Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania's defense ministers have approved the creation of a common "Baltic defense zone" on the border of Russia and Belarus.

The ministers signed an agreement today in Riga under which the states will, in the coming years, create a defense zone on their borders consisting of various defense facilities, the purpose of which is to deter and, if necessary, protect against military threats.

The agreement was penned as the Baltic nations continue to antagonize Moscow and Minsk by aiding the Kiev regime military, agitating European countries to confront Russia and increasing political persecution of the Russian-speaking minorities in their own states.

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🌟 Top-stories of the day:

▪️Iran's top-5 game-changing weapons: our AI news presenter Nika is back from her digital holidays to explain what exactly makes the Iranian military so impressive.

▪️Fact Check: are there French mercenaries in Ukraine?

▪️Ever wondered how speeches can sway public opinion? Sputnik asked AI to analyze Volodymyr Zelensky's latest speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

▪️Rapid ramparts: Russian forces' resilience multiplied sixfold along 120-kilometer defense lines.

👇 More stories:

▪️Old story, new twist: Taiwan establishes psy op facility.

▪️The man who dodged a Ukrainian drone in a special military operation gave an interview.

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The US military conducted new strikes against the Houthi positions in Yemen on Friday morning in response to attacks against commercial vessels in the southern Red Sea, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said.

"This morning, US forces conducted three successful self-defense strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen," Kirby said during a press briefing. "This is the fourth preemptive action that the US military has taken in the past week against Houthi missile launchers that were ready to launch attacks, in this case anti-ship missiles."

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Red Sea shipping crisis and Iran-Pakistan spat related to Gaza War

The recent Iranian attacks on Pakistani soil, as well as the reciprocal Pakistani attacks on Iranian soil and the shipping crisis in the Red Sea, are related to the ongoing crisis in the Gaza Strip, says political observer and Mideast specialist Stanislav Tarasov.

As Tarasov put it, there is a “process of geopolitical situation degrading across the vast expanse of the greater Middle East,” and the origin of “all this” lies in the “start of the war between Hamas and Israel.”

According to him, the Balochi separatism “card” that apparently prompted Iran to launch the attack in Pakistan’s Balochistan was used by certain foreign actors, and external influence may also be at work in the Red Sea crisis as the disruption of shipping there “undermines the economy and power” of the Persian Gulf states.

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🇳🇪 EXCLUSIVE | Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali look forward to Russia's help in strengthening countries' military capabilities to protect their people, Niger's Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine told Sputnik Africa

"Of course, we will sign any agreement that will lead to this protection with both hands. That's all I can say," Ziene revealed.

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❗️ A US drone crashed near Iraqi Balad airbase, the Iraq Security Forces have recovered it, a Pentagon official told Sputnik.

"At 7:20 p.m. (Iraq time), a US UAV [drone] crashed near Balad airbase, Iraq," the official said on Friday. "Iraqi Security Forces recovered the aircraft. There were no injuries reported. An investigation of the cause of the crash is underway."

Media reported, citing Iraqi Security Forces, that a US MQ-9 Reaper drone was shot down by militants in Iraq.

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Two British Navy minesweepers collided at a base in Bahrain and suffered damage to their plating, The Mirror reported.

According to the news agency, HMS Chiddingfold crashed into HMS Bangor. No crew members were injured, the media said.

An investigation into the incident has been launched at the highest level of the Royal Navy, the agency added.

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The Kiev regime launched 12 cluster shells of 155 mm calibre on Gorlovka, the representative office of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) of issues related to Ukraine's war crimes said in a statement.

The Rodina hotel and the Teremok kindergarten were damaged as a result of the shelling in Gorlovka, city mayor Ivan Prikhodko said, adding that two civilians were injured in the hotel and a young man was wounded in Victory Square.

Earlier, the office reported that Ukrainian troops fired 20 rockets using Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) on Gorlovka.

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North Korea’s ‘Tsunami’ underwater nuclear weapon: What is it?

The new "Haeil-5-23" underwater nuclear weapon system recently touted by North Korea is likely an underwater drone with an electric propulsion unit that can carry a nuclear payload, says Russian military analyst Dmitry Kornev, founder of the MilitaryRussia.ru news portal.

According to him, this drone can likely navigate to a predetermined target, “floating or stationary,” and then blow itself up there with catastrophic consequences to the surroundings.

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❗️ The Russian military wiped out the positions of Ukrainian air defense systems in Odessa with several Soviet P-35B missiles, a source told Sputnik.

“Several Soviet-made P-35B missiles of the Utes and Redut systems were used to strike the positions of Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile systems near Odessa. Missiles with an original analogue control system and a television and radio command system were used, which, however, showed good effectiveness of hitting Ukrainian military targets,” the source said.

P-35 is a Soviet supersonic anti-ship cruise missile weighing more than 4 tonnes with a maximum firing range of up to 400 kilometers. The first test launch of a prototype of such a missile took place in 1959; the missile system was put into service in 1964 on surface ships. Later, the latest modification of the missile, the P-35B, were also adopted into service as part of the Utes and Redut coastal stationary and mobile missile systems.

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😳 More revelations from Biden

At first, he confused Hamas with the Houthis, then disclosed that Hamas attacked Israel because he "was about to work out a deal with Saudi Arabia".

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Check out #AfroVerdict's latest episode exploring Germany's hypocritical support of Israel's defense at the genocide case filed presented by South Africa at the ICJ.

https://news.1rj.ru/str/sputnik_africa/12618

“The prisons are not run by the police, they're not run by the government, they're not run by prison authorities, they're run by the gangs," journalist Esteban Carrillo joined Sputnik’s Fault Lines program Friday to offer his insight on gang violence in Ecuador after the killing of the prosecutor pursuing charges against the perpetrators of a raid on a television station earlier this month.

Carrillo blamed failed neoliberal economic policy for the Ecuadoran state’s powerlessness to thwart the powerful drug cartels.

“It's all under this idea of shrinking the state,” Carillo explained.

Ecuador underwent a radical change in course in 2017, with the country’s ex foreign minister concluding former President Lenin Moreno had been blackmailed by the CIA.

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US President Joe Biden has failed to take responsibility to modernize the US nuclear arsenal, which has currently run into shambles, Senate Armed Services Committee leaders Roger Wicker and Deb Fischer wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

"We must hold the administration accountable for its failures," the senators wrote in the op-ed published on Friday. "But to make up for decades of neglect, our colleagues in Congress must also commit to restoring US industrial health and developing the workforce required to keep America’s nuclear forces armed and ready for any challenge."

Earlier in the day, Bloomberg reported that the US Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) program to replace the Minuteman III missiles is estimated to cost nearly $131.5 billion or 37% more than the original cost.

👉 Follow the link to learn more about the program

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday its experts had once again detected mines along the perimeter of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant (ZNPP).

"Mines along the perimeter of the ZNPP, in a buffer zone between the facility's internal and external fences, which were previously identified by the IAEA team and were removed in November 2023, are now back in place. This is a restricted area inaccessible to operational plant personnel," the IAEA said in a statement.

The presence of the mines does not meet the IAEA's safety standards, the statement read.

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US home sales decline to lowest in 30 years as Americans cite economic ‘suffering’

Sales for 2023 came in at 4.09 million homes for the year, the lowest level since 1995. Median home prices for 2023 rose to $389,800, a new record, demonstrating the effect of investors in the market.

On another measure of economic security, Gallup found a record high number of Americans responding that they were “suffering” in their annual Health and Well-Being survey. The polling organization found a greater percentage of Americans describing their status as “suffering” than during 2008’s Great Recession, continuing a trend from 2022.

Meanwhile China has made efforts to stabilize housing prices with President Xi Jinping remarking that “houses are built to be inhabited, not for speculation,” but the maxim is unlikely to gain support from either major US political party given the power of the banking sector in the strongly capitalist country.

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💥📹 Russian paratrooper assault groups captured the Ukrainian stronghold northwest of Artemovsk (Bakhmut).

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▪️ Ukrainian troops launched 12 cluster shells on Gorlovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. A hotel and a kindergarten were damaged, three people were wounded.

▪️ US forces conducted new strikes on Houthi positions targeting missile launchers in Yemen.

▪️ US drone crashed near Iraqi Balad airbase, Iraqi Security Forces have recovered it, no injuries were reported.

▪️Two British Navy minesweepers collided at base in Bahrain and suffered damage to their plating.

👇 Check out more stories:

▪️ US lawmakers blame Biden for failing to modernize US nuclear arsenal as the US Air Force’s new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program is now estimated to cost at least 37% more than the previously projected $96 billion, triggering a formal Pentagon review.

▪️ Gang violence, bad economy & a CIA asset as President? Learn what’s behind Ecuador’s crisis.

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European Commissioner claims EU will produce 1 million shells by end of March... but will they?

“We will continue to enhance our production capacity, probably around 1.3 to 1.4 million… at the end of this year and continue to increase significantly next year,” European Commissioner Thierry Breton claims.

Earlier, the EU said the bloc was unlikely to fulfill its obligation to provide Ukraine with one million artillery rounds.

The European Union has delivered only 30 percent of the promised amount. In this regard, the EU's foreign policy service has stated that the association will not be able to fulfill its obligations until March 2024.

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