🇮🇳 🚀 India plans to launch its first human-crewed mission to space, Gaganyaan, by the end of 2024.

🇷🇺 How is Russia Helping India With Gaganyaan?

▪️ Russian company Zvezda is developing the astronauts' spacesuit for Gaganyaan.

▪️ Russia will also build life support systems in the crew capsule and support India’s critical $1.4 billion maiden human space flight program in other areas.

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🇬🇧 The United Kingdom has signed contracts worth 4 billion pounds ($4.8 billion) with leading British manufacturers to develop powerful attack submarines as part of the AUKUS program with Australia and the United States, UK Secretary of State for Defense Grant Shapps said on Sunday.

🗣 "I can announce that we have signed contracts worth 4 billion pounds with leading British businesses to drive forward the development of the most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy," Shapps said at the 2023 Conservative Party Conference.

The UK defense chief added that the new "hunter-killer" submarines would allow the country to maintain its strategic advantage under the sea and help fund thousands of jobs in the country.

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🇺🇸 US President Joe Biden called on Republicans not to waste time and adhere to a budget deal reached between congressional Republican leadership and the White House to fund the government this Sunday.

"It's time to end governing by crisis and keep your word when you give it in the Congress," the POTUS said.

"A few months ago after a long negotiation between myself and the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives [Kevin McCarthy], we came to a budget agreement precisely to avoid a manufactured crisis that we've just witnessed," he added.

"I expect the Republican Speaker and Republicans in the Congress to honor their word and keep the deal made months ago," Biden said in his remarks on the adoption of a 45-day funding bill to avoid a federal government shutdown.

The US president also said that he was "tired of the brinkmanship" after the stopgap government funding bill was signed late Saturday night.

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🍷 During excavations in central Egypt, archaeologists found hundreds of jars containing some well-preserved wine remains, reported the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Egypt.

"A collaborate archaeological mission, conducted jointly by Egypt, Germany, and Austria, found hundreds of sealed, fully intact jars. The discovery was made while scientists were exploring the tomb of Queen Merneith of the First Dynasty (approx. 2950 BC) at the Umm El Qa'ab site. The jars had traces of leftover wine," the Ministry’s statement reads.

Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, noted that the jugs are large and well-preserved. He also emphasized that the age of the wine was estimated to be around 5,000 years old.

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🇹🇷🇮🇶 Turkiye has conducted air strikes against objects of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), banned in Turkiye, in northern Iraq after an attempted terrorist attack in Ankara, with 20 objects destroyed, the Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

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Ukraine’s Possible New Counteroffensive: ‘Camouflage' for Zelensky to 'Steal More Money From West’

The Zelensky regime had elaborated a plan for a major offensive in the Kherson and Zaporozhye region in early October, securing the approval of Ukraine's sponsors in Washington and London, an informed source told Sputnik earlier this week.

Kiev’s alleged push for another counteroffensive, this time in the autumn, can be perceived as the West’s red herring, Scott Bennett, a former US Army psychological warfare officer and State Department counter-terrorism analyst, told Sputnik.

Check out his full analysis

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The US Congress narrowly avoided a government shutdown by passing a temporary bill to extend government funding for another month and a half just hours before the October 1 deadline. Notably, this bill lacked provisions for additional assistance to Ukraine, which the Biden administration had been committed to providing.

Russian political analyst and former presidential advisor Sergey Stankevich emphasized that this temporary bill shouldn't be seen as a sign of Washington withdrawing its support for the Kiev regime abruptly. The absence of key elements in the bill, such as aid to Ukraine, an important issue for Democrats, and additional funding for US border security, an important issue for Republicans, reflects a temporary stalemate.

Stankevich predicted that intense negotiations would occur in the coming month, and when the budget is ultimately passed in October, it is likely to include provisions for both aid to Ukraine and improved US border security.

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🇺🇳 Members of the UN mission on Sunday drove across the Aghdam road toward Nagorno-Karabakh's capital, Stepanakert, also known as Khankendi, for the first time in 30 years, the state-run Azerbaijani news agency reported.

The mission, which includes representatives of various UN agencies, plans to get acquainted with the situation in the region and assess humanitarian needs of local residents, the news agency reported.

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🇸🇰 In the recent parliamentary elections, Slovakia's opposition Social Democrat party (Smer), led by former Prime Minister Robert Fico, secured victory with 22.94% of the votes. Fico, who has been critical of Bratislava's military aid to Ukraine, had pledged to halt arms shipments to Ukraine if his party joined the new government.

Smer's success in Slovakia can be attributed to growing Euroscepticism in Europe, dissatisfaction with EU economic policies, and criticism of the EU's support for Ukraine. According to Russian political analyst Peter Kolchin, these factors have led to declining ratings for liberal and pro-EU parties. Smer, as a Eurosceptic party with social-democratic principles, resonates with certain social demands of the population. Additionally, Fico shares the view of many European politicians who see the Ukrainian regime as a potential threat to Europe's security due to its aggressive domestic policies and NATO sponsorship, which Slovakia finds concerning.

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🇸🇾🇷🇺 The relations between Syria and Russia are excellent and the two countries cooperate on many advanced levels, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Bassam Sabbagh told Sputnik.

"The relations [between Russia and Syria] are excellent and the level of cooperation is so high on different levels, and on different aspects," Sabbagh said.

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🇳🇱 The Netherlands stopped gas production at Europe's largest gas field located in the Dutch province of Groningen on October 1, 60 years after the start of development of the field, the Netherlands Broadcasting Corporation (NOS) reported.

The decision to stop gas production was made due to the risk of earthquakes. However, the media reported in June that gas wells may be opened next year in case of a very cold winter.

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A recent study has added to the ongoing debate about what caused the extinction of dinosaurs. Geologists Brenhin Keller and Alexander Cox from Dartmouth College propose that gas, specifically emissions from volcanoes, played a key role in the mass extinction event that took place 66 million years ago.

To minimize human bias, they used computer modeling and examined sediment cores from beneath the ocean to analyze ocean acidity, carbon, and sulfur dioxide levels.

Their simulations, aided by multiple computer processors, found that volcanic emissions were a sufficient explanation for the environmental changes leading to the dinosaurs' demise, while a near-simultaneous asteroid strike in the Gulf of Mexico had minimal impact. This research challenges previous theories that emphasized the asteroid impact as the primary cause of the extinction event.

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🇹🇷🇸🇾 Turkiye has to withdraw its military forces from the Syrian Arab Republic or else it will decimate any efforts towards any kind of relations, Syrian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Bassam Sabbagh told Sputnik.

"Turkiye has to withdraw its military forces. Any other aspects, yes, of course, we will be open to discuss with them, but not to do so and to insist on staying - that's illegal occupation and then this will block all the efforts toward any kind of contacts and relations with Turkiye," Sabbagh said.

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🇪🇺 EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday that the European Union had allocated 85 billion euros ($89.8 billion) in support to Ukraine, of which over 25 billion euros had been provided in the form of military assistance.

"Our military support to Ukraine has reached the figure of 25 billion euros. And altogether - military, civilian, humanitarian [aid] - have reached the figure of 85 billion euros, which is… the highest amount in the world," Borrell said at a press conference in Kiev.

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Survival by any means necessary

📹 Survival training for Russian aircrews involved in the special military operation

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😁 Elon Musk ridiculed Zelensky on his X account, ironically alluding to the Ukrainian president's constant calls for financial aid to Ukraine

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