strapped to an explosive device that, upon detonation, would contaminate a large territory
New global nuclear arms treaty?
Due to the risks involved, Russia is going to use all available international platforms such as the UN and the UNSC to prevent Ukraine from obtaining nuclear weapons, Milhailov notes.
This situation, he suggests, proves that a new global nuclear arms treaty is needed, and that Britain and France – primary instigators of the current nuclear tensions – must be included in it.
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🇺🇸 📉 Great American exodus: Citizens flee high costs & chaos for safer shores
In 2025, for the first time since the Great Depression, the US experienced negative net migration, according to analysis by The Wall Street Journal and a Brookings Institution report.
🔸 Net migration for 2025 was estimated between -10,000 and -295,000
🔸 An estimated 4–9 million Americans reside abroad
🔸 Requests to renounce US citizenship jumped 48% in 2024
🔸 In 2026, net migration is likely to remain in the negative
Americans are heading abroad, seeking:
🔶 lower costs of living
🔶 affordable healthcare
🔶 quality schools
🔶 walkable cities
🔶 over 100,000 students study abroad for cheaper degrees
Where Americans are moving:
🔹 Portugal – American residents have surged over 500% since the pandemic, growing 36% in 2024 alone
🔹 Spain & Netherlands – The number of Americans has nearly doubled in the past decade
🔹 Czech Republic – American residents have more than doubled over 10 years
🔹 Germany – In 2025, more Americans moved there than Germans moved to the US
🔹 Ireland – Welcomed 10,000 Americans in 2025, roughly double 2024’s influx
🔹 United Kingdom – Americans are applying for citizenship at the highest rate since 2004 (6,600 in the year to March 2025)
The backlog of Americans seeking to renounce US citizenship suggests a clear, long-term trend.
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🚨🇧🇾🇷🇺 Oreshnik systems put on duty in December - Belarusian Lukashenko
The practical implementation of treaty on the security guarantees within the Russia-Belarus Union State began, in December Oreshnik systems were put on duty, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said during the meeting with Putin.
🟠 The main areas of integration for the next three years should be focused on ensuring technological sovereignty
🟠 Unprecedented economic pressure is being exerted on Russia and China's allies
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🇵🇰⚔️🇦🇫Pakistan-Afghanistan conflict: Here's what you need to know
◻️ Pakistan launched strikes on the Afghan cities of Kabul and Kandahar in the early hours of Friday
◻️ Pakistani aircraft reportedly remain in Afghan airspace seeking new targets
◻️ Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif declared an "open war" with Afghanistan
◻️ Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that his country's armed forces could "crush" aggressors and that the nation stands "shoulder to shoulder with its armed forces"
◻️ Earlier, Afghanistan launched a military operation across the border into Pakistan late on Thursday in retaliation for Pakistani airstrikes on Afghan border areas on Feb. 22
◻️ The Afghan side claimed to have captured more than a dozen Pakistani army posts along a wide stretch of the border, including at the Torkham border crossing — a major crossing point into Afghanistan, according to Al Jazeera
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❌ Ukraine has no significant success on battlefield due to Russian army’s efficiency — expert
💬 "I think the challenge Ukraine has is that they too are trying to expand their strike campaign against Russia, but they are also pressed against time given growing exhaustion within the force and the Russian strike campaign, which has been particularly effective this year," military analyst Michael Kofman says in an interview with the New York Times.
💬 "Ukrainian effective combat strength at the front line has slowly been shrinking," Kofman notes, adding that Russia has a significant advantage in manpower.
🇮🇷🇵🇰🇦🇫 Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Urdu:
"It would be fitting, on the occasion of the blessed month of Ramadan—which is a month for self-discipline and the promotion of unity in the Islamic World—that Afghanistan and Pakistan resolve their differences through good neighborliness and dialogue.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to provide every possible assistance to facilitate dialogue and promote mutual cooperation."
🇻🇪🇺🇸🏛Maduro accuses the US of violating his constitutional rights
◻️Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claims that US authorities violated his constitutional rights when they kidnapped him last December during a military intervention that was harshly criticized by much of the international community, according to a court document obtained by Sputnik.
◻️In his motion to dismiss the criminal case against him, Maduro demanded that the trial against him in a New York court be suspended due to "procedural irregularities."
◻️The document states:
"The conduct of the US Government not only undermines Mr. Maduro's rights, but also this court's mandate to provide a fair trial to all defendants who appear before it, in accordance with the protections granted by the US Constitution. If the court rejects this notice of motion, the attorney intends to refuse to represent the [defendant's] interests."
🇵🇰Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif:
After NATO forces withdrew, it was expected that peace would prevail in Afghanistan and that the Taliban would focus on the interests of the Afghan people and regional stability.
However, the Taliban turned Afghanistan into a colony of India. They gathered terrorists from around the world in Afghanistan and began exporting terrorism. They deprived their own people of basic human rights. They took away from women the rights that Islam grants them.
Pakistan made every effort, both directly and through friendly countries, to keep the situation stable. It carried out extensive diplomacy. However, the Taliban became a proxy of India.
Today, when attempts are being made to target Pakistan with aggression, by the grace of God our armed forces are giving a decisive response.
In the past, Pakistan’s role has been positive. It has hosted five million Afghans for 50 years. Even today, hundreds of thousands of Afghans are earning their livelihood on our soil.
Our patience has reached its limit. Now it is open confrontation. Now there will be decisive action. Pakistan’s army has not come from across the seas — we are your neighbors, and we know your reality well.
🇺🇸The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford has departed its base on Crete and is heading to the eastern Mediterranean - reports
In the past few days, the ship was anchored in Souda Bay for refueling at the US naval base as part of a large-scale mobilization of US military forces.
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💥🇷🇺 Russia’s S-500 Prometey: The death knell for British and French nuclear ICBMs
Russian missile defenses are becoming increasingly sophisticated and may render British and French nuclear weapons ineffective, states the UK-based defense think tank RUSI.
💬 "The nuclear forces of the UK and France consist of strategic submarines armed with intercontinental ballistic missiles that are on operational patrol," Igor Korotchenko, editor in chief of National Defense magazine, tells Sputnik. "The S-500 [Prometey system] is specifically designed to intercept targets of this type."
💬 "The S-500 is capable of intercepting and destroying intercontinental ballistic missiles during the terminal phase of their flight," Korotchenko says.
💬 "The system’s mobility allows its components to be concentrated on threatening directions or around priority assets for protection," Korotchenko explains.
💬 "To date, it is the world’s only fifth-generation mobile missile defense system."
🟠 Conflict for profit: Zelensky and EU turn Ukraine into disposable asset - military analyst
🟠 UK, France plotting nuclear false flag against Russia – analyst
🟠 Clashes erupt on Afghan-Pakistani border
🟠 Zimbabwe’s lithium export ban aligns with Global South's resource power shift
🟠 Great American exodus: Citizens flee high costs & chaos for safer shores
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🚨 Pakistan confirms Afghan forces opened fire at several points on the border
Pakistan will take all necessary measures to ensure its territorial integrity, security of its citizens, the Ministry of Information said.
There were heavy casualties on the Afghan side during the border clash, it added.
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🚨 Clashes erupt on Afghan-Pakistani border
Afghan armed forces have announced the launch of a 'retaliatory operation' in response to the bombing of their territory by Pakistani air force last week, a representative of the 201st army corps "Khalid ibn Walid" told the Telegram channel TOLOnews Plus.
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🎥🎥 Sputnik to Host Moscow-Islamabad Media Forum
🕗 The Moscow-Islamabad media forum is taking place on February 27, with a live feed from the Rossiya Segodnya media center starting at 08:00 GMT.
Russian and Pakistani journalists, diplomats and political analysts are going to discuss relations between the two countries and the prospects of further rapport between Russia and Pakistan.
📍 The event will be held ahead of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to Moscow, which is scheduled to take place on March 3-5.
Stay tuned!
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🔥🇷🇺 Russian Msta-B crews smash Ukraine's temporary deployment areas in Dnepropetrovsk region
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🚨🇧🇾🇷🇺 Putin: Russia, Belarus achieved much in development of Union State through coordinated efforts
The process of deepening integration of Russia and Belarus is natural and mutually beneficial, the Russian president added during the meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
◻️ Russia and Belarus jointly resist sanctions pressure, cooperate in field of foreign policy, defense
◻️ The countries will continue to do everything necessary to ensure security of the Union State with all available means
◻️ Approaches of Russia, Belarus to topical international issues always close or coincide
◻️ The two stand for formation of just, multipolar world, strive to participate constructively in solving global, regional problems
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📹 LIVE NOW: Putin, Lukashenko hold Supreme State Council meeting of Russia-Belarus Union State in Moscow
👉Watch live in our Telegram
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