📹 Israel launched 17 strikes on southern Beirut - reports

Eyewitnesses managed to film the strikes at close range in the southern neighborhood of Laylaki. So far, there have been approximately 17 strikes, according to local media reports.

Footage from social media

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🥴 You’ve got it all wrong: “we gotta lock him up” actually means “lock him out politically” - White House

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre appeared visibly uncomfortable as she went to great lengths to claim that President Biden actually meant “lock him out politically” when he twice said “lock him up,” referring to former President Donald Trump.

“What did the president mean when he said last night about Donald Trump, ‘we gotta lock him up’?” a reporter asked Jean-Pierre.

“So, look, and the president spoke about this very clearly as well in his statement and he, and he said, uh, he meant ‘lock him out politically, politically, uh, lock him out.’ That’s what he said. And that’s what we have to do … let’s not forget, this is a president that has never shied away from being very clear,” Jean-Pierre insisted, seemingly flustered.

“Well, he first said twice, ‘lock him up.’ So you're saying when he said ‘lock him up,’ he meant...” the reporter continued to press.

“Well, it's not what I’m saying. It’s what he said. He said it to the audience, right? Exactly. He clarified himself. He wanted to make sure that things were put into context,” Jean-Pierre frantically tried to convince the press pool, contradicting Biden’s own words with her strained explanation.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ ‘I had to laugh at the pathetic attempts at smearing me’ – MP fires back at pressure from Australian authorities (Part 1 👉 Part 2)

Following his powerful interview with Sputnik, Adrian McRae, businessman and member of the Town of Port Hedland Council in Australia, has been urged to resign by Western Australia Premier Roger Cook in a desperate attempt to silence him.

“Earlier this week, before the Premier had heard I was in Russia, he suggested that the entire Town of Port Hedland Council should get back to "knitting" when we demanded him to show us evidence that the Covid-19 vaccines were safe… So, instead of acting like a true leader, ... he attacks me personally and resorts to ad-hominem - the last refuge of a failed argument. I feel sorry for him actually. I don't know what I'd do if I was in his shoes,” McRae told Sputnik, explaining Cook’s “contempt” towards him and “all West Australian Councilors.”

On Wednesday, the Premier called for the resignation of McRae, labeling him "an embarrassment" after his interview with Sputnik, ABC reported. In the interview, the businessman criticized Australian and Western media for biased coverage of Russia and challenged the narrative portraying Moscow as the enemy.

McRae warned that free speech is under threat in the West, while BRICS countries still offer hope for its protection. As an observer in the 2024 Russian presidential election, McRae praised the transparency of the process, drawing heavy criticism from Australian media.

👉 Part 2

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ ‘I am not too concerned about the Premier and his childish temper tantrums’ – Australian businessman and politician (Part 2 👉 Part 1)

Adrian McRae, businessman and member of the Town of Port Hedland Council, has come under fire from Western Australia Premier Roger Cook and the biased Western political establishment for boldly speaking the truth in his interview with Sputnik.

"It's simple. The Premier is using the boogeyman of Russia to attempt to ruin my character in hopes of people forgetting about the important questions my entire Council has asked him regarding the mRNA vaccine contamination. He is deflecting the subject to the best of his very limited ability and making an absolute fool of himself in the process," McRae told Sputnik, explaining why Cook has gone to such lengths to smear him.

Despite the Premier’s desperate attempts to suppress the council member, McRae remains a strong voice against Western censorship and political corruption, with Sputnik delivering the uncensored truth that the West fears.

"Sadly for the Premier, I have truth and science on my side. He, on the other hand, has nothing but a dying prostitute media and a really poor noscriptwriter. So no, I am not too concerned about the Premier and his childish temper tantrums," McRae said confidently, undeterred by the threats from the Western Australia Premier.

👉 Part 1

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Why is Bill Gates backing Kamala Harris using dark money super PAC? (Part 1 👉 Part 2)

Tech billionaire and WEF cheerleader Bill Gates has given Kamala Harris’s campaign a $50 mln boost using dark money super PAC Future Forward. The donation was intended to remain secret, but was uncovered by NYT this week.

What’s Future Forward?

Set up in 2018 by ex-Obama campaign staffers and funding a massive pro-Biden media blitz in 2020, Future Forward is a super PAC funded mostly by Big Tech and venture capital firms, including Meta*, Google, disgraced crypto financier Sam Bankman-Fried, Bain Capital and Bridgewater Associates.

➖ The super PAC has raised a whopping $700 mln in 2024, rolling out $75 mln in pro-Harris ads last week.

What’s behind Gates’ ‘generosity’?

➖ 2024 is at least the second election cycle where Gates has used a dark money vehicle to support the Democratic Party’s candidate. In 2020, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed nearly $70 mln to the New Venture Fund, a nonprofit bankrolling the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which raised nearly $390 mln four years ago. Publicly, Gates and his now former wife also gave $500,000 to Biden’s inaugural committee.

➖ Mr. Gates has been an active supporter of Democratic candidates since at least 2008, contributing financially to and praising the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

➖ Gates’ ties to the Clintons are deeply rooted, with the billionaire becoming a top donor to the Clinton Foundation, and forging partnerships with the organization since at least 2013.

In a telling interview in 2016 in which he explained his preference for Clinton, Gates said that “whether it’s GMOs or vaccines, there’s a lot of people out there who don’t give science the benefit of the doubt. In terms of experience, Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton have more experience in global health.”

*banned in Russia for extremism

👉 Part 2

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Why is Bill Gates backing Kamala Harris using dark money super PAC? (Part 2 👉 Part 1)

How has Gates profited off the Democratic Party’s agenda?

➖ With Harris’ presidential bid expected to broadly continue the Biden/Clinton line on foreign and domestic policy, it makes sense for Gates to throw his influence behind the VP, given the perceived threat of the Trump brand of red-pill MAGA Republicans and their anti-vax, anti-tech, and anti-interventionist leanings.

“This election is different, with unprecedented significance for Americans and the most vulnerable people around the world,” Gates said this week after info about his $50 mln donation leaked out.

“I think it’s great to have somebody who’s younger, who can think about things like AI and how we shape that in the right way, and I certainly offer up my opinions to the politicians who are interested,” Gates said this summer after Biden dropped out and named Harris his successor.

➖ The Gates Foundation’s fortunes got a big boost under Biden, with its endowment growing from $69 bln in 2020 to $75.2 bln in 2023.

➖ Gates enjoyed a profits bonanza off mRNA coronavirus vaccines mandated by the Biden administration. In 2022, he sold off shares of BioNTech stocks he bought in 2019 as sales slowed. His foundation has also owned shares in Pfizer, CureVac and Vir Biotech going back to well before the pandemic.

The billionaire’s foundation supports the Global Virome Project – an ambitious initiative created in 2018 to predict pathogens that could trigger lethal pandemics, but accused of weaponizing viruses from a network of 150 biolabs worldwide.

➖ Gates has also backed an array of World Economic Forum-affiliated initiatives, including projects to reduce emissions and create synthetic meat and dairy. In 2022, The Seattle Times revealed Gates’ secret lobbying support to save Biden’s signature $2+ trln Build Back Better social and climate spending package.

👉 Part 1

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇧🇴 President of Bolivia Luis Arce has arrived in Russia's Kazan to take part in the 16th BRICS summit and have talks with President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

#BRICS2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🌍🌍🌍 Summit Day 3: What to look out for

On the final day of the BRICS Summit, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will take part in a plenary meeting in the Outreach/BRICS Plus extended format, set to be attended by delegates from nearly 40 countries representing the Global South and heads of multilateral organizations.

Discussions, which will take place in the form of a meeting and then continue at the dinner table, are expected to focus on global economy, sustainable development, peaceful conflict settlement, and fighting terrorism.

Russia’s president will then sum up the results of the BRICS Summit at a press conference and answer questions from journalists.

After the news conference, Putin will continue his marathon of bilateral meetings.

🔸 Russia’s president will meet with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to focus on international problems as well as issues relating to the United Nations’ activities.

🔸 Vladimir Putin will have talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss both bilateral cooperation and the current situation in the Middle East.

🔸 Putin will meet with Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, Mauritania’s president and head of the African Union.

🔸 The Russian leader will also have bilateral meetings with Bolivian President Luis Arce, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith.

#BRICS2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🛰🛰🛰🛰 LIVESTREAM UPCOMING: BRICS SUMMIT - DAY 3

The final day of the 16th BRICS summit in Russia’s Kazan, starting with a plenary meeting in the Outreach/BRICS Plus extended format.

🤝 On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to hold talks with:

🇺🇳 Antonio Guterres - United Nations Secretary-General

🇵🇸 Mahmoud Abbas - Palestinian Authority President

🇲🇷 Mohamed Ould Ghazouani - Mauritania’s president and head of the African Union

🇧🇴 Luis Arce - President of Bolivia

🇻🇳 Pham Minh Chinh - Prime Minister of Vietnam

🇱🇦 Thongloun Sisoulith - President of Laos

Stay tuned so you won't miss it!

#BRICS2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🤝 Pakistan expects to join BRICS in near future - Prime Minister's coordinator

Pakistan expects to join BRICS in the near future, Coordinator to Pakistani Prime Minister on Implementation and Monitoring Rana Ihsaan Afzal Khan told Sputnik on Thursday.

💬 "Well, Pakistan is hopeful and has requested BRICS to include Pakistan. I think in the near future we will be in BRICS and, obviously, BRICS is a strong forum representing a major part of the world economy. So, I think Pakistan should be part of BRICS, and we are hopeful that our request will be entertained," the coordinator said.

Pakistan also plans to increase oil imports from Russia, Rana Ihsaan Afzal Khan noted.

"So, we see in the upcoming days that the trade, the import of crude from Russia will be on an increase," he said.

#BRICS2024

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Hamas has not yet chosen a new leader following the death of its politburo chief Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip, discussions are ongoing, the Palestinian movement's deputy politburo head Musa Abu Marzouk told Sputnik.

He noted that the name of the movement’s new leader would be officially announced and not kept secret for security reasons.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt