🎥🇬🇧 A loud bang can be heard in a video that has recently emerged online, as UK police carried out a “controlled explosion” in central London earlier today.

Government buildings along Whitehall in central London were evacuated after reports of a suspicious package near Downing Street.

Officials and politicians were held inside Downing Street and other government buildings for over an hour while the alert was dealt with. Whitehall is home to several government departments, including the Foreign Office, the Cabinet Office, and the Ministry of Defense.

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🎥🇫🇷 Clashes between protesters and police are taking place in Paris, where demonstrators are rallying to demand higher wages, as well as for the retirement age to be lowered to 60 and for encroachments on the right to strike to be lifted.

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🎥 A pair of long-range Tu-95MS strategic bombers carried out a routine flight over international waters in the Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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🇺🇸 More than 500 retired US military personnel have worked for foreign governments since 2015, often enjoying six-figure consulting contracts, according to an investigation by The Washington Post.

Most of the personnel have worked as civilian contractors to help upgrade the militaries of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other Gulf countries. The Gulf aside, there are many other cases of foreign governments hiring retired military personnel.

While retired military personnel are permitted to work for foreign governments if they obtain approval from their armed forces branch and the State Department, the US government largely withheld information about them until the Washington Post sued the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and the State Department. The newspaper was also given documents secured through a similar lawsuit by The Project On Government Oversight.

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💬 "Currently there is the Taiwan Policy Act, which is wending Congress right now. And if it passes, it will signal the end of the One China policy, literally a declaration of war. It prepares for a rotational presence of US forces on Taiwan Island, i.e. turning Taiwan into a military base, fast tracking weapons, declaring it a non-NATO ally, sending $6.5 billion worth of asymmetrical, lethal arms. And it does everything except literally declare war. But among those provisions, Section 803 is about sanctions against China. Exactly the type of sanctions that the US has been levying against Russia,” says KJ Noh, a journalist and political analyst.

🎧 Listen to more of KJ Noh's analysis on our podcast.

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⚡ Russia wants Ukraine to be independent from the West and NATO, friendly towards Russia, Russian military commander Surovikin says

⚡ Commander of Russian forces in zone of military operation says situation remains tense, Ukrainian forces keep making attempts to attack

⚡ Ukrainian military targets civilian infrastrusture in Kherson region, commander of Russian forces says

⚡ Surovikin says there is evidence of possibility of Kiev preparing missile attack on hydroelectric power station dam in Kherson region

⚡ Surovikin says Russian military will make sure that civilians can leave Kherson region to other parts of Russia safely

🇮🇷 Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman slams EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell for his “colonial mentality” remarks.

On October 13, speaking at the opening of the European Diplomatic Academy in Bruges, Borrell said that Europe was a "garden" and the rest of the world was a "jungle" that could invade if the "gardeners" do not take care of it.

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❗️Highlights from statement by General Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russian forces in the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️The situation in the special operation zone can be characterized as tense.

▪️ Ukrainian forces continue to attack the positions of the Russian Army in the Kupyansk, Krasny Liman, and Nikolaevo-Krivorozhsky directions.

▪️The Ukrainian regime is seeking to break through the Russian defenses, pulling up all its reserves to the front line, mainly inexperienced territorial defense forces. In fact, Kiev is dooming them to destruction.

▪️The daily losses of the Ukrainian military range from 600 to 1,000 killed or wounded.

▪️The advance of the Russian Army on the battlefield is not the main goal; the army protects every soldier and methodically eliminates the enemy’s advances. This not only minimizes losses, but also significantly reduces the number of civilian casualties.

▪️The special operation has confirmed the effectiveness of Russian aviation and air defense systems.

▪️Russian aviation has carried out more than 34,000 sorties and over 7,000 guided weapons have been used. The latest Kinzhal hypersonic missile has proven itself well at eliminating targets.

▪️The fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet is able to carry out a wide range of tasks, hitting both air and ground targets.

▪️More than 8,000 sorties have been carried out by UAVs, destroying more than 600 Ukrainian military targets.

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🔺Reading tea leaves? Blinken claims Beijing is preparing to capture Taiwan
🔺Dr. Gerald Horne will drop by to discuss why Africa stands with its back to the West and its front to Russia
🔺 Mission (im)possible: Can Liz Truss navigate Britain and herself out of misery? Dan Lazare’s take on the big question

We have more! Tune in Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

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‼️ JUST IN: Russian national Igor Danchenko acquitted after being accused of lying to FBI about his role in discredited Steele Dossier case.

🛢 White House to Tap Oil Reserve Again Amid High Fuel Prices

President Joe Biden is expected to announce Wednesday that he is releasing more oil from the US strategic reserve as part of a response to recent production cuts announced by nations in OPEC+, as his administration rushes to be seen as pulling out all the stops ahead of next month’s midterm elections.

The US strategic reserve contains roughly 400 million barrels of oil, and Biden could order an additional release as early as Wednesday, when chief of staff Ron Klain said he is set to deliver remarks on his administration’s efforts to lower gas prices.

The strategic reserves are at their lowest levels since 1984 after Biden in March announced the release of 180 million barrels over six months. Since Biden spoke of the pain of gas at $3.35 a gallon and his hopes to reduce costs, the price has risen another 15.5%.

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🚨 BREAKING | Biden Administration to Release 15Mln Barrels from US Strategic Oil Reserve

⛴ US businesses propose hiding trade data used to trace abuse

The Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee is made up of executives from 20 companies, including Walmart, General Motors and Intel. The committee is authorized by US Customs and Border Protection to advise on ways to streamline trade regulations. Trade experts say would make it more difficult for Americans to link the products they buy to labor abuse overseas.

The proposal, if adopted, would shroud in secrecy customs data on ocean-going freight responsible for about half of the $2.7 trillion in goods entering the US every year. Rail, truck and air cargo is already shielded from public disclosure under US trade law.

Electronics and seafood make their way onto US shelves every year as a result of illegal forced labor that engages 28 million people globally, according to the International Labor Organization. 

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🚜 Hurricane Ian farm loss could reach $1.56B

Agriculture losses in Florida from Hurricane Ian’s high winds and drenching rains could reach $1.56 billion, with citrus, cattle, vegetable and melon operations among the hardest hit, the University of Florida reported Tuesday in a preliminary estimate.  That’s in an area of Florida where total agricultural production is valued at more than $8 billion on an annual basis, according to the report.

The school’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences said there could be many impacts that are yet to emerge from flooded acreage and depend in part on whether some damaged crops can be replanted to salvage some of the winter vegetable growing season. About 5 million acres of farmland were affected by the storm, according to the UF report. The greatest unknown is the effect flooding and heavy rains from Hurricane Ian will have over the long term. 

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