The United States’ decision to cancel joint military exercises with several African countries seems to signify that Washington’s “ability to basically tell countries what to do and compel countries to follow US policy is slipping,” says retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official Larry Johnson.

The United States military leadership has scrapped plans to hold joint exercises with several African states such as Sudan, Mali, Niger, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Burkina Faso.

Commenting on today’s decision made by Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso to withdraw from the ECOWAS economic community, Johnson admitted that these developments may be related, seeing how ECOWAS is primarily regarded as an entity “under Western influence.”

According to him, the fact that these countries chose to part ways with ECOWAS and pursue “bilateral agreements among themselves” does seem like a sign of them “distancing themselves from US control.”

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❗️ US will "respond at a time and place of our choosing," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement on Sunday after the deadly attack on an American military base in northern Jordan.

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Belarus and Russia plan to design and build the first two 19-seat, twin-engine aircraft by 2026 and ramp up their production to dozens within the next four years, Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Petr Parkhomchyk said Sunday.

"We are making swift progress. Last year… our companies signed an agreement on the construction of a 19-seat, twin-engine aircraft. We are designing it jointly. The task isn’t easy: We must build the first two planes by 2026… The smallest number of jets to be produced by 2030 is 85-100," he told the Belarus 1 TV broadcaster.

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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Sunday he was outraged by the deadly attack on American troops in Jordan, promising that retaliation would come "at a time and place of our choosing."

"I am outraged and deeply saddened by the deaths of three of our U.S. service members and the wounding of other American troops in an attack last night against U.S. and Coalition forces," he said in a statement.

"Iran-backed militias are responsible for these continued attacks on U.S. forces, and we will respond at a time and place of our choosing. The President and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces, and we will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our troops, and our interests," he added.

Earlier in the day, US Central Command said three US soldiers were killed and 25 others were injured in a drone attack at a US military base in Jordan's northeast near the border with Syria.

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📹🇲🇱 Watch the full statement by Mali’s Government Spokesperson Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga on television on the withdrawal of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso from the ECOWAS

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Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT and Rossiya Segodnya, Sputnik's parent media group, said that Russia is not destroying Ukraine and has never intended to do so in a speech aired by the Rossiya 1 TV broadcaster. Many Ukrainians, including those in Odessa and Kharkov, are "in favor of us [Russia]," the editor-in-chief stressed.

"There are no more patriots in Ukraine.... the only hope left is the Patriot [American air defense system]. They [the West] will give a lot of Patriot systems to the Kiev regime, and we should not harbor any illusions here. But this is not a reason to turn them [Ukraine] into a scorched earth, because our main enemies are in the West," Simonyan emphasized.

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🚔 Thousands police officers have been mobilized in the capital region of France ahead of the looming farmers’ rally to deny entry to tractors, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Sunday.

"There will be no tractors in Paris," Darmanin told a news conference.

French farmers, angered by unfair competition from rivals, said they would drive heavy machinery to Paris on Monday to target Rungis food market on the capital’s outskirts.

The minister said 15,000 police officers were being mobilized in the capital region alone to protect Paris, Rungis and two of the major airports, Orly and Roissy-Charles de Gaulle.

He said that the planned "occupation" of the food market and the airports was a red line for the government, and warned that the police would use armored vehicles and helicopters to protect them.

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"British official estimates of UK naval capability tend to be rather overstated," Matthew Gordon-Banks, an international relations consultant, former member of parliament and retired senior research fellow of the UK Defense Academy, told Sputnik. "Not for the first time, there has been a knee-jerk reaction to provide cover for military action by the United States.

Starting January 12, the US and its allies have carried out several rounds of strikes against the Houthi positions in Yemen. However, it turned out that none of the Royal Navy’s warships can fire missiles at targets on land, forcing the UK to scramble Royal Air Force jets based 1,500 miles away to conduct the mission.

The scandal prompted Rear Admiral Chris Parry, a former senior naval officer, to bemoan the fact that the UK Navy is unable to go toe-to-toe with its Chinese and Russian peers.

"In their own way, both US and UK capability is not as strong as many think, or like to believe," he emphasized.

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An overnight drone strike killed 3 US troops, but there is controversy over exactly where.

US officials have claimed a rebel attack killed 3 and injured at least 30 at a small US “outpost” in northeast Jordan, but a Jordanian government spokesman said the strike was actually targeted at the large Al-Tanf US base just across the border in Syria.

The distinction is significant as the Syrian government and other countries consider the US presence in Syria to be illegal.

Sputnik takes a deep dive into the genesis of the US’ decade-long presence in Syria kicked off via the CIA’s covert Timber Sycamore program, which has cost US taxpayers over $1 billion.

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🇮🇷 The Iranian navy plans to expand its presence to the South Pole, the commander of the navy, Shahram Irani, said on Sunday.

"The navy is ready to raise the sacred flag of Iran everywhere in the world’s oceans. In the near future, the navy will be deployed as part of the ocean commands. We are planning to deploy the navy at the South Pole," Irani was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.

In 2023, Tehran said that the Iranian armed forces would expand its presence to three world oceans - the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific. To achieve this goal, three separate headquarters were formed. At the moment, the Iranian fleet also operates in the waters of the Indian Ocean, where it regularly conducts joint military exercises with India, China and Oman.

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The Biden Administration may give Israel fewer weapons to convince the country to rethink its deadly military operation in Gaza, or it may give them more weapons.

That’s according to a report published by NBC News that suggests the White House is unsure about how to influence the behavior of America’s largest recipient of foreign aid.

The article, citing Biden administration officials, claims the president has both considered cutting off the supply of certain weapons to punish Israel and contemplated sending more weapons as a gesture of good will. Critics suggest the reports are mere political posturing from a president who once proclaimed “the United States of America would have to invent an Israel” if it didn’t already exist.

A Biden administration official contacted the author of the article after publication to stress that “there has not been a change in our policy” regarding the White House’s backing of Israel.

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North Korea has conducted a successful submarine launch test of its Pulhwasal-3-31 cruise missiles, the Korean Central Telegraphic Agency (KCNA) reported.

"The cruise missiles travelled for 7,421 and 7,445 seconds [about two hours]... and accurately hit the target on the island," the agency wrote.

According to the KCNA, the test launch had no impact on the security of surrounding countries.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed great satisfaction with the result of the test.

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Saturday that the DPRK launched several cruise missiles towards the Sea of Japan.

On January 24, the South Korean military previously reported the detection of a DPRK launch of several cruise missiles towards the Yellow Sea. North Korea subsequently announced that its General Directorate of Missile Engineering had conducted the first test launch of a new type of strategic cruise missile, the Pulhwasal-3-31, which is under development.

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Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called for strikes on Iran following the deadly attack on the US forces in Jordan.

“The Biden Administration can take out all the Iranian proxies they like, but it will not deter Iranian aggression. I am calling on the Biden Administration to strike targets of significance inside Iran, not only as reprisal for the killing of our forces, but as deterrence against future aggression,” Graham emphasized.

"Hit Iran now. Hit them hard," the politician added.

Last month, the senator vented to "blow" Iran "off the map”.

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👻 Who’s afraid of the Russians? Apparently former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who alleged that Moscow is orchestrating pro-Palestine protests during an appearance on US television Sunday.

“For them [protesters] to call for a ceasefire is Mr. Putin’s message, Mr. Putin’s message,” the 83-year-old politician warned.

“I think some financing should be investigated,” she added, “and I want to ask the FBI to investigate that.”

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden was interrupted by pro-Palestine protesters 13 times at a recent campaign rally, with protestors shouting “ceasefire now” and “Genocide Joe.”

Democrats have favored accusing their political opponents of ties to Russia since 2016, when members of the Hillary Clinton campaign devised the tactic as a way to explain her unanticipated loss to Donald Trump.

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“I understand that it is impossible to control one’s emotions” in this situation but it also “doesn’t help” and only “hardens Hamas’ demands and delays the results that we all want,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This weekend, the prime minister criticized the families of hostages during a press conference, telling the desperate victims that their protests were “useless and contributing to the demands of Hamas”.

In response, members of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum blasted the prime minister for his comments.

“We expect the prime minister to remember that he is an elected official whose job it is to correct the errors [of October 7], not scold those whose family members were kidnapped,” the forum said.

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The European Union will cease all funding to Hungary if Budapest does not lift its veto on providing military aid to Kiev by the bloc at a summit in Brussels on February 1, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Monday, citing an EU document.

In December 2023, Hungary vetoed the enlargement of the EU's 2024-2027 budget to incorporate 50 billion euros ($54 billion) worth of macro-financial aid for Ukraine. European Council President Charles Michel told journalists then that he expected the EU leaders to unanimously approve financial aid to Ukraine in early 2024, with the next extraordinary EU summit scheduled for February 1.

Brussels outlined a strategy to target Hungary's economic weaknesses, imperil its currency and cause a collapse in investor confidence in an attempt to damage jobs and economic growth of the country so that Budapest changed its decision on providing EU funds to Ukraine, the document seen by the newspaper read.

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Billionaire financier George Soros has pumped at least $3 million into the US state of Texas in an effort to boost Democratic Party candidates, according to new analysis in US media. The report claims the wealthy donor has contributed funds to at least five progressive groups in the state, and has funded one organization’s $2.25 million in donations entirely.

Soros, who is criticized by conservatives in the United States for his liberal advocacy, has spent large sums of money to help install US-aligned political leaders in Eastern Europe.

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💥 Russian Grad MLRS crews launched a salvo attack on Ukrainian troops: the scouts spotted about 50 Ukrainian soldiers and gave their coordinates to the artillerymen. As a result, Ukrainian troops lost over 30 people, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

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Japan suspends funding to UNRWA pending investigation Into its ties to Hamas - Ministry

Tokyo has decided to suspend funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) after agency staff were accused of involvement in the attack on Israel by Hamas in October, said the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

The ministry also called on UNRWA to promptly investigate and take action against the suspected employees "so that UNRWA can firmly fulfill the role it should play." The statement noted that Japan would continue to make diplomatic efforts to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

According to the UNRWA website, the Japanese government allocated $7 million on October 24 to support displaced people affected by the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

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The number of US soldiers injured in a drone attack on a US base in Jordan near the border with Syria has risen to 34, with eight people being evacuated, said the US Central Command (CENTCOM).

"As an update to the earlier announcement, the number of US personnel with injuries has increased to at least 34 service members, but we expect this number to fluctuate as service members continue to seek follow-on care. Eight personnel that received injuries required evacuation from Jordan to higher level care, but they are in stable condition," the command said in a statement.

On Sunday, the CENTCOM said three US soldiers were killed and 25 others were injured in a drone attack at a US military base in Jordan's northeast near the border with Syria. US President Joe Biden pinned the blame on unspecified Iran-backed militant groups while also saying that the United States was still gathering the facts.

It was later stated that Iran had nothing to do with a drone strike on a US military base on the Jordanian-Syrian border, as reported by IRNA news agency quoting the Islamic republic's permanent representative to the UN. The diplomat noted that he made such a statement in connection with accusations by the Washington administration against Tehran.

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Biden may order direct strike on Iran after drone attack on US base in Jordan, Bloomberg reports

A deadly strike on a US base in northeastern Jordan may prompt a stronger response from Washington than it has taken so far since the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on October 7, Bloomberg quoted unnamed sources as saying.

The sources argued that one option could be a covert US strike on Iran, while another possibility could see the Biden administration directly targeting Iranian officials, as it did in 2020 when then-US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.

"Regardless of the outcome, the [potential] attack presents [President Joe] Biden with a decision that will be one of the most consequential of his presidency," something that "could put the US in direct confrontation with the leadership in Teheran," according to Bloomberg.

Meanwhile, an Iranian militia group known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibility for Monday's drone strike, which killed three US soldiers and wounded 30 others.

In a statement in the immediate aftermath, Biden said Washington was "still gathering the facts of this attack" and vowed: "We will respond."

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