🔸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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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🇷🇺🪖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.

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🤪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.

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❗️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.

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

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❗️❗️❗️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.

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❗️❗️❗️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."

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🔥 A US-made Stryker armored personnel carrier used by Ukrainian forces was destroyed by a Russian drone strike in the Kharkov region, according to the Russian Defense Ministry

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❗️Hezbollah says it fired rockets at a military base in northern Israel

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❗️❗️❗️Assange’s father: BRICS surpassing US and Europe in global economic power

"BRICS is the rest of the world, manifestly abandoning the United States," John Shipton, Julian Assange's father, told Sputnik as he highlighted the bloc's growing global influence. He pointed out that BRICS represents 45% of the world's population and 34% of global GDP, while the G7 lags behind.

Shipton emphasized the importance of industrial growth within BRICS nations, which he views as the foundation of a strong economy. In contrast, he criticized the West for neglecting industrial development, leading Europe into an "unnatural, unavoidable decline," though he noted a glimmer of hope for the US due to emerging re-industrialization efforts.

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.

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