🪖Over 2,600 UK troops to take part in exercises on NATO's eastern flank

More than 2,600 UK troops and 730 vehicles will take part in exercises on NATO's eastern flank, the country's Defense Ministry said in a statement.

According to the ministry, the UK’s 1st Division will command all of NATO’s land forces during Exercise Steadfast Dart 25 in Bulgaria and Romania to practice the deployment of the new Allied Reaction Force, which can "rapidly reinforce" NATO’s eastern flank.

Russia has pointed to NATO's unprecedented activity near its western borders. The alliance is expanding its initiatives and says this is being done to contain "Russian aggression." The Kremlin has noted that Moscow is not threatening anyone, but will not ignore actions that are potentially dangerous to its interests.

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⚔️US Steel CEO calls Biden's Nippon Steel deal decision 'shameful, corrupt'

Joe Biden's decision to block the acquisition of the US's leading steel producer, US Steel Corporation, by Japanese corporation Nippon Steel is "shameful and corrupt", US Steel CEO David Burritt said.

"[Biden] gave a political payback to a union boss out of touch with his members while harming our company’s future, our workers, and our national security. He insulted Japan, a vital economic and national security ally, and put American competitiveness at risk," Burritt said in a statement.

Biden on Friday prohibited the $14.9 billion deal, citing national security concerns.

Japanese media reported on Friday that Japan's Nippon Steel Corporation (NSC) will take legal action against the US government over Biden's decision.

NSC and US Steel issued a joint statement, condemning the ban. The companies argued that no credible evidence of a national security issue had been provided and that the process was "manipulated" to promote Biden’s "political agenda."

The two companies agreed in late 2023 that NSC would acquire US Steel in an all-cash transaction at $55.00 per share. This represents an equity value of approximately $14.1 billion plus the assumption of debt, for a total enterprise value of $14.9 billion.

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🗣Musk in favor of promoting entertainment content

What does that suppose to mean? 🤔

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🟠 Las Vegas Police release excerpts from two notes found on suspect's phone in Cybertruck explosion outside Trump Hotel

🟠 Russian Foreign Ministry responds to Baerbock’s remarks on Russian bases in Syria

🟠 Iran ready to immediately start talks with West on nuclear program – Foreign Minister

🟠 US State Department reportedly informs Congress of $8 billion proposed arms deal with Israel

🟠 Greenland’s PM declares independence push amid Trump’s proposals to buy Danish dependency

🟠 New York judge refuses to dismiss Trump 'hush money' case, orders him to appear for sentencing on January 10

🟠 Republican Mike Johnson re-elected as Speaker of the US House of Representatives

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👊Elon Musk continues to slam German leadership

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🎁Top gifts received by the Biden family in 2023

Foreign leaders showered President Joe Biden and his family with gifts totaling tens of thousands of dollars in 2023, according to the State Department’s annual report. Among the lavish presents, First Lady Jill Biden received the most valuable gift: a 💎$20,000 diamond from India’s leader.

Let's take a look at some of those who have gifted top officials:

🖼 $2,400 Collage
From: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

💍 $14,063 valued Brooch
From: the Ukrainian ambassador to the United States

🍽 $3,160 Sterling Silver Tray
From: Israel’s President

🖼 $7,100 Commemorative Photo Album
From: South Korea’s recently impeached President Yoon Suk-yeol

CIA employees received gifts on the total value of more than $132,000, the report reads.

CIA Director William Burns received an $18,000 astrograph, a telescope and astrological camera.

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👊 CATastrophy

A cat "shot down" a Ukrainian drone flying towards a peaceful village in the Donetsk People's Republic.

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🗣Mercenaries from the US, UK, Germany, Latvia and many other countries are taking part in combat operations on the side of Ukraine in the so-called foreign legion, a captured Polish mercenary told Sputnik.

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🎯Two drones shot down over Gulf of Finland in Russia's Leningrad region

The second drone was shot down on Saturday in the Luga Bay area of the Gulf of Finland in Russia's Leningrad Region, regional Governor Alexander Drozdenko said, adding that no damage or injuries were reported.

Russian air defenses destroyed 16 Ukrainian drones over five Russian regions overnight, including one over the Pskov Region and another over the Leningrad Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said earlier in the day.

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📖US dictionary Merriam-Webster mentions Russia's Oreshnik as example of hypersonic weapon

US online dictionary Merriam-Webster has mentioned Russian ballistic missile Oreshnik as an example of a hypersonic weapon in the "hypersonic" dictionary entry.

The online dictionary cited a December 19, 2024 Newsweek article, boasting that "the THAAD is the only system in the American arsenal that can intercept hypersonic targets like the Oreshnik".

Earlier Russian President Vladimir Putin issued challenge to Oreshnik's skeptics in the West.

Sputnik experts have explained in details why THAAD and any other missile defense system will not be able to intercept Oreshnik missile.

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🚨'Criminal and suicidal': Why has Ukraine blocking Russian gas transit set off alarm bells in Greece?

After Ukraine ended Russian gas transit to Europe, Greece, just like Slovakia, Moldova, Austria, and Hungary, has raised concerns.

The EU’s “coercive” Russophobic sanctions have been forcing Greece to buy gas at higher cost, while the US reaps LNG profits, leader of the Greek Solution party Kyriakos Velopoulos told Russian media.

The “criminal and suicidal” scheme was concocted by Kiev’s Nazi regime, “predatory political leadership of EU countries, and the US,” Greece’s ex-Energy Minister and leader of the Democratic National Liberation Movement (DIKEA) Panagiotis Lafazanis told local media.

What risks does Greece face after Ukraine blocked Russian gas transit?

📍Russia accounted for 56.9% of Greece’s total natural gas imports for the first 11 months of 2024, per The Green Tank.
📍The TurkStream pipeline that delivers Russian gas to Greece is a volatile supply option due to fraught Greece-Turkiye relations over Cyprus.
📍Price concerns: European natural gas futures prices recently climbed to €51 per megawatt-hour on January 2, the highest since October 2023, Trading Economics says.
📍Depleted storages: Inventories have been drained at the fastest pace since 2021.
📍Reliance on LNG: EU sanctions as of late 2022 had led Greece to boost costlier liquefied natural gas purchases from other countries, with the US leading the supply, as per IEA report 2023.
📍Electricity costs: Gas power plants consume ≈ 3 billion m³ of the 5 billion m³ Greece imports annually, according to Statista. Gas prices impact electricity costs.

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❗️Russia’s Battlegroup Zapad liberated the settlement of Nadiya in the Lugansk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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❗️Russian air defense systems shot down eight ATACMS missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian MoD daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:    

▪️Ukraine lost up to 440 militants, a tank, an infantry fighting vehicle and three armored personnel carriers in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's area of responsibility.

▪️Russian forces hit the infrastructure of Ukrainian military airfields, drone production workshops and drone storage depots.

▪️Russian air defence systems shot down 56 Ukrainian drones.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 250 militants and a Kozak armored fighting vehicle in the Russian Yug Battlegroup's combat zone.

▪️Ukraine lost up to 170 troops and two ammunition depots in the Russian Vostok Battlegroup's combat zone.

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🪖Mortal combat 2.0: Heroic Russian serviceman recounts hand-to-hand fight to the death with enemy Ukrainian

A valiant soldier from Yakutia in eastern Russia single-handedly took down several Ukrainian servicemen, and one of them in hand-to-hand combat to the death.

Andrey Grigoriev shared his experience of the deadly face-off in an interview with Russian media after a video of the incident recently went viral.
Grigoriev revealed that before the epic fight, caught on the enemy’s body cam, the Ukrainian had killed one of his friends in an exchange of fire.

"When we entered hand-to-hand combat, we both knew that one of us had to die," he said.

The Russian grabbed a sharp shard from the ground and stuck it in his opponent’s eye, forcing the Ukrainian to release the knife held against his neck.

“I took the knife and delivered the first blow to the back of his head,” Grigoriev recalled. Several blows later, the Ukrainian pleaded with him: ‘Let me say goodbye to the sky, my mother, you’ve already killed me…You are the best fighter in the world.’”

Grigoriev said he didn’t deliver the final blow, convinced that his enemy would not survive two knife wounds to the neck and three stabs near the heart.

“From childhood, we, Russians… Yakuts, are taught that in any situation you need to remain human,” he added.

Elon Musk’s reaction on X was to note that he also has a WWI trench knife embedded in his bedroom wall, “just in case,” adding that it is “more useful than a gun in close quarters.”

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❗️All 8 ATACMS missiles launched from Ukrainian territory on Friday for an attack were shot down by Russian S-400 and Pantsir-SM air defense systems, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated.

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🇷🇺 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold a news conference on January 14 on the results of Russia's diplomacy in 2024, the Russian Foreign Ministry said

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Damascus Airport will resume receiving and departing international flights starting from January 7

“We announce we will start receiving international flights to and from Damascus International Airport from” Tuesday, state news agency SANA says, quoting Ashhad al-Salibi, who heads the Civil Aviation and Air Transport Authority.

Previously the airport stopped receiving international flights amid political turmoil in Syria.

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🇮🇷🇷🇺 Iranian spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani stated in an interview with Sputnik:

"We hope that the comprehensive cooperation agreement between Iran and Russia will be signed on January 17."

"This follows various discussions and preparations for both the text of the agreement and during the Iranian president's visit to Kazan. We are expecting the Iranian president’s visit to Russia, where, as we hope, two issues agreed upon by both parties will be discussed: the North-South corridor and the plan for the transfer of Russian gas to Iran."

"Currently, we are working on the Astara-Rasht railway section. Since this is an important and serious project, the matter will be personally handled by the president or the first vice president."

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📹 CENTCOM releases footage of cruise missile attacks on Yemen

The footage, published Saturday on the US combatant command’s social media, shows guided missile destroyers operating somewhere in the Red Sea from the Harry Truman carrier strike group firing Tomahawk Land Attack cruise missiles.

CENTCOM says the attacks targeted Houthi command and control, weapon production and storage facilities, and took place on New Year’s Eve, December 31. Separately, the command reported scrambling Navy and Air Force jets to target a radar site and seven Houthi cruise missiles and drones over the Red Sea.

US operations against the Yemeni fighters have ramped up dramatically in recent weeks amid the militia’s increasingly precise ballistic missile attacks on Israel, which the Houthis are conducting in solidarity with Gaza.

Multiple Houthi missiles have penetrated Israel’s multilayered air defenses, some landing on target and others shot down only after entering Israeli airspace. The strikes, often coming in the dead of night, have caused dozens of injuries among Israelis scrambling for bomb shelters.

In the Red Sea, Houthi projectiles have forced the US strike group to retreat further and further from militia-controlled areas of Yemen to avoid damage.

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📹 The French military has released footage of its forces preparing to depart from the Republic of Chad in Central Africa. Paris' troops are set to complete their withdrawal by January 31.

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