North Korea launched several cruise missiles toward the Yellow Sea on Wednesday morning, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

"On Wednesday, January 24, around 7:00 a.m. [local time, 22:00 GMT on Thursday], the military detected a launch of several cruise missiles in the direction of the Yellow Sea by North Korea," the South Korean military said in a statement.

The US has already lost the race to develop hypersonic and directed energy weapons to its rivals, Independent Senator Angus King said during a hearing of the US Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

"We are woefully behind on the issue of directed energy," King said. "On hypersonics and directed energy, we have lost the race or we are badly losing the race. We have a lot of catching up to do. This should be a hair on fire catching up priority."

In the Red Sea, the US Navy was currently forced to use multi-million dollar missiles to shoot down inexpensive drones fired by the Houthi rebels in Yemen that cost less than 1% of the price of the US systems, King said.

"The missiles we are using are costing $2 million to $4 million each. That is like using a howitzer to shoot a duck," King added.

❗️ Trump is declared the winner in the Republican New Hampshire primary.

Nikki Haley admitted defeat and congratulated Trump on his victory, adding that despite the defeat she will continue her campaign.

Axios, citing the results of the processing of 25% of ballots, writes that Trump gained 53.6%, Haley - 45.5%.

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Trump’s comments on American Iron Dome shouldn’t be taken literally

The Israeli Iron Dome “is deployed to protect major cities of Israel from rocket attacks from its neighbors and Gaza, and it provides some comfort to the people living in those cities. This denoscription alone explains why the US has not built or deployed such a system for the United States,” retired US Air Force L.t. Col. and former DoD analyst Karen Kwiatkowski told Sputnik, commenting on former President Donald Trump’s proposal to build an American-made “Iron Dome” missile defense system.

“The geography, the threat, the lack of rocket attacks likely from near the US border, and the expense make the Israeli model of the Iron Dome not feasible or useful for the US,” Kwiatkowski explained.

“The concept is psychologically soothing, and Americans, like everyone, want peace and security. It fits with the popular Trump idea of spending our defense money on actual defense, rather than offense. It implies a change in our defense policy, something many in the country are ready for. Politically it sounds good, even if it would be a practical and financial failure if such a plan were actually pursued, even with advances in the technology,” Kwiatkowski added.

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The US military carried out strikes against two Houthi anti-ship missile sites in Yemen, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a press release.

"On January 24 at approximately 2:30 a.m. (Sanaa time), US Central Command forces conducted strikes against two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch," the release said on Tuesday night.

The ongoing debate among German establishment parties over if the Alternative for Deutschland (AfD) party should be banned lift the country to “new, crazy Orwellian heights,” Mark Sleboda, an international relations and security analyst told Radio Sputnik on Tuesday.

“There is definitely a threat to democracy in Germany but it's not the AfD,” Sleboda exclaimed. “It's the forces within the current political establishment parties that want to ban the AfD as more and more German voters turn to them over dissatisfaction with the current government's policies.”

“That is how scared they are of the people, you know, starting to pay attention to these unorthodox ideas diverting from current liberal domestic policy, but also pro-US foreign policy,” Selboda explained, noting that the AfD is the preferred party for 23% of Germans.

The recent explosion of the AfD’s popularity, Sleboda argues, is a direct result of the country’s stance on Russia, not just on aid to Kiev but also related fallout from the conflict.

“[The AfD’s] sudden explosion is almost certainly due to the current government's position on Russia, meaning including not just the support of the Kiev regime, but also the blowback of the sanctions [they] installed [and] the Ukrainian refugees they brought in that have caused the whole, you know, a further exacerbation of the migrant issue, the refugee issue, as well in Germany,” Sleboda said.

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The Biden Administration is not the one “to get the job done” when it comes to pushing Israel toward a two-state solution, Dr. Hasan Unal, a professor of political science and international relations at Bashkent University in Ankara, Turkiye told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

“Israel is running an existential risk” to its security by opposing the two-state solution, but “you would need real US leadership for that,” Unal explained. “I’m not quite sure Joe Biden’s administration is the one that can actually get the job done.”

Unal explained that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is constrained by internal Israeli politics and it would take a forceful hand from the United States to get him to pull back from Gaza.

“President Reagan basically picked up the phone and called up the Israeli prime minister,” Unal explained, referring to the 1982 occupation of Southern Lebanon by Israel. “[He] said ‘Stop this’ and then they did it,” but for the Gaza situation, Undal said “It is not easy for the American administration, particularly Biden, to do something similar.”

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❗️ Russian air defenses foiled an attack by Ukrainian UAVs by shooting down four drones over the Oryol region, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported

Nikki Haley's fight for the 2024 ticket may be at its end, Amy DeLaura, a journalist and video director of the Washington Examiner, told Radio Sputnik.

“It's a two-person race now. So she doesn't have the whole point with, 'Look, I'm beating DeSantis who a year ago was the man,'” DeLaura explained. “Now, even if she does get second place - because that's all there is to get now, I don't think it's going to help her. I think this may be the end of her campaign, and she's not going to make it to South Carolina.”

After Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out and endorsed Trump on Sunday, DeLaura noted the development not only hurt her because DeSantis supporters would likely go to Trump, but it also prevented her from claiming a moral victory in New Hampshire that she could have used to build momentum going into her home state of South Carolina.

“We've been speaking to voters who are saying, 'No, we want someone who [is] a real Republican.' They're calling her RINO [Republican In Name Only] when we speak to voters…. But I would say her biggest problem is just that Trump has this incredible fan base here in New Hampshire. And even with the governor's support here [for Haley] - Chris Sununu - it just doesn't seem to be enough.”

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🇨🇳🇳🇷 China and Nauru have resumed diplomatic relations

Earlier, this tiny South Pacific nation severed its diplomatic ties with Taiwan in line with the UN resolution that recognizes China as the sole legal government representing the whole of China.

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▪️ Read key points from Russian FM Lavrov's speech at the UN Security Council meeting on Gaza crisis

▪️ Trump declares victory in New Hampshire primary for third time

▪️ Neocon Haley’s fight in 2024 presidential race seems to be nearing its end

▪️ US carried out new strikes against Houthi anti-ship missile sites in Yemen

Check out more stories:

▪️ Why Trump’s plan to build ‘Iron Dome’ system in US not feasible

▪️ Biden unable ‘to get job done’ on two-state solution. Here’s why

▪️ Is Germany going to ‘new, crazy Orwellian heights’ debating over AfD’s possible ban?

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Peace initiatives from countries supplying arms to the Kiev regime are nothing but maneuvering, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik, commenting on the Swiss Foreign Ministry's reaction to Russian-Swiss talks at the UN.

"Either stop supplying weapons and inciting conflict, and then your conversations about peace plans, initiatives and processes can somehow be identified as sincere, at least, or obviously not false. Or, if all this bacchanalia continues while using the Kiev regime to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia, then what peace initiatives or efforts are you even talking about?" Zakharova said.

During a meeting with his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis, on the sidelines of the UN Security Council's open debate, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted Russia's consideration of Bern's departure from its principles of neutrality and its support for Kiev. Moscow takes these factors into account when developing bilateral relations.

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🚜 Following other European countries, farmers' protests begin in Lithuania

Protesters are bringing agricultural machinery and will hold a rally outside the government in Vilnius, said the Lithuanian Agricultural Council, the organizer. The city council issued a permit for a gathering of up to 850 tractors and other agricultural machinery.

Lithuania has been one of the leading champions of anti-Russia sanctions in the West. However, this policy has boomeranged against the small Baltic State, causing a spike in inflation and a slowdown in economic growth.

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🇷🇺 Footage of Russian crews of T-90M Proryv tanks fighting for the liberation of Maryinka in the DPR

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Poland's 'pragmatic' stance on Ukraine aid signals end to free handouts – analyst

The new “commercial” approach to aiding Ukraine announced by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk shows that even avid Kiev supporters like Warsaw are no longer able to provide it free of charge, Mateusz Piskorski, political observer and columnist for the Mysl Polska (Polish Thought) newspaper told Sputnik.

When Tusk mentioned commercial opportunities that Warsaw would be pursing, he was being pragmatic, hoping to give the Polish military-industrial complex a boost, the analyst said.

Polish and Ukrainian plans to explore opportunities for joint arms production were dismissed as “unrealistic” by Piskorski.

Poland does not have any special potential in the field of the defense industry, while Ukraine’s military facilities have been successfully targeted by Russian precision strikes, he noted. At the same time, Tusk’s remarks send a clear signal to Kiev’s Western patrons that free support at any cost is ending, Piskorski believes.

Earlier this week, while visiting Kiev, Tusk revealed that Ukraine would no longer be getting any free weapons from his country.

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❗️ Air raid alerts go off across all the territory of Ukraine

❗️ State Duma will prepare an appeal to the US Congress and Germany's Bundestag amid the Il-76 crash, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has said.

"There is a proposal to clarify which rockets and launchers were used, let's prepare an appeal to the US Congress and the German Bundestag so that lawmakers finally have an epiphany whom they are financing, whom they are helping. This is a Nazi regime, nourished by Biden, Macron, Scholz, and other politicians, they should realize their responsibility, and the members of the parliaments should declare impeachment," he said at the plenary session.

❗️ Ukrainian media outlets are reporting that Ukraine’s air defense forces shot down a Russian Il-76, which was transporting Ukrainian POWs to be swapped, over the Belgorod region.

If confirmed, this would not be the first time the Kiev regime has killed its own troops in Russian captivity. In July 2022, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a missile attack on the Yelenovka detenion center, which housed Ukrainian POWs.