President Biden's decision to halt new liquified natural gas (LNG) exports is a major mistake that harms the US economy and national security, Christi Craddick, chairman of the industry regulator in Texas, told Sputnik.

“The Biden administration’s announcement that they are halting all future LNG exports takes a unilateral hammer to the American economy, American jobs, and national security," Craddick said. "This is a major mistake."

Craddick said Biden is scaling up his assault on the United States' energy industry to the profit and benefit of countries who are not US allies.

On Friday, Biden paused the approval of new LNG exports, citing a need to better assess climate, health and economic considerations of pending licenses.

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More than 60% of American voters in swing states believe Biden is responsible for the situation on the southern border of the United States, a Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll showed.

The survey was conducted from January 16 to 22 and included 4,956 registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

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❗️ Israel has struck the infrastructure of the Hezbollah movement after launches from Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

"Earlier today, numerous launches were identified from Lebanon toward the area of Metula in northern Israel. The IDF struck the sources of the launches. Moreover, IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah infrastructure and military compounds in the towns of Ayta ash Shab, Beit Lif, and Blida in southern Lebanon earlier today," the IDF said on Telegram.

🕊 Why the West ignores African, Brazilian initiatives on the Ukraine crisis during Zelensky's 'peace formula' meetings

On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted that the initiatives of Brazil and African countries, led by South Africa, on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine are not even examined by the West during the meetings on Zelensky's "peace formula".

"To dismiss entirely the view coming from Africa is basically to take away 54 countries from the African continent and many more others that are coming from the Global South," Dr. Anne Abaho, an international relations and security studies lecturer at Nkumba University in Uganda, told Sputnik Africa.

👉 Read the full strory

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Ukraine is a “failed state” that is being sold off to the “deep state” through corruption, former Ukrainian ambassador and whistle blower Andrii Telizhenko told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

“So this whole scheme of $40 million is just a small little example,” Telizhenko explained. “Ukraine became a failed state, because of the corruption and because Ukraine was sold off to the people inside Ukraine, was sold off to its Western allies, and people in Ukraine are suffering from this.”

These “hypocrites” and “so-called patriots” are selling off the country to Western interests, which Telizhenko described as the “deep state.”

The only way to solve the issue, according to Telizhenko is not only a change in government in Kiev but also Washington, DC.

“The end game… for Ukraine is to have a new government inside Ukraine and to see what government comes from Washington, maybe that will give some stability in the world,” he concluded.

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Hungary is being punished for being right about Ukraine, Dr. George Szamuely, a senior research fellow at the Global Policy Institute and the author of “Bombs for Peace: NATO’s Humanitarian War on Yugoslavia,” told Sputnik’s Fault Lines.

“No one ever gets punished for being wrong. You only get punished for being right,” said Szamuely, noting that Hungary’s position on Ukraine “has been nothing if not consistent from the beginning,” while referring to a leaked alleged plan by Brussels to damage Hungary’s economy in response to PM Viktor Orban’s promise to veto EU aid to Ukraine.

But European countries could easily fund Ukraine without tapping EU funds, Szamuely said, if such a move were popular on the continent.

“No one is stopping individual EU states from handing over funds to Ukraine … What they want to do is make this a kind of collective fund so that everybody, every single member of the EU is responsible for pissing away all this money,” Szamuely remarked, pointing to the worker and farmer protests in Germany and France as evidence their populations would not stand for it.

“If [leaders] were to go to the French Parliament to say, 'We want to send another €10, €20 billion to Ukraine.' How would the farmers react? They would say, 'You gotta be kidding. Are you insane? You don't have money for us but you have money for Ukraine?’”

Szamuely pointed to the farmer protests in France, which have expanded to several other European countries as a sign of discontent in the country.

“Anyone who knows about French history, Russian history, knows when [farmers] get angry, then terrible things happen. And that's what's going on now.”

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💥 Russian “birds” destroy the enemy even underground

Attack drone operators destroyed several firing points and a Ukrainian Armed Forces vehicle.

📹 Footage from the area near the Spornoye settlement

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The White House is refusing to release Joe Biden's draft speeches concerning decisions tied to the dismissal of Ukrainian prosecutor Victor Shokin, prompting the Oversight Committee to demand the release of drafts by February 7, several US Representatives wrote in a letter to the White House.

"For more than five months the White House has declined to authorize the production of these draft speeches to the Oversight Committee or to assert a valid privilege over them... The Committees now demand that the White House permit NARA [National Archives and Records Administration] to produce the following information no later than February 7, 2024," the letter said on Wednesday.

The letter added that if the White House doesn't provide the information by February 7th, the Oversight Committee will consider using compulsory processes to ensure the release of the speeches.

The letter comes amid investigations by US House lawmakers into alleged foreign bribery and influence peddling by Hunter Biden and then-Vice President Joe Biden. Lawmakers allege that the Bidens received millions of dollars to help pressure Ukraine to fire Shokin and end his probes into Burisma.

In late August 2023, Shokin in an interview with Fox News says he personally believed Biden family members received bribes from sources in Ukraine to help shut down his corruption investigations.

Joe Biden has repeatedly denied discussing foreign business matters with his son.

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❗️ Russian air defence destroyed 4 Ukrainian drones over the Belgorod region and 1 over the Kursk region, according to the Russian Defense Ministry

The farmer blockade protests that are spreading across Europe are the result of the EU’s support of Ukraine in the NATO-proxy war against Russia, veteran war correspondent Elijah Magnier told Sputnik’s Fault Lines on Wednesday.

“We shot ourselves in the foot, basically that’s very soft – we shot ourselves in the head and now we are paying the price,” Magnier said.

The EU prevents the individual leadership in EU member states from properly responding to the concerns of their population, Magnier added.

“It's a serious issue today in Europe, where the European leaders are no longer able to rule Europe as it used to be, and we see how the [countries in the union are] going really down the slope and nobody's stopping it,” Magnier explained.

Magnier believes European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen should speak with the farmers and come to an agreement, but that she should first suspend all New Green Deal regulations. “You don't negotiate with the knife at the throat of the farmers saying, 'Well, now I have to think what I can lift, what I cannot lift,’” he said.

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📹 Russian operators of UAVs and FPV drones eliminate Ukrainian manpower and armored vehicles in the south of the DPR

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Gaza negotiators are insisting on a six-week ceasefire, after which it will be difficult for Israel to resume hostilities with the same force, the WSJ reports, citing sources.

Israel and Hamas are now considering an agreement under which the release of hostages in Gaza will begin with a truce.

The conflict has killed over 26,000 people in Gaza and about 1,200 in Israel. There are still over 200 hostages in Gaza who were kidnapped by Hamas during the October 7 attack on Israel.

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A decree from Volodymyr Zelensky’s on the dismissal of Valery Zaluzhny as commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is expected by the end of this week, CNN reports, citing sources.

The Financial Times previously reported, citing people familiar with the situation, that Zelensky had informed Zaluzhny about his dismissal.

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The US struck 10 drones that were preparing to launch in Yemen, CBS reported, citing a Bahraini Defense Ministry source.

The strike was carried out by F-18 fighter jets, the report added.

Earlier, US destroyer the USS Gravely shot down a Yemeni Houthi missile over the Red Sea at a distance of one mile. The report says this was the closest the Houthis have come to a US ship; previously, Houthi missiles have been shot down by the USS Gravely at a distance of 7-8 miles.

The Houthi group behind the recent attacks on Red Sea shipping has justified its actions as an attempt to support the Palestinians in Gaza, and denied interfering with freedom of navigation in the region. Arab and Muslim nations have warned that unchecked Israeli actions in Gaza could escalate into a wider conflict. The US and UK have been responding with airstrikes since mid-January, citing a threat to freedom of navigation.

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▪️ The US strikes 10 drones that were preparing to launch in Yemen – report

▪️ Joe Biden might be helping Russian gas producers...

▪️ … while harming US economy

▪️ Is there a link between NATO’s proxy war against Russia and mass farmers’ protests in Europe?

▪️ Why is the EU punishing Hungary?

▪️ Ukrainian armed forces are experiencing a "critical shortage" of artillery shells

▪️ Watch Russian “birds” destroy the enemy even underground

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Sputnik Afghanistan journalist seriously wounded by Ukrainian drone, recovering from injuries

Sputnik Afghanistan journalist Khaibar Akifi, who was wounded in a Ukrainian drone strike in Belgorod, sustained serious injuries that raised fears whether he would survive, but today his life is not in danger and he is recovering, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said in an interview with Sputnik

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“Neither Putin nor the world nor the fictional climate catastrophe can be blamed for our predicament,” Alice Weidel, chairwoman of the Alternative for Germany party in the Bundestag, said, criticizing the German government.

During her speech, she accused the government of wasting public money and hating Germany, and called for new elections.

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Kiev will most likely not use GLSDB glide bombs transferred by the US in combat, but to create a “nightmare” for the civilian population, military expert Alexey Leonkov told Sputnik.

Earlier, President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would extend the demilitarized zone to such a distance from the border that it would ensure security from long-range weapons that the West supplies to Ukraine and which the Ukrainian authorities use to shell peaceful cities.

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