📹 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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AfD wins elections in Thuringia, receiving 32 of 88 seats in region's parliament

◾️ Right-wing German party Alternative for Germany (AfD) won the elections in Thuringia, receiving 32 of 88 seats in the local parliament (Landtag), according to official results published by the local electoral commission. AfD thus receives 10 more seats than it had before.

◾️ Second place went to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which received 23 seats (+2), followed by the recently formed party Sahra Wagenknecht Union for Reason and Justice (SWJ) with 15 seats in the Landtag.

◾️ In addition, two more parties entered the local parliament: Die Linke (The Left) with 12 mandates (-17) and the Social Democrats of Chancellor Olaf Scholz with 6 mandates (-2).

◾️ Two parties of the ruling coalition at the federal level — the Greens and the Free Liberals (FDP) — failed to receive any seats in the Landtag.

The turnout in the elections was 73.6%, the local electoral commission said.

Video from social media

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Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz ran away from the Minnesota State Fair when asked a tough question about the Palestine-Israel conflict.

"What's your reaction to the six hostages being found dead in Gaza?" a reporter asked.

“Thanks everybody,” Walz announced timidly before walking away.

Video from social media

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AfD finishes second in elections in Saxony Parliament - official results

◾️ Right-wing party Alternative for Germany (AfD) took second place in the elections to the Saxony state parliament, receiving the support of 30.6% of voters, according to official results published by the Saxony State Statistical Office.

◾️ According to the results, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) finished first in the elections, receiving the support of 31.9% of voters.

◾️ Left-wing Sahra Wagenknecht Union for Reason and Justice (SWU) received support of 11.1% of voters. The Social Democratic Party of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz received only 7.3% of support.

The results were published after checking the votes in 435 municipalities of the region. The turnout in the elections was 74.4%, according to the Saxony State Statistical Office.

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🇷🇺🇲🇳 Putin gives interview to Mongolian newspaper Onoodor ahead of visit to Mongolia - Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a written interview to the Mongolian newspaper Onoodor ahead of his visit to this country, the Kremlin said.

During the visit, Putin is planning to take part in the anniversary celebrations of victory over the Japanese militarists at Khalkhin Gol.

"Our people remain deeply grateful for the support Mongolia provided during the Great Patriotic War and continue to honor the memory of our joint victories over the Kwantung Army in the summer of 1945," the president emphasized.

Russia and Mongolia are linked by decades of fruitful cooperation in nearly all areas, Putin said.

"It is important that our bilateral partnership in all key areas is progressing at a good pace. Political contacts, cooperation in the sphere of defence and security, interaction between parliaments, parties and public organisations, humanitarian exchanges, cross-border and interregional ties are developing successfully," the Russian leader noted.

Russia and Mongolia have been working in recent years on a number of new promising economic and industrial projects, including the construction of the Trans-Mongolian gas pipeline connecting Russia and China, works to modernise and increase the performance of the Ulaanbaatar Railway joint venture, Rosneft’s fuel supplies for the new Chinggis Khaan international airport, and the renovation of TPP-3 in Ulaanbaatar with the participation of INTER RAO – Export, the president highlighted.

"We always respond to our Mongolian friends' requests for assistance in meeting their growing needs for fuel and petroleum products at preferential prices. Work is currently underway to finalize the corresponding intergovernmental agreement," Putin said.

In less than a year, significant progress has been made in drafting a temporary free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Mongolia, he noted.

"I am convinced that constructive cooperation between Russia and Mongolia will grow more substantial and multifaceted and serve for the benefit of our peoples," the president concluded.

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Putin outlines historical roots which influenced situation in Ukraine

A whole range of external and internal factors influenced the current situation in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview to the Mongolian newspaper Onoodor.

The consequences of the decisions of the Soviet leaders on the national and territorial issues played a negative role into it, Putin added.

"In 1954, Nikita Khrushchev made a generous present to Ukraine by giving it Crimea, which had been part of the RSFSR [Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]," the president recalled.

Putin emphasized that the process of creating Ukraine itself began immediately after the 1917 revolution, when unstable and short-lived quasi-state entities without clear borders emerged on that territory.

"Later on, the boundaries of the constituent USSR republics were marked rather randomly, based on the ‘proletarian necessity.’ Thus, the industrial Donbass populated predominantly by Russians was handed over to Ukraine," the head of state clarified.

Just before and after the Great Patriotic War, Joseph Stalin included some lands that had previously belonged to Poland, Romania, and Hungary in Ukraine as an inalienable part of the Soviet Union, Putin added.

"It should be understood that the Soviet leaders acted under the geopolitical realities of their time, not expecting at all that the USSR would cease to exist and break down along artificially drawn internal administrative boundaries. So, no doubt, the current developments do have historical roots," he said.

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Azerbaijan’s ruling New Azerbaijan Party, led by President Ilham Aliyev, secured 68 out of 125 seats in the country’s parliamentary election. Voter turnout was just over 37%, according to the Central Election Commission (CEC), which reported results after processing data from 91% of polling stations.

"In the parliamentary elections, the voter turnout in the country was 37.27%. 2,196,771 people voted in the elections," CEC head Mazahir Panahov said.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin's key statements on the Ukraine crisis outlined in his interview with the Mongolian newspaper Onoodor:

🔸 For many years millions of civilians in the Donbass have been subjected to genocide; hatred of everything Russian has become the official ideology of Ukraine.

🔸 The West views Ukraine as a weapon in its fight against Russia; Moscow is fully aware of this and will continue its special operation to ensure its own security.

🔸 The tragedy of Ukraine lies in the West’s anti-Russian policies, which have turned Ukraine into a bargaining chip for its geopolitical ambitions.

🔸 The West has sought control over Ukraine for decades, funding nationalist and anti-Russian organizations.

🔸 In 2014, the Americans and their allies orchestrated an armed coup d'état in Ukraine, with Neo-Nazi groups playing a central role and subsequently influencing the country’s state policies.

🔸 Today, we are witnessing the inevitable outcome of the West's destructive strategy in Ukraine.

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