❗️ Russian air defense intercepted 2 Ukrainian UAVs over the territory of the Kursk region, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported

Black swan? Gaza war threatens to upend Biden's European & Asia-Pacific strategy

Washington does not believe that a ceasefire is the "right answer" to the Palestinian-Israeli crisis "right now," as National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby was quoted as saying on Tuesday. Kirby insisted on the necessity to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians and said that Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu was trying to "minimize" civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the number of killed in the region by Israeli strikes has already mounted over 8,500 people.

What does the US want to gain in the Middle East and is it ready for a multi-faceted conflict?

Find out here

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🇺🇸 FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday said that the bureau no longer pays money to moderate content on X (formerly known as Twitter).

"I'm not aware of us paying money to moderate content there [X, formerly known as Twitter] or anywhere else," Wray stated during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing, when asked about the FBI's financial involvement in social media content moderation.

Information released as part of the so-called Twitter Files, shared by reporters in coordination with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, revealed the FBI’s considerable influence over the company and alleged an organized effort by the US intelligence community to exert control over certain information, including the Hunter Biden laptop story.

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Analyst: US ‘shooting ourselves in the foot’ by provoking, escalating crises around globe

The emergence of the latest crisis in the Middle East, which has started in Israel but threatens to draw in several other regional powers, is just the latest in which the US has forcefully asserted its interest in propping up a useful ally against its enemies there. However, it has come as the US is already deeply embroiled in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, and has also committed significant resources and effort into a confrontation with China that has not yet exploded into open conflict.

Retired senior security policy analyst Michael Maloof told Sputnik that the US was “shooting ourselves in the foot” by getting itself so deeply embroiled in crises of its own making around the globe, including in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Asia-Pacific regions.

Check out the full interview

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❗️ The Khimprom organized crime group, which has created a drug distribution network in Ukraine and Russia, with the help of “voluntary military formations” supplies drugs to units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a source in the Russian special services told Sputnik

🇺🇸 Biden will veto the bill on aid to Israel if the House of Representatives passes it, he believes that Republicans will politicize the issue, the White House said.

The White House opposes splitting the request for aid to Israel and Ukraine in the House of Representatives and believes it will have global consequences, the statement said.

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The UK-based Just Stop Oil climate group had 31 of its activists charged by the police after organizing a protest against oil and gas production in front of the country's parliament, Metropolitan Police said on Tuesday.

On Monday, the police arrested more than 60 Just Stop Oil activists taking part in a slow march outside the UK Parliament.

"This afternoon 31 people have been charged; 14 have been remanded in custody while a further 17 have been bailed to court," the Met said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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IDF must 'moderate expectations' of Gaza op, prepare for long urban warfare

As Israeli ground forces severed all communications into and out of the Gaza Strip and launched a massive assault late last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared a “third stage” of the war with Hamas.

Earl Rasmussen, an international consultant and retired US Army lieutenant colonel with over 20 years of military service, told Sputnik on Tuesday that while the IDF could learn a great deal from the experience of recent urban warfare battles (in the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Mosul and the DPR city of Mariupol) the Gaza Strip presents a number of unique challenges as well, including the high level of support militant groups like Hamas enjoy among the population.

Check out he full interview

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🇺🇸 New US House Speaker Mike Johnson intends to hire former Trump administration White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah to help lead the lawmaker’s communications efforts, Politico reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Johnson tapped Shah to serve as his deputy chief of staff for communications, the report said on Tuesday.

Shah served as deputy press secretary and deputy assistant for former US President Donald Trump. After leaving the White House, Shah worked as an executive at the Fox Corporation.

Shah is expected to help develop Johnson’s communication operations, as well as lead messaging for House Republicans, the report said.

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The French police have deployed 10,000 officers to guard Jewish sites after multiple instances of anti-Jewish vandalism, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Tuesday.

"In line with President Emmanuel Macron's order, 10,000 police officers are deployed to guard 950 sites where the Jewish community is present, including schools, synagogues and cultural centers," Darmanin told the French parliament.

The French Interior Ministry has registered 857 antisemitic incidents since the start of Palestinian-Israeli conflict escalation on October 7, which, Darmanin said, is more than in the entire year of 2022.

In Paris and its suburbs of Saint-Ouen and Aubervilliers, the blue Stars of David were spray-painted on the walls of several residential and office buildings with Jewish residents, French media reported on Tuesday.

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The United States and Israel are looking into various options for dealing with a possible post-Hamas Gaza, which may include placing the enclave under temporary United Nations oversight or deploying a multinational force to maintain security, Bloomberg News reported citing sources.

The report said on Tuesday that a multinational presence in Gaza could include armed forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

However, according to the report, President Joe Biden believes deploying a small group of US troops to Gaza could be politically risky.

The United States is far from making a decision on whether it would back sending US troops to Gaza to help maintain security in a post-Hamas environment, the report said.

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US Senator John Barrasso said on Tuesday that Border Patrol agents recently caught migrants coming through the US-Mexico border with explosive devices the size of cannon balls.

"We have just returned from our southern border and it is painfully clear that with Joe Biden's open border policy, our country is really at an increased threat for a terrorist attack," Barrasso said during a press conference. "A couple days before we got there alert border agents were able to seize immigrants carrying with them IEDs, explosive devices really tailor made for terrorism. They were the size of cannon balls."

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not immediately respond to Sputnik's inquiry on this matter.

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Egypt has placed dozens of tanks and armored vehicles near the Rafah checkpoint on the border with the Gaza Strip, an Israeli newspaper writes when publishing this photo.

The publication claims that Egypt did this because it “fears an influx of tens of thousands of refugees” due to the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The Palestinian telecommunications company, meanwhile, announced a communications blackout in the Gaza Strip, and an Arab TV channel reported that the Israeli army was attacking the administrative center of Gaza from 5 directions.

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❗️ The governor of Sevastopol announced an air raid alert.

Earlier it was reported that vehicle traffic on the Crimean Bridge was temporarily blocked.

📉 Support for US President Joe Biden among Arab Americans has declined by 42% since 2020, with the group’s support dropping further in recent weeks amid the Biden administration’s response to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, according to an Arab American Institute (AAI) poll released Tuesday.

Arab-American support for Biden fell from 59% in 2020 to 17% now, the poll report said. Less than one-quarter of Arab Americans, 23%, identify as Democrats, down 17% since April, the report stated.

The poll marks the first time in AAI’s 26 years of polling Arab American voters that a majority of the group did not claim to prefer the Democratic Party, the report added.

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🗣 Elon Musk tells Joe Rogan that George Soros "fundamentally hates humanity" and advances agendas that "erode the fabric of civilization"

Musk also points out that Soros' key skill is spotting arbitrage opportunities. He saw that it was a better return on investment to spend vast amounts on races for local office because if you can change how the laws are enforced, there's no need to change the laws.

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📹 Russia's Su-34 aircraft wipe out (0:32) enemy positions in the special military op zone

Russian fighter-bombers perform air patrol and provide cover for the Russian Armed Forces at any time of the day and in any weather.

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A series of precise hits

📹 Russian artillerymen wipe out enemy positions with precise hits (0:07) (0:14) (0:20) (0:27) (0:32) in the zone of the special military operation

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🇸🇦🇮🇱 Saudi Arabia, under pressure from the Arab public, may call for some kind of resolution for Palestinians in its normalization negotiations with Israel, former Palestinian peace advisor Hiba Husseini told Sputnik

US efforts to broker a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel came as surprise and did not receive public legitimacy, Husseini said.

Saudi Arabia and Israel were on the verge of normalizing relations, according to President Joe Biden. Under the Trump administration, Israel normalized relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan as part of the Abraham Accords.

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