🚨 JUST IN: North Korea fires ballistic missile toward Sea of Japan, S. Korean military reveals

🤔 President Joe Biden's new National Defense Strategy announced on Thursday was timed to impress the US public before the November 8 midterm congressional elections and is not completely serious, former CIA analyst and station chief Phil Giraldi told Sputnik.

💬 "I think it has to be considered in the context of the upcoming election," Giraldi said on Thursday. "It is mostly propaganda and not completely serious."

▪️ Giraldi described the document as "somewhat unhinged" and said it presumed to present an exegesis on all the presumed threats in the world along with a detailed account of what the Biden Administration was doing to protect Americans from them.

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▪️ North Korea fired two ballistic missiles on Friday toward the Sea of Japan, the South Korean military has confirmed.

▪️ Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk has officially taken over Twitter after the social media company's former leaders departed the firm's headquarters in San Francisco, California.

▪️ The US Department of Defense has published its first National Defense Strategy (NDS) in almost five years, combining them with two other documents typically issued separately: the Nuclear Posture Review and the Missile Defense Review.

▪️ Five people were seriously wounded by a man wielding a knife in a shopping center in the town of Assago near Milan on Thursday night, Italian media reported. Among the injured is Arsenal player Pablo Mari.

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🇺🇸 🇨🇳 As tensions continue to simmer between the US and China, Chinese President Xi Jinping has signaled that Beijing is willing to work with Washington so that the countries may respect each other, coexist peacefully and achieve win-win cooperation. How will Joe Biden respond?

👉 Check it out in our latest op-ed article dedicated to the topic

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🇩🇪 🇫🇷 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron are seeking to try to clinch “a negotiated solution” with Washington over “unfair competition from the US” and the possible need for the EU to strike back, US media reports.

▪️ The two discussed the issue during their recent talks in Paris, where they in particular voiced concern over US state subsidy plans, which “represent market-distorting measures” aimed at making companies shift their production to America.

▪️ Scholz and Macron agreed that the EU should respond if the US goes ahead with the Inflation Reduction Act in its “current form”.

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📌 LIVE UPDATES: Ukraine shells Donetsk 36 times over past day, authorities say

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❗ FSB arrests supporters of Ukrainian radicals preparing terror attack in Stavropol region

❗️ The FSB arrested a group of radicals in the southern region of Stavropol, the service stated on Friday.

💬 "[The FSB] foiled the illegal activities of an organized group (four people) who were planning to commit a terrorist attack in the Stavropol Territory... Being supporters of the ideology of Ukrainian nationalist organizations, the perpetrators planned to commit an attack on one of the administrative facilities in the region," an official statement said.

▪️ Over the past months, Russian authorities registered multiple attempts by Ukrainian agents to stage terror attacks throughout the country.

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📹 The FSB has published a video of the detention of supporters of Ukrainian nationalists who planned to blow up one of the administrative buildings in Stavropol.

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📹 Russia's MoD has published footage dedicated to the 74th anniversary of Army Aviation

🇷🇺 Russia has sent about 10.5 million tonnes of grain, mainly wheat, to Asia and Africa and is ready to deliver 30 million tonnes more before the end of the year, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

💬 "Before the end of the year, we are ready to export about 30 million tonnes of grain, including, first of all, wheat, and bring this figure to 50 million tonnes, taking into account the harvest. About 10.5 million tonnes of grain (77% wheat) have already been shipped to Asia (62%) and Africa (33%)," the ministry said in a statement.

▪️ While Ukrainian goods go along the humanitarian corridor to Europe and developed countries, Russian supplies are sent to those in need in Africa and Asia, the ministry added.

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😱 SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk, who reportedly bought Twitter, intends to abolish the permanent bans of accounts on the social network because he does not believe in lifelong restrictions, American media reported on Friday, citing a source.

🤔 According to the report, citing a source, this means that previously blocked users are likely to be able to return to the platform. At the same time, the reporst added that it is still unclear whether this will apply to the account of former US President Donald Trump.

▪️ Earlier in the day, media reported that Musk finally closed the deal to acquire Twitter and has already taken over management of the company.

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⚡️ Swedish Security Service to conduct additional investigation into Nord Stream sabotage together with armed forces

⚡️RT crew comes under Ukrainian bombardment in Donetsk, no casualties reported

🤔 🇸🇪 The Swedish Security Service said on Friday that it will conduct an additional investigation into the sabotage at the Nord Stream gas pipelines together with the country's armed forces.

🗣 "In early October, the Swedish Security Service carried out a crime scene investigation of the damage to Nord Stream 1 and 2, which strengthened the suspicions of gross sabotage. The prosecutor has now decided on additional investigations of the gas pipeline. The further investigations of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic will be carried out with the support of the Swedish armed forces," the security service said in a statement.

▪️ The incident along the pipeline occurred in late September, when a series of powerful explosions rocked the Baltic Sea. The operator reported massive leaks of fuel and said that the damage to the network was unprecedented.

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❗️Russia’s MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️Russian Forces eliminated more than 150 Ukrainian troops, as well as destroyed Ukrainian tanks, five infantry combat vehicles, four Ukrainian armored carriers and nine pick-up trucks in the Kharkov region;

▪️Russian Forces eliminated more than 50 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as destroyed two Ukrainian tanks, three Ukrainian armored combat vehicles and two other vehicles in the LPR;

▪️Russian Forces eliminated more than 30 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as destroyed Ukrainian tank, two armored combat vehicles and a pick-up truck in the DPR;

▪️Russian Forces eliminated more than 180 Ukrainian servicemen, as well as destroyed eight Ukrainian armored combat vehicles and six other vehicles near Krivoy Rog;

▪️Russian Forces hit six Ukrainian command posts and 74 Ukrainian artillery units at their firing positions;

▪️Russian Forces destroyed five Ukrainian ammunition depots in the DPR, Kherson region and in Nikolayev;

▪️Russian Forces air defense means shot down a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter, as well as intercepted three Ukrainian UAVs in the Kherson region;

▪️In addition, Russian air defense means destroyed six HIMARS and Uragan rockets in the Kherson region and in the DPR.

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