🇮🇱🇮🇷 The US has made it clear that it is not seeking war with Iran and intends to obtain clarity from Israel regarding its plans for a military response to Tehran’s missile strike, the Pentagon said.

“We will not speculate on what that response will be,” a Pentagon press office representative said, shutting down questions about possible US support for hypothetical offensive actions by the Israeli army on Iranian territory.

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‘We Must Stand With Israel’: The One Thing Trump and Kamala Agree On

There isn't much common ground between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, but one notable agreement in their rhetoric is that the US is bound to support for Israel no matter what.

“Here at home, I will defend our American Jewish population. I will protect your communities, your schools, your places of worship, and your values,” Trump asserted.

“I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself,” Harris stressed.

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Iran, China, Russia & Islam – America’s Fabricated ‘Forever’ Foes?

White House administrations may come and go, but Washington consistently defines its threats and enemies, often vaguely.

“These are not our friends; these are our enemies. These are not people that understand niceness,” Trump once remarked about China.

While labeling a foreign state as a “threat” is one thing, targeting an entire religion goes too far. “I think Islam hates us. There’s a tremendous hatred there,” the former president once stated.

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Journalist Liam Cosgrove: This administration has financed a genocide in Gaza for the last year and every day you’re up there denying it

State Department representative Mathew Miller: There’s plenty of places in Washington where you can give a speech

Cosgrove also pointed out that despite an escalation of nuclear risk, the US keeps arming Ukraine. His remark, however, went unanswered

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🇮🇱☢️🇮🇷 High-stakes showdown: What aftermath could Israel face if it gambles on hitting Iran’s nuclear sites?

Hawks in Israel have not dismissed the possibility of launching an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities in response to Tehran's missile barrage. "Everything is on the table… Israel has capabilities to hit targets near and far - we have proved it," Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters.

What are the possible consequences?

"In the event of [Israeli] strike on [Iranian nuclear facilities], it would be, first and foremost, a disaster for Israel and its allies... I will say, in general, it will be a big Middle East war... And when America steps back from all of this, it will be a big problem, that will threaten the destruction of Israel itself," Evgeny Mikhailov, veteran Russian military observer and political analyst, told Sputnik.

◻️ The effect of explosives on the nuclear materials stored at Iran’s facilities likely possessing low-enriched uranium would pose a massive public health risk going beyond the country’s borders.

What other issues prevent Israel from conducting such strikes?

◻️ The IDF’s munitions used to target Hezbollah and Hamas tunnels would be ineffective against Iran’s highly reinforced nuclear facilities.

“The only conventional weapon that could plausibly achieve this is the American GBU-57A/B massive ordnance penetrator, which can only be carried by large US bombers like the B-2 Spirit,” stated an analytical report published in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

◻️ Israel would need to use about 100 aircraft for such an operation (almost a third of its 340 combat-capable aircraft), according to a US Congressional Research Service (CRS) report.

◻️ Reaching Iran’s nuclear sites would involve flying over the sovereign airspace of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Syria and possibly Turkiye, posing diplomatic hurdles.

◻️ The distance to the Iranian sites in question is more than 1,000 miles (1609 km), requiring tricky refueling mid-air.

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How Western politicians capitalize on climate change fearmongering

Humanity has forfeited its opportunity to limit global warming to below 1.5°C due to the inability to reduce carbon emissions, Professor Jim Skea, chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), informed the British press, claiming "it's too late" to save the UK and Europe from overheating, but efforts should be made to stay below 2°C this century.

Is it the first time when it's "already too late"?

◻️ In September 2024, UN General Secretary António Guterres said the "world is in dangerous waters", "people alive today could witness sea levels rise by meters" due to the climate change.

"The threat of climate change is existential, and it is happening in the here and now," stated UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in his September 2024 speech at the United Nations General Assembly.

◻️ "The climate crisis is accelerating at pace," Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, stated in July 2024.

◻️ In April 2024, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said the humanity literary has just two years to save the planet;

"Anyone who willfully denies the impact of climate change is condemning the American people to a very dangerous future," claimed US President Joe Biden in November 2023.

◻️ "If we don't get serious about climate change today, it will be too late for our children to do so tomorrow," then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson highlighted at COP26 in November 2021.

◻️ In February 2021, UK environmentalist and campaigner Sir David Attenborough said "it's already too late" to avoid severe climate change during the United Nations' Security Council (UNSC) session on climate;

◻️ In April 2018, Mayer Hillman, a senior fellow emeritus at University of Westminster’s Policy Studies Institute, told the Guardian that "we are doomed" and it's too late to stop climate change.

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France’s Mirage-2000s bound to be destroyed on the ground or in Ukraine’s skies, military expert affirms

"The Mirage-2000 does not possess any supernatural capabilities," Dmitry Kornev, a military expert and founder of the Military Russia portal, told Sputnik. "Accordingly, these jets can be countered using the same resources that the Russian Aerospace Forces currently possess."

The pundit cast doubt on the much-touted new arms package:

◻️ It remains unclear as to how many Mirage fighter jets Ukraine will receive. France is unlikely to supply the Kiev regime with more than 10 to 12 jets, according to Kornev.

"The fourth generation jet is rather capricious; the Mirage will require careful handling and time to learn how to operate it," he pointed out.

◻️ Operating and maintenance costs for Ukraine will skyrocket, given that it will have to operate different NATO warplanes, including F-16s and Mirage-2000s;

◻️ The delivery of the Mirage 2000 aircraft will not alter the balance of power on the front lines. Earlier, in June, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to supply the Kiev regime with Mirage 2000-5 combat jets and to train 4,500 Ukrainian military personnel.

Ukraine is set to receive the first batch of upgraded Mirage-2000 fighter jets from France in the first quarter of 2025, according to French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu. The defense chief also noted that training for operating and maintaining these jets is already in progress.

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🇨🇴 In Colombia, protests in support of Palestine intensified, leading to violent clashes between police and demonstrators.

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Hamas seeing no point in prisoner exchange with Israel until complete ceasefire in Gaza

Hamas sees no point in prisoner exchange talks until a complete ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, Ayman Shanaa, a spokesperson for Hamas political leadership in Lebanon, told Sputnik.

"Any agreement must begin with a complete and immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Before that, there is no point in talking about a prisoner exchange deal. Let them continue to think that the resistance is weak, but there are still many fronts that can teach the enemy a lesson," Shanaa said.

He noted that the movement was ready for a ceasefire, but due to the position of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the talks were unsuccessful.

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US in dangerous hiatus amid Biden's lame duck period, exploited by allies - Sachs

The United States is in a dangerous hiatus during outgoing President Joe Biden's lame duck period, which several US allies are trying to exploit, Jeffrey Sachs, an economist and president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, told Sputnik.

"President Biden is not really in full control anymore, both because of his waning mental status and his lame duck status," Sachs said. "We are in a dangerous hiatus. [Israel's PM Benjamin] Netanyahu is exploiting that hiatus, and [Volodymyr] Zelensky is trying to as well."

The United States backs Israel’s reckless behavior, talks openly about war with China, and continues a delusional policy in Ukraine that is bleeding that country while threatening to provoke more escalation, Sachs explained.

Sachs added that there is little chance Biden will steer the United States toward a "good direction" throughout the remainder of his term, but there's also no guarantee that things will improve after Donald Trump or Kamala Harris comes into power on January 20.

Many other countries are trying to exploit US military power, including the United Kingdom, Poland, and the Baltic states, which are all urging reckless policies by the United States that could land it quickly in World War 3, Sachs concluded.

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US authorities should restore order, not fight journalists — Zakharova on P. Diddy scandal

The crimes of rapper and producer Sean Combs, known under the pseudonym P. Diddy, speaks to the systemic nature of the criminal life of American celebrities, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said.

According to her, scandalous American artists are involved in a decades-old criminal system, at the center of which is child abuse, including pedophilia.

The diplomat added that this system has a mafia-clan structure, in which the political and state community also takes part.

"The American authorities should be busy with restoring order at home... and not with fighting journalists," Zakharova noted.

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🔸High-stakes showdown: What aftermath could Israel face if it gambles on hitting Iran’s nuclear sites?

🔸Hamas seeing no point in prisoner exchange with Israel until complete ceasefire in Gaza

🔸France’s Mirage-2000s bound to be destroyed on the ground or in Ukraine’s skies, military expert affirms

🔸US authorities should restore order, not fight journalists — Zakharova on P. Diddy scandal

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Kremlin denies calls between Trump and Putin 

The Russian Presidential spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has denied information alleging that former US President Donald Trump had spoken on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin seven times after the former left office.

"No, it's not like that," Peskov told Russian media when asked if Putin had called Trump.

Earlier, the campaign headquarters of US presidential candidate, Donald Trump, criticized the upcoming book "War" by famous journalist, Bob Woodward, saying that none of the episodes described in it is true. 

Excerpts from the interview published earlier by CNN included allegations of telephone contacts between Trump and Putin after 2021.

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An evacuation warning resulting from Hurricane Milton in Florida, US, resembles a horror movie scene.

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The meeting of the contact group on Ukraine at the Ramstein base in Germany, originally slated for October 12, will be postponed to accommodate Biden’s attendance, German media reports.

Earlier, Biden decided to postpone one of his last trips as head of state to Germany and Angola due to Hurricane Milton.

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Bidenomics strikes again: US global economic share dips below 15% for first time

The US share of the global economy has tanked below 15% during Joe Biden’s presidency. By the end of his term, it is projected to hit a record low of 14.76%, according to Sputnik calculations based on data from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

🔸In 1990, the US accounted for 20.16% of the global economy, measured by purchasing power parity. That share peaked at 21.01% in 1999, with an economic output of $9.6 trillion, compared to a global output of $45.85 trillion. 

🔸However, the US portion has steadily declined since, with the sharpest drop occurring between 2006 and 2008, when it fell by 0.6% annually.

🔸The US share temporarily increased during Barack Obama’s second term, reaching 16.26% in 2014 and 2015, but failed in sustaining the momentum. By the end of Obama's presidency, it fell to 16.04%. Subsequently, the US share declined by another 0.7% under Donald Trump.

🔸In Biden's second year, the US share slipped below 15%, reaching 14.82% by the end of 2023. IMF estimates predict the trend will continue, with the US share falling by another 0.06% by the end of 2024, resulting in a cumulative decline of 0.58% under Biden to 14.76%.

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❗️A group of 39 Iranian deputies appealed to the country's Security Council with a request to allow the creation of nuclear weapons due to the threat of an Israeli attack, the Iranian ISNA news agency reports.

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