❗️ A shipment of 25,000 tonnes of free Russian grain arrived in Eritrea today, the Russian Embassy in the Eastern African nation told exclusively to Sputnik Africa.

Subscribe to @sputnik_africa

🔸 Sputnik Africa | TikTok | Twitter 🔸

🗣 America is losing its dominance over global trade:

“You look at the top ten busiest container sea ports in the world, seven of them are in China, and one or two more are in South Korea and in Singapore. So the trade is all happening on the east side of the world and the western part, if you look at Los Angeles and so on, they really have dropped in trade and they're not significant anymore. So, whatever way you slice the cake, the US is losing its preeminence,” SL Kanthan, India-based geopolitical analyst, told New Rules podcast.

👉 Watch the full episode of our show on Rumble and on our X page

🎧 If you prefer to listen to our podcast, make sure to check the New Rules page on the website!

💥 Direct hit

📹 Footage of Russian strike obliterating Ukrainian tank

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that air defenses destroyed ten Ukrainian missiles over the Crimean Peninsula.

The attempted attack was made using guided missiles.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

A shooting occurred at a high school in the US state of Iowa on the first day of the new semester, media has reported.

The local sheriff's office confirmed that an investigation into the incident is underway, but did not provide details about what happened.

A video has appeared on social networks in which a large number of law enforcement officers are visible near the educational institution and a helicopter can be heard patrolling in the sky.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣No European is going to die for Ukraine, French corps General Bruno Clermont said.

"The weakness of the Europeans is inversely proportional to the belligerence of their statements," he added.

He also stated that the Russian Army has significant superiority in armaments.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺🪖 Key points of Russian MoD briefing on progress of special military op in Ukraine

▪️In the Kupyank region, Russian forces destroyed one Alder MLRS combat vehicle and three Vampire MLRS vehicles. Ukrainian losses were up to 100 soldiers;

▪️In the Donetsk region, Ukrainian losses amounted to 190 servicemen, two infantry fighting vehicles and three armored fighting vehicles. In the south of Donetsk, Ukrainian losses amounted to 170 soldiers;

▪️In the Kharkov region, Russian forces destroyed a Ukrainian Armed Forces ammunition depot;

▪️In the Krasny Liman area, Russian troops hit Ukrainian military personnel and equipment in the area of Chernovaya Dibrova. Ukrainian losses amounted to 120 servicemen;

▪️In the Kherson region, Russian troops destroyed three vehicles. Ukrainian losses amounted to 30 servicemen;

▪️Russian air defense forces destroyed three HIMARS shells and 37 Ukrainian drones.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

😄Are they really in charge?

How "professional" are western politicians really? Sputnik presents a clip showing the most embarrassing comments made by European and American leaders over the past year.

Check out the best moments of 2023!

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Russia's reconnaissance unit neutralizes Ukrainian FPV drone crew in Kupyansk region

During reconnaissance, the servicemen acquired intelligence about movement of an armed group of Ukrainian troops. After taking position, soldiers from the reconnaissance unit delivered a precise strike by Kornet ATGM at the enemy shelter.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russia's air defense systems intercepted a Ukrainian S-200 anti-aircraft missile that had been converted to hit ground targets over the Lipetsk region, the MoD reported.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

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

▪️The number of victims of Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip has exceeded 22,400, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health;

▪️Israel has dropped over 45,000 bombs and rockets on Gaza since October 7, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza;

▪️The Israeli army announced the liquidation of an Islamic Jihad commander in the Gaza Strip;

▪️Israeli shelling killed four people in southern Lebanon, Lebanese media reported.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

How could deadly Iran blasts affect Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

"It seems that there is a desire to have the Benjamin Netanyahu government expand the conflict beyond Gaza," Mahjoob Zweiri, a professor in contemporary politics and history of the Middle East, told Sputnik. "The Americans and other Europeans could intervene and basically transfer the whole conflict into a global conflict."

Powerful blasts killed 84 and left 211 injured in the Iranian city of Kerman on January 3 with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowing a "harsh response".

On Thursday, Daesh* claimed responsibility for the bombing. The New York Times remarked that the terrorists' announcement "dovetailed with American intelligence assessments."

Per Zweiri, those behind the explosions sought to force Tehran into overreacting. The professor believes Iran won't respond immediately but will focus on pushing for a Gaza ceasefire instead.

*Daesh is a terrorist organization banned in Russia and other countries.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder confirmed on Thursday that US forces conducted a strike in Iraq targeting the Harakat-al-Nujaba leader Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari for his role in attacks on US troops in the region.

"I can confirm that on January 4, approximately 12:00 p.m. Iraq time, US forces took necessary and proportionate action against Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, aka Abu Taqwa, who is a Harakat-al-Nujaba leader. Abu Taqwa was actively involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel," Ryder said during a press briefing.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Russia's D-30 howitzer crew destroyed a Ukrainian observation post on the Dnepr's right bank

Artillerymen of the Dnepr Battlegroup fired 122-mm high-explosive fragmentation shells at a target at a distance of about eight kilometers.

As a result of the strike, Ukraine lost over 15 soldiers who were installing a new observation post.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸Latest on Iowa school shooting:

🔹 Gunman was identified as 17-year-old student armed with a pump-action shotgun and small caliber handgun. Found deceased from self-inflicted gunshot wound

🔹 First responders found an IED inside the school but was subsequently rendered safe after specialists arrived on the scene

🔹 Early findings suggest gunman acted alone; however, motive remains unclear

🔹 Shooting resulted in the death of a sixth-grade student, five other victims (four students and one faculty member) have been hospitalized

DC think tank: Israel's Beirut bomb forces Hamas, Hezbollah & Iran to retaliate

Per the think tank, the odds of an Israeli-Hezbollah clash have risen in the short term. The two had already been exchanging artillery and rocket fire across the border.

"The drone that killed Arouri struck far from that border, in a portion of southern Beirut that is considered a Hezbollah stronghold," wrote Paul R. Pillar, a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute.

Pillar believes that the Hezbollah leadership is not seeking a repetition of the 2006 war with Israel, which led to significant human and material losses. However, given that the Shiite group has long committed to protect the Lebanese people from Israeli attacks, it "may have now been pushed closer to carrying out more of the threats of retaliation it has been voicing since Israel began its assault on Gaza," the scholar argued.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

IAF's Chopper Procurement Takes Turn: Russian Mi-26 Helicopters Replace Chinooks

🇮🇳 India's helicopter procurement strategy is undergoing a significant change as they decide against acquiring US-manufactured Chinook helicopters.

🇷🇺 Instead, they are showing preference for Russia's Mi-26 heavy-lift helicopters, which corresponds with the positive trajectory of their bilateral relations.

🚁 Furthermore, India's existing fleet of Mi-26 helicopters is scheduled for maintenance in Russia.

IAF Chief Hints at Stopping Import of Combat Helicopters

"The need for a very agile attack helicopter was felt immediately after the Kargil conflict, and this indigenous development of the LCH or Prachand has given a tremendous boost to our warfighting capability in this area of helicopter combat operations," AF chief Vivek Ram Chaudhari told reporters in New Delhi in November.

HAL's IMHR and Mi-26 to Form Bulwark of IAF's Heavy-Lift Chopper Fleet

🇺🇸 🚫 Instead of acquiring the American-made Chinooks, the IAF has reportedly opted for the Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH) being developed by state-owned aeronautics giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

▪Although the proposed IMHR would be slightly smaller than the Chinooks, it is being touted as India's next-generation helicopter.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

A report released by House Democrats on Thursday revealed that businesses owned by former US President Donald Trump were being paid millions of dollars by foreign governments and businesses.

According to the report, China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and others made payments to Trump-owned businesses, with China being the largest contributor by spending $5.5 million while Trump was in office.

The corruption alleged by the report is similar to accusations by Republicans against US President Joe Biden over foreign business deals made by his family members, including his son and brother.

👉 Read more in the full article