Moldovans vote in presidential election and EU membership referendum in Moscow

A large queue of Moldovan citizens who want to vote in the referendum and presidential elections lined up in front of the Moldovan Embassy in the center of Russia's capital, Moscow.

Voters express dissatisfaction with the Moldovan authorities due to the fact that compatriots living in European countries have been given more opportunities to vote.

Polling stations for voting in the Moldovan presidential election and the EU referendum have started across the country.

Half a million Moldovans live in Russia, yet Chisinau has opened only two polling sites in Moscow.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Hamas will not cease activities after Sinwar's death, Iranian Foreign Minister believes

The murder of Hamas political chief Yahya Sinwar will not be a reason for the Palestinian movement to cease its activities, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi believes.

"Sinwar's death will not stop Hamas' activities, but will only strengthen the movement's determination and motivate Palestinian youth," Araghchi said in an interview with the Turkish broadcaster NTV.

He emphasized that there was a risk of conflict in many countries in the region, including Syria.

"Israel is not capable of existing without US assistance, is not capable of committing crimes in Gaza and Lebanon without the United States. All the weapons used there are from the US. If Washington had real political will, they would be able to stop the attacks and stop Israel. For us, the US is an ally of the Zionists. If a large-scale war breaks out in the region, the US will be drawn into it, we do not want this at all. The war may spread to the Gulf countries. But I am sure that there is still a chance for diplomacy, we cannot leave everything to the will of one person in the Zionist regime," Araghchi noted.

Sinwar was killed by a gunshot wound to the head, CNN reported earlier, citing pathologist Chen Kugel, who conducted the autopsy on the Hamas chief.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

BRICS possesses 20% of global gold reserves, Russia and China lead pack

BRICS countries now control over 20% of the world's gold reserves, according to calculations by Sputnik, based on data from the World Gold Council.

Russia tops the list with 2.34 thousand tons, holding 8.1% of global reserves, while China follows closely with 2.26 thousand tons. Together, they make up 74% of BRICS' gold reserves.

The remaining BRICS members — India, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Egypt, South Africa, and the UAE — each account for less than 3% of global reserves, with India leading the group at 840 tons.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🔸US reportedly probing intelligence leak on Israel’s preparations to attack Iran

🔸Iranian FM: Sinwar’s death will only strengthen Hamas’ determination

🔸Moldovans living in Russia queue outside embassy in Moscow to cast votes in presidential election

🔸Will US go ahead with nuclear subcritical experiments?

🔸Who has the largest gold reserves among BRICS countries?

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The Israeli Air Force has launched two strikes on the Haret Hreik municipality near the Bahman Hospital in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanese media reported.

One of the strikes hit a residential building in the vicinity of the Bahman Hospital, the Lebanese National News Agency reported.

On Saturday, a Sputnik correspondent reported that the southern suburbs of Beirut were subjected to 10 Israeli airstrikes, which destroyed several residential buildings.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

New Development Bank can offer ‘tremendous opportunities’ for BRICS economies – expert 

BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) must concentrate on enabling private sectors to drive economic progress, Alasdair Macleod, an independent economist specializing in money and credit, told Sputnik. 

The NDB can introduce a “tremendous scale of opportunities” to economies of BRICS members, which undoubtedly "have enormous growth potential", according to Macleod. 

“An emphasis on infrastructure - road, rail, electricity, shipping and communications, including data - with local private sector partners will allow the NDB to spearhead a new industrial revolution,” he pointed out.

 

“This must be done on a commercial basis, and I would hope the NDB will not just make credit available, but also act as a ‘venture capitalist’, taking equity stakes as part of a financing package and introducing businesses to each other proactively across the bank’s network. This will require a network of local offices,” the economist concluded. 

In an address to the BRICS Business Forum in Moscow on September 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the NDB should become one of the main investors in major technological and infrastructural projects both within BRICS, and the Global South as a whole. NDB President Dilma Rousseff earlier announced plans to transform NDB into “an important bank” for developing countries and emerging markets. “Our focus has to be: a bank made by developing countries for themselves,” she emphasized.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Israeli fighter jets struck a command center belonging to Hezbollah’s intelligence division and an underground weapon manufacturing site in Beirut this morning, the IDF says.

Separate strikes in southern Lebanon targeted and killed three prominent Hezbollah operatives.

The IDF identified them as al-Hajj Abbas Salameh, a senior member of Hezbollah’s Southern Front; Reda Abbas Ouda, a communications specialist; and Ahmed Ali Hussain, a member responsible for weapons manufacturing.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Observers at the elections in Moldova have already received more than 170 incident reports at polling stations. The reports pertained to voting violations, with 34 of them confirmed. 

That ballot boxes were not sealed was among the violations reported.

The leader of the Victory political bloc, Ilan Shor, said his lawyers are preparing violation complaints on voting day in Moldova due to the presence of EU flags at polling stations, which could be considered a form of campaigning.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian MoD’s daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

🔸The Russian Yug Battlegroup defeated a Ukrainian brigade in the area of Dobrovolye settlement in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), and repelled one counterattack. Ukrainian losses amounted to 645 militants during the day.

🔸Ukrainian forces lost up to 90 soldiers in the area of responsibility of the Russian Sever combat group;

🔸The Russian Tsentr Battlegroup defeated five Ukrainian brigades in the DPR and repelled nine counterattacks. Ukrainian losses amounted to 460 soldiers;

🔸Ukrainian losses in the area of responsibility of the Russian Zapad combat group amounted to more than 450 militants;

🔸The Russian Dnepr Battlegroup destroyed two Ukrainian ammunition depots. Ukrainian losses amounted to 50 servicemen;

🔸The Russian air defense systems shot down five HIMARS shells and 142 Ukrainian drones.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤪Gargle, Rinse, Repeat

US Presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, Kamala Harris, was caught red-handed in giving the same speeches at her rallies again… and again.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Over the past 24 hours, Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 310 militants in Russia's Kursk region, and nine armored vehicles have also been destroyed, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. In total, during the fighting in the region, Kiev has lost more than 25,050 militants and 167 tanks.

Russia's Sever Battlegroup continued its offensive operations, and Ukrainian forces were defeated in the ten populated areas.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The march of the Immortal Regiment in the capital of Serbia in honor of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belgrade.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️❗️❗️Assange’s father extends gratitude to Putin for defending his son in 2012

John Shipton, Julian Assange's father, has thanked President Vladimir Putin, noting that in 2012, Putin was the first head of state to defend Assange’s rights as a publisher and journalist. At a time when Assange faced relentless smears from the US, UK, and Australia, Shipton acknowledged Putin's support.

"For that, I extend my affection to your president," he told Sputnik.

Shipton, founder of Australia's now-defunct Wikileaks Party, arrived in Moscow on Saturday night at the invitation of the BRICS Journalists Association and its co-chair Mira Terada, a human rights advocate and publicist.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️❗️❗️Assange’s father: Color revolutions and information control threaten global stability

John Shipton, the father of Julian Assange, warned about the dangers of information control and the role of "color revolutions" in destabilizing nations during a discussion on the implications of his son’s case for independent journalism.

Shipton highlighted that the information Wikileaks exposed over the years has shown "how the United States' empire instituted itself into the states that it wishes to have as vessels or goes about destroying those states."

He emphasized that color revolutions are often fueled by the manipulation of information, with NGOs and journalists being used to undermine a country’s stability.

According to Shipton, these revolutions are clear examples of how controlling information can shape regime changes without regard for people’s interests, as seen in Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

He noted, "We can clearly see without any doubt what happens when people control or institutions... determined to regime change a state without the interests of the people in mind."

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt