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On Wednesday, US House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed his determination to continue with a stalemate between Democrats and Republicans regarding legislation that would pave the way for continued funding to Ukraine. “With regard to Ukraine, we have needed, we have requested publicly and privately in every form, answers to critical questions: What is the end game and the strategy in Ukraine? How will we have accountability for the funds?” said Johnson, seeming to suggest that a bipartisan deal may not be enough to encourage their support of continued funding for Ukraine. “We need to know that Ukraine would not be another Afghanistan.”

The United States has launched new strikes on the Houthi positions in Yemen, CBS reported citing a US official. The report said on Wednesday that the US military targeted sites where the Houthis were preparing to launch new attacks. Later in the day, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) that the United States military has carried out strikes on 14 Houthi missiles that were loaded to be fired at "any time" in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and presented an "imminent threat" to merchant vessels and US navy ships in the region.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky claimed on Wednesday that he had not actually sought to meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the World Economic Forum (WEF) gathering in Davos this week. The remarks come amid media reports that China’s top official shot down Zelensky’s request for a meeting at the event.

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Earl Rasmussen: “I think this follows through with what Russia's said all along,” said the international consultant on military affairs who spent over 20 years in the US Army. “Early on they said if there were mercenaries or foreign fighters, they were going to treat them as combatants. And I think this just reinforces that.”

A Dutch admiral claimed the West faces “the most dangerous world in decades” and urged countries to enhance cooperation. The head of NATO’s committee of military chiefs urged the alliance’s members to “expect the unexpected” and warned “the tectonic plates of power are shifting,” at a meeting in Brussels Wednesday. “In order to strengthen our collective defense… we need a whole of society approach,” said Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer.

The latest revelations from the gallerist of President Biden's son revealed key details during an appearance before Congress. He disclosed the timeline, contract changes, and sales, emphasizing a pre-election connection. Hunter Biden’s debut on the art scene coincided with his father President Joe Biden’s election as US president, his New York-based art gallerist Georges Berges revealed during recent Congressional testimony.

Russia and Niger have agreed to develop military cooperation and work together to stabilize the security situation in the West African Sahel region, which has been plagued by jihadist violence for more than a decade.

Australia's high-priced nickel mining sector, dominated by the firm BHP, faces constraints due to Indonesia's dominance in the supply arena. Additionally, transformative developments moving away from nickel use in batteries have triggered a substantial 40 percent price decrease over the past year, stabilizing around $16,000 per ton. An uptick in nickel supply from Indonesian producers has triggered their Australian counterparts to succumb to low prices that analysts anticipate will influence the market strategy of the world's leading nickel miner, BHP Group, according to a Reuters report.

US investigators found cocaine residue on Hunter Biden's gun pouch last year, which prompted federal prosecutors to oppose his requests to lift illegal gun possession charges against him, the ABC News broadcaster reported on Wednesday.

"A Turkish official delegation will leave for Russia this week. The delegation will receive information about the creation of a gas hub and discuss the details. Based on the results of this inspection visit, it is expected that a calendar of actions for the implementation of the project will be prepared and work will be accelerated," the ministry said.

Russia is bolstering its power generation capabilities by conducting operational tests on the core technologies of the closed nuclear fuel cycle. This progress is particularly evident at the Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant, where the energy complex utilizes "fast" reactors BN-600 and BN-800 that employ sodium as a liquid metal coolant.

Scientists from the Centre de Recherche Charles-Le Moyne in Quebec have uncovered a simple technique for identifying a psychopath. They learned that individuals whose ring finger is extended more than their index finger may possess psychopathic traits. The study, published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research, suggested that the harmful tendencies could be hereditary.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday that Paris will finalize the work on a bilateral agreement on security guarantees for Kiev in the coming weeks and will announce its signing during his visit to Ukraine in February. "We are finalizing a bilateral agreement on guarantees that will be signed in the coming weeks. We will proceed with new [arms] deliveries: about 40 SCALP missiles [also known as the Storm Shadow] and several hundred bombs that our Ukrainian friends are waiting for," Macron told a news conference aired by the Elysee Palace.

The Russian military hit a Ukrainian point of temporary deployment of foreign mercenaries, as well as three ammunition depots of the 23rd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Germany will provide military assistance to Ukraine worth more than seven billion euros ($7.6 billion) in 2024, the German government said on Tuesday.

The Belgian politician added that the political bloc should seize the opportunity to act more independently, adding, “we should, as Europeans, not fear this perspective. We should embrace it.” Trump’s four years as US president from 2017 to 2021 represented a nadir in relations between America and the 27-nation European Union. He repeatedly feuded with European leaders while championing an unapologetic primary focus on US interests. Trump also questioned so-called free trade dogmas and insisted European countries should increase their financial contributions to NATO. Some worry he would pull the United States out of the alliance completely during a second term.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has called for a halt to all Western military aid to Ukraine, saying the massive influx of weapons – as well as Kiev’s reluctance to negotiate – has made peace impossible.

"A truly comprehensive, fair and sustainable peace settlement is possible only by returning Ukraine to the origins of its statehood — a neutral, non-aligned and nuclear-free status with full respect for the rights and freedoms of citizens of all nationalities living on its territory," the statement read.

Kiev launched a massive counteroffensive in June 2023, hoping to break through fortified Russian positions in Zaporozhye, Kherson and the Donbass and to reach the Crimean Peninsula. In November, Ukraine's top general admitted that there would be no "deep and beautiful breakthrough," and said the conflict had reached a "stalemate." Ukraine seriously bungled its summer counteroffensive and may face the loss of its statehood altogether if things continue in this direction,

Britain’s Conservative Party is slated for a major defeat in an upcoming general election and could lose around 180 seats in Parliament, according to a new poll, which predicts a significant windfall for Labour.

Thousands of tractors converged on Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate on Monday for a massive rally against government plans to cut agricultural subsidies, with Finance Minister Christian Lindner booed while addressing a crowd of tens of thousands after saying he couldn’t promise any “more state aid from the federal budget.”

Amid Kiev’s flopped counteroffensive, with corruption and low morale eating away at Ukraine's Army, the popularity of funding the increasingly dysfunctional regime has been plummeting, forcing the US to revise “instructions” it hands down to its proxy war ally. The Biden administration wants Ukraine to switch its strategy in the ongoing proxy war against Russia “from offense to defense,” Andreas Kluth, a columnist for Bloomberg, has written.

The volcanic eruption began Sunday on the Reykjanes peninsula in southern Iceland near the town of Grindavik, from which all residents were evacuated earlier, authorities said. Vidir Reynisson, head of Iceland's Civil Defence, called the current volcanic eruption in the south of the country the most serious since 1973.

The Russian Armed Forces in several areas of the special military operation zone have started a carpet bombing campaign of Ukrainian positions with the help of special Inferno drone bombers, the 'Rustehnodron' developer told Sputnik.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has initiated an audit of military support for Ukraine, citing concerns that the arms deliveries to Kiev planned by the majority of EU member states have been "too small". Brussels will conduct an audit of weapons supplied to Ukraine by EU member states since the start of Russia's special military operation in light of claims that a number of member countries have sent fewer than agree upon weapons to Kiev, the Financial Times reported, citing three EU diplomats familiar with the matter.