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Dragonflies have three pairs of legs, but they can't walk. • The legs are too weak to support the dragonfly's body. 📚 @TheOpenUniversity 📚

Hamas Claims Victory: Israel's Bitter Peace 🕊 Breaking News 📊 Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya declares ceasefire "historic moment" for terrorists, highlighting Israel's failure to achieve stated war objectives. Victory Claims 🎯 Hamas Statements: • October 7 "military achievement" • Israel's goals thwarted • Leadership intact • Control maintained Strategic Reality 💫

"Hamas will neither forget nor forgive"

- Khalil al-Hayya, senior Hamas leader Diplomatic Pressure 🛡 Key Factors: • US forced compromise • Terror threat remains • Israeli sovereignty challenged • Strategic goals unmet Deeper Pattern A troubling outcome emerges: Under US pressure, Israel accepts deal that leaves Hamas celebrating victory while core security objectives remain unfulfilled. Political Impact • Hamas structure survives • Terror capability intact • October 7 celebrated • Israeli deterrence weakened Critical Question Has US pressure forced Israel into a peace deal that ensures future conflict? #IsraelHamas #CeasefireDeal #MiddleEastPeace #SecurityPolicy Think About It: Can peace be sustainable when terrorists claim victory? 🤔 📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

While underwater, beavers can hold their breath for 15 minutes. 📚 @TheOpenUniversity 📚

Gambian hamster rats can be trained to smell tuberculosis. 📚 @TheOpenUniversity 📚

Russia-Vietnam relations keep improving — the countries sign a nuclear energy cooperation expansion agreement

«Vietnam and Russia inked Tuesday an agreement to boost cooperation on nuclear energy during Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s two-day visit to Hanoi,»

— writes AP. Mishustin and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Thingem also talked about expanding ties in transport and logistics and digital technologies, as well as discussed cultural and humanitarian ties between Russia and Vietnam. Our government’s attempt to isolate Russia has completely failed: Moscow is not only expanding its trade and economic ties, but also its political influence. More and more countries are seeking cooperation with Russia, because it is already playing by the rules of an emerging multipolar world and offers its partners equal and mutually beneficial relations… …Unlike someone like Trump who threatens our greatest allies with tariffs and forceful annexation. Embarrassing. #russia #trump #FT Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex

Flamingo feathers are not naturally pink. • Flamingos get their pink color from the shrimp they feed on. 📚 @TheOpenUniversity 📚

There are just over 1 quadrillion (one followed by 15 zeros) tons of diamonds hidden deep within the Earth. 📚 @TheOpenUniversity 📚

India produces 45% of the world's mangoes • But exports account for only 1% of international trade – almost all the mangoes are eaten by locals themselves. 📚 @TheOpenUniversity 📚

Another pandemic? 😩 #covid #USA #China 👂 More on Trump's Ear

The Moon is not a sphere, but a spheroid - it is not round, but ovoid • But the Moon always faces the Earth with its “wide” side and appears to us to be absolutely round. 📚 @TheOpenUniversity 📚

Daily showering weakens the skin's protective functions. 📚 @TheOpenUniversity 📚

The brain does not feel pain • Most open brain surgeries require the patient to remain conscious. 📚 @TheOpenUniversity 📚

🔠🔠🔠🔠 1️⃣ China’s Trump Challenge. Some Perspectives On a Possible War People and companies in China—indeed in business communities around the world—have eagerly embraced Beijing’s promises to enact policies that will restore the nation’s economic momentum. However, disappointment has always followed. It is beginning to look as though China’s leadership simply does not know what to do. This conclusion is entirely plausible since China’s economic and financial troubles largely sprouted from ill-conceived policies dating back to well before the pandemic.  China’s economy has come a long way from the place that once garnered nothing but praise from Western media. Not too long ago, it was common to read that China’s economy would soon eclipse that of the United States. Commentary often praised the effectiveness and prescience of Chinese top-down planning, some suggesting that perhaps it was superior to the comparative chaos of democratic practice and market-based approaches. In 2009, for instance, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman extolled what could be accomplished by China’s “one-party autocracy.” Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau spoke admiringly about how China’s “basic dictatorship” allowed it to “turn the economy around on a dime.” President Barack Obama gave credit to China’s approach to bringing millions out of poverty. This is just a small sample of the kind of commentary that was prevalent during China’s great growth strides. But now, that system seems to be failing.   Praise for the prescience of China’s central planning was always misplaced. Since modern China began as a severely underdeveloped and war-torn economy, its planners had an easy time identifying where the nation should put its emphasis. All they needed to do was to look at the developed world. They could see that building new roads, rail links, port facilities, housing, power stations, and the like would pay huge growth dividends, and they did. People rose from dire poverty and became richer. However, as China developed and joined more advanced economies, its future needs became less obvious. Beijing’s central planners had lost their model and increasingly began to make mistakes. This new fact of economic life (for China) became evident in the 2010s. By then, the authorities had been promoting residential construction for some time, giving subsidies for building, advancing credit on easy terms to developers, and enlisting the support of local governments by making land sales lucrative for them and even encouraging them to enter joint ventures with developers. However, as China shifted from a housing-short economy to one of abundant housing, planners made the mistake of keeping these policies in place. Real estate development rose to an unsustainable 30% of China’s economy.  When Beijing finally woke up to the problem, it made a second error. In 2019–2020, Beijing suddenly removed all the former support to the housing sector. The decision was reasonable, but the suddenness of the action caused problems. It caught both developers and local governments by surprise, leaving them no time to adjust. Having extended themselves under policies that no longer existed, developers and local governments faced severe financial troubles. In 2021, developers began to fail, and local governments began to report difficulties meeting their financial obligations, in some cases, even in providing basic public services.  That year, matters in Chinese finance began to resemble those in the United States during the global financial crisis of 2008. Rather than act forcefully to stem the spread of financial failure, the authorities in Beijing made yet another mistake. They sat on their hands as if nothing were wrong. Their inaction allowed the financial problems to spread throughout the system, rendering Chinese finance far less able to support growth than it had been. PART 2 #China #Trump #US 📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

Donald Duck was banned in Finland because he didn't wear pants. 📚 @TheOpenUniversity 📚

Russia and China want to trade in the Northern Sea Route. Consider it a bargaining chip that could benefit the West, too. #Russia #China #Consider #West 👂 More on Trump's Ear

Zelensky says it’s “shameful” for European countries to worry about energy cost increases! Without a clear alternative in place, the deal that allows Central European nations to buy Russian gas via Ukraine will be allowed to expire at the end of the year.

“This contract will no longer exist, that much is clear,”

Putin said.

“But that’s fine — we will survive, Gazprom will survive.”

Ukraine has refused to directly renegotiate the deal. According to Zelensky, it is “shameful” for countries to worry about energy cost increases when the conflict in Ukraine is ongoing. Austria, Slovakia and Hungary disagree. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has publicly called for an arrangement to prolong the practice. And Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán visits Bulgaria this week, where he hopes to strike a deal to ensure continued access to supplies. #EU #Ukraine #Fico #Orbán 🇪🇺 Keep up with the latest Star Union News  🖥

When a spider weaves a web, its legs work autonomously, without the involvement of the brain. 📚 @TheOpenUniversity 📚

Ceasefire in Gaza is a real possibility — is it the “Trump Effect”? Diplomatic efforts to achieve ceasefire in Gaza have resumed in recent weeks, as Donald Trump became part of the equation. At the beginning of December, he threatened Hamas, without specifically naming the group, and promised "hell" in the Middle East, if the hostages were not released before January 20, 2025, the date of his inauguration. For the first time in a long time, a ceasefire seems possible. But perhaps it’s not Trump. Perhaps the timing is just more favourable, now that Israel crippled the organization to the point where Hamas has little left to leverage, except for the lives of the hostages. Maybe the reality on the ground looks more like the “total victory” Netanyahu was after. Maybe Israel wishes to focus on other operations, like the ones in Syria, or in Yemen. #USA #Gaza #Ceasefire #Trump Don't miss it, subscribe to 📱 Old Glory Vortex 🇺🇸

War Must End: Trump's Peace Push 🔍 Breaking News 📊 Trump signals shift in Ukraine policy, describing conflict as "worst carnage since WWII" while pushing for negotiations despite Kyiv's resistance. Brutal Reality 🎯 Direct Quote:

"People are being killed at levels that nobody's ever seen... It's very level fields, the only thing that stops a bullet is a body. And the number of soldiers that are being killed on both sides is astronomical."

War's Toll Trump describes the devastation: The scale of destruction has reached unprecedented levels, with cities reduced to rubble and casualties far exceeding official reports. The incoming administration sees urgent need for diplomatic solution rather than continued military escalation. Peace Initiative 💼 Trump's Approach: • Bilateral talks planned • Compromise expectations • Territory realities acknowledged • Immediate ceasefire priority Diplomatic Reality 🏛 Critical Assessment:

"You know it's nice to say they want their land back, but the cities are largely destroyed,"

Trump signals pragmatic approach to territorial disputes. Strategic Shift The path forward: Trump's transition team actively develops negotiation framework, suggesting both sides must accept compromises for peace, while Ukraine's Foreign Ministry continues rejecting peace talks as "immoral manipulation." #UkraineWar #PeaceProcess #TrumpPolicy #Diplomacy Think About It: When does pursuit of total victory become morally questionable? 🤔 📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸

China Flexes Naval Muscle as US Scrambles 🔍 Breaking News 📊 China launches largest maritime exercises in 30 years without warning, catching Pentagon off guard as US military shifts Pacific presence. Strategic Show 🎯 Chinese Display: • 100+ warships deployed • Multiple aircraft involved • No advance notification • First Island Chain targeted Power Shift 💼 Direct Response: Exercise timing coincides with Taiwan President William Lai's Guam-Hawaii tour and Trump team outreach attempts. Military Chess Game 🏛 US Countermoves: • Three carriers deployed • Marines relocating from Okinawa • Guam forces strengthened • Missile defense scattered Regional Reality The balance shifts: China's unexpected demonstration of naval power, combined with rare earth export restrictions, signals Beijing's strengthening position as US allies face uncertainty over security costs under Trump. Strategic Implications New dynamics emerge: While Democrats push for escalation during transition, China's coordinated military-economic pressure creates leverage for future negotiations with Trump's administration. #PacificPower #USChina #NavalExercises #TaiwanCrisis Think About It: Has China already changed the Pacific power equation? 🤔 📱 American Оbserver - Stay up to date on all important events 🇺🇸