❗️ The death toll in the earthquake in Morocco has increased to 2,012, a total of 2,059 others were injured, Moroccan newspaper reported citing Interior Ministry data

President Joe Biden is set to arrive in Hanoi on Sunday, with Vietnam and the US reportedly planning to sign a “comprehensive strategic partnership agreement” of a kind similar to one the Asian nation already has with China and Russia. What can be expected from Biden’s trip? Sputnik reached out to a veteran expert in regional affairs for details.

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🇷🇺 Russia is implementing all of its plans and advancing despite multiple challenges, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday, adding that no development programs had been scaled down.

"[Moscow] does not budge one step from the implementation of its large-scale development programs. I would like to stress this. Just like the rest of our country. We do have many challenges that we are overcoming, but we are moving forward, developing, implementing all our plans, nothing has been cut," Putin said in his congratulatory remarks as the Russian capital celebrated its 876th anniversary.

The president added that Russia "is firmly defending and asserting its sovereignty today" and Muscovites, as well as people from other Russian regions, are fighting valiantly and heroically in Ukraine.

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❗️ The military in Niger accused France of deploying forces in ECOWAS countries for military intervention, media reports

🇦🇲🇦🇿 Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in a telephone call with French President Emmanuel Macron has expressed his readiness to hold emergency talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to de-escalate the tense situation on the border between the two countries, Pashinyan's office said on Saturday.

There are periodic exchanges of fire on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Earlier in September, Baku accused Yerevan of using combat drones against Azerbaijani positions in the Kalbajar District, which injured two Azerbaijani soldiers. Yerevan, for its part, accused Baku of shelling Armenia's border positions, saying that three Armenian soldiers were killed and two others injured.

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❗️ Based on testing experiences in the special operation zone, the Armata tanks electronics will be modified, after which they are planned to be put into production and begin to be delivered to the troops next year, Viktor Murakhovsky, one of the leading Russian military experts, told Sputnik

🇵🇭🇷🇺 The Philippines is interested in supplying oil products from Russia and will discuss it at the trade and economic commission in October, the country's ambassador told Sputnik at the Eastern Economic Forum

❗️ Russian aviation and artillery struck assault groups of the Ukrainian nationalist Azov* brigade, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian troops repelled three attempted attacks by the 63rd mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the ministry added.

*terrorist organization banned in Russia

🇷🇺 The 8th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) begins in Vladivostok, Russia, on Sunday.

The EEF serves as a global platform for business leaders, politicians, and public figures to discuss the development of Russia's Far East and its integration into the Asia-Pacific region. This year's motto, "The Path to Partnership, Peace and Prosperity," reflects the host country's desire to build constructive relations and engage in inclusive dialogue with foreign partners in the region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will address the forum's plenary session on Tuesday, joined by Vice President of Laos Pany Yathotou, the event's main guest. Additionally, Putin will hold bilateral talks with the Laotian vice president and meet with Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing.

Over 7,000 participants from 50+ countries, notably China, Myanmar, India, Mongolia, and Laos, will be in attendance at the Far Eastern Federal University campus from September 10-13.

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❗️ Russian air defense destroyed eight Ukrainian UAVs over the Black Sea near Crimea - Russian Defense Ministry

❗️ Russian aircraft destroyed 3 US-made Willard Sea Force boats with landing groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Zmeiny (Snake) Island in the Black Sea, which were heading towards Crimea, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported

🇺🇸 Judge Steve Jones has denied former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows' request to transfer his Georgia election subversion case to US federal court. Jones cited a lack of jurisdiction and ordered the closure of the case, stating that Meadows' motion did not meet the criteria for removal to federal court because the actions in question were not related to his White House duties.

This ruling may set a precedent for similar cases where defendants seek to move their cases to federal court.

Meadows is one of 18 co-defendants facing charges related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 US presidential election in Georgia, with his lawyer arguing that his actions were within his legal duties as chief of staff and protected by the supremacy clause of the US Constitution.

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People in Morocco are too afraid to return to their homes, staying on the streets for fear of aftershocks of the earthquake that damaged thousands of houses, eyewitnesses of the deadly tragedy have shared with Sputnik.

Some neighborhoods were completely destroyed, leaving hundreds of people dead, and thousands displaced from their homes by the damage, and entire families killed under the rubble.

“Houses that were not demolished by the earthquake were so damaged that people could not stay in them due to the extent of the damage they suffered. And hundreds of people died under their houses, which collapsed on them in a matter of seconds before they could run out into the street,” Marrakesh resident Fatima Zahra al-Rashid told Sputnik.

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Day zero of the Eastern Economic Forum is underway in Vladivostok. Visitors can immerse themselves in augmented reality at the stand of the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Sputnik is the EEF's general information partner.

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Modi welcomes G-20 leaders with India's traditional item

🇷🇺 🇮🇳 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi presents Sergey Lavrov with a beige scarf crafted from hadi fabric, a design by Mahatma Gandhi, adorned with symbols representing India's #G20 presidency.

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The power of the devastating earthquake that hit Morocco was equivalent to that of 25 nuclear bombs in terms of the amount of material contained in such bombs, Dr. Iyd al-Tarazi, a professor at the Department of Seismology and Natural Hazards at the Hashemite University in Jordan, told Sputnik Arabic.

“An earthquake with a magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale is very strong and can cause ground acceleration at the epicenter of the earthquake ranging from 200 to 300 centimeters per second, which can destroy objects, especially those not specifically designed to be resistant to earthquakes, when the foundations are not adequately prepared from the geological and topographical points of view," he said.

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Leaders and representatives of the world’s 20 largest economies met in New Delhi Saturday, reaching a compromise on a joint declaration on global priorities by leaving out Western-proposed criticism of Russia over its military operation in Ukraine. Sputnik spoke to experts to get a sense of what the declaration's "consensus language" really means.

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🇺🇸 The United States is blatantly lying about the botched Ukrainian counteroffensive, former CIA analyst Larry Johnson said in an interview with Judge Andrew Napolitano on his Judging Freedom podcast.

“Tony, look at a map,” and just look at the progress that “has not been made by Ukraine,” said the retired CIA intelligence officer and State Department official, as he commented on recent remarks made by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kiev.

During his unannounced visit to the Ukrainian capital, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, standing alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, touted that the Ukrainian military had made “real progress” in its counteroffensive in the “last few weeks.” The Ukrainian president’s assessment of the battlefront developments “matches our own,” continued Blinken, who went over to Kiev to pledge a new aid package for Ukraine worth over $1 billion.

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❗️Lavrov: The G20 summit is successful, the group now is undergoing internal reform.

▪️The G20 summit's results will give a positive impetus to the IMF and the WTO reform, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said during a press conference on the sidelines of the summit. ▪️A consolidated position of the Global South has prevented the West from making Ukraine a key topic at the G20 summit, Lavrov stressed.

▪️Moscow appreciates UN chief Guterres’s efforts concerning the Black Sea Grain Deal, but they will be destined to fail if the West keeps making promises without taking any real steps toward implementing Russia’s terms, Lavrov said.