Pentagon is Aware of Reports About Attack on US Destroyer in Red Sea

The US Department of Defense stated that it was aware of reports about an attack on its destroyer USS Carney in the Red Sea.

🗣"We're aware of reports regarding attacks on the USS Carney and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and will provide information as it becomes available," the Pentagon said.

Earlier in the day, Al Jazeera reported that the US Navy destroyer USS Carney came under attack by drones and missiles fired from Yemen.

Previously, Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, said they would resume attacks on Israel, following the end of a week-long truce in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthis then attacked two Israeli ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait in the Red Sea, as confirmed by the movement's spokesman, and a UK-owned merchant ship, the UK maritime trade authority said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

What’s behind Russia’s drive to provide African nations with grain?

Russia’s push to provide African nations with grain reflects Moscow’s “real interest” in integrating them within an expanding community of BRICS economies, Sergio Rossi, professor of macroeconomics and monetary economics at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, told Sputnik.

Echoing him was Richard D. Wolff, a professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, who said that Russia signals its “eager integration into the BRICS side of the world economy allied with the countries of the Global South.”

Earlier this week, a ship carrying “a much-needed” aid shipment of 25,000 tons of grain from Russia arrived in Somalia's capital Mogadishu. The arrival came in line with President Putin’s previous pledge to deliver free grain to six African nations.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚚 More than 2,500 trucks have been stuck in line at the Ukrainian-Polish border due to a strike by Polish carriers

Polish carriers started blocking automobile checkpoints on the border with Ukraine in early November to protest what they said was the Polish government's inaction over their loss of business to foreign competitors.

Their disconnect is associated with the fact that Ukrainian truckers have been exempt from obtaining permits to cross the Polish border since February 2022, which has made their services cheaper and more attractive to customers.

The protesters demand the reintroduction of restrictions on Ukrainian truckers entering Poland and a ban on Poland-based transport companies with capital from outside the European Union. The strike is expected to last until January 2024.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🌾 Different approaches to one grain problem

Ukraine used the grain deal to create instability in the Black Sea, and Western countries, in turn, transported Ukrainian weapons and drugs along this corridor, Ruhollah Modabber, an Iranian political scientist and international relations specialist, commented.

"In this regard, it is important to understand that Russia withdrew from the grain deal primarily due to the failure of the Western side to fulfill its obligations to supply grain to poor countries, especially African ones," he said.

Modabber added that Russia's initiative to supply grain to African countries is aimed at fighting hunger in Africa, while the West and the United States intend to use this problem to increase pressure on the international community within the framework of the conflict in Ukraine.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺🚀 Russia's Progress MS-25 cargo spacecraft, launched on December 1 from the Baikonur spaceport atop a Soyuz-2.1a rocket, docked on Sunday to the Poisk module of the International Space Station (ISS), according to a broadcast by Russian state space corporation Roscosmos.

The Progress MS-25 has brought more than 2.5 tonnes of supplies to the ISS, such as dry cargo for the crew and systems of the station, fuel, drinking water, nitrogen to maintain the atmosphere on the space station, and equipment for space research, including an incubator to study the development of quail egg embryos in space and equipment for corrosion research to be installed in outer space.

"We are observing a contact. Docking," a specialist at the Mission Control Center in the Moscow Region said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Footage of the attack by Russian airborne units on the village of Artemovskoye (Khromovo) in the Donetsk region, which was liberated last week. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the enemy fled, leaving the dead, and part of the Ukrainian military surrendered.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇪🇺Ukraine may not get €50 bln from EU

Political disputes in the European Union ahead of the December 14-15 summit in Brussels make the prospects of additional funding for Ukraine look dim at best, Financial Times reports, citing unnamed sources.

The consensus on funding Kiev has been seriously weakened by the election victory of the populist right-wing Freedom Party in the Netherlands, whose leader Geert Wilders opposes money for Ukraine and anti-Russian sanctions, and budget turmoil in Germany.

Without funds, Ukraine faces the prospect of defaulting on its sovereign debt. In other words, Kiev will not be able to pay its debts.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸 Pentagon warns of US arms production lag - reports

The US is unable to build its weapons fast enough, and the mismatch between quality and speed "presents a growing strategic risk" as Washington needs to support active combat operations "while deterring the larger and more technically advanced peer threat looming in the Indo-Pacific," according to a Pentagon draft.

Over the past 30 years, China has become a global manufacturing hub, and its industry now "far exceeds the capacity of not only the United States, but also the combined output of our major European and Asian allies," the document said.

At the same time, the US has the largest defense budget in the world, accounting for about 40 percent of global military spending in 2022 and dwarfing China's military spending several times over.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🪖Ukraine alone is incapable of increasing military production to the level of Russia, Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak admitted.

"Ukraine is ready to reach the end... When [Ukraine] will be provided with the necessary number of weapons, because Ukraine itself will not be able to increase such an amount of military production to achieve parity with Russia," Podolyak said.

Western countries have been providing military aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin has consistently warned against continued arms deliveries to Ukraine, saying it would lead to further escalation of the conflict.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Destroyer shoots down three drones launched by Houthis in Red Sea, US Central Command reports.

Three commercial vessels in the Red Sea were attacked four times in the past 24 hours, and the US destroyer USS Carney responded to their distress calls by shooting down three drones allegedly launched by Yemen's Ansar Allah rebel movement, also known as the Houthis, the US Central Command said.

"We also have every reason to believe that these attacks, while launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are fully enabled by Iran. The United States will consider all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international allies and partners," the command said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇵🇸🇮🇱 Latest updates on Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

▪️ The Israeli army has called on residents of the southern Gaza Strip to evacuate to Rafah, near the border with Egypt;

▪️ The two ships attacked by Yemen's Houthis in the Red Sea had no connection to Israel, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said;

▪️ The Contact Group on the settlement of the Gaza conflict will hold negotiations with the US administration in the United States this week, a diplomatic source in Ankara told Sputnik';

▪️ The Islamic Resistance of Iraq, which includes Shiite armed groups, said it had attacked US bases in Syria and Iraq with drones "in response to the crimes committed by the enemy against our people in Gaza".

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

UK FM Cameron says will try to persuade US gov’t to continue providing help to Ukraine

"We need to build up our defenses, stay close to our strongest friends and partners... That is why next week I will be heading to Washington DC to work with our closest and strongest ally, the USA. The debate there — about how much to help Ukraine and for how long — is underway," Cameron said.

In October, the White House announced that the funds approved by Congress for further military assistance to Ukraine were almost exhausted, which is why the volume of aid packages had been consistently reduced. US President Joe Biden submitted a $106 billion supplemental request to Congress that includes $61 billion for Ukraine along with aid for Israel.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇮🇶 US airstrike on headquarters of Iraqi Armed Formations leaves five people dead, Iraqi news agency Shafaq News reported.

Earlier, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which includes Shia Muslim militant groups, said that it had attacked a US military base in the Syrian province of Al Hasakah using drones. The source said that it was unclear whether the strike was carried out by a drone or a fighter jet, while the location of the airstrike is yet to be disclosed.

The strike allegedly took place in the city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, according to the Lebanese broadcaster Al Mayadeen.

Before that, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said that US forces in Iraq and Syria had been attacked 74 times since October 17.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸 Why Biden initiated largest depletion of US petroleum reserve in American history

The Biden administration initiated the largest drawdown of the US strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) in American history last year, because they needed to navigate through an election cycle, US Oil and Gas Association President Tim Stewart told Fox News.

He recalled that Washington currently needs to refill 168 million barrels of oil to get the US back to the 2021 levels and 300 million more to fully replenish the SPR.

Earlier this year, the US Department of Energy announced plans intends to repurchase 12 million barrels of crude before the end of 2023 to refill the SPR.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸🇨🇳 US may lose arms race with China due to factionalism – Pentagon

Pentagon officials have issued a warning to the US Congress, emphasizing that the lack of a full-year budget could result in the delay of crucial military initiatives. Such postponements could impact essential programs, particularly those associated with hypersonic weapons and drones.

“We cannot waste time,” cautioned Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall in a panel discussion.

Heidi Shyu, Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, added that “China spends an enormous amount of money” on tests while the US is having a “shortfall.”

Spending bills are scrutinized in Congress on a regular basis, and Pentagon funding is not an exception. If the legislative branch fails to reach agreement on government finances, US military plans for the Year 2024 will be delayed.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺 Latest statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️ On the prospects of financing Kiev from Europe: ''This is a question for the Europeans themselves, it is becoming more difficult for them to burn money in a bottomless barrel.''

▪️ On the Russian economy: ''It has adapted to the conditions of the special military operation and provides a regime for its continuation.''

▪️ On the US destroyer in Chinese waters incident: ''We do not welcome any provocative actions.''

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇮🇱 Israel shelled Lebanon in retaliatory strike

“A number of mortar shell launches from Lebanon toward an IDF post in the area of Yiftah were identified. In response, IDF artillery struck the sources of the fire,” the Israeli army announced on its official Telegram channel.

The situation in southern Lebanon heated up after Israel launched its military operation in the Gaza Strip against Hamas. The Lebanese militant organization Hezbollah began shelling Israeli territory, with the IDF responding in kind.

The death toll in the West Bank as a result of clashes with Israeli forces has reached 464 since the beginning of 2023, including 256 since October 7, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny has asked the US Secretary of Defense for 17 million shells, Ukrainian media has reported.

According to the reports, the Pentagon chief was very surprised, “because the whole world cannot collect so many shells.”

Zaluzhny also allegedly told the American minister that $350-400 billion is needed for the “de-occupation” of all "Ukrainian" territories.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇧🇬 Bulgarian President Rumen Radev vetoes free transfer of 100 decommissioned armored vehicles to Ukraine

"The justification for the veto notes that the lawmakers were not sufficiently familiar with the specific parameters of the donation, which deprives them of the opportunity to objectively assess whether the equipment provided is no longer necessary," the office said in a statement.

Last month, the parliament ratified the agreement between the Bulgarian Interior Ministry and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on the free provision of a batch of old armored personnel carriers to Kiev.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt