Manila intends to cooperate with Moscow and Beijing rather than with Washington, amid a rift in relations with the United States, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday.

"I am not ready for military alliances because we have a treaty that was signed in the 50s. But I am ready to cooperate with my new friends – China and Russia – to make this world more peaceful. US has decided to cancel the procurement of weapons. And I said, 'I have a friend who has plenty," Duterte told RT in an interview.

While we were stuffing our faces with mashed potatoes this past Thursday, we missed the announcement of a major scientific discovery—a sacred capital city of ancient Egypt that had been lost for 7,000 years.

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced it excavated parts of Abydos, a “lost city” they believe dates back to 5,316 BCE and could have been part of the first capital of one of the earliest Egyptian empires. So far at the dig site, the team has uncovered fragments and remnants of houses, tools, utensils and at least 15 elaborate tombs belonging to royals.

Russia’s air defense forces in the Crimea are ready for Ukraine’s missile launches in the Black Sea and have been put on high alert, TASS reports.

Ukraine’s firing exercises are a sort of a PR-move aimed at creating a nervous situation but in any case the military perceive this as a real and potential threat and, therefore, the Russian air defense forces in the Crimea have been placed on enhanced alert.

‘This refers not only to ground-based but also to shipborne air defense forces as ships of the Black Sea Fleet are self-sustained combat units for repelling any threats,’ the source said.

The Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia earlier said that Ukraine had unilaterally decided, in violation of all international treaties, to hold missile launches in Russia’s sovereign airspace near the Crimea, in the area of civil and government planes’ routes, on December 1-2.

Ukraine issued a NOTAM (an aviation notice) on November 24 about the activation of dangerous zones in the airspace over planned missile launches on these dates. At the same time, the issue of closing the airspace over the Crimea is not on the agenda: Rosaviatsia expects the illegitimate decisions to be cancelled.