Ukraine may receive high-precision and long-range GLSDB missiles from the United States on Wednesday, Politico writes, citing sources.

The supplies were announced almost a year ago as part of one of the American military packages.

“Ground-launched small diameter bombs" are a joint development of Boeing and Saab, which added a rocket engine to the bomb and adapted it to launch using multiple launch rocket systems. Saab claims that the range of such precision-guided munitions exceeds 150 kilometers.

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Only a miracle will save the United States from the “debt death spiral,” said former trader and author of the book “Black Swan” Nassim Taleb.

“So long as you have Congress keep extending the debt limit and doing deals because they’re afraid of the consequences of doing the right thing, that’s the political structure of the political system, eventually you’re going to have a debt spiral,” he said. “And a debt spiral is like a death spiral.”

He stressed that to resolve the situation, the United States needs an external factor, “or maybe some kind of miracle.”

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Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa is preparing to exchange Russian and Ukrainian equipment for US one worth $200m by late January

Noboa did not specify what kind of equipment he was talking about.

Despite the statement of the Russian Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation about the unacceptability of Ecuador's possible transfer of military equipment from Russia to a third country, Noboa said that Ecuador was not going to refuse its plans.

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Kiev has assembled a team from retired European and US politicians to promote Ukraine to NATO, said the head of Zelenskyy's office, Andrey Yermak.

Among those who joined this group, according to Yermak, are former Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, former British PM Boris Johnson, former Finnish PM Sanna Marin and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier repeatedly said that Ukraine's accession to NATO would create security risks for Russia, would not increase the security of Ukraine and "in general would make the world much more vulnerable and lead to additional tension in the international arena."

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🇧🇪 Anti-tractor hedgehogs connected by a thorn have been installed on the square in front of the European Parliament.

MEPs are awaiting the arrival of columns of disgruntled Belgian farmers.

Video from social media.

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Pentagon refused to clarify whether US had received any information from Ukraine about the future of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny following numerous publications on his dismissal.

"I am not tracking any changes. Obviously, it's for Ukraine to discuss their internal affairs," said Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder.

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Zelensky actually seeks to give his commander-in-chief Zaluzhny the boot

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may be planning to oust his military chief Valery Zaluzhny after all, the Financial Times reports citing sources familiar with the matter.

According to the newspaper, on Monday Zaluzhny was offered the position as a defense adviser by Zelensky but turned down the offer, even though the Ukrainian president allegedly “made clear to Zaluzhny that regardless of whether he took the role, he would be removed from his current position.” The sources also allegedly said that, though Zelensky's office had already decided to oust Zaluzhny, this may not happen “for some time” after information about these plans surfaced in media yesterday.

While media outlets began speculating yesterday whether Zaluzhny may be sacked or not, a spokesperson for Zelensky and the Ukrainian Defense Ministry both denied reports about the general’s alleged dismissal.

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The US will deliver the first batch of new long-range precision bombs to Ukraine on Wednesday following successful tests almost a year after the US announced it would deliver the weapons to Kiev, Politico reported, citing a US official and other people in the know.

The Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs have a 90-mile range and are made by Boeing, the report said.

US Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder confirmed the upcoming transfer of GLSDB rockets to Ukraine, but didn't name the exact time.

Western countries have been providing military aid to Ukraine since the start of Russia's special military operation in February 2022 in the amount of hundreds of billions of dollars. The Kremlin has consistently warned against the West's continued arms deliveries to Ukraine.

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Donald Trump has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Claudia Tenney, a member of the House of Representatives, reported Fox News.

The merit for which Trump should be awarded, according to the US congresswoman, is his role in mediating the "Abraham Accords" - a peace initiative to normalise Israel's relations with the UAE and Bahrain.

"For decades, bureaucrats, foreign policy 'professionals', and international organizations insisted that additional Middle East peace agreements were impossible without a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. President Trump proved that to be false" the statement read.

Trump has previously been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times.

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Deadly drone mix-up at US Middle East base may have been caused by poor combat experience

The latest lethal drone attack on a US Mideast base left three soldiers dead after the incoming unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was mistaken for an American surveillance drone, as per the Wall Street Journal.

"This may well be the case," Nikolay Kostikin, expert of the Military-Political Analysis Bureau, told Sputnik. "One needs to understand that what the operator sees on the monitor is not the image from the video camera, but targets comparable in size."

Traditional methods of friend or foe identification do not always work, Kostikin continued, stressing that "the combat experience of the crew decides a lot."

Per Kostikin, unlike their American peers, the Russian Army has earned unique experience of identifying and intercepting enemy drones which are currently coming in droves from Ukraine. American operators serving in the Middle East cannot boast such an experience, hence the recent error that left three Americans dead and many more injured, according to the expert.

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The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valery Zaluzhnyy, has refused an offer from Volodymyr Zelensky to take up the post of the secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, reports The Economist, citing sources.

The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry, Kyrylo Budanov, allegedly rejected the post of the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces at the last moment. The magazine quoted a close colleague of Budanov as saying that he did not want to take the post, but "it’s not you that makes these decisions."

Сommander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces Alexander Syrsky is also being considered as a potential candidate for the post of the AFU commander-in-chief, added The Economist.

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The US will not attack Iran because doing so would be “catastrophic” for the global economy, Professor Mohammad Marandi told Radio Sputnik.

“It would drive oil prices through the roof,” Marandi explained. “It would definitely be catastrophic for the global economy.”

Marandi also contends that the US is “in decline as we speak” and that its support of Israel’s war in Gaza has hurt its reputation globally.

“The damage that the United States has done to itself, through supporting genocide, through supporting these hourly massacres and the extermination of the Palestinian people in Gaza is not something that we can calculate. The United States has demolished its credibility across the board,” he said.

Marandi also took aim at liberals in the US, who seem not to care about what their country does overseas. “It's very sad for me to say [this]: liberals in the West are utterly racist, utterly racist, and liberalism only counts for inside the borders of the United States. But outside the United States' borders, they are as medieval as it gets.”

Ultimately, he believes the conflict will cause Israel to collapse.
“I think that it will collapse just like apartheid South Africa collapsed. It is a colonial project. It is an apartheid regime that has been imposed upon the indigenous population in the region, and it won't last,” Marandi predicted.

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📹 Russian "Zala" reconnaissance drone crews from the Ussuri paratroopers discovered three Ukrainian tanks south of Artemovsk and confirmed their defeat with "Lancets"

Another Ukrainian tank was hit in a similar way at night. A thermal imager was used to target and record the lesion.

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While Kiev and its Eastern European allies want to see a formal NATO invite for Ukraine as soon as the upcoming 75th summit in July, the US and Germany do not believe it is a proper time, the Foreign Policy magazine reported citing current and formal officials in the know.

Poland and the Baltic states are facing a significant pushback from Washington and Berlin which believe it is too soon for Ukraine to become a full member of NATO while it is still engaged in a conflict with Russia, the report said.

Officials in both countries think that instead of discussing Ukraine's imminent NATO membership it makes more sense to focus on supplying the country with what it needs to fight against Russia, the report added.

One of the arguments is the fear that with the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, joining the alliance could provoke a full-fledged NATO clash with Russia, given the nuclear risk.

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Three major agricultural trade unions in Spain will join the farmers' protests taking place in many European countries due to the crisis in the industry, said Spanish Young Farmers’ Association (ASAJA).

"The major professional agricultural unions, the ASAJA, the COAG [Coordinator of Farmers and Livestock Breeders] and the UPA [Union of Small Farmers and Cattle Ranchers], agreed this morning to resume scheduled manifestations to demand an ambitious emergency plan that includes measures at both the EU level and the level of the government of Spain and the autonomous communities," the statement read.

The agricultural industry in Spain, as well as the entire Europe, is "mired in growing frustration and unrest" due to the difficult economic conditions and the "suffocating bureaucracy" generated by regulations of the EU, the ASAJA said.

Farmers struggle in the face of a deregulated market that imports agricultural products from third countries at low prices that adversely impact the sales of food products produced in the EU and Spain, the association added.

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❗️ An F-16 fighter jet of the US Forces in South Korea (USFK) crashed on Wednesday morning, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing sources.

The incident reportedly occurred at around 8.40 am near the city of Gunsan in Jeonbuk province. The pilot was rescued, according to some of the agency's sources.

"The fighter jet crashed into the water and the rescued pilot is safe," a source was quoted as saying by the news agency.

Alexander Syrsky, commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, has also turned down an offer to take the post of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' commander-in-chief instead of Zaluzhny, the British Times has quoted its sources as saying.

The newspaper also reveals some details of the meeting between Zaluzhny and Zelensky on 29 January.

The sources told the newspaper that Zaluzhny and Zelensky had a meeting on 29 January. The Times also claims that after Zaluzhny refused, Zelensky told him that he would sign the resignation decree himself, after which Zaluzhny returned to his office and told his subordinates “I’m packing my things.”

The decision allegedly raised concerns in the US and UK, and Zelensky "was forced to reverse his decision after pressure from senior military commanders and international partners."

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The United States Air Force 8th Fighter Wing confirmed on Wednesday recent media reports that an American F-16 fighter jet fell into the sea near the western South Korean city of Gunsan, adding that the pilot successfully ejected and survived.

"An F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing here experienced an in-flight emergency … The pilot ejected safely … He is conscious and was transported to a medical facility for assessment," a statement, published on the website of Kunsan Air Base, read.

The commander of the 8th Fighter Wing, Col. Matthew Gaetke, said that the US is "very thankful to the Republic of Korea rescue forces and all of our teammates who made the swift recovery of our pilot possible." He added that the next task for the US military in South Korea is to find the wreckage of the aircraft.

"Information on the cause of the in-flight emergency will not be made available until the conclusion of thorough safety and accident investigations," the statement said.

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Key statements by Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu during an inspection of Uraltransmash Plant in Yekaterinburg, where production of the new Koalitsiya-SV howitzers has begun:

▪️ Shoigu inspected the fulfilment of the state defence order for the production and repair of artillery systems;

▪️ The first batch of the Koalitsiya-SV self-propelled howitzers is at the final stage of production;

▪️ The Russian Army will receive the first six Koalitsiya-SV howitzers in February;

▪️ The Ministry of Defence will sign a long-term contract for the newest Koalitsiya-SV howitzers.

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The US economy is not the American economy. It is the economy centered around big banks, the corporations, ultra monopolies, trust cartels and syndicates based here in the West, argued Caleb Maupin, author, journalist and political analyst.

“But really, the US government and the US monopolies are the big corporations at the top of our economy [that] are propping up a global system. They're not really concerned about the domestic economy of the United States.”

This, he said, has led the US to push its geopolitical rivals to the brink of a third World War in an attempt to hold onto its disintegrating global hegemony.

“The Biden administration is trying to escalate every one of these international confrontations as quickly as they can,” Maupin said, pointing to the conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and rising tensions with China as evidence. “They're almost, you know, hoping that they can play a game of bluff, and that they can push as close to the edge of that cliff of a straight up World War Three confrontation as they can get.”

Russia and China do not want a third World War, Maupin said. But he warned that if a World War does start, “everyone knows” that “Russia and China are going to win,” adding that the aggressive policies of the US are “not strategic for America at all.”

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📹 Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspects the implementation of the state defense order at Uraltransmash Plant

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