Hezbollah said it had launched a rocket and artillery attack on a large concentration of Israeli troops in a closed military zone in northern Israel.

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What new NATO head Mark Rutte is infamous for?

Former Dutch PM Mark Rutte took up the mantle of NATO Secretary-General from Jens Stoltenberg. Through his career, Rutte earned the reputation of “Teflon Mark”, as nothing sticks to his reputation, and “Mr. No”, as he was willing to sacrifice the European coronavirus rescue package for political gains.

At the end of 2020, a scandal erupted in the Netherlands when it was revealed that almost 10,000 parents were wrongly accused of abuse, and forced to return their additional childcare payment. Rutte recognized the cabinet's guilt for the situation, and in January 2021, his entire government had to resign.

Mark Rutte met Volodymyr Zelensky soon after his victory in the 2019 election. He described Zelensky as “a man with a mission” and said he was “convinced that Ukraine’s success largely depends on the mentality he conveyed from the very beginning.”

After the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the Netherlands had a lockdown in effect for several months. In June 2021, the authorities lifted most of the restrictions; after which, the incidence of the disease in the country rose sharply. Rutte apologized for the government's "miscalculation."

In 2022, Rutte was caught up in a scandal for deleting text messages, accumulated over several years, from his cell phone. Rutte was accused of violating the law on data archiving. Opposition members also said the use of an old Nokia 301 model could have jeopardized state security.

Rutte was also one of the first Western leaders to visit Ukraine to back the Zelensky regime after Russia launched its special military operation. After Rutte’s appointment, the South China Morning Post described him as “a fierce critic of Russian President Putin and a staunch ally of Ukraine, who has been one of the driving forces behind Europe’s military support for Ukraine.”

NATO’s hostile stance towards Russia is unlikely to change with a new secretary-general,” Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said earlier, adding that NATO states "are working to strategically suppress Russia. At the moment, it is an alliance that is hostile to [Russia]."

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US role as peacemaker pushed the Mideast to the brink – Russian Foreign Ministry

"If in the last months, or year, all the i's had been dotted when some named the opponents of others, and the US had said they would oppose a certain side or state, that they would not take on the role of a mediator but be engaged in a forceful solution - that would have been one conversation. However, they came with the role of a peacemaker. And this role of a peacemaker has once again pushed this region to the brink," Zakharova told Sputnik.

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🔸Iran’s attack on Israel shows peril of mistaking country’s restraint for weakness

🔸Israel ‘don't want the knowledge out there’ about Iran’s penetration of the Iron Dome – ex-CIA analyst

🔸White House completely fails in Middle East after Iranian retaliatory strikes on Israel – Russian Foreign Ministry

Other topics we have covered:

🔸‘Suicidal venture’: what are consequences of US economic, military attacks on Russia?

🔸What new NATO head Mark Rutte is infamous for?

🔸China marks 75 years since inception, as it stuns world with 'economic miracle'

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❗️The Iranian armed forces are ready for possible Israeli actions, the Iranian foreign minister said.

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❗️The Yemeni Houthis have declared their readiness to participate in any joint military operation against Israel.

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The Israeli Foreign Minister said that Iran has crossed the red line, and its attack will not remain unanswered.

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Weakening Iran and Hezbollah part of broader Israeli-US project - analyst

Commenting on Israel’s recently announced start of its “limited raids” in southern Lebanon, Dr Lorenzo Trombetta, Rome-based senior analyst and UN consultant on the Middle East, told Sputnik that those attacks are just preparatory measures before a broader military offensive on the ground. 

“In this sense, Israel is serving US purposes. That's why all the Israeli operations on the ground are influencing the balance of power in Lebanon, and trying to change the equation of power there. Weakening not only Iran, but Hezbollah mainly, is part of the broader Israeli-US project,” Trombetta pointed out.

 
The White House National Security Council earlier said that President Joe Biden had directed the US military to help Israel shoot down Iranian missiles targeting the Jewish state. 

“The US military presence increased in the Middle East, mainly towards Iran, in order to threaten it and send a clear message to Tehran and its allies,” the analyst said. He suggested that the US won’t change their Middle Eastern policy and will continue “to manage the balance of power from their side, by being on the backseat and clearly supporting Israel and their other allies.”  

The Israeli military has meanwhile resumed air strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, hours after Iran launched a massive missile attack on Israel in response to its “aggressive acts” against Tehran’s allies, including the assassination of Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

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Iran's strike on Israel: view from plane

The flying missiles were filmed by a British Airways pilot flying to Dubai at the time of the attack.

On the evening of October 1, Iran launched a massive missile attack on Israeli territory.

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❗️Russian soldiers liberated the settlement of Verkhnekamenskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry announced.

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🇷🇺🇱🇧 Russia has informed Lebanon of its plans to send a humanitarian aid mission to the country on Thursday, the Lebanese ambassador told Sputnik.

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🇷🇺🪖More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

◻️ Ukrainian losses amounted to 385 soldiers in the area of responsibility of the Russian Zapad Battlegroup;

◻️ The losses of the Ukrainian forces in the area of responsibility of the Russian Tsentr combat group amounted to 630 militants;

◻️ Ukrainian forces lost up to 110 militants in the area of responsibility of the Russian Vostok Battlegroup;

◻️ The Russian Yug Battlegroup struck a Ukrainian warehouse. The enemy lost up to 855 servicemen;

◻️ Russian air defense systems shot down a controlled Hammer aerial bomb and 32 drones of the Ukrainian armed forces.

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Polish Defense Minister complained that Ukraine had forgotten about Polish military assistance

"We were the first to send military assistance. It was a very big help. Germany sent helmets, and we sent tanks. But it has come to a situation where there is no longer any memory on the part of Ukraine about this assistance," Wladyslaw Kosinyak-Kamysh said.

The statement was made against the background of the aggravation of the problem between Poland and Ukraine with the exhumation of the victims of the Volyn massacre. Earlier, Kosinyak-Kamysh said that Ukraine would not be able to become a member of the European Union without resolving this issue.

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🇷🇺The Russian flag was installed on the administration building of Ugledar

"Our military is already in Ugledar, the Russian flag is installed on the building of the local administration," Yan Gagin, adviser to the head of the DPR, said, adding that Ukrainian scattered units still remained there.

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💬Pompeo to Russian pranksters: We need Russia back in Western economy

Former director of the CIA and the US State Department, Mike Pompeo, in a conversation with Vovan and Lexus, Russian pranksters who introduced themselves as an African official, said that Russia should return to the West economically instead of (pivoting towards) Asia and China.

"We need to pull the Russians back into a European model, not an Asian model... We need to prevent it from happening... If this war stops, you begin to bring Russia back in and convince them that they're in a better place with us than them," Pompeo said.

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Israeli ex-PM urges to 'change the face of the Middle East'

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet believes that Israel can and must change the current balance of power in the region.

"We have the justification. We have the tools. Now that Hezbollah and Hamas are paralyzed, Iran stands exposed," Bennet wrote on his X account.

Earlier Russian Foreign Ministry called to search for peaceful ways to resolve the Middle East conflict.

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❗️Hezbollah reports that it is clashing with Israeli soldiers who ‘infiltrated’ the border village of Maroun al-Ras

Earlier this morning, Hezbollah claimed to have pushed back Israeli troops from another border town – Adaisseh.

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Erdogan warns Israel might attack Turkiye after Palestine and Gaza

💬 "Driven by the delusion of ‘promised land,’ after Palestine and Lebanon, the Israeli government will set its sights on our [Turkish] homeland. Occupation, terror, and aggression are right next to us. We're not facing a state bound by law, but a horde of killers that thrives on blood and feeds off occupation," Turkish President Erdogan stressed out.

Erdogan condemns Israel's actions, accusing it of years of 'genocide' in Gaza and recent 'terrorist attacks' in Lebanon, and says the Israeli government is pushing regional countries into conflict.

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