❗️ Biden, in a telephone conversation, assured Zelensky of the firm intention of the US Congress to continue assistance to Ukraine - White House

❗️ Up to a thousand people were hiding in a church in Gaza at the time of the strike, with dozens of people hiding under the ruins, the media reported, citing sources

🇷🇺🇰🇵 Sergey Lavrov and Choi Son-Hui, foreign ministers of Russia and North Korea, respectively, reached a consensus on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and other international and regional problems at a meeting in Pyongyang, North Korean state radio Voice of Korea reports.

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❗️ Vladimir Putin visited the headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces in the city of Rostov-on-Don and held talks with the top leadership of the Ministry of Defense, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Putin also engaged in a report from the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces regarding the progress of the special operation.

The Jerusalem Patriarchate published a photo of a church in Gaza after the strike and accused Israel of a war crime

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Pepe Escobar: Russia, China map out new economic order in Beijing

Pepe Escobar discusses the Belt and Road Initiative, also known as One Belt, One Road, and the geopolitical developments surrounding it.

He contrasts the geopolitics of the past in southwest Asia with the geopolitics of the future, which are unfolding in East Asia's Beijing and the 3rd Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, which serves as a roadmap for economic and infrastructure integration across Eurasia.

Check out his full analysis

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🎙 Check out #AfroVerdict's new episode diving into the topics touched on by Russia's President Putin at the Belt & Road Forum in China that took place on 17-18 October

❗️ Addressing the nation amid Israeli-Palestinian conflict Joe Biden said the world is at a turning point and decisions made now will shape future decades

❗️Biden announces he will be sending an emergency budget request to Congress to provide funds to Israel and Ukraine

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❗️ Biden: “I caution the government of Israel not to be blinded by rage”

❗️ Biden called additional aid to Ukraine a "smart investment" that will pay dividends for future generations

❗️ Biden said he's asking Congress to ensure that it can continue supplying weapons to Ukraine

He also assured Americans that he still had no plans to send the US military to Ukraine

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❗️ Key points from Joe Biden's address to the American people on supporting Ukraine and Israel:

▪️ Biden pledged Friday to send an emergency budget request to Congress for funding for Israel and Ukraine;

▪️ Aid to Ukraine is a "smart investment," will pay dividends for future generations;

▪️ There are still no plans to send the US military to fight in Ukraine. The US does not want the U.S. military to fight the Russian army;

▪️ Israeli authorities should not be blinded by rage;

▪️ The US and partners are working towards a better future for the Middle East, which will benefit Washington itself;

▪️ US aid will show that Israel is stronger than ever and will not allow the conflict to spread;

▪️ The challenge of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict cannot be abandoned.

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🇷🇺Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on Biden's words calling aid to Ukraine a "smart investment":

"They used to call it a 'fight for freedom and democracy.' Now it turns out it's just a calculation. That's how it has always been, it's just that the world has been deceived, covering itself with values that don't exist for Washington," she wrote in her Telegram channel.

According to Zakharova, wars have traditionally been a "smart investment" for the US, as they were not fought on American territory, and they did not care about other people's costs.

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The White House acknowledged that it had to remove an Instagram post showing President Joe Biden shaking hands with US special operations forces during his visit to Israel. The post initially referred to them as "first responders," but it was later revealed that they were members of the elite "Delta Force." The White House promptly deleted the post, expressing regret for the mistake.

During a press briefing on Thursday, the Pentagon's press secretary, Pat Ryder, redirected inquiries about the photo error to the White House and declined to confirm the presence of US special operations forces in Israel at the time.

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🇺🇳 The Israeli bombing of schools and hospitals in the Gaza Strip, as well as the blockade of the enclave are crimes against humanity, and there is a risk of genocide of the Palestinian people, UN special experts said in a report.

Given the statements of the Israeli political leaders and their allies, as well as the military actions in the Gaza Strip and the escalation of arrests and killings in the West Bank, there is a risk of genocide against the Palestinian people, according to the report, published by the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR).

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🇺🇸 An attempt to find a way around an impasse in the US House of Representatives has failed after being rejected by Republicans who feared its unconstitutionality.

On Wednesday, the GOP’s second choice for speaker of the House, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), lost his second attempt to get elected to the position. With the clock steadily counting down until the next government shutdown, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) attempted to float a novel temporary solution: create a “caretaker speaker” with the power to bring new legislation, allowing lawmakers to pass the essential budget bills that were postponed in September.

After discussing the idea behind closed doors for nearly four hours on Thursday, the GOP seemed to have rejected the suggestion.

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Hamas’ labyrinth, IDF’s ‘nightmare’: what is known about vast tunnel network beneath Gaza

Israel has delayed its widely expected ground invasion of Gaza, with the dangers of urban warfare combined with Hamas’s tunnel networks threatening to suck Israeli forces into a quagmire and put a major dent in the Israel Defense Force’s reputation. Just how extensive are the tunnels below Gaza?

Find out here

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🇮🇷 Top Iranian diplomats and military officials are concerned about the risks of the Palestinian-Israeli crisis widening into a regional war, and have slammed US efforts to expand the conflict’s geography.

“The circumstances in the region resemble a powder keg with the possibility of being exploded or getting out of control. We hope to see an end to war crimes against the people of Gaza as soon as possible,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters Thursday in Jeddah, where he attended an emergency meeting of the executive committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

“In the bilateral meetings, there was serious criticism of US President Biden; first of all, because a hospital in Gaza has been targeted by Zionist bombs and more than a thousand civilians, patients and medical staff have been martyred but Biden visits the region in support of the warmonger,” Amir-Abdollahian said, referring to deadly al-Ahli Arab Hospital bombing in Gaza City.

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📹 Vladimir Putin has arrived at the headquarters of the Russian Armed Forces in the city of Rostov-on-Don to hear the latest information on the progress of the special militarry op.

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📹 A new Avangard hypersonic missile system was deployed in Russia's Orenburg Region as part of the rearmament of a compound of the Russian Strategic Missile Forces, the Russian MoD says

The ministry added that the infrastructure of the deployment area had been prepared for the next missile regiment to be put on combat duty. These are facilities for the training of military personnel, combat duty and recreation of servicepeople.

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