South Korea orders evacuation on Yeonpyeong Island over North's shelling – reports

"We announced the evacuation after receiving a call from a military unit saying it was carrying out a maritime strike on Yeongpyeong Island as it has a situation with a North Korean provocation," the official was quoted as saying.

Earlier it was reported that the North Korean military fired 200 artillery shells into its own territorial waters near South Korean islands of Baengnyongdo and Yeonpyeong.

No civilians or South Korean military personnel were reportedly injured, and the shells fell north of the de facto maritime border.

The shelling came in the wake of reports that the US and South Korean militaries were conducting "decapitation drills" - in other words, training to assassinate North Korean leaders, including Kim Jong Un himself.

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Germany has supplied another batch of military assistance to Ukraine, including ammunition for Leopard 2 main battle tanks, Marder infantry fighting vehicles, Skynex air defense system and other equipment, the German government said.

Germany's arms exports increased by 40% in 2023 and reached a record 11.71 billion euros ($13 billion) as of mid-December 2023, the DPA news agency reported, citing the German Economy Ministry. More than a third of approved arms exports, or 4.15 billion euros worth of weapons, were intended for Ukraine, followed by Norway with 1.2 billion euros, Hungary with 1.03 billion euros and others, the news agency reported.

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

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US funds for Ukraine run dry

The US has no additional funds for Ukraine and cannot replace weapons sent there, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said.

"We're out of money," he admitted.

The Pentagon does not want to jeopardize the preparedness of US forces, so there will likely be a pause in support, Ryder noted.

Russia has repeatedly stressed that Western aid will not affect the course of the special military operation in Ukraine and warned that expensive military equipment supplied to the Kiev regime will be destroyed.

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US B-1 Lancer bomber crashed during a training mission in South Dakota, US military officials have confirmed.

According to a statement by the Ellsworth Air Force Base, the crash occurred at around 5:50 p.m. local time while attempting to land at the base during a training operation.

The statement confirmed all four crew members on board managed to safely eject from the aircraft. The bomber reportedly exploded after it crashed. Unverified emergency transmissions shared across social media described officials working to control an active fire at the scene.

The B-1 bomber is a nuclear-capable, jet-powered aircraft. With the largest payload of guided and unguided bombs, high speed and impressive handling, it is considered the backbone of the US bomber fleet. Of the 100 originally built, less than 60 remain in active service.

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Epstein's brother claims notorious financier was killed by Washington

Mark Epstein, the brother of the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein, believes that his relative did not commit suicide in a prison cell, but was killed by the US government.

He cites a doctor who attended the autopsy and claimed that Epstein's death looked "more like a "homicide than a suicide."

Epstein, a convicted sex criminal, died in 2019 while awaiting a trial on new sex trafficking charges. The disgraced figure's ties to a number of celebrities and politicians sparked speculation that his death was staged to hide an ugly truth about important public figures.

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A delegation led by an American military expert, former Marine and US Air Force intelligence officer Scott Ritter, arrived in Grozny, the capital of Russia's Chechen Republic, the head of the republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, said.

"During a casual conversation [with the chairman of the Chechen parliament], we discussed the situation in the world and the special military operation in Ukraine.

Scott Ritter is widely known for his consistent criticism of US foreign policy, as well as the actions of the Ukrainian side," Kadyrov stated.

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❗️Russian air defense systems destroyed a Ukrainian anti-ship missile "Neptune" over the northwestern part of the Black Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"At about 12:30 Moscow time, an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack with the Neptune anti-ship missile on objects on the territory of the Russian Federation was stopped."

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The US finds itself in a situation where its 50-year hegemony in the Middle East is "now being challenged," Scott Bennett, a former US Army psychological warfare officer and State Department counter-terrorism analyst, told Sputnik.

According to him, America is currently facing "further deterioration across the Middle East: the terrorist attack in [Iran's] Kerman, the ongoing Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, and other threats to increase tensions in the region."

Bennett added that over the past 20 years, the US has "substituted diplomacy for military interventionism, and as a result, offended and ostracized the majority, if not the totality, of Middle Eastern peoples, nations, and cultures."

Politico previously reported that the US is preparing for a possible new war in the Middle East, a scenario that could prove "perilous" for US President Joe Biden's "re-election chances."

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🇮🇶 The Iraqi government is forming a committee to prepare the closing down of the US-led international coalition’s mission in the country, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s office said on Friday.

Sudani’s statement came a day after a US strike killed a militia leader in Baghdad, prompting anger among Iran-aligned groups which demanded the government end the presence of the coalition in Iraq.

“Government is setting the date for the start of the bilateral committee to put arrangements to end the presence of the international coalition forces in Iraq permanently,” a statement from the prime minister’s office said.

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North Korea says it fired artillery shells in response to South Korean drills, according to reports.

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📹 The crews of the Ka-52M carried out an attack on enemy positions and personnel in the direction of Donetsk.

According to the coordinates of the aircraft's gunner, the Russian pilots of the Army aviation launched missiles and destroyed the control center and armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

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The head of the Iranian Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the detention of a number of people involved in the Kerman terrorist attack on the day of remembrance of General Soleimani, according to media

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Biden can't even tell us what the endgame is. He will not articulate this, 2024 US presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said during a CNN Town Hall hosted by Kaitlan Collins.

The US should focus on defending its own southern border against pressuring migration and against China, but Washington is ignoring these security threats and keeps sending "an awful lot of money" to Ukraine, including money paying for "pensions for bureaucrats, salaries," DeSantis said while questioning "how is that something benefiting the American people."

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

▪️In Krasny Liman, Russian forces repelled four attacks by Ukrainian troops during the week. Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 690 servicemen and 42 pieces of equipment;

▪️In South Donetsk, five attacks by Ukrainian troops were repulsed. Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 950 soldiers during the week;

▪️In the Kupyansk region, Russian troops repelled 18 attacks in one week. Ukrainian losses amounted to 6 tanks, including Leopard 2, as well as 3 warehouses;

▪️In Donetsk, in one week Russian forces repelled nine attacks by Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian losses amounted to almost 2 thousand soldiers;

▪️ Russian aviation and air defense systems shot down 107 HIMARS, Alder and Vampire shells, three HARM missiles, 253 drones, one Su-27 aircraft, one Mi-8 helicopter, 14 Tochka-U missiles, eight Storm Shadow missiles and three S-200 APU missiles;

▪️13 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered during the week.

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Eurozone annual inflation up to 2.9% in December 2023 from 2.4% in November - Eurostat

In December 2023, food, alcohol and tobacco were the biggest contributors to eurozone inflation, followed by services, non-energy industrial goods and energy, the statement read.

"Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 2.9 % in December 2023, up from 2.4 % in November 2023," Eurostat said in a statement.

The highest annual inflation rates were recorded in Slovakia with 6.6%, while the lowest rates were reported in Belgium and Italy with 0.5% each, the estimates showed.

For comparison, in December 2022, eurozone annual inflation amounted to 9.2%.

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One in three UN countries has opted for de-dollarization, Sputnik's analysis has indicated.

At least 68 UN members have openly supported the process of de-dollarization or stated that they were taking measures to this effect, the study showed.

The most decisive calls for scrapping the greenback came from politicians whose countries are members of major regional organizations such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and BRICS, which currently сomprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa plus Saudi Arabia, which officially joined the group in early January.

De-dollarization is related to the process of scrapping the US dollar's hegemony in global trade and financial operations by shifting to alternative exchange methods, such as national currencies and domestic payment systems.

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Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gives his second speech in three days:

The American administration is concerned about the expansion of the scale of war in the region and does not want this. The US is at a stalemate in the war in Ukraine, bogged down on the Ukrainian front and preparing for a major historical and strategic defeat there from Russia.

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🇮🇷 Iran raises the red flag of revenge on the dome of the Jamkaran Mosque

The flag was raised after explosions near the cemetery in Kerman where Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani is buried.

The last time the red flag of revenge was raised over this mosque was after the assassination of the leader on January 3, 2020.

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Terrorists from Central Asia arriving to Germany through Ukraine war zone

The conflict in Ukraine has made it easier for terrorists to enter Germany, as they can pose as refugees, German media outlet BILD has reported. They often purportedly have false documents and made up stories of torture and persecution. In addition, on their way through the war zone in the south and east of Ukraine, they may easily obtain bombs, which they take to Western Europe.

The number of people arrested on charges of terrorism has been growing of late in Germany. They are often purportedly associated with the Islamic State in the Khorasan group. This is an offshoot of Daesh* operating in Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia.

In July, five citizens of Tajikistan and one each from Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan were detained in the west of Germany on such charges. Recently, militants from Central Asia who were allegedly preparing a terrorist attack on Cologne Cathedral were arrested.

* A terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other states

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📹 Russian D-30 howitzer crews of the Vostok Battlegroup strike drone-identified enemy targets

The artillerymen of the Vostok Battlegroup calculate the flight path of projectiles with mathematical precision and hit targets at a distance of about 15 kilometers.

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Mideast conflict over Gaza war getting hotter, more attacks to come

"There are going to be others [attacks] unless someone begins to tamp this down a little bit and begins to try and bring some reasoning. But there are no adults in the room anymore," former Pentagon senior security policy analyst Michael Maloof told Sputnik's The Final Countdown podcast.

Over the past few days, Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri was killed in Beirut, Lebanon; almost 100 people were killed in the Iranian city of Kerman; and the Pentagon stepped up attacks against Shiite militias in Iraq. The trend is worrisome with more tit-for-tat attacks likely to occur soon, the former Pentagon analyst warned.

"So this thing easily could escalate so fast and make your head swim," Maloof stressed.

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