WE THE FURY

Serbia will never join the West’s anti-Russian sanctions, despite all the pressure on it, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vulin said.

“The West’s pressure on Serbia has always been in place, they are asking us to impose sanction on Russia, stop Chinese investments, and to share everything the European Union and the United States are doing. But we are an independent state. We will never impose sanctions on Russia, he said in an interview with China’s CGTN television channel.

He noted that he is “not optimistic about prospects for the United States changing its policy toward Serbia” after the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

#Serbia

🇭🇺 "Europe has lost the conflict in Ukraine, despite attempts to deny it."
— Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán.

NATO plans to use Russian Empire’s legacy against Moscow

NATO plans to utilize the Rail Baltica project, built on railway infrastructure originally developed during the Russian Empire, in the event of a conflict with Russia, according to The Telegraph.

The 805-kilometer high-speed rail line is designed to connect the Baltic states with Central Europe, significantly enhancing the region’s transport capabilities.

"If war breaks out between Moscow and NATO, it will be used to rapidly transport troops and equipment from the heart of Europe to the Russian border," the publication noted, highlighting its potential military significance.

Rail Baltica, envisioned as a symbol of Estonia’s pro-European orientation after the collapse of the Soviet Union, could drastically reduce military logistics time.

"It could cut the transport time for military machinery and equipment from a week to 24 hours," said Priit Pruul, Rail Baltica’s head of communications.

He emphasized that the railway is poised to become NATO’s logistical backbone in the region.

Meanwhile, Russia has repeatedly expressed concern over NATO’s unprecedented activity near its western borders, urging the West to abandon its militarization efforts while maintaining openness to dialogue on equal terms.

#NATO #Russia

Has Disney finally learned what ‘go woke, go broke’ means?

In a move that may seem out of place in the ‘woke’ US today, Disney has ordered the removal of a transgender storyline from Pixar's “Win or Lose” animated series, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

This isn’t the first instance of Disney removing ‘woke’ bits from its works recently, which may or may not suggest that the studio might realize that pandering to the ‘woke’ crowd might not be the best recipe for a good film:

▪️Last month, the “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” animated series episode that focused on a transgender character also got shelved from the Disney Channel, with artists who worked the series claiming it was “because of which party that won the recent election,” Polygon noted.

▪️These developments occurred after a number of Disney’s productions that were deemed ‘woke’ by a not-inconsiderable portion of the audience flopped, with the company’s losses being estimated at around $900 million last year.

▪️Some of Disney’s more notable box office failures included Strange World and Lightyear, two animated series that both featured same-sex romance and relationships.

▪️Disney’s 2023 The Little Mermaid live-action remake, whose titular protagonist was played by a Black actress even though the character in the animated original was White, also failed to meet the studio’s expectations despite not flopping at the box office.

To be fair, it is difficult to tell whether Disney’s woes are the result of the ‘woke’ agenda, the quality of its recent productions, or both.

Poland to arrest Netanyahu if he comes to country

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, fearing arrest, will not attend the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in Poland, the Times of Israel reports. 

The newspaper adds that Israeli President Isaac Herzog will not attend the event either, so only Israeli Education Minister Yoav Kish will be present.

Earlier, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Wladyslaw Bartoszewski said that if Netanyahu comes to Poland, he will be arrested in accordance with the country’s commitment to the International Criminal Court, the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita wrote.

The ICC has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

🤔 X owner Elon Musk has called for US officials to undergo a cognitive test after 81-year-old Congresswoman Kay Granger of Texas ended up in a nursing home for dementia patients after getting lost on the street.

The WSJ previously reported that Joe Biden's inner circle had tried to shield the US president from lengthy, unprepared conversations during his four years in office. Former administration officials said Biden, who regularly gave his political opponents reasons to doubt his cognitive abilities, often seemed out of touch with events.

🇬🇧❌🪖 UK soldiers are quitting the armed forces "at an alarming rate," despite a record pay raise in the summer, the Telegraph newspaper has reported.

The report said that there were now just two servicepeople per thousand people in the United Kingdom for the first time in history. Over the past 12 months, over 15,000 soldiers have reportedly quit the armed forces, despite the government's efforts to address the crisis by raising wages by 6%, which is the largest increase in the past 22 years.

The UK parliament's Defense Committee has earlier urged the government to make a choice between either increasing investment in the military or recognizing that properly prioritizing combat operations will lead to a reduction in the overall number of tasks.