ELECTRICITY SUPPLY FAILURES IN MOST OF UKRAINE
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said most regions were without power in freezing temperatures following a barrage of Russian missile attacks all over the country.
"As of this evening, there are power outages in most regions of Ukraine," he said.
"It is especially difficult in Kyiv region and the capital, Lviv region, Odessa and the region, Kherson and the region, Vinnytsia region and Transcarpathia."
"With each such missile strike, Russia is only driving itself deeper into a dead end. Their missiles are becoming less and less," he said.
"Instead, the status of the largest terrorist in the world will have consequences for Russia and its citizens for a long time. And each missile only confirms that all this must end with a tribunal. This is exactly what will happen".
BIDEN SIGNED US 2023 BUDGET DRAFT
President Joe Biden on Thursday signed a $1.7 trillion spending bill that will keep the federal government operating through the end of the federal budget year in September 2023, and provide tens of billions of dollars in new aid to Ukraine for its fight against the Russian military, AP reports.
Biden had until late Friday to sign the bill to avoid a partial government shutdown.
The Democratic-controlled House passed the bill 225-201, mostly along party lines, just before Christmas. The House vote came a day after the Senate, also led by Democrats, voted 68-29 to pass the bill with significantly more Republican support.
Biden had said passage was proof that Republicans and Democrats can work together.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader who hopes to become speaker when a new session Congress opens on Jan. 3, argued during floor debate that the bill spends too much and does too little to curb illegal immigration and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. from Mexico.
“This is a monstrosity that is one of the most shameful acts I’ve ever seen in this body,” McCarthy said of the legislation.
McCarthy is appealing for support from staunch conservatives in the GOP caucus, who have largely blasted the bill for its size and scope. Republicans will have a narrow House majority come Jan. 3 and several conservative members have vowed not to vote for McCarthy to become speaker.
The funding bill includes a roughly 6% increase in spending for domestic initiatives, to $772.5 billion. Spending on defense programs will increase by about 10%, to $858 billion.
Passage was achieved hours before financing for federal agencies was set to expire. Lawmakers had approved two short-term spending measures to keep the government operating, and a third, funding the government through Dec. 30, passed last Friday. Biden signed it to ensure services would continue until Congress sent him the full-year measure, called an omnibus bill.
US CONSIDERS CHINA ITS ONLY COMPETITOR
The US considers China as a competitor capable of changing the world order.
"The PRC is our only competitor with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military, and technological power to advance that objective, US State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Twitter.
MFA OF BELARUS DELIVERED NOTE OF PROTEST TO AMBASSADOR OF UKRAINE
Belarus summoned Ukraine's ambassador to lodge a protest over a Ukrainian air-defense missile that it says landed near the city of Brest in western Belarus.
"A strong protest was made in connection with the launch of an S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile from the territory of Ukraine," the Foreign Ministry in Minsk said, demanding that Ukraine “conduct a thorough investigation” and “hold those responsible to account.”
There were no casualties in the incident, which came as Ukraine was under a huge missile attack that was largely repelled by Kyiv's air defenses.
Ukraine does not rule out that the missile that fell in Belarus could have been fired by Russian forces to provoke Belarus, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said.
"The Ukrainian side is aware of the Kremlin's desperate and persistent efforts to involve Belarus in its aggressive war against Ukraine," the ministry said. "In this regard, the Ukrainian side does not rule out deliberate provocation by the terrorist state of Russia."
Ukraine is ready to conduct an objective investigation in Ukraine and invite experts who are not supporting Russia to participate, the Defense Ministry added.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said earlier that its air defenses had shot down a Ukrainian S-300 missile in the Brest border region on December 29.
“In the course of verification activities, it has been preliminarily established that the wreckage belongs to the S-300 anti-aircraft guided missile launched from the territory of Ukraine," the Belarusian Defense Ministry said.
IRAN HOLDS MILITARY DRILL
Iran’s military on Friday kicked off its annual drill in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, state TV reported, even as the authorities continue their crackdown on anti-government protests that have been underway for over three months.
The strait is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and is crucial to global energy supplies, with about a fifth of all oil traded at sea passing through it.
The TV report said commandos and airborne infantry would participate in the wargames, dubbed “Zolfaghar-1401,” along with drones, fighter jets, helicopters, military transport aircraft and submarines. Iran's military is to fire missiles and air defense systems as well, it added.
The maneuvers are aimed at “improving readiness in confronting foreign threats and any possible invasion,” the TV said.
Iran regularly holds such drills to improve its defensive power and test weapons.
Since mid-September, Iran has been shaken by anti-government protests. They were ignited by the death of a woman who was detained by the country’s morality police. The demonstrations rapidly escalated into calls for an end to more than four decades of the country's clerical rule.
