'It was hard to believe'

Reflecting on the results of US President Joe Biden's presidency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recalled how Vladimir Putin reacted to Joe Biden's interview at the beginning of his presidency, when Biden suddenly called the Russian president a "murderer".

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❗️The main cause of the crash of the Raisi helicopter was difficult climatic conditions, according to the final report of the Iranian Armed Forces.

The helicopter of late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi crashed on May 19 in the province of East Azerbaijan in the north of the country after colliding with a hill in spring fog, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic reported.

According to the report, the main cause of the crash of Raisi's helicopter was the difficult climatic conditions in the spring, the sudden appearance of thick fog and a collision with a mountain. According to the investigation, the helicopter did not deviate from the assigned route. Signs of sabotage or the impact of electronic warfare, electromagnetic or laser weapons were also not found.

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❗️The number of civilians injured in the Russian city of Belgorod and the Belgorod region as a result of the Ukrainian attack has grown to 11, the region's Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

Two wounded children are in an extremely serious condition, they are already in operating rooms, they may be sent to Moscow for treatment, Gladkov added.

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Mass vaccination of children under 11 against polio begins in the city of Nuseirat in the Gaza Strip

The decision was made after the first case of the disease was officially registered in the Palestinian enclave. About 1.2 million doses of the vaccine were delivered to the central part of Gaza.

"Today is the first day of the polio vaccination campaign. The campaign is necessary for children as young as one day old and is absolutely harmless," a campaign organizer told Sputnik.

Poliovirus is highly contagious and is typically transmitted through sewage and contaminated water, a growing issue in Gaza due to the significant destruction of the territory's infrastructure by Israel during its conflict with Hamas. The virus primarily impacts children under five years old, leading to deformities, paralysis, and in some cases, it can be fatal.

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Blowback: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria come from Ukraine to haunt Europe

European doctors treating Ukrainian soldiers on multiple occasions have had to deal with mutated antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or superbugs, the Times reported on Sunday.

▪️The newspaper describes one case which occurred at St George’s Hospital in south London in November 2022: doctors amputated a Ukrainian soldier's leg having realized that almost a dozen antibiotics failed to kill a bacterial infection in the wound.

▪️Similar cases were reported in Norway, the Netherlands and Germany, where hospitals also treated Ukrainian soldiers evacuated from the front lines.

▪️Samples from 141 patients being treated in Ukrainian hospitals were tested last year at the Lund University in Sweden indicating highly resistant strains of bacteria. Some bugs were resistant to "every single antibiotic available."

▪️According to the newspaper, not only Ukrainian soldiers but also newborn babies are affected by superbugs in the country.

▪️Western experts blamed the phenomenon on overcrowded Ukrainian hospitals, where patients with many infections are concentrated and a lack of infection control procedures. They warned that the spread of resistant superbugs is highly dangerous.

▪️Documents obtained by Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense (RCBD) Troops shed light on the apparent source of the phenomenon: Ukrainian soldiers and residents were subjects to bio-experiments at labs overseen by the Pentagon.

▪️Russian healthcare experts found antibodies against multiple pathogens in Ukrainian prisoners of war (PoW), including hepatitis A, a fever with renal syndrome, and West Nile fever. These pathogens were studied by the Pentagon as part of its Ukrainian projects, as per the documents.

▪️At least 46 biolabs in Ukraine were engaged in research of deadly pathogens.

▪️The problem of drug-resistant infections emanating from Ukraine now rings the alarm bells for the US' European allies.

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Macron to consult his presidential predecessors to help decide whom to make prime minister

France’s President Emmanuel Macron is expected to meet several French politicians on September 2 as part of consultations on the candidacy of France’s new prime minister.

He is expected to receive former French presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, as well as ex-prime minister Bernard Cazeneuve, according to local media reports.

Nearly two months since the French legislative election, Macron is yet to appoint a new prime minister amid the standoff in the French parliament where none of the major factions – Macron’s centrists or the left-wing and right-wing opposition – control an absolute majority.

On August 26, Macron rejected the candidacy of Lucie Castets put forth by the left-wing New Popular Front coalition.

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📹 Tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest for an immediate deal to free the hostages from the Gaza Strip, a Sputnik correspondent reports.

The mass rally was organized by activists after news of the murder of six hostages who had spent 330 days in captivity in Gaza. The public is demanding that the government take responsibility for the deaths of the hostages and conclude an agreement with Hamas to return the remaining captives.

The demonstrators are holding national flags and photographs of the hostages. Traffic in the area where the rally is taking place is blocked.

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▪️Ukraine’s attack on Russia’s Belgorod leaves 11 injured

▪️‘Russia is already retaliating’: Latest developments from the Kursk region

▪️A tragedy etched in the nation’s memory: Russia commemorates Beslan school terror attack

▪️The main cause of Iranian President Raisi’s helicopter crash announced

▪️AfD leading regional elections for the first time: Check out exit poll projections

▪️Iran’s ground forces share footage of an upgraded M60 tank able of carrying out operations in the dark

▪️What is known about antibiotic-resistant bacteria originating in Ukraine?

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Is Canada’s Trudeau really going to tackle the migrant issue?

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau moved to curb his country’s foreign workers program this week.

The move comes as Trudeau’s migration policies face considerable backlash at home, with his political rival and Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre insisting that Trudeau’s government “destroyed” Canada’s immigration system, according to the Financial Times.

Over the past decade, Trudeau actively welcomed migrants and refugees from both Europe and the Middle East, with the number of migrants living in Canada surpassing 8.3 million by 2021, the newspaper points out.

The foreign workers scheme has already been associated by Trudeau’s opponents with problems such as an increase in both housing prices and unemployment rates among youth, and the growing pressure on Canadian healthcare system.

Now, with Trudeau’s ratings trailing behind those of his rivals, it seems that the prime minister is trying to at least mitigate the damage.

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