❗️ Russian air defence systems have intercepted Ukrainian drones over Rostov, Tula and Kaluga regions, said the Defence Ministry.

Additionally, a drone has exploded over a technical structure of a pumping station on the outskirts of the Russian city of Kaluga, the building was damaged, there were no fires or casualties, said Kaluga Region Governor Vladislav Shapsha.

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Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green confirmed rumours that Biden fell during a foreign trip and "soiled himself"

"This is the reality of people in their 80s or late tage in life, especially when they suffer from conditions of late-stage dementia or Alzheimer's... This is where people's faculties fail. But unfortunately, Joe Biden has having it happened to him while he is being President of the United States," said Green, when asked by show host, Benny Johnson.

This is another reason why Biden will probably be replaced "with someone like Michelle Obama," Green added.

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A resolution for Italy to continue to provide military aid to Ukraine was passed in both houses of parliament, Italian askanews news agency reported.

At the same time, the Chamber of Deputies rejected the resolution to stop arms supplies to Ukraine, which was submitted by the opposition Five Star Movement and the Greens and Left Alliance, askanews said.

"Just a few months ago, PM [Giorgia] Meloni was betting on defeating Russia, which we never did, because we believe that supporting this military escalation leaves no way out of this situation... Instead, the result is that we have the government that continues to obey Washington's orders and instructions and passively submit to this warmongering logic of military escalation, which bears no fruit other than more deaths and destruction," Giuseppe Conte, former PM of Italy and the leader of the Five Star Movement, said.

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❗️Putin revealed that Russia's economic growth by the end of 2023 could be higher than 3.5%

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The Biden administration “in principle” backs legislation that would allow it to seize roughly $300 billion of frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine, Bloomberg reports.

Biden's support for the move came after Republicans in Congress blocked more than $60 billion in funding for Ukraine, partly due to concerns that Washington was taking on way too much of a financial burden as Kiev's counteroffensive stalled.

However, the White House is aware that the move could tarnish the reputation of the US financial system and trigger a further flight from the dollar.

Europe’s support for this decision is also not guaranteed. The European Central Bank's members are worried about the impact this step could have on the eurozone’s stability and the fact that Moscow could retaliate by confiscating funds that are blocked in Russia.

Moscow has repeatedly warned that Western countries would face repercussions if they used Russia's frozen assets to assist Ukraine.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia now Europe’s number one economy, despite "being strangled and crushed from all sides"

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📹🚁 A strike group of combat helicopters belonging to the Russian Aerospace Forces hit a Ukrainian stronghold in the Krasny Liman region with unguided C-8 air missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

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West, China on brink of trade war?

Whether a trade war between China and Western countries will happen or not depends on the trade balance, Dr John Gong, professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing and a China Forum expert, told Sputnik.

According to him, right now there is a large trade balance between China and the US, and the PRC and the EU.

“China needs to work with the US and the EU to make trade more balanced over the long run. But the solution should be increasing their exports to China, whether being goods or services, as opposed to curtailing back China's exports to these countries,” Gong pointed out.

The expert also said that

▪️Washington’s and Brussels’s concerns over China's manufacturing growth “also has a competition on technology perspective.”

▪️The US and the EU are unwilling to see China leading in cutting edge technologies, such as electric cars, batteries, and solar panels, which is “all about dominance in high-tech.”

▪️It’s safe to say that China exports a lot, but “not up to half of its output.”

▪️About 40% of the PRC’s exports is actually associated with foreign companies operating in China, which “could be wholly owned subsidiaries or joint ventures.”

The Bloomberg news agency earlier noted that the Chinese government’s shift to injecting money into manufacturing as property-related activity might fuel a new wave of trade tensions across the globe and even result in a new trade war.

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❗️The United States is working on creating a "fifth column" in Russia and intends to intensify work with Russians who graduated from American exchange programs, said Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Naryshkin.

In total, according to the calculations of the State Department, the number of Russian fellows of American educational and cultural programs exceeds 80,000.

Washington believes that with "proper processing" they are able to replace the non-systemic opposition that fled to the West, according to the Foreign Intelligence Service.

The main focus will be on training participants in methods of inciting ethnic and social hatred, interfering in elections, discrediting the country's leadership in social networks, the Foreign Intelligence Service noted.

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❗️American intelligence officials intend to hold a training session in Riga on February 16-18 on teaching methods of inciting ethnic and social hatred in Russia, the Foreign Intelligence Service reports.

The role of mentors will be played by American intelligence officers working undercover at the US embassies in Moscow and Riga.

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Putin highlighted the Russian economy's stellar performance at a meeting with entrepreneurs in the Russian city of Khabarovsk

Despite the fact that Russia is being "strangled and crushed from all sides, we have become the number one economy in Europe," the head of state said.

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🇪🇨 Ecuador to emerge victorious from internal armed conflict, President Daniel Noboa vows

After the riots broke out, about 330 people were detained, and five more were neutralized during subsequent raids.

The criminal factions responsible for inciting the upheaval have been categorically deemed military targets. According to reports from Western media, citizens have displayed mixed reactions, with some perceiving it as an ominous step toward a “path to a paramilitary state”.

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🎙 Check out the latest AfroVerdict рodcast with the founder of a civil society organization to discuss why LGBT* trends are frowned upon in Africa.

*LGBT has been recognized by the Russian Supreme Court as an extremist movement

📹💥 Units of the Russian airborne forces stormed Ukrainian military positions at Verbovoe on the Zaporozhye front, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

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🤔 Biden preparing for war with China?

The United States has transferred large fuel reserves to the Philippines in the event of a possible conflict over Taiwan, the Manila Times newspaper writes.

Last year, the US gained access to four new military bases in the Philippines, signalling that Washington is looking to boost its military presence in the Southeastern Asian country.

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US federal judge rules Alabama can carry out the nation's first execution by nitrogen gas.

Kenneth Smith, who was found guilty of murder-for-hire in 1988, will be executed in Alabama on January 25 using the method, which involves tying a mask to his face that is attached to a nitrogen cylinder to deprive the prisoner of oxygen.

United Nations experts warned that what would be the world's first instance of an execution by inert gas suffocation would likely violate an international treaty banning torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.

Smith's attorney, Robert Grass, said he would appeal the decision.

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❗️No-one notified Moscow, there are almost no communication channels with the United States, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explained to Sputnik concerning the White House backing the confiscation of Russian assets.

Washington's seizure of Russian assets will have profound consequences, the presidential spokesman said.

According to him, this will be a step towards undermining the international financial authority and the trust of international investors.

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Germany plunges into recession as industries fail to regain growth

Industrial orders have fallen short of expectations of a 1.1% gain, Germany’s federal statistics office revealed.

While Europe’s former industrial powerhouse had been banking on an uptick of factory orders in November, bleak figures revealed no more than a slight 0.3% increase in demand.

GDP is also anticipated to shrink by 0.3% this year, according to the Institut für Makroökonomie und Konjunkturforschung.

Germany’s woes are in no small measure of its own making. Since the government’s decision to toe the West’s line in relations with Russia over Ukraine, the country has grappled with an energy crisis, recession, inflationary pressures, and an exodus of industries.

The fallout has led to train strikes, protests by farmers over plans to abolish diesel subsidies, and “fatigue” over the cost of supporting Ukraine.

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The United States wants to encourage Europeans to commit illegal acts and take inevitable losses, Peskov told Sputnik, commenting on publications about the White House's support for the confiscation of Russian assets.

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🇭🇺 Hungary's foreign minister plans to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba in Ukraine's Uzhgorod, Transcarpathia, where many Hungarians live. The meeting is to take place on January 29.

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban earlier stated that Budapest is not responsible for the deterioration of relations with Ukraine. Rather, he argued that Kiev is to blame for taking away the rights of the Hungarian immigrant minority, which has lived in this territory for more than a thousand years.

Ukrainian authorities have oppressed Hungarians in the following ways in the recent years:
▪️removal of Hungarians' right to raise children in their native language
▪️narrowing of the scope where the Hungarian language is allowed to be used

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