🤔The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a new report on Thursday revealing the shocking discovery that the average life expectancy for Americans has dropped for the second consecutive year and is the lowest it has ever been since 1996.

▪️Since COVID-19 was first detected in 2019, life expectancy has fallen by 2.7 years as of last year.

▪️Those born in the US in 2021 are now expected to only live until they are 76.4 years old, which is down from a peak of 78.8 years in 2019.

⚡ Modi-Putin meeting scheduled for next year - Indian Ambassador

🇺🇸The US will be hard-pressed to break its rare-Earth dependence on China, a reliance of which the Biden administration has deemed a national security threat due to steep regulatory hurdles along with a lack of capabilities and technologies, the types of which Beijing has developed for over 30 years, experts told Sputnik.

Read more

⚡ An explosion rocked the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, an explosive device went off near the clinic - media

❗️First footage emerged allegedly from the scene of today's explosion in the Pakistani capital

A suicide bomber reportedly blew up himself when the police approached to search his vehicle.

❗️About 200 people suffered carbon monoxide poisoning during a Christmas party at a Turkish restaurant in London, the British pressnewspaper reported, citing a health worker.

The incident occurred at a Turkish restaurant Gokyuzu in the Chingford district of London on Wednesday night, with the first patients arriving at the hospital at around 23:00 GMT, a UK’s National Health Service worker told journalists.

💬"People were just at the restaurant eating and then everybody just started falling ill - they all thought they had food poisoning. They were calling 111 and they sent them to our hospital and because there was 200 people. They had to split them up and send them to different hospitals around London," the worker said on condition of anonymity.

⚡️North Korea fires ballistic missile towards Sea of Japan - reports

❗️Latest statements made by Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev:

▪️The decision to impose the price cap on gas was carried out due to the EU's impotence in attempting to influence the situation;

▪️The decision on the gas price cap will not work seriously, there are many reservations;

▪️The decision on the gas price cap is dictated by hatred towards Russia, not by economic logic.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🙏 Dear friends!

Sputnik is keeping up to date with all the latest developments on social media, so we invite you to explore our Koo account!

Breakings news & hot stories are waiting for you — both in Hindi & English. Hurry up before they get cold!

EXPLORE

📌Latest statements by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov:

▪️Gazprom's restrictions on buying gas from joint ventures is not a response to western gas price cap, but to the actions of unfriendly countries;

▪️Kremlin on Biden's remark about his readiness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin: there are no preliminary contacts on this matter;

▪️Kremlin has no information about Zelensky's new peace plan.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇳🇬 The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, whom the country’s secret police accuses of funding terrorism, has refused to return to Nigeria after the US–Africa Leaders Summit, media report

▪️Godwin Emefiele had travelled to America with President Muhammadu Buhari but, unlike the latter, stayed overseas, claiming health problems.

▪️The Department of State Services, Nigeria’s secret police, previously had sought an arrest warrant for the official, but the application was denied by a Federal High Court, which demanded evidence.

▪️Recently, Emefiele was also accused of corruption by members of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission

Subscribe to @sputnik_africa

Zelensky-Duda Meeting: Netizens Accuse Polish President of Dragging Warsaw Into Ukraine Conflict

People reacted extremely negatively to Polish President Andrzej Duda tweeting about his sit-down with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday.

According to Duda, the December 22 meeting gave him “an opportunity to discuss strategic plans for actions and cooperation [with Ukraine] in the upcoming 2023.”

Referring to the Russian special operation in Ukraine, one user sarcastically voiced hope that Duda “didn't discuss the conditions for joining the war” during his meeting with Zelensky.

Read more

⚡️Several people have been injured in a shooting in Paris and a suspect detained - local media reports, citing a police source.

Six people have reportedly been injured one of whom is in serious condition

🇯🇵The Japanese government approved a draft budget for the next fiscal year for a record 114,38 trillion yen ($862 billion) with a record-high defense budget in the amount of 6.8 trillion yen, Japanese media reported on Friday.

▪️According to reports, Japan's military spending amounted to 5.4 trillion yen in 2022, which is about 1.24% of GDP. The growth of the defense budget is connected with the government's decision to ensure an increase in defense spending to 2% of the country's gross domestic product by 2027, which is approximately 11 trillion yen per year.

▪️The draft budget for 2023-2024 also provides for the allocation of about 3 trillion yen to ensure defense capability and weapons development in the future.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹Video from the scene

⚡️Two people died, four injured, two of them in critical condition, as a result of the shooting in Paris - report

Koo CEO Shares What Makes World's 2nd Largest Microblogging Platform So Special

🐥 India's homegrown social network Koo is the second-largest microblogging site in the world with more than 60 million downloads

▪️Why is Koo growing so rapidly?

▪️What makes it stand out from other social media platforms, especially Twitter?

▪️Why is their logo a yellow bird?

Learn about this and more in our exclusive interview with Koo CEO & co-founder Aprameya Radhakrishna

US Closely Tracking Russia-China Joint Drills in East China Sea

The US, along with its allies and partners, is closely monitoring the joint naval exercises of China and Russia in the East China Sea, the US Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) said on Friday.

"Alongside our Allies and partners, we are closely tracking the military activities of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the South China Sea and Philippine Sea, as well as the ongoing Russia-China exercise in the East China Sea," the US military said in a statement.

Read more

📹 A Sputnik correspondent has shared a video showing the aftermath of the shooting in Paris