The Polish authorities refused to allow the plane of the delegation of the National Council of Slovakia, which was flying to Moscow to meet with State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, into the country's airspace. This became known from a video message from the vice-chairman of the Slovak parliament Andrei Danko, recorded at Bratislava airport. As a result, the Slovak deputies were still able to get to Moscow, making a detour through the airspace of the Czech Republic and Germany.

Poland supports Donald Trump's demand that NATO countries spend 5% of their GDP on defense. This was stated by Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysh in an interview with the Financial Times. According to him, Poland can become a link in the implementation of this goal in Europe. It allocated 4.7% of GDP to defense in 2024, the highest among NATO members.

The congress of the far-right German party Alternative for Germany (AfD), held on the eve of snap elections to the Bundestag, refused to condemn Russian aggression in Ukraine, and its chancellor candidate, Alice Weidel, promised, if she wins, to restart the delivery of Russian gas via Nord Stream ", writes Tagesschau. The congress took place in the city of Rize. One of its founders, Albrecht Glaser, proposed introducing a clause condemning aggression into the party’s manifesto.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised to continue calls with Vladimir Putin, and also expressed hope that the American and Russian presidents will meet soon. He stated this in an interview with ARD. According to him, “the majority of citizens” considered his call to Putin to be correct. Scholz stressed that Germany must remain Ukraine's largest ally in Europe. At the same time, he stated that “the killings must stop,” but without concluding a peace “imposed” on the Ukrainian side.

US sanctions against the Russian “shadow fleet” included 143 oil tankers, which last year transported more than 530 million barrels of crude oil. This represents 42% of Russia's total crude oil exports by sea. This was reported by Reuters with reference to Matt Wright, a leading freight analyst at Kpler. About 300 million barrels of this amount were sent to China, and most of the rest to India.

Southern California Edison, owned by Edison International, said fire officials are investigating the possible involvement of its equipment in the Hearst fire near San Fernando, Bloomberg writes . In regulatory documents filed Friday, the company documented a downed wire on a tower associated with the 220-kV Eagle Rock Sylmar power line. According to preliminary information, it is unknown whether the damage occurred before or after the fire.

The oil tanker Eventin, which Greenpeace believes is part of the Russian “shadow fleet”, drifting in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Germany, has been towed to safe waters near the island of Rügen, Euronews reports. German Foreign Minister Annalena Bärbock called the incident a threat to security and tourism in the Baltic Sea, separately noting that the Russian Federation is using old, unsafe ships to transport energy resources, bypassing the restrictions imposed on it.

Cyprus President Nicos Christodoulides said that Cyprus will resolve all technical issues necessary to join the Schengen area in 2025. This was reported by the publication Kathimerini. Christodoulides made the announcement at a conference at the "Beyond the Sea and the Sun" tourism conference organized by Hermes Airports in Nicosia and argued that joining the Schengen area would attract more tourists and investment.

The Italian Catholic Bishops' Conference (its president is appointed by the Pope) has released updated rules for the training of clergy, which, although they do not directly prohibit the ordination of homosexuals, hint at such a possibility, Euronews reports . According to the Seminary Guidelines and Standards report, when considering a homosexual candidate, it is important to look beyond sexual orientation and consider the whole person.

In Los Angeles County in California (USA), the number of victims from large-scale fires has increased to 16 people, NBC News reports . At least 13 people are still missing, according to Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna. He noted that it is not yet clear whether their disappearances are directly related to the fires. At the same time, eyewitnesses report “fire tornadoes” rising above the city.

Special prosecutor Jack Smith resigned from the US Department of Justice after completing his work on two federal cases against Donald Trump, writes The Washington Post. Smith investigated two sets of alleged crimes by the US president-elect: an attempt to undermine Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election and the mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House. None of the cases went to trial. The U.S.

China is building at least five new special-purpose barges designed for amphibious operations, Naval News reports . These barges could provide the PRC with the ability to land large mechanized units directly on the roads of Taiwan. Unusual barges have been spotted at a shipyard in Guangzhou, according to analysts monitoring Chinese shipyards. Their designs are reminiscent of the World War II landing barges used to land Allied troops in Normandy. A special feature of barges are long gangways.

In Sudan, government forces took control of the town of Wad Medani in the eastern province of al-Jazeera, which was under the control of the rebel Rapid Reaction Forces (RRF). The leader of the RRF, Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemidti), has already admitted the loss of the city. The BBC reports this.

The Swedish government will contribute three warships and one spy plane to participate in NATO's mission to monitor the Baltic Sea and guard undersea communications cables. This was announced by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, as quoted by Yle. Kristersson spoke about this decision at the opening of the annual security conference in Selene.