The speaker of the US House of Representatives announced that a congressional delegation intends to visit Taiwan in May

"I am hopeful the United States and Taiwan together will continue promoting the principles of liberty, opportunity and security for all freedom-loving countries and our partners in the Indo-Pacific," Mike Johnson wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

At the same time, President Joe Biden said the US does not support Taiwan's independence after Lai Ching-te, pro-independence candidate from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party officially won the regional leader's election.

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📹 Russia's TOS-1A "Solntsepyok" crews destroyed several Ukrainian strongholds in the Novomikhailovka area

The heavy flamethrower systems of the Vostok Battlegroup literally razed the fortifications of the Ukrainian Armed Forces into dust, making it easier for assault groups of motorized rifle units to capture enemy strongholds.

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Win some, lose some: Taiwan’s pro-independence party wins regional leader election but loses control of parliament

The victory of the pro-independence DPP party in the recent election in Taiwan is “a victory for the Western empire,” says Jeff Brown, author of The China Trilogy and editor at China Rising Radio Sinoland.

According to him, the Western powers, “along with vassals South Korea, Japan and the Philippines, all three heavily occupied by American troops,” will make the most of this situation to “frustrate and irritate Beijing” while China “will continue to publicly bluster about these ongoing insults, while doing everything possible to avoid a hot war in East Asia.”

“DPP leaders are American satraps and the US will use their subordination to abuse the Taiwanese people as geopolitical pawns,” he notes.

Meanwhile, Beijing-based China expert, author, and columnist Francesco Sisci pointed out that while the “most hostile to Beijing" candidate won the regional leader’s election, the island’s parliament is now dominated by a split majority of two opposition parties who are “looking for a new engagement with Beijing.”

He also argued that “neither side wants to push the situation farther,” referring to the relations between Taiwan and mainland China.

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📹 Russia's Grad MLRS crews from the Dnepr Battlegroup obliterate Ukrainian positions on the right bank of the Dnepr River.

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

▪️Death toll from Israeli strikes on Gaza Strip residents exceeds 23,843, according to the Gazan Health Ministry;

▪️Israel planning to conduct an operation on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt;

▪️Netanyahu, after 100 days of war, said that nothing will stop Israel from moving towards victory;

▪️Israel announced the destruction of Hamas' operational headquarters, its command center in the Gaza Strip;

▪️The Israeli army announced attacks on missile launch sites in Lebanon.

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New ‘Turtle’ drone carries shells, provisions for Russian soldiers in Ukrainian conflict zone

A new prototype wheeled drone dubbed Cherepakha (lit. turtle) has recently been deployed with one of the Russian military units in the Ukrainian conflict zone.

Despite being relatively slow-moving, the new drone is stealthy and can move several hundred kilograms of cargo such as mortar shells, ammo or ration packs, sparing solders the need to lug all that weight around on their backs.

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Thousands of people gathered in Washington on Saturday to hold a rally in support of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, a Sputnik correspondent reported.

The start of the demonstration was scheduled for 13:00 local time (18:00 GMT). After that the activists gathered at Freedom Plaza near the Capitol, from where, as planned, they marched through the streets of the US capital to the White House.

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US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. supports efforts to end the immigration crisis on the US southern border as well as cutting off aid to Ukraine

"Mr. Kennedy's position differs from both President Biden's and the Republicans'," the press team said on Saturday. "He supports a secure border to put an end to the humanitarian crisis of uncontrolled illegal immigration. And he also supports cutting off funding for the Ukraine war."

According to US media reports, border security officials documented 302,000 migrant encounters in December, marking the highest single-month figure ever recorded.

Previously White House Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said that the US's aid to Kiev stopped until the Congress approves a request for new funds.

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US President Joe Biden said his administration had privately sent a message to Iran regarding attacks by Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement.

"I’ve delivered — we’ve delivered it privately, and we’re confident we’re well prepared," Biden told reporters when asked whether he had a message for the Iranian government amid Houthi activity in the region.

In the early hours of Friday, the US and UK military carried out 23 airstrikes on targets in four provinces in different parts of Yemen, including the capital of Sanaa and the cities of Al Hudaydah, Taizz and Sadah, local government sources told Sputnik.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saria later said that the US and the UK had carried out 73 strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen, killing five fighters and injuring six others.

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US Congress leaders have reached an agreement on a temporary federal government funding measure to avert a government shutdown, says US media.

The media report that funding for some federal departments is expected to be extended until March 1, for others - until March 8.

Voting on the project will be held next week, the report added.

In November, US Congress passed a so-called "laddered" government funding measure, which temporarily funded separate portions of the government through January 19 and February 2.

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The American lunar module Peregrine is moving toward Earth and will probably burn up in the atmosphere, according to the development company Astrobotic.

"A soft landing on the moon is impossible," the company said.

The Peregrine spacecraft was launched into space on January 8 aboard a new-generation Vulcan rocket. About eight hours after launch, Astrobotic reported that the spacecraft was not maintaining a stable orientation to the sun and then noticed a fuel leak. The company admitted that there was no chance of a soft landing on the moon.

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The war in Gaza reached the 100-day mark, with no end in sight to the hostilities between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The conflict started when Hamas launched a surprise massive attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7. In retaliation, the Jewish state pounded the Strip with airstrikes as part of the military operation "Swords of Iron," which has already claimed the lives of more than 24,000 civilians and left hundreds of thousands more homeless. The Israeli death toll stands at over 1,300 people.

Sputnik invites you to take a look at a series of flashbacks from this war.

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US & UK strikes reduce Houthi’s offensive capabilities only by 30% - report

Strikes on positions of Yemen's Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, in Yemen destroyed about 90% of the targets struck, but this didn't significantly affect the offensive capabilities of the movement, The New York Times report said, adding that much of the Houthis' offensive capabilities are mobile-mounted and can be easily moved or hidden.

Finding targets has proven more challenging than expected, as Western intelligence agencies have not spent much time or resources in recent years to collect data on the locations of air defenses, command centers, ammunition depots, and drone and missile storage and production facilities owned by the Houthis, the newspaper reported.

The US will reportedly adhere to the tactic of destroying targets as soon as possible after its discovery, if US President Joe Biden gives the appropriate order, the report read.

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North Korea has launched another ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, the South Korean military said.

North Korea's missile landed outside Japan's exclusive economic zone, Japan's NHK television reported. A crisis center was set up in the prime minister's office.

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The border between Egypt and Gaza must be closed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

“We’ll destroy Hamas, we’ll demilitarize Gaza, and military equipment and other deadly weapons will continue to enter this southern opening, so of course we need to close it,” CNN quoted Netanyahu as saying.

The publication notes that, according to the prime minister, Israel has not yet decided exactly how it will act when closing the Gaza border with Egypt, but this will mean the resumption of Israeli control over the enclave and a blow to the sovereignty of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

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❗️📹 The latest anti-drone system "Saniya", designed to detect and suppress drone signals, was used by Russian tankers in the area of a special military operation.

In the video, the crew of the T-80 BVM tank destroyed a stronghold of Ukrainian forces near the village of Pervomayskoye in the Donetsk region. The anti-drone system "Saniya" was installed on the turret of the tank, which is designed to detect and suppress the signals of FPV drones.

As a member of the tank crew said, the complex creates a kind of protective dome that suppresses the communication signals of enemy drones near Russian combat vehicles.

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📹 The Russian crew of the reconnaissance drone "Zala" of the Airborne Forces unit found two Ukrainian tanks on the right bank of the Dnepr River and corrected their defeat with lancets.

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