🔸 2024 BRICS Summit in Kazan: Putin’s busy itinerary and key diplomatic discussions to look out for

🔸 BRICS economic dominance is taking shape, and the West can do nothing about it – French politician

🔸 How much of the world’s gold reserves are held by BRICS nations?

🔸 Four people killed, 24 injured in Israeli strikes near Rafik Hariri University Hospital

🔸 UK to give Ukraine $2.93 bln as part of G7 loan secured by frozen Russian assets – government

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📹 Footage from the scene of Israel’s overnight bombardment of the Jnah neighborhood on the southern outskirts of Beirut, near Rafik Hariri University Hospital.

Four people, including a child, were killed and more than 30 injured, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Debris removal is still ongoing.

Video from social media

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US makes frantic last-ditch effort at Mideast diplomatic headway before looming election

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has embarked upon a Middle East tour as Washington makes a last-ditch attempt at pushing Israel towards some semblance of a negotiation process before the US presidential election.

The itinerary of the week-long visit takes Blinken first to Israel on Tuesday, then on to Jordan and Qatar.

Blinken has been tasked with discussing how to bring an end to Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, humanitarian assistance for the devastated enclave, and "day after" plans, such as security, governance, and reconstruction for the region after the fighting ends, a senior State Department official told reporters.

Regarding Israel’s aggression against Lebanon, where the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have been targeting the Shia Hezbollah movement, Blinken will reportedly focus on how to secure a diplomatic resolution to the conflict. He will reportedly also take up with Israel its expected response to Iran's missile attack following Tehran’s October 1 ballistic missile strike. The Iranian attack on Israeli military and intelligence facilities came in response to a months-long series of Israeli provocations.

This will be the top US diplomat's 11th trip to the region since the events of October 7, 2023 triggered the full-blown Gaza war, which has left 42,600 people, including nearly 16,765 children, dead, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The administration of President Joe Biden has demonstrated its complete inability to resolve the spiraling crisis, while juggling military aid to its ally with warnings of cutting off any further deliveries unless the humanitarian situation in Gaza is improved.

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🇮🇳Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives for BRICS summit

Don't miss the upcoming livestream as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with President Putin for a pivotal bilateral discussion.

#BRICS2024

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🇿🇦President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived to the BRICS Summit in Russia's Kazan

Stay tuned not to miss the upcoming livestream of Putin - Ramaphosa bilateral meeting.

#BRICS2024

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❗️Overnight Israeli attack on southern Beirut leaves 13 dead, 57 injured

The death toll from last night's strike by Israel on the Jnah neighborhood in southern Beirut, near Rafik Hariri University Hospital, has risen to 13, with 57 others reported injured, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

A child was found among the dead, and seven of the injured are in critical condition.

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‘It’s a reality where people are afraid of expressing their opinions’ - Australian legal scholar

💬 “It was bad enough 10 years ago when I was trying to advise the government that Section 18C of the Discrimination Act was being used by highly intolerant individuals in order to make sure that their opinions could not be freely expressed without the person taking the risk of suffering severe persecution," Dr. Augusto Zimmermann, an internationally known legal scholar, broadly recognized as one of Australia’s strongest proponents of free speech, told Sputnik.

"But at this point things only got worse and some of my friends are being targets for the crime of opinion, especially if you hold conservative values,” Zimmerman said.

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‘Free speech is basically dying in the West’ - Australian legal scholar

The West’ sanctions campaign against Sputnik is part of a broader campaign against free speech, said Dr. Augusto Zimmermann, an internationally known legal scholar.

“It seems there is really an attempt to suppress any alternative information, and they are now construing this as a form of misinformation, which is basically anything that's not endorsed by the ruling classes,” said Zimmermann.

He added that journalism is “in dire straits in the West” due to a “fascistic reality, where the government imposes its view and persecutes very severely those who dare to express different opinions.”

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🤝 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa gets acquainted with Russia's custom of welcoming special guests

To taste a karavai (big loaf of bread) on arrival in Russia means to enter into friendly relations and share all worries with the receiving side.

And chak-chak is the national sweet of the Tatarstan region (where the 16-th BRICS summit is being held).

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🇨🇳President of China Xi Jinping has arrived to the BRICS Summit in Russia's Kazan

Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to hold talks today - stay tuned not to miss the upcoming livestream.

#BRICS2024

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🎥🎥 BRICS SUMMIT - DAY 1

👉Watch the livestream here or follow the link to Sputnik's website

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🗣At a meeting with Dilma Rousseff, head of the BRICS New Development Bank, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the institution as a promising and effective financial entity. Since 2018, the bank has financed projects totaling $33 billion.

"Since 2018, I think 100 projects have been financed for a total of $33 billion," Putin said.

Putin emphasized that increasing the use of BRICS national currencies for settlements will help reduce geopolitical risks and strengthen the economic resilience of member states.

#BRICS2024

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❗️Russian forces have liberated the settlement of Novosadovoye in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

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Assange’s father: ‘We make ourselves the example for others to join us and move forward’

WikiLeaks Party founder John Shipton, father of recently-freed journalist Julian Assange, has mapped out the path to a new age of freedom of speech.

“We can start work right now, on such reevaluation of values, and speak frankly to each other about subjects that concern us, and consequently this will ascend to a renewal that you desire,” Shipton told Sputnik.

“We make ourselves the example for others to join us and move forward, to ascend to a place where we become knowledgeable,” he added.

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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrives in Kazan to attend the BRICS summit

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📹Vladimir Putin welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kazan at the BRICS Summit

However, when Modi's interpreter began translating his greeting, Putin smiled and said, "Our relationship is so strong, I thought you understood everything without translation."

#BRICS2024

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🇷🇺🇮🇳During a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted the special privileged strategic partnership between Russia and India.

Putin emphasized the importance of cooperation with India within the BRICS framework, underscoring the strong ties between the two nations and their collaboration on key global issues.

#BRICS2024

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📹 Journalists are watching the speeches of Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi in the press center on the sidelines of the BRICS 2024 summit in Kazan, Russia.

#BRICS2024

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❗️The Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani, announced the elimination of the leader of ISIS* in the country, along with eight other high-ranking commanders of the group.

*a terrorist organization banned in Russia

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🗣The conflict between Russia and Ukraine must be resolved peacefully, and India is ready to provide all the possible assistance to this, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday.

"We are in regular contact regarding the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. As I have said before, we believe that problems should be resolved peacefully and we fully support the prompt restoration of peace and stability," Modi said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Russia's Kazan on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.

"In all our efforts, we give priority to humanity, and we are ready to provide any possible assistance in the future," Modi stated.

#BRICS2024

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