🇮🇱 Israeli authorities have released footage of the special forces' evacuation of the liberated hostages, one of whom was a Russian citizen. Netanyahu visited them to express his solidarity.

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Turkiye’s first foray into tank-building: fast facts about Ankara’s new Altay MBT

Turkiye’s Defense Industry Agency recently announced the start of mass production of the new Altay main battle tank.

◻️ Designed between 2008 and 2016 by Turkish defense and automotive giant BMC Otomotiv with help from other Turkish companies, and with major assistance from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem, Hyundai WIA, Samyang Comtech and Poongsan Corporation, the Altay is Turkiye’s K2 Black Panther-derived vision of a fourth-generation MBT.

◻️ The Altay is a behemoth of a tank, weighing in at 65 tons, comparable to the US M1 Abrams. The MBT is 7.3 meters long, 3.9 m wide and stands 2.6 m tall.

◻️ It’s equipped with South Korean-designed composite armor and Aselsan AKKOR active protection.

◻️ The MKE 120 mm laser-guided smoothbore gun is the tank’s main armament. The gun does not have an autoloader. Secondary weapons include a 7.62 mm coaxial machinegun and a machinegun-armed remote controlled weapons station with automatic target tracking.

◻️ The Altay is powered by a Hyundai 12-cylinder water-cooled 1,500 horsepower diesel engine. A homegrown engine by BMC is in the works. Turkiye flirted with the purchase of Ukrainian tank engines produced by the Kharkov Malyshev Plant, but scrapped the idea in late 2021.

◻️ The Turkish tank has a stated on road/off road performance of 70 and 45 km/h, respectively, and an operational range of 450 km before refueling.

◻️ Turkiye expects to build the first batch of 250 Altays in 2025. The tanks have an estimated unit cost of $13.75 million. The total long-term cost of the program is expected to reach up to $40 billion.

◻️ Before building the Altay, Turkiye spent decades relying on American M48 and M60 tanks, and West German Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 MBTs. The latter proved highly vulnerable to portable anti-tank missiles used by militants in southern Turkiye. Turkish Defense Industry Agency chief Haluk Gorgun says the Altay’s design has taken into account conditions of modern combat environments.

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Navy veteran warns against being ‘inspired’ by manipulative US military rhetoric

Joe Biden slipped into his ever-ready mode of manipulating historical facts in his D-Day anniversary remarks on Friday. Russia was presented as ‘the enemy’, while America - on the right side of history by fueling the Ukraine proxy conflict. Biden brandished a cynical comparison: if we do not help Ukraine, we will betray the memory of our grandfathers who fought the Nazis.

Biden, who is sending weapons to Ukraine to “defend democracy,” may have taken a page from the pretentious language used by then-senator Barack Obama. Obama campaigned on a vow to “end the wars”, only to later send thousands more US soldiers to Afghanistan.

As Obama campaigned to become the president who would “end the wars,” one of those who thought it would be “a good time to join the military,” was Mike James, now a US Navy veteran and former Mass Communication Specialist Petty Officer.

“And I was inspired by all of Obama's rhetoric,” the veteran, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, told Sputnik. He added that he lived to regret that decision for the rest of his life.

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One of the victims of the Israeli army in Nuseirat - a Palestinian child with the last piece of food in his mouth.

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IMF calls on US to get its gargantuan debt under control

IMF deputy managing director Gita Gopinath has given Washington an unusually blunt warning about its debt and spending levels, demanding that the United States and other developed economies take steps to get their largesse lifestyles under control.

💬 “For the US, we see ample ground for them to reduce the size of their fiscal deficits, also given the strength of the US economy,” Gopinath said in an interview with the Financial Times that was published Saturday.

💬 “The temptation to finance all spending through borrowing really is something that countries should avoid,” the official urged, emphasizing that Western economies have “no way of getting around” “fundamental reforms,” including to their social sectors and in the realm of taxation.

Gopinath’s comments follow on the heels of an IMF forecast in April warning that America’s ballooning debt and deficit were “out of line with what is needed for long-term fiscal stability,” and that the projected US federal deficit of 7.1 percent for 2025 was more than three times the 2 percent average showing by other advanced economies. US public debt is expected to more than double by 2053.

💬 “It cannot go like this forever, because the…burden on the US is going to cripple spending that is necessary to make for servicing the debt. To pay 17-plus percent in debt service is just mind-boggling,” IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva, who the Biden administration tried to oust in 2021, said in an interview last month.

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The Minister of Defense of Austria considered it "crossing a red line" for Ukraine to be allowed by a number of Western countries to attack targets on Russian territory.

"The USA, France, and Germany have allowed Ukraine to attack certain areas in Russia with Western weapons. What do you think about this?" Klaudia Tanner, the Minister of Defense of Austria was asked in an interview.

"This has crossed a red line. Therefore, I am very pleased with the clarification from NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg that NATO will not send troops to Ukraine," Tanner said.

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◻️ Western media chews over ‘confident’ Putin’s speech at SPIEF

◻️ Mirage 2000 jets for Ukraine: Long-term threat or chimera that will vanish once deployed?

◻️ Gantz cancels planned announcement of resignation following news of hostages' rescue

◻️ ‘Complacent actor’ in US’ ‘imperial genocidal projects’ — US Navy Vet

◻️ IMF calls on US to get its gargantuan debt under control

◻️ Navy veteran warns against being ‘inspired’ by manipulative US military rhetoric

◻️ Turkiye’s first foray into tank-building: fast facts about Ankara’s new Altay MBT

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Here’s why Israel can’t win all-out war against Hezbollah

“Israel has threatened to start a military operation on the border with Lebanon because Hezbollah has been demonstrating growing sophistication and surprising capacities, driving Israel increasingly at unease and confusion about expectations on the northern front,” Lebanese international affairs observer Dr. Imad Salamey told Sputnik, commenting on Tel Aviv’s recent threats to expand the war in Gaza to the “northern front.”

Israel can attack many Hezbollah targets at once and cause significant damage, but can’t remove or dramatically reduce the militia’s capabilities, “which are widespread and mobile,” the observer said.

“If Israel aims to seriously undermine Hezbollah, it would involve many years of operations to destroy infrastructure and weapons, push fighters out of the south, and cut off supply routes from Syria. Israel will not be able to achieve this fully,” Salamey stressed.

On top of that, “the threat of spillover is quite high, potentially implicating much of the Quds Brigade in Syria and Iraq, resulting in Israel fighting on multiple and wide fronts,” the observer warned.

That’s not the outcome Tel Aviv would hope for, according to Salamey, with Israeli leaders typically looking “for a quick military achievement with ambitious goals,” which, if that fails, prompts the IDF to resort to “collective punishment targeting civilians, which is the most likely scenario in this case.”

“The potential conflict will result in major losses on both sides without a decisive victory,” Salamey said.

Hezbollah and Israel fought their last major war in July-August 2006, during which the IDF leveled much of Beirut’s infrastructure and caused up to $5 billion in damage.

Hezbollah emerged largely unscathed, however, with about 1,000 of its fighters facing off against between 10,000-30,000 Israeli troops in southern Lebanon, losing about 250 men while killing 121 Israeli servicemen and women and injuring over 1,200 others.

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Ukraine is directly controlled and fully maintained by the US and NATO countries today, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said on social media.

He also urged German Chancellor Olaf Scholz not to give advice to Russia on the situation in Ukraine.

"Rotten liverwurst Scholz suddenly started talking and said outright nonsense.... He should... just kneel down and repent to the Ukrainians... for condemning them to extermination, while sacrificing the well-being of the Germans entrusted to his care," stated Medvedev.

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US begins withdrawal of its troops from Niger

The US has begun withdrawing its troops from Niger with the departure of the first aircraft, the two countries' defense ministries said in a joint statement.

"The US Department of Defense and the Nigerien Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Niger announce that the withdrawal of US forces and assets from Niger has progressed from initial preparations to redeployment. This significant transition began with the departure of a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III from Air Base 101 in Niamey on June 7, 2024," the statement read.

Moreover, some US forces have already redeployed from Niger to their home stations after concluding their missions, the statement read. At the same time, a small contingent of US military personnel arrived in the African country to assist with the withdrawal of troops from Air Bases 101 and 201, it added.

The US and Niger agreed to complete the withdrawal of US troops from the African country no later than September 15.

There is an estimated 1,100 US personnel in Niger. The military pullout was initiated in March after a Nigerien military spokesperson said the country's transitional government, which took power in July 2023, had terminated the military agreement with the US with immediate effect, citing the interests of the Nigerien people.

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US failed to threat Hamas leaders with sanctions via Qatar and Egypt, report says

Qatar and Egypt, at the "behest"of the US administration, have threatened the leaders of the Palestinian Hamas movement to impose restrictions against them if they do not agree to a cease-fire deal with Israel, the Wall Street Journal newspaper writes, citing sources.

“Qatar and Egypt have told Hamas leaders in recent days that they face possible arrest, freezing of their assets, sanctions and expulsion from their haven in Doha if they don't agree to a cease-fire with Israel,” the newspaper said.

It was noted that the effort has had the opposite result, with Hamas saying it will not go for a deal that does not meet their terms.

According to the newspaper, the threats were "made at the behest” of the US President Joe Biden's administration, which is looking for a way to persuade Hamas to make a deal that the White House boss needs amid a “political maelstrom”.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid al-Ansari said earlier that the mediators are still waiting for a Hamas' response to the proposal for a truce in the Gaza Strip, as well as the exchange of hostages and prisoners.

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Missiles strike two cargo ships in Gulf of Aden near Yemen

A missile struck an Antigua and Barbuda-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden, in what is suspected of being an attack by Houthi rebels in Yemen, authorities reported on Sunday.

The missile hit the ship's forward station, causing a fire that was later extinguished by the crew, according to private security firm Ambrey. A second missile fired at the ship missed, and individuals on small boats nearby opened fire on the vessel, although no injuries were reported.

UK Maritime Trade Operations reported late on Saturday that another ship 70 nautical miles southwest of the port of Aden was hit, resulting in a fire. The Houthis could have been behind this attack as well, media reported.

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