🇯🇵 Japan's first lunar module, the Smart Lander for Investigating the Moon (SLIM), has successfully entered the lunar transfer orbit and is heading toward the Moon, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced on Monday.

"The SLIM transitioned into the Lunar transfer orbit to head towards the Moon after successfully changing orbit at 2:40 am on October 1, 2023 (JST) [17:40 GMT, Saturday]," the space agency stated.

The lunar module is expected to orbit the Moon for 3-4 months after the launch and to land on its surface 4-6 months later. SLIM carries two vehicles: LEV1, which is expected to take pictures of the Moon's surface, and LEV2, which is an extremely small lunar rover that is expected to scan the lunar orbit. SLIM itself will be engaged in astronomical observations.

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Which countries have sent tanks to Ukraine?

Over the course of the conflict, the United States and its NATO allies eagerly supplied the regime in Kiev with a variety of weapons and military equipment, ranging from small arms and body armor to multiple launch rocket systems and main battle tanks.

So which countries rushed to provide Kiev with these lumbering armored behemoths and what exactly did they send?

Check out Sputnik's article to find out

📹 Russia’s crews of Su-25SM attack aircraft and Ka-52 attack and reconnaissance helicopters continue to launch strikes at Ukrainian positions in the zone of the special military op

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🇫🇷 Macron: France experiences security issues across all country

💬 "In recent years, we have significantly reduced the number of police officers, and today we have security problems everywhere because there is not enough presence [of gendarmes]," Emmanuel Macron said in an interview to French media.

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🇺🇸 Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar carjacked in Washington DC

Cuellar’s office confirmed the Texan Representative was not injured in the incident, US media reports. The attack comes as the city has suffered a worrying spike in carjackings.

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🪖 Russian sappers clear cluster munitions with the aid of special robots

Ukrainian forces continue to shell populated areas with deadly cluster munitions near the line of contact in the LPR, with small bombs landing in places such as sports grounds and children’s playgrounds.

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🇺🇸 Ukraine has lost $24 billion because the US has refused to include aid to Kiev in its short-term spending bill, an analysis of the country's budget data shows.

The country needs about 1.33 trillion hryvnia, (approximately $36 billion), to get it through 2023, which means that the US shortfall has left it out of pocket for two-thirds of the year, i.e. for eight months and three days.

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🇵🇱 Poland warns Ukraine failure to respect its interests to affect ‘every decision’

While the countries will continue to cooperate if their interests coincide, on controversial issues, Poland will “rigidly defend its interests,” presidential adviser Marcin Przydacz told local media.

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🇷🇺💥 Russian D-30 howitzer crews eliminate (0:29) Ukrainian forces in Krasny Liman direction

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🇩🇪🍻 Oktoberfest is coming to an end, but politically charged economic gloom remains

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🇭🇺🇪🇺 EU incites Ukrainian conflict and stigmatizes peace talks, Hungarian FM Szijjarto says

💬 "I can say that the world outside Europe is already really looking forward to the end of this war, because they do not understand many things. They do not understand, for example, how it can be that when a war is not in Europe, the European Union, looking down with fantastic moral superiority, calls on the parties to peace, advocates negotiations and an immediate end to violence. However, when there is a war in Europe, the European Union incites the conflict and supplies weapons, and anyone who talks about peace is immediately stigmatized," Peter Szijjarto said.

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❗️Russian troops have considerably weakened Ukrainian forces’ combat potential and inflicted serious damage, Sergey Shoigu says

Attempts by Ukrainian forces to break through Russian defenses in the Rabotino and Verbovoye areas have failed, and all attacks in the Soledar-Bakhmut direction have also been repelled, the minister added.

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❗️Armenian parliament ratifies Rome Statute, bringing country under jurisdiction of International Criminal Court

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☦️ Russian Orthodox Church supports all mediation efforts in Ukraine conflict, says archpriest

💬 “We treat initiatives coming from the Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem, the primate of the most ancient Church, which is the mother of all Christian Churches, with the greatest respect,” Archpriest Nikolai Balashov said in a statement.

The Moscow Patriarchate also supports the Jerusalem church's intention to arrange a church-focused discussion about "the problems of the global Orthodox family", the archpriest added.

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