❗️ Hamas made changes to proposals for prisoner exchange with Israel, including the details on ceasefire and withdrawal of the IDF, the political office of Hamas told Sputnik.

Israel has not yet determined its stance on the Hamas response regarding prisoner exchange deal, the office added.

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The US Senate on Tuesday confirmed Kurt Campbell as Deputy Secretary of State, whom US President Joe Biden nominated to the role in November.

Senators confirmed Campbell as Deputy Secretary of State in a vote of 92-5.

Campbell also served in the Biden administration as Deputy Assistant to the President and Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs on the National Security Council.

Campbell will take over the role from Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland, who took over in an acting capacity after Wendy Sherman retired from the position in July.

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❗️ The Biden administration denies that it tried to stop US journalist Tucker Carlson from interviewing Russian President Vladimir Putin, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.

“Absolutely not a comment, to be more clear. Period,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. “It's a ridiculous premise and a ridiculous statement that was made about this administration.”

Carlson said earlier in the day that the Biden administration twice sought to stop him from interviewing Putin.

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What would ECOWAS lose by the withdrawal of Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger?

The withdrawal of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) members from ECOWAS was recently described by Burkinabe Prime Minister Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela as a "historic decision" that responds to the expectations and aspirations of the peoples of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to achieve full sovereignty.

While ECOWAS is expected to lose at least $74 million annually as a result of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger's withdrawal from the bloc, according to Burkinabe officials, the bloc is also expected to lose in terms of its geographic scope, population, and reduction of its collective GDP.

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❗️ Kiev authorities coordinate strike targets via HIMARS systems with the US: it is obvious who is complicit in the strike on Lisichansk, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said at a UN Security Council meeting.

"If someone accepts the claim that Western countries have nothing to do with it, as Kiev chooses targets for strikes on its own, he should be reminded of the confession from Skibitsky, a representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine. In August 2022, he let slip that in order to use the HIMARS systems, Kiev needs to agree on a target with Washington beforehand," Nebenzia said.

"Thus, it is obvious who is complicit in the crime committed in Lisichansk, and not only it, but dozens, if not hundreds of others involving Western weapons," he stressed.

The Ukrainian troops have become so furious that they carry out terrorist attacks almost every week, UN Vassily Nebenzia said at a UN Security Council meeting.

"Ukrainian militants have become so brutal and brazen that they commit terrorist acts almost every week, shelling civilian infrastructure and killing civilians in the Russian territory," Nebenzia said.

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❗️ Russia does not doubt that the timing of the deadly Ukrainian attack on a bakery in Lisichansk was deliberately chosen in advance, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said on Wednesday.

“We have no doubt that the target and the timing of the attack [on Lisichansk] were not chosen by chance,” Nebenzia told the Security Council members.
The Ukrainian armed forces deliberately waited until people and families were out for a walk on their day off, Nebenzia added.

Ukraine struck the crowded bakery on Saturday, collapsing the building and trapping some 40 civilians under the rubble, the LPR military commander's office told Sputnik. At least 28 people, including a pregnant woman and one child, were killed and 10 others were injured.

The diplomat also stressed that Russia is prepared to share the results of its investigation into the downing of an Il-76 plane that was transporting Ukrainian prisoners of war.

"We are prepared to share the outcome of our national investigation with any interested international organizations,” Nebenzia highlighted.

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❗️ Syria's air defense forces are repelling an Israeli missile attack on Homs province, Syrian state broadcaster Al Akhbar reported on Wednesday.

The country's air defenses are shooting down some of the missiles fired, the report added.

Later in the day, the Syrian Defense Ministry Several civilians were killed and some injured in an Israeli missile attack on Homs province.

"Today at approximately 00:30 [21:30 GMT on Tuesday], the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from a direction north of Tripoli [in Lebanon], striking a number of positions in the city of Homs and [Homs] province. Our air defenses responded to the enemy's missiles and shot down some of them. As a result of the aggression, several civilians were killed and wounded, and public and private property was damaged," the Syrian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

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Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who prevented Kiev from signing a treaty with Russia, is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Ukrainians, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said at a UN Security Council meeting.

"I would like to tell my British colleague that it was your former Prime Minister Boris Johnson in April 2022 who rushed to Kiev at a time when the treaty between Russia and Ukraine was almost ready. All that was left was to finalize it. He rushed to Kiev and commanded his Kiev puppets to continue the war against Russia," Nebenzia emphasized.

"Thus, your former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is an accomplice to the crimes of the Kiev regime and responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of young Ukrainians on the battlefield, whose lives could have been saved if the treaty had been signed and if your British and American colleagues had not forbidden it from happening," he stressed.

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The Office of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was the one that extended an invitation to Ukrainian Nazi veteran Yaroslav Hunka to appear before the country’s House of Commons (HoC) in September, the Russian Embassy in Ottawa said on Tuesday.

"Now it’s official – it was PM JustinTrudeau who invited SS criminal to the Parliament last year," the embassy said in a statement shared via X.

The Embassy reacted to the reports of the Globe and Mail and a letter now circulating which says that Trudeau invited Hunka for a private reception.

“Dear Yaroslav Hunka, The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, is pleased to invite you to a special event. The event will take place on Friday, September 22, 2023, at 8.30 p.m. in Toronto, Ontario,” the letter dated September 19, said.

Former Speaker of the HoC Anthony Rota had to resign and assume responsibility for supposedly not having made the necessary background screening which had led Canada into a rather embarrassing scandal.

❗️ The US House of Representatives rejected a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for allegedly failing to secure the United States’ borders by refusing to enforce federal immigration laws.

House lawmakers rejected a resolution on Tuesday to bring articles of impeachment against Mayorkas for willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law, in a vote of 214 in favor and 216 opposed.

"As the Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas has one core obligation: To protect our homeland. Unfortunately, throughout his tenure, Secretary Mayorkas has failed miserably at his job of keeping our country safe and our border secure," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in a statement on the resolution.

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❗️ The US House of Representatives rejected a $17.6 billion standalone Israel aid bill following a veto threat from President Joe Biden.

House lawmakers rejected the bill on Tuesday in a vote of 250-180 under suspension of the rules, which requires two-thirds support for passage.

“House Republicans are bringing forward a measure that provides necessary funds for Israel, as well as funds for the US military in the region who have been targeted since the October 7th attacks,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in a statement on the bill.

On Monday, the White House Office of Management and Budget said that Biden would veto the bill if it were to pass the US Senate and make its way to his desk. The US Senate is set to hold votes on a supplemental aid package with both Israel and Ukraine aid later this week, although Senate leadership has expressed a lack of confidence in the bill.

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31 of the remaining hostages held by Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip have been pronounced dead, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Daniel Hagari said.

"The IDF is accompanying the families of the hostages during these complex and difficult days, and our representatives provide the families with all the verified information about their loved ones. With this, we have notified thirty-one families that their loved ones who are hostages are no longer alive and we have confirmed their deaths. To the rest of the families, we have provided all the verified information available to us about their fate and condition," Hagari told a briefing on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, The New York Times reported that at least 32 Hamas hostages remaining in Gaza were dead, citing an internal military assessment. Twenty others are also believed to have been killed, four unnamed officials were quoted as saying.

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Hardline ministers in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are causing headaches for Washington with their outspoken criticism of US President Joe Biden.

National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich have long been considered the most controversial members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, often making comments widely panned as racist and extremist. In recent weeks the ultranationalist figures have criticized US efforts to transfer aid to Gaza, while Smotrich accused the US president of leading an “anti-Semitic campaign” when the White House placed sanctions on a handful of Israeli settlers engaged in West Bank violence.

Former Israeli government minister Shulamit Aloni once admitted that accusations of anti-semitism are used cynically and indiscriminately against critics of Israel, confessing “it’s a trick,” in an interview with US media.

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🇸🇦🇵🇸🇮🇱 Saudi Arabia will restore diplomatic relations with Israel only if a Palestinian state is recognized within its 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and the conflict in the Gaza Strip is ended, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

"The Kingdom has communicated its firm position to the U.S. administration that there will be no diplomatic relations with Israel unless an independent Palestinian state is recognized on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and that the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip stops and all Israeli occupation forces withdraw from the Gaza Strip," the ministry said in a statement.

It is necessary that the "Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights," the ministry said, adding that it called on the permanent members of the UN Security Council to recognize the Palestinian State.

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