Serbia is considering joining the BRICS group of emerging economies as an alternative to European Union membership, Vice Premier Aleksandar Vulin revealed in an interview with Berliner Zeitung.

Serbia will definitely attend the BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan this month, Vulin said, adding that it would be irresponsible not to explore all possibilities, including BRICS membership.

If BRICS is attractive to other countries like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia or Turkey, why should Serbia's situation be any different, he asked, stressing that there was no doubt that BRICS had become a real alternative to the EU.

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Ukrainian recruiters’ mass raids on public venues sign of serious problems at the front – expert

“Their problems are traditional: they don’t have enough personnel. They’re grabbing everyone, even those with an official exemption from service – which isn’t always possible to prove,” Institute of CIS Countries senior researcher Alexander Dudchak told Sputnik.

That's how the expert commented the much-publicized video and images coming out of Ukrainian cities over the past two days of draft officers engaging in mass raids on malls, nightclubs, concerts and other venues searching for fresh recruits.

The thuggish methods on display are par for the course, but the scale of the recent raids is a first, says Dudchak, who is also an expert with ‘Another Ukraine’ – a political and social movement consisting of Ukrainian politicians, journalists and others seeking to end the NATO-sponsored proxy war with Russia.

Desperate times may be calling for desperate measures, and the mobilization raids seem to be a sign of mounting problems on the battlefield, according to the observer, who pointed to the Russian military’s push to drive Ukrainian forces out of the Kursk region, and advances in Donetsk and Kharkov.

“Of course, we should not rejoice too early, because despite their serious failures, including places where some units are leaving the front line altogether, with such measures [mass raids and forced mobilization, ed.] they will be able to gather a crowd and hold the defense for some time. I can’t say for how long, but now they will have the opportunity to ‘solve’ their current problems at the expense of the crowd they recruit in this way,” Dudchak said.

More broadly, Dudchak expects an overall shift in Kiev’s tactics, saying both the Zelensky regime’s rhetoric and practice will shift “from attempts to organize a counteroffensive to blind defense. It’s quite possible that this will suit them, and the West, well – holding on to what they have and freezing the front line.”

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What’s THAAD and why might Israel want them? Part 1 👉 Part 2

The US may be planning to deploy a THAAD missile defense system, along with the troops to operate it, on Israeli soil. A US defense official has told Sputnik no final decision has been made. Is the THAAD the missile defense holy grail Israel is looking for to guard against further Iranian missile attacks? And what about Tel Aviv’s own much-vaunted defenses?

◻️ Introduced into service with the US Army in 2008, the THAAD (‘Terminal High Altitude Area Defense’) is an anti-ballistic missile defense system designed to intercept short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles in the reentry phase.

◻️ Developed by Lockheed, THAAD destroys projectiles using kinetic force alone, with its $12 mln apiece 900 kg, 6.17 m-long interceptors powered by a solid-fuel Pratt & Whitney motor with thrust vectoring and the ability to accelerate to speeds up to Mach 8.2. The THAAD has a 150-200 km range (including up to 150 km from the ground).

◻️ Each THAAD HEMTT-LHS launch vehicle carries eight interceptors, and along with launchers and a C&C vehicle, batteries feature a Raytheon AN/TPY-2 X-band search & track radar with a 1,000 km detection range. A THAAD battery costs $800 mln, although the price for foreign clients has been known to top $1 bln.

◻️ Promotional materials boast the THAAD’s superior lethality and hit-to-kill ratios in testing, high firepower for sustained defense, and powerful radar.

◻️ But combat use has proven a mixed bag, with the system reporting its first combat kill in January 2022 during a Houthi missile barrage, but failing to intercept all enemy projectiles, which set infrastructure at Abu Dhabi’s airport on fire and destroyed oil tankers near a military base hosting US, French and Emirati troops. Abu Dhabi’s possible dissatisfaction with THAAD’s performance may have led it to buy Rafael SPYDER short-to-medium range air defense systems from Israel.

👉 Part 2

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What’s THAAD and why might Israel want them? Part 2 👉 Part 1

◻️ THAADs are known to have been occasionally deployed in Israel by the US, but it’s not clear where the system was during Iran’s drone and missile attacks in April and October, when multiple missiles penetrated defenses and reached their targets. The US has also deployed THAADs to South Korea and Romania. The US operates 7-8 THAAD batteries. Other operators include the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Where are Israel’s own defenses?

At first glance, reports of US plans to deploy the THAAD in Israel fly in the face of years of publicity about the capabilities of Israel’s own multilayered air and missile defense technology.

◾️ The newish Rafael/Raytheon David’s Sling, for example, features a similar terminal kinetic interceptor concept, a 250-300 km firing range, but only a 15 km max altitude. Its supermaneuverable kill vehicles accelerate to speeds up to Mach 7.5, and have a reported price of $1 mln apiece.

◾️ The Arrow family of ABMs includes the Arrow 2 and 3 interceptors, designed to shoot down short, medium and intermediate-range missiles, and featuring either kill vehicle or blast warhead, a 90-150 km (Arrow 2) to 2,400 km (Arrow 3) range, an exo-atmospheric flight ceiling, a Mach 9+ flight speed, and a price of $3.5 mln (Arrow 2) or $62 mln (Arrow 3).

◾️ Arrows were reportedly deployed during the April and October Iranian strikes on Israel, with the David’s Sling reportedly used during the latter attack, with all three systems proving insufficient to stop Iranian missiles from getting through.

If anything, the potential US THAAD deployment could be a symbolic display of continued American support for Israel – whose missile defenses proved overwhelmed by 200 Iranian ballistic missiles (out of an arsenal of thousands), despite the need to defend less than 22,000 sq. km of land area (i.e. an area about the size of New Jersey).

👉 Part 1

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EXPOSED: P.Diddy’s US Deep State Connection

Former P Diddy bodyguard Gene Deal revealed shocking details of rapper's ties to FBI:

Host: “Do you think Diddy was an FBI informant? You think the feds had him?”

Gene Deal: “I think that they knew about him a long time ago. And in certain situations that came out, like this guy paperworked, found some information where Puff was seeing a federal agent in DC. And it popped up. He had an appointment with a federal agent in DC.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Sputnik that the US political elites knew about the crimes P Diddy comitted but turned a blind eye to them. She said the scandal was not merely a problem, but a catastrophe and what has been revealed is just the tip of the iceberg.

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The Pentagon confirmed that, on President Joe Biden's decision, the US will send a THAAD mobile ground-based missile defense battery to Israel along with a crew of US personnel.

The decision came in response to recent missile attacks on Israel from Iran.

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Britain may face reparations worth £200bn for role in colonial slave trade

A group of 15 Caribbean countries may be seeking reparations to the tune of at least £206b ($270b) from Britain for its role in the slave trade, the Daily Mail reported.

The issue of reparations will be on the table at the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Samoa on October 21-25.

Footing a bill of that scale, even in part, would “bankrupt Britain," noted the outlet in a hand-wringing moment.

The publication speculated whether British Prime Minister Keir Starmer would be able to “rebuff the entire Caribbean.” It further and slammed the “questionable” calculations of a report by US-based consultancy Brattle Group, which claimed £206b would be the “cheap option” for the UK. 

More than 30 countries can expect Western states to pay reparations for the transatlantic slave trade, the Report on Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery in the Americas and the Caribbean, published in 2023, noted.

In March, the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) agreed to put the issue of “reparatory justice” on the table at the CHOGM. 

“When we meet in Samoa, the Caribbean leaders [will] very forcefully speak to the Commonwealth as one voice. And there is one particular country with a new king and a Labor government with an outstanding mandate, and we look forward to the reaction in October,” stated Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Keith Rowley in August. 

Reparations for slavery and colonialism should be an inherent part of a new "global reset," Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who is leading the reparation demands from the West Indies nations, declared in an address at the 79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in September. 

The Barbados PM noted in a recent tweet that she had held a telephone conversation with King Charles III earlier in October to discuss the matter. Both the British monarch and Starmer are expected to attend the CHOGM gathering.

After gaining full independence in 1966, Barbados transitioned from a constitutional monarchy to a republic in November 2021. It became the fifth Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country to replace Britain’s then monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, as its head of state.

In recent years, the Caribbean states have increasingly spoken out on the need for Great Britain to pay reparations for its slave trade, which was actively promoted by London in the 17th and 18th centuries. 

At the previous Commonwealth summit in Rwanda in 2022, then heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, expressed "sorrow" over the “most painful period of our history" but failed to offer an explicit verbal apology to the residents of the former colonies.

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🇮🇱🇱🇧 IDF halts Beirut air strikes after Biden's call, but Southern Lebanon still under fire
 
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have not conducted any more air strikes on Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, since US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by telephone on October 9, Israeli news site Ynet claimed.
 
Biden reportedly pressured Netanyahu to scale down Israel's attacks on densely-populated civilian areas in and around Beirut.
 
While affirming “Israel’s right to protect its citizens from Hezbollah,” Biden emphasised “the need to minimise harm to civilians, in particular in the densely populated areas of Beirut.”
 
Ynet said that is the first lull in the fighting since Iran's missile strike on Israel on October 1. 

Israeli jets last attacked central Beirut on Thursday in a failed attempt to eliminate senior Hezbollah member Wafiq Safa, leaving 22 dead and over 100 injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
 
While the IDF is not bombing Beirut, it has not stopped air strikes on southern Lebanon.
 
Biden also urged Netanyahu to be “proportional” in his response to Iran's massive ballistic missile attack two weeks ago, in what the White House described as a "productive" discussion.
 
The US president also stressed the need for a “diplomatic arrangement” between the two sides. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday to reinforce “the need to pivot from military operations in Lebanon to a diplomatic pathway as soon as feasible,” according to a Pentagon statement. Austin expressed “deep concern” about reports that Israeli forces had fired on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon in recent days.
 
Israel escalated its military operations against the Hezbollah movement in the past few weeks. Russia has blamed Washington for rising tensions in the Middle East, calling the Biden administration’s policies in the region “a complete failure."

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🇮🇷⚔️ Iran has ‘no red lines’ for defending its interests, seeks peace but is ready for war

💬 “The US has been delivering a record amount of arms to Israel. It is now also putting the lives of its troops at risk by deploying them to operate US missile systems in Israel. While we have made tremendous efforts in recent days to contain an all-out war in our region, I say it clearly that we have no red lines in defending our people and interests,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in an X post on Sunday.

The foreign minister accompanied the post with a chart from a recently published study by Brown University’s Costs of War project, showing that US military aid to Israel over the past year has been higher than any other year since the Jewish State’s creation in 1948.

In a related development, Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder confirmed on Sunday that the US would deploy a THAAD missile defence system to Israel.

Separately Sunday, in a joint press conference with Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussein in Baghdad, Araghchi reiterated Iran’s preparedness for conflict, even as Tehran continues to seek a peaceful resolution to seething regional tensions.

“We are fully prepared for a war situation. We are not afraid of war, but we do not want war, and we will make efforts for a just peace in Gaza and Lebanon,” the Iranian top diplomat said.

“The region is in a state of alarm, and the likelihood of an outbreak of clashes is very high, which is rooted in the Zionist regime’s crimes,” the foreign minister added, pointing to the ongoing conflict “which started in Gaza and has now spread to Lebanon and is likely to be spread to other regional countries.”

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🇰🇵 The General Staff of the DPRK has ordered artillery units along the border onto high alert.

The DPRK's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on Friday that South Korea had launched drones over Pyongyang on three occasions to disseminate leaflets since last week, calling it a military provocation and a violation of sovereignty.

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◻️ The Pentagon confirmed that the US will send a THAAD battery to Israel but What is THAAD and why might Israel want them?

◻️ Iran has ‘no red lines’ for defending its interests, seeks peace but is ready for war

◻️ Ukrainian recruiters’ mass raids on public venues sign of serious problems at the front – expert

◻️ Serbia is considering joining the BRICS group of emerging economies as an alternative to EU membership

◻️ Britain may face reparations worth £200bn for role in colonial slave trade

◻️ EXPOSED: P.Diddy’s US Deep State Connection

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"Freedom Comes from the East": Slovak MEP honors Russian WWII sacrifices in Moscow

Disturbed by growing Russophobia in the West, Slovak MEP Lubos Blaha, former Deputy Speaker of the Slovak Parliament and Deputy Leader of the ruling Social Democratic SMER-SD party, arrived in Moscow to express his gratitude to the Russian people for the tremendous sacrifices they made during World War II to defeat fascism.

"The Russian people liberated us from fascism and made incredible sacrifices for us. I came to thank you," Blaha said in a video posted on his social media.

Together with Slovak students studying at MGIMO (the Moscow State Institute of International Relations), Blaha laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the Monument to Marshal Zhukov.

"Fascism and war come from the West, while freedom and peace come from the East," he said.

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EU’s fate as wilting geopolitical player sealed by years of short-sighted policy

💬 “The European project is approaching a tipping point” and threatens to fall into geopolitical irrelevance thanks to internal “political paralysis, external threats and economic malaise,” Bloomberg suggested in a wistful ode to the EU’s unenviable political and economic prospects.

“After decades of warnings and sub-par growth, the region’s leaders are suddenly confronting a barrage of evidence that decline is becoming unstoppable,” the piece, appearing on business news agency’s front page on Sunday, warned.

Pointing to a string of political and economic ‘bad news’ for Europe’s Europhile forces, from gains by the populist right in France to German carmaker giant Volkswagen’s threats to close factories, to Silicon Valley’s exit from European markets over stringent AI rules, the outlet suggested that the developments demonstrate “the EU’s failure to act as a cohesive and dynamic economic bloc” against adversaries and allies alike.

“If you wanted to be a geopolitical power, then economic might is the key ingredient,” Free University in Brussels professor Guntram Wolff told the outlet, stressing that in Europe, “productivity growth has just been a disaster.”

Bloomberg recalled surprisingly frank comments by Emmanuel Macron at a panel in Germany earlier this month, where the French president highlighted the “risk” the bloc faces of finding itself “out of the market” if it continues its current approach, and cited the loss of cheap Russian energy supplies after 2022, combined with Washington’s moves to lure European industries out of the bloc via subsidies, as keys to undermining the EU’s competitiveness.

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