⚡️At least 15 dead, 40 injured following an attack at the Shah Cheragh Shrine in Shiraz, state media reports

⚡️ Ukraine has made a dummy Iskander missile in order to fill it with radioactive material, shoot it down over the Chernobyl NPP zone, and blame it on Russia, a source familiar with the situation says.

Earlier, Russia expressed fears that Kiev may detonate a radiation-spewing "dirty bomb" and blame Moscow for using a tactical nuclear weapon against its forces.

Russia’s nuclear doctrine forbids the use of nuclear weapons of any kind unless the country is attacked using weapons of mass destruction, or faces a conventional attack so severe it threatens the country’s existence. But that fact is unlikely to stop the West from blaming Russia in the event of a false-flag dirty bomb attack, Moscow fears.

❗️People were praying in the mosque when a terrorist opened fire, the chief prosecutor of Fars Province said. Security forces are present at the scene. At least 13 people were killed, with conflicting reports about the number of injured.

Commenting on earlier reports about three gunmen, the prosecutor said there was only one terrorist: 23-year-old Hamed Badakhshan.

🎾 🇷🇸 In an exclusive comment for Sputnik, internationally acclaimed Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic explained why his foundation, which helps children receive preschool education, is important to him.

💬 “This foundation is very important to us, and when we are physically here, we can contribute even more, achieve even more results in our activities. I'm very pleased with the time I spend with my children and all the children who come to me to play sports or to learn. It's the most beautiful thing a person can experience.”

Djokovic believes that early education forms the basis on which children stand for the rest of their lives, and that it is also the foundation of the future of our world.

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🇬🇧 42-year-old Rishi Sunak is making headlines as a sensation after becoming the first person of Indian origin to take over the UK's Tory leadership. But surely, he is not alone on the list of world leaders with Indian background to have held key political roles.

🔸Kamala Harris, US Vice President

Born in California to a family of migrants — a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, Kamala Harris is both the first woman and first person of color to become US vice president.

Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a breast cancer researcher, brought her and her sister Maya up as a single mother after moving to the United States from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu to get a degree, although she has also worked as a civil rights activist.

🔸Pravind Jugnauth, Prime Minister of Mauritius

Hailing from a family of politicians, Pravind Jugnauth has been the prime minister of Mauritius since 2017, leading the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) party since April 2003.

Jugnauth was born into a Hindu family of Ahirs. His ancestors hail from India's state of Uttar Pradesh. In the 1870s, his great-grandfather migrated to Mauritius.

👉 Are you familiar with any other notable people of Indian origin in global politics? Check out our listicle on Sputnik’s site.

🇺🇸 Another Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II went down last week, with eight of the sleek fifth-gen aircraft lost since 2018.

Why do the $80-$100 million apiece jets keep crashing? Who builds them? And why has the Pentagon continued to dump piles of cash on a problematic piece of hardware expected to cost more than the annual GDP of Australia over its lifetime?

👉 Check out this deep dive for answers.

🔺 PMs come and go, but the course remains: Rishi Sunak was quick to assure Zelensky that British support for Kiev would remain "as strong as ever" under his leadership
🔺 Fun fact: No matter what happens in real life, US mainstream media will tell you that Ukraine is winning
🔺 From zero to hero: Lula is increasing his lead over Bolsonaro days before the runoff

More stories coming your way! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

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⚡️ Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi has extended his condolences to the families of the victims after a gunman shot at pilgrims praying at the Shah Cheragh Mosque, saying the attack will not go unanswered, local media reports.

❗️Footage of the alleged gunman entering the mosque in Shiraz has emerged on social media

📹 A group of climate change activists stormed BlackRock HQ in NYC, according to social media reports. Protesters dumped coal on an escalator, and some of them are seen holding pitchforks.

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⚡️JUST IN: Elon Musk updated his Twitter biography to "Chief Twit" ahead of the reported closing deal on the acquisition of the social media company later this week. He posted a video showing himself entering Twitter’s main office in San Francisco, California, holding an object that looked like a sink.

‼️Syria's Air Defense System Repelling Missile Attack Near Damascus - State Media. The outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus was attacked with missiles on Wednesday night, Syrian state-run broadcaster Al-Ikhbariya reported.

According to the report, the country's air defense systems are repelling the attack near Damascus.

☀️💨🌧A new survey shows Americans want more climate change action. The poll, released by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research on Tuesday, found that 62 percent or about 6 in 10 adults in the US say the federal government is doing too little to reduce climate change.

Only 19 percent of Americans say the federal government is doing something to fight climate change, driven mainly by 43 percent of Republicans, who agreed with that statement.

In August, President Joe Biden signed legislation to fight climate change as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. But 61 percent of American adults said they have heard nothing or only knew a little about the law, according to the AP-NORC poll. And about 49 percent of Americans say the legislation won't make much of a difference on climate change.

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🇪🇺More international financial institutions have sounded alarm over the imminent economic recession facing the 19-member eurozone. S&P Global Market Intelligence said in a report on Monday that the eurozone economy had slipped into a steeper downturn at the start of the fourth quarter, the rate of decline being the fastest since April 2013 except for pandemic lockdowns.

Manufacturing sectors, particularly energy-intensive sectors, saw the greatest output loss. Still, services activity also continued to fall at an accelerated rate amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and broad-based economic uncertainty, the report said.

Chris Williamson, the chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said, "The eurozone economy looks set to contract in the fourth quarter given the steeping loss of output and deteriorated demand adding to speculation that a recession is looking increasingly inevitable."

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▪️A young gay couple jumped to their deaths from a bridge in Armenia after sharing a kiss in a final photo, according to a local LGBTQ group. Local media reports claim that their relationship was not acceptable to the parents of homosexuals.

The couple shared an emotional post on Instagram about their final moments. Pink Armenia (A local LGTBQ group) said that the couple committed suicide by jumping off the 310 feet high Davtashen bridge in Yerevan, the country’s capital.

The group said, “This tragic incident once again proves that LGBT people in Armenia are not safe and society or country is not able to keep them safe.” Homosexuality was decriminalized in Armenia only in 2003, but many still choose to keep their relationship a secret.

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⛪During an address to hopeful clergy members of the Roman Catholic Church, the unconventionally tolerant Pope Francis remarked that even priests and nuns fall into the trap of watching porn.

"It is a vice that has so many people, so many lay people, and also priests and nuns," Pope Francis told the studying seminarians, according to an English translation of the Vatican's trannoscript of his remarks provided by Catholic News World. "The devil enters from there. And I'm not just talking about illegal pornography such as child abuse: that is already degeneracy. But of somewhat 'normal' pornography. Dear brothers, beware of this."

The Pope's comments came in response to questions on how clergy members should approach social media, mobile phones, and the digital age. "I believe that these things must be used because it is a progress of science. They do a service to be able to progress in life," the Pope added, even though he admitted that he does not use digital devices.

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🔹The rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, was escorted from Skechers’s corporate office in Los Angeles after showing up unannounced and uninvited, according to the footwear company.

Two company executives removed Ye and many individuals after the rapper engaged in “unauthorized filming” at the office, the company said in a statement on Wednesday, local time.

Skechers, the world’s third-largest footwear brand by revenue, said it had no intention of working with Ye and did not tolerate anti-Semitism and other hate speech amid controversy over the rapper’s inflammatory remarks about Jewish people. The incident comes after Adidas ended its partnership with Ye over “unacceptable, hateful and dangerous” statements about Jewish people, despite the rapper claiming the sportswear company could not drop him for making anti-Semitic comments.

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