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Musk helping Trump choose top officials — media

According to the source, Donald Trump is tapping the best and brightest people to work with him, and he will encourage them to speak their mind

WASHINGTON, November 12. /TASS/. American celebrity entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk is said to be helping President-elect Donald Trump choose his future administration, the Axios news portal said, citing sources.

Musk, who has been supporting Trump since July 2024, "is helping pick the Cabinet and top White House staff," it said, adding, however, that Trump’s advisers think that some of Musk's ideas for a new government are "impractical," but others "are sure to be tried."

Politico said earlier that the atmosphere among Trump’s team resembles the one in a startup as, according to a source, Trump is tapping the best and brightest people to work with him, and he will encourage them to speak their mind.

Republican Trump defeated his Democratic rival, current US Vice President Kamala Harris, in the November 5 presidential election. Apart from that, the Republican Party took control of the Senate and is also expected to gain a majority in the House of Representatives. Trump’s inauguration is set for January 20, 2025.

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Middle East conflict

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Trump 'demonstrates affinity' for Russian President Vladimir Putin — newspaper

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Russia open for contacts with Trumps’ team on Syria — Russian diplomat

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Ukrainian losses, Sudzhansky district head retirement: situation in Kursk Region

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US plans to remove 'arrogant' Zelensky and stage 2025 elections in Ukraine — SVR

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Scholz calls for doing everything to prevent escalation of Ukraine conflict

According to Scholz, Ukraine should have "good prospects" and not be left alone

Russian Su-34 bomber strikes Ukrainian troops in borderline Kursk area

Russian tactical aircraft pilots conduct sorties at any time of day or night in any weather conditions, using various armament

Next-gen Su-57 shows strength of Russia’s defense sector — diplomat

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Trump's planned key appointments

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Russian citizenship approvals down 44% since January — ministry

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Russian diplomat hails Odessa woman as defender of truth after flag protest

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Kremlin spokesman denies media reports of phone call between Putin, Trump

Dmitry Peskov described the Washington Post and Reuters reports about the alleged telephone conversation as "the most remarkable example of the quality of the information that is published nowadays, sometimes even by quite respected outlets"

Inflation accelerates to 0.3% in Russia over week — statistics

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Nearly 4,000 people cross into Syria from Lebanon in past day — Russian military

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West attempted to prevent Russia-Africa ministerial meeting, diplomat says

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Chancellor Scholz opposes assistance to Ukraine at expense of Germany’s future

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Russia says its FPV drones disrupted Ukrainian troops rotation in Sumy Region

The ministry provided live-recording footage showing direct hits on Ukrainian military vehicles

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People evacuated from Brazil’s Supreme Court after blast nearby — agency

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Russian delegation at COP29 in Baku is first carbon-neutral

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Attempts being made to drag Syria into armed confrontation in Middle East — diplomat

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Russia sees possibilities for expansion of equipment supplies for Indian Gaganyaan program

Denis Manturov also mentioned projects in the area of satellite navigation that are being implemented

Japan remains ready to sign peace treaty with Russia — top diplomat

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Russia supports new UNSC draft resolution on Gaza — envoy

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US administration always seeks to weaken Russia — Lavrov

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Ukraine's Kurakhovo Reservoir dam blast to help, not hurt Russian troops — expert

At least ten Ukrainian troops were killed

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White Helmets remain serious factor of instability in Syria — Russian MFA

Maria Zakharova pointed to a report by the Foundation for Research of Democracy Issues, titled "The White Helmets. Terrorist Accomplices and a Source of Disinformation"

Trump does not rule out he may run in next US presidential election

Trump's participation in the next US election would be against the Constitution

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Top stories from the Russian press on Wednesday, November 13th

Russia inks first deals to deliver Su-57 fifth-generation fighter to foreign customers

Alexander Mikheyev also explained the expectations and effect of the demonstration of Russian military hardware at Airshow China in Zhuhai

West to face 'devastating' response if it allows Kiev to strike deep into Russia — MFA

According to Maria Zakharova, Ukrainian social media accounts are meanwhile speculating that the Zelensky regime plans to present the received Western missiles as Ukrainian, changing the labels to use the weapons to attack Russia

Russian stock indices mixed on Wednesday — market data

The ruble-denominated MOEX Russia Index gained 0.26% to 2,763.99 points

Russia set to deepen cooperation with China in law enforcement — top security official

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Trump to rely on forces that brought him to power — Russian presidential aide

Nikolay Patrushev agreed that Trump, when he was still a candidate, "made many statements critical of the destructive foreign and domestic policies pursued by the current administration"

Kiev's Western allies begin to acknowledge need for territorial concessions — report

The diplomats see this approach as "land in exchange for Ukraine’s security"

Bank of Russia sets dollar rate at 98.37 rubles for November 14

The official yuan rate is fixed at 13.60 rubles

Russian frigate carrying hypersonic weapons embarks on first deployment in distant waters

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Kalashnikov holding starts supplies of civilian drones

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Lavrov likens proposals to freeze Ukraine crisis to worse version of Minsk agreements

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Russian politician condemns destruction of dam on Kurakhovo reservoir as Kiev’s terror act

Earlier, military sources told TASS that Ukrainian forces sank their own positions in a low-lying area near Kurakhovo as they blew up the dam, killing at least 10 Ukrainian soldiers

Medvedev characterizes Great Britain as eternal adversary of Russia

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Russian forces strike Ukrainian military airfields, energy sites over past day

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Almost 80 killed, over 120 injured by Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon in past 24 hours

The Baalbeck-Hermel Province in northeast Lebanon reported two people killed and 11 injured

Ukraine aims to call up 1 mln people in eastern areas by end of 2024 — official

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Lavrov to lead Russia’s delegation to G20 summit in Brazil

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Russia elected to UN Committee for Program and Coordination

Apart from that, director of the Russian foreign ministry’s personnel department Andrey Ivanov, was approved as a member of the International Civil Service Commission in 2025-2027

Ukrainian losses: situation in Kursk Region

Over the day, the enemy lost more than 450 troops, two tanks, three IFVs, two M113 armored personnel carriers, 33 armored combat vehicles, five artillery pieces, including a Krab self-propelled howitzer, a Crotale multiple rocket launcher, and 49 motor vehicles

Not all Republicans support Trump in refusing further military aid to Kiev — newspaper

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Russia has written off $20 bln worth of African debts — MFA

Mikhail Bogdanov added that it allows using those debts "to implement socio-economic projects directly in the country"

FACTBOX: What we know about night-time drone attacks on Russian regions

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Trump’s return to power unlikely to change US approach to Ukraine crisis — Lavrov

Washington will always seek to control everything that is happening within NATO’s orbit, especially on NATO territory, the Russian foreign minister said

Discussion of coal export quotas continues — Russian Energy Ministry

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Russia's Rublev suffers second defeat at 2024 ATP Finals in Italy

Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz blew past his Russian opponent 6-3; 7-6 (10-8) in a match that lasted one hour and 37 minutes

Ukrainian artillery attack on Energodar, home to Zaporozhye nuke plant, kills one

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US missile defense base in Poland to defend US, Europe alike — Polish foreign minister

Radoslaw Sikorski also expressed hope that the base will never go into action

Trump plans to appoint special envoy on Ukraine to hold peace talks with Russia — TV

According to the source, the job is not expected to be a salaried role

Russia to ensure parity in response to US missile defense system in Poland — Kremlin

Dmitry Peskov emphasized that by placing the missile defense system in Poland, the United States is bringing its military infrastructure closer to Russia in an attempt to curb its potential

Finnish government requests EU sanctions exemption for Russian owners of sports arena

Finland's Foreign Ministry will need to obtain unanimous approval from EU countries

Businessmen in Germany, Russia again eager to interact more, says executive

Ulf Schneider expressed his gratitude to representatives of the Russian business community for their continued efforts to involve Western businessmen in work in Russia despite the challenging political climate

DPR head Pushilin visits Ugledar, says town badly destroyed

Denis Pushilin added that "it is almost impossible to find an undamaged building"

Russia keeps building defense capacity despite conflict in Ukraine — Polish general

According to Wieslaw Kukula, if the conflict in Ukraine ends soon, Russia will be able to build up its defense capacity to the point that it could take on all of NATO