🏚 Average long-term US mortgage rates rise this week to 6.94%

Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the key 30-year rate ticked up this week to 6.94% from 6.92% last week. Last year at this time, the rate was 3.09%.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales of previously occupied US homes fell in September for the eighth month in a row as house hunters faced sharply higher mortgage rates, bloated home prices and a tight supply of properties on the market. Sales fell 23.8% from September last year, and are now at the slowest annual pace since September 2012.

Another report from the government last week showed that consumer inflation remained much too high at 8.2%. Combined with the 8.5% inflation at the wholesale level.

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‼️ Indonesia Is Ready to Organize Meeting Between Putin, Biden Within G20 Summit - Ambassador

Jakarta is ready to organize a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesian Ambassador in Russia Jose Antonio Morato Tavares has told Sputnik.

"Indonesia would be very happy [to organize the meeting]. And we have done it previously. For example, during the conflict in Cambodia, Indonesia has hosted Jakarta informal meetings for the Vietnam and Cambodia leaders who were at time in dispute. They started up with some cocktails. And the things did develop. We do not promise that this will immediately resolve something, but simply talking to one other could help the progress of discussions," the ambassador said when asked whether it would be possible to organize a meeting.

The ambassador added that the invitation to attend the summit had been extended to Putin, but the decision on whether to come in person remains with Moscow. "President of Indonesia [Joko Widodo] has come here personally to invite Russia to participate in the summit. Russia as a member of G20 is equally important to any other member state. Moreover, Indonesia does not have a right to disinvite – we only have a prerogative right to invite additional participants as the host country," the ambassador said.

📹 A resident of Donetsk lost her house after the city was bombarded by Ukrainian troops

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⚡️ Air alert activated in Kiev, local authorities say

❗️ Air raid alert reportedly sounded in Chernigov, Nikolaev, Poltava, other regions of Ukraine

❗️ Death toll from Ukrainian missile attack on civilian crossing in Kherson rises to 4 - official

❗️ Explosions heard in Kharkov, reports say

🤔 Officials within the Biden administration are reportedly in talks about whether or not business deals sought by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk should be subject to government review over growing national security concerns.

▪️ Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News reported late Thursday that the Biden White House was particularly concerned with his "Russia-friendly stance" on solving Moscow's special military operation and his "threats" to stop providing Starlink satellite services in Ukraine.`

▪️ Musk had previously indicated that he was providing Starlink services to Ukraine at a loss of some $20 million but that he would continue to do so despite the financial losses.

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📹 “They started shooting at me with a machine gun”: A man from the Kharkov region had to flee from the Ukrainian military after their counteroffensive.

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🇷🇺🇮🇩 Russian and Indonesian officials in banking and financial systems are discussing the possibility of accepting Mir cards by Indonesian banks, Ambassador to Russia Jose Antonio Morato Tavares told Sputnik.

Tavares noted that Indonesia is aware of Russia’s intention to introduce its payment system Mir in several other countries, including 🇻🇳Vietnam, 🇹🇷Turkey, 🇰🇿Kazakhstan, and 🇧🇾Belarus.

👉 In March, both Visa and Mastercard announced that they were suspending operations in Russia over Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine. Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Russian banks no longer work outside the country or in foreign online stores.

🇬🇧 😁 The famous lettuce, which lasted longer than Truss, was projected onto the wall of the British Parliament at night.

▪️ Earlier, British Prime Minister Liz Truss announced that she will stand down as leader of the Conservative Party after her policies triggered economic turmoil and sharply divided the party.

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🥴 Joe Biden seems to struggle getting off stage again at Pittsburgh rally as he twists and turns to find the exit - just one month after a similar incident following his UN speech.

▪️ After finishing his speech, Biden was seen turning toward his right to exit the stage when he stopped to talk to his team, before exiting on the left.

▪️ This is just one moment among many awkward encounters Biden has had in the past few months.

▪️ In September, he was seen wandering about the UN stage after a speech and in August, he struggled to put on his coat and his wife had to help him.

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⬇️ 😨 The level of support for the British Conservatives has fallen to its lowest point in the history, according to PeoplePolling poll.

▪️ Only 14% of Britons would now vote for Tories.

🗣 Many respondents, when asked what association they have with the Tories, used the words "useless", "incompetent", "mess" and "chaos".

▪️ At the same time, only 53% are ready to vote for Labour.

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♟ US chess master Hans Niemann has filed a $100 million lawsuit against world champion Magnus Carlsen from Norway and others for allegedly defamatory claims, crowing a scandal that rocked the chess world with cheating allegations in a high-profile competition earlier this year.

▪️ Among others, the lawsuit claims that the defendants, including the popular Chess.com website, inflicted “devastating damages” against Niemann by “egregiously defaming him” and “unlawfully colluding” to bar him from the professional chess stage.

💬 “My lawsuit speaks for itself”,19-year-old Niemann said in a Twitter post.

▪️ Earlier in September, Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis after losing to Niemann, and eventually came forward with concerns that Niemann had cheated. This was the first time in Carlsen's career to withdraw from a major event in progress, and the incident was considered to be unprecedented in top-level chess.

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❗️Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov: Russia is working on allowing Moscow to investigate the Nord Stream pipelines terrorist attacks via diplomatic channels, but so far there has been no response.

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❗️Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov: If the identity of the perpetrators of the Nord Stream terrorist attacks are made public, many people in European countries will be surprised.

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📹The Russian Ministry of Defense has published footage showing the work of Russian signal operators in combat

📡Signal troops' professionals from the Central Military District are on uninterrupted duty at communication centers as well as command and control posts.

▪️They organize the interoperability of special forces, mechanized infantry, artillery, air defense units and aviation among each other and with authorities.

▪️Modern equipment and operators’ experience allow for units to be provided with communication along all the front line.

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