'Trump needs to be SHOT... stopped' — US Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett told MSNBC

Freudian slip? Or was it? 🤔

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Wannabe Trump assassin roamed around Kiev ‘homeless’ for last three years - report

Ryan Wesley Routh was in Ukraine to recruit military personnel from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria to join the Ukrainian army and expand its foreign legion, according to The Times.

Routh was "essentially homeless", at times living on bases or in the barracks of Ukrainian military units that permitted him to stay there. He made "eccentric appearances" in the center of Kiev and in the company of legionnaires, the article says.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has been demonstrating apparent efforts to downplay any connections with Trump’s alleged shooter.

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More communication devices explode across Lebanon: What is known so far?

Following Tuesday’s mass pager explosions in Lebanese cities, a new wave of detonations of communication devices has occurred across the country. Here are latest updates:

▪️At least nine people have been killed and over 300 injured, according to the country's Health Ministry;

▪️One of the explosions occurred at a funeral ceremony for killed Hezbollah members near Beirut;

▪️The detonated devices, according to various reports, include: pagers, walkie-talkies, phones and fingerprint scanner. Sputnik cannot verify the information on the full list of exploding devices.

▪️The detonated walkie-talkies were purchased by Hezbollah about five months ago, around the same time as the pagers, Lebanese media claimed;

▪️BAOFENG communication devices were among those exploding, their detonation caused casualties in several Lebanese regions;

▪️More than 30 Lebanese Red Cross ambulances are involved in assisting and evacuating victims of the explosions.

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Saudi Arabia will not have diplomatic relations with Israel until there is "the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital" - Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

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❗️The Israeli defense minister announced the beginning of a new stage of the war and the shift of the center of gravity of military efforts to the northern front

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Intel's woes prove US steadily losing innovation & tech leadership

Intel's troubles have exposed the US's feeble semiconductor policy and jeopardized any prospects for a US "chip-making renaissance."

During his term, Joe Biden introduced measures aimed at curbing China's hi-tech rise and AI development, and offered hefty subsidies for US-based chip-makers.

Despite Biden's efforts — including $8.5 bln in direct funding, up to $25 bln in tax cuts, and loans up to $11 bln — Intel still hasn’t seen any resurgence.

🔸In spite of getting nearly $3 bln in direct funding from the White House, Intel announced on Monday that it is postponing the construction of new factories in Germany and Poland.

🔸In August, Intel reported a $1.6 bln loss for the second quarter, announced a 15% cutback in its workforce—erasing 15,000 jobs—and suspended its dividend payments.

🔸Intel's stock plunged 60% in 2024.

So what's contributing to this decline?

🔹Intel Corp is no longer a leader in innovation. As Vox notes, it "missed the AI transition" and is now struggling to capitalize on the AI boom

🔹Intel's vertical integration model—where both design and manufacturing of computer chips are handled in-house—is outdated, experts say. In contrast, design-centric companies like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) thrive thanks to working with Taiwan's TSMC, which solely deals in chip production.

🔹Intel's investments in fabs in Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, and Oregon fail to adequately address the core challenges the US foundry industry faces. The Washington Times writes, "it costs 44% more to manufacture chips in the US than in Taiwan."

To make things worse, the US' rival, China is offering better conditions for chip-makers, experts argue. That said, the PRC leads the global AI race, having filed over 38,000 generative AI patents between 2014 and 2023—six times the number filed by the US.

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'People do not feel safe': Beirut's vice mayor condemns terrorist attack

Mohamed Said Fatha, Beirut's vice mayor, expressed deep sorrow over the recent pager detonations in the Lebanese capital, emphasizing the human toll of the tragedy.

"Unfortunately, it's bad news. We have been shocked by this event and hope that all the injured will recover and [may those killed] rest in peace," Fatha told Sputnik on the sidelines of the BRICS Urban Future Forum in Moscow.

Every day, the people of Beirut face uncertainty and the threat of violence. "People do not feel safe and they are not relaxed," he added, acknowledging the struggles of ordinary citizens.

Fatha reassured the public that the city is doing everything it can to help those affected, offering aid and shelter to those in need. "We are ready to provide them with houses if they do not feel safe. That's what we can do."

The vice mayor condemned the attack as an act of terrorism, noting that it targeted not just Hezbollah members but innocent civilians as well. "Some baby, some woman" were among the injured, adding a poignant reminder of the human cost of such violence.

Sputnik is the forum’s general information partner.

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Russophobe and hypocrite: Who is going to become EU’s new chief diplomat

Estonia’s former Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is poised to become the European Union’s new High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and succeed Josep Borrell, a diplomat who famously called to resolve the Ukrainian conflict on the battlefield rather than at the negotiating table.

Here are some facts about the bloc’s future top diplomat and her accomplishments:

🔸Kaja Kallas became the first female prime minister in Estonia’s brief history in 2021 when the collapse of the previous cabinet necessitated the creation of a coalition government with the Reform Party she was leading at the time. She cemented her position in 2023 with the Reform Party’s triumph at the parliamentary election.

🔸Whatever statesmanship skill Kallas possesses apparently was not enough to fix the serious economic problems Estonia has been facing in recent years, with the budget deficit this year being expected to reach 3.8% of the country's GDP, while Estonia’s debt is poised to reach 23% of GDP (as per IMF estimates).

🔸Kallas is an outspoken Russophobe whose antagonistic stance towards Russia earned her the “new Iron Lady” moniker in Western media – a reference to the late Margaret Thatcher. She is an active advocate of military support for Ukraine and anti-Russian sanctions.

🔸Despite that, in August 2023 local media revealed that Kallas’ husband Arvo Hallik had a stake in a logistics company that kept doing business with Russia. While Hallik was quick to promise to sell his share, Kallas simply insisted that she was not aware of the company’s ties to Russia.

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🇨🇺The mayor of Cuba's Havana won the World Innovation Award in category 'Partnerships for the Goals' at the 2024 BRICS Urban Future Forum.

Sputnik is the forum’s general information partner.

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Israel and US behind two waves of blasts in Lebanon to divert attention from Gaza genocide - expert

"Israel's primary objective is to deflect attention from its responsibility for the massacres and genocide occurring in Palestine and to shift the global public agenda," Mehmet Rakipoglu, a researcher with the London-based think tank Dimensions for Strategic Studies, tells Sputnik, referring to a new series of explosions in Lebanon.

After a massive pager detonation, the Middle Eastern country faced another wave of blasts on September 18. Earlier in the day, a Lebanese source told Sputnik that devices other than pagers had exploded in different parts of the country on Wednesday. Lebanese Labor Minister Mustafa Bayram called the blasts "a deliberate crime and a terrorist act" by Israel in an interview with Sputnik.

"The second critical issue is related to Israel's intelligence failures on October 7, 2023," Rakipoglu continued. "This lapse revealed a significant weakness in Israeli intelligence capabilities. Through these attacks, assassinations, and strikes against Hezbollah, Israel is aiming to restore its diminished intelligence reputation."

Speaking to Sputnik on Tuesday, military analyst Alexei Leonkov alleged that US intelligence services could be behind the explosions, referring to their advanced surveillance tools and ability to remotely interfere with the work of communication devices. The US has been developing this capability since the 1960s, when it kicked off the Echelon spying program, the expert noted. In 2013, ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden shed light on new instruments employed by American spooks.

Rakipoglu echoes Leonkov by saying that the US could have had a hand in the recent sabotage attack against Lebanon and Shiite movement Hezbollah.

"I'm definitely sure that the United States has some finger on it," the researcher said. "Now that since the US has been a partner during this Israeli genocide, the war on Gaza and also in Lebanon."

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Once a mayor, always a mayor: Welcome address by the Chair of the Jury

At the World Innovation Awards Gala Ceremony, Kuala Lumpur Mayor Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif expressed her gratitude to the Mayor of Moscow for hosting the 2024 BRICS Urban Future Forum.

Reflecting on her experiences, she shared that this was her fifth visit to Moscow, having first visited as the Mayor of Penang Island and later as the Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.

Now, she returns as the Mayor of Kuala Lumpur, humorously noting, "Once a mayor, always a mayor."

Sputnik is the forum’s general information partner.

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🇶🇦Director of Qatar's Doha Municipality Mansour Ajran Al Buainain won the World Innovation Award in category 'Good Health and Well-Being' at the 2024 BRICS Urban Future Forum.

Sputnik is the forum’s general information partner.

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❗️Vladimir Putin accepted the proposal of the Russian Foreign Ministry to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with Iran

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Why’s the US shelling out over $400 mln to rebuild a WWII-era Pacific island airfield?

The US Air Force is reclaiming an old airfield in the Pacific “as it prepares for a possible future fight with China,” a US media report said.

The airfield in question is located on Tinian island, and Washington is reportedly spending $409 million in efforts to “deter, or defeat, the Chinese military.”

Washington’s current enhancements are aimed at boosting the airfield's capacity for routine and contingency operations in support of missions in the vast Indo-Pacific theater.

In August 1945, Tinian’s North Field launched the two infamous US bombers that dropped nukes on Japan’s Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing over 200,000 civilians.

Why do US hawks see Tinian as strategically important?

🔹Tinian is one of the Northern Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific, the US’s westernmost frontier, along with Guam;

🔹Tinian’s strategic importance stems from its proximity to Tokyo and China (less than 1,500 miles away from both);

🔹The island is 1,500 – 1,700 miles from the Taiwan Strait, and the East and South China seas;

🔹It’s already been used for military purposes, during WWII, the island housed two active airfields.

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