Commander of Hezbollah rockets array eliminated - IDF

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it had eliminated the commander of the Hezbollah Nasser unit's missiles and rockets array, Jaafar Khader Faour, by a precision strike on southern Lebanon.

"An IAF [Israeli Air Force] fighter jet conducted a targeted strike in the area of Jouaiyya in southern Lebanon and eliminated the commander of Hezbollah's Nasser Unit missiles and rockets array, the terrorist Jaafar Khader Faour, as well as the commander of the drones array in the unit," the IDF wrote on X.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

😡Farmers slam UK Environmental Secretary for his £420 wellies
 
Against the background of increasing inheritance tax for farmers, the British people are chastizing the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed, for his choice of boots: he wore not ordinary wellies but leather-lined Le Chameau “Chasseur” boots, priced at a whopping £420, the Telegraph reports.
 
At the same time, among the directors of Le Chameau is a donor who has pledged tens of thousands of pounds to Labour ministers, including the prime minister himself.
 

"Reed’s boots have become a symbol of a government completely detached from rural reality," the newspaper writes.

 
Agricultural workers did not appreciate the minister's attempts to be close to the people amid the cuts in benefits for farmers under the new budget of the British government.
 

“You’ll never see a farmer who wears £400 wellies, because we’re getting them covered in muck every day,” says Aled Thomas, a farmer and Conservative councillor in Pembrokeshire, Wales.

 

“They’re absolutely not the kind of wellies a farmer would wear,” says Andrew Court, a farmer from Staffordshire. “Anything above £100 is not really appropriate for farming. If you want to make the right impression with people, you probably want a more practical, down-to-earth welly.”

 
Earlier, the chancellor announced plans to scale back the agricultural relief on land valued at more than £1mln.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇻🇪US elections: What should Venezuela expect?
 
The US approach to Venezuela could follow a line of continuity regardless of who wins the election, Sergio Rodríguez Gelfenstein, expert in international and global relations, told Sputnik.
 
🔴 Trump's possible policy:
 
However, Donald Trump could open a “little window of opportunity” for Venezuela, Gelfenstein believes.
 
This possible opening does not arise from a change in perception towards Venezuela but rather from Trump's pragmatic nature, who, as a businessman, makes decisions based on immediate economic interests.
 
As per Gelfenstein, Venezuela could be seen by Trump as an attractive option due to its geographical proximity and the possibility it provides for the US to obtain oil without incurring high military security costs.
 
🔵 Kamala Harris' approach:
 
As for Kamala Harris, Gelfenstein foresees continuity without major changes in the policy towards Venezuela.
 
In his opinion, Harris would probably follow Biden's approach in preserving sanctions and maintaining a rigid stance in relation to the government of Nicolas Maduro.
 

“If Kamala Harris wins, everything will continue the same,” he says.

🌏 The US and the influence of other global powers in Latin America:
 
Gelfenstein perceives the US claims about the expanding influence of Russia, China, and Iran in Latin America as America's unwillingness to reduce its military presence in the region.
 
The expert considers it unlikely for Venezuela to yield to US pressure and reduce its ties with these strategic allies.
 

"Venezuela is not going to limit its relations with China, with Russia, and with Iran, (simply) because the United States wants it. Venezuela has an independent foreign policy; it decides who its strategic allies are,” Rodríguez Gelfestein concluded.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Russian troops liberated the village of Vishnevoye in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry announced

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

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

▪️Daily losses of Ukrainian troops in the area of responsibility of the Zapad Battlegroup amounted to 460 militants;

▪️ Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 520 militants in one day in the area of responsibility of the Yug Battlegroup;

▪️ Ukrainian losses amounted more than 105 militants and a French-made self-propelled Caesar gun in the area of responsibility of Russia's Vostok Battlegroup;

▪️Russian air defenses shot down four ATACMS missiles, a HIMARS missile and 47 Ukrainian drones in one day;

▪️Due to the actions of the Tsentr Battlegroup, Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 500 militants, a tank and a UK-made Spartan armored personnel carrier in one day;

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 30 militants in the area of the Sever Battlegroup in the Kharkov region in one day;

▪️Ukrainian losses amounted to more than 60 militants in the area of responsibility of the Dnepr Battlegroup.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️Ukrainian forces lost more than 150 soldiers in Russia's Kursk region in one day, and more than 29,250 militants during the entire period of military operations in this region, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Piranha 5: Russia rolls out ‘pocket drone’ for combat missions

Engineers from the Russian special design bureau, Piranha, created an advanced combat training mini-drone, which has already been mass produced. What should you know about the Piranha 5 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and how does it help Russian servicemen?

FPV: Piranha 5 is a first-person view (FPV) kamikaze drone, which means that it is equipped with a camera that wirelessly transmits video feed to a pair of goggles, a headset, a mobile device, or another device. As a result, an operator has a first-person view of the environment where the drone flies and may capture video or still images.

Small and fast: The 12-centimeter drone, which weighs just 300 grams and has a payload mass of 1 kilogram, is capable of flying at a speed of 200 kilometers per hour. The range is up to 3 kilometers.

The drone will become a "flying school desk" for future FPV drone operators, a Piranya spokesperson told Russian media, touting the Piranha 5’s fairly simple design, which they said would help the operators study the structure and main components of the drone to master its repair.

Sharky: Thanks to its light weight and high-load capacity, the Piranha 5 can also be used to storm objects with limited space, the spokesperson said, adding that this “pocket drone” is best suited for performing tasks within a radius of 1-3 km.

“A serviceman can take three or four such drones on a mission. All you need is to launch the already equipped Piranha 5 to check a forest, a trench, or a communication route. If the desired object is found, you can destroy it; if not, put the drone back into your pocket and continue to perform tasks, the spokesperson noted, adding that this mini-drone is effective in clearing premises, both for surveillance and for striking the desired targets.

Notably, the drone pertains to the Piranha drone family, which was used by Russian forces to destroy Ukraine’s first US-made M1 Abrams tank in the special operation zone.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹🇪🇸 The King and Queen of Spain were pelted with stones and mud during a visit to Valencia as floods hit the country, killing more than 200 people

Video from social media

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 ‘It’s gotta stop’: Trump calls for an end to the war in Gaza during a campaign stop in Michigan

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Why do Westerners choose to live and raise their families in Russia?

The long-standing propaganda narrative peddled by the West about Russia supposedly being a place no one in their right mind would move to has been dealt a serious blow by a veritable exodus of Western conservatives to the country.

Since 2021, some 3,500 people from the West have moved to Russia, with 31% of them coming from Germany, 25% from Latvia “and the rest, in descending order, from Italy, France, the USA, Canada and Australia,” according to The Spectator.

What are the reasons for these people to put down their roots in Russia?

Many of the more recent arrivals fled from “compulsory Covid vaccinations” in their countries of origin, the magazine notes, citing Maria Butina, a Russian MP who heads the effort to help Westerners settle in Russia.

There are also conservative Christians who would prefer to raise their children away from the intrusive “woke” ideology and LGBT* values that permeate Western culture and society.

Another group consists of those who fled from political persecution by agencies such as the FBI.

And then there are simply those who regard Russia as a land of opportunity unlike the stagnating West.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹Sputnik asked Russian taxi drivers what they think about the US elections and who, in their opinion, has a better chance of winning - Trump or Harris.

Western readers are delighted with Russian taxi drivers' answers!

▪️"Russian taxi drivers are smarter and realistic than American politicians."

▪️"People KNOW!!! The whole world knows!"

▪️"Great answers, each answer has truth in it, Russia has a well-informed public!"

▪️"Wise words from the drivers! Same circus, different clowns."

▪️"Ordinary Russians seem to be much more switched on to what is happening than your average westerner."

Haven't you watched the video yet? 👉🏻 WATCH IT NOW!

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Only half of 101 Israeli hostages held in Gaza Strip still alive - reports

About half of 101 Israelis who have been held hostage by Palestinian movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip for over a year now are still alive, Israeli daily reported, citing intelligence assessments and open source data.

The Israeli authorities estimate that 101 hostages remain in Hamas captivity, while 154 others, including the bodies of the deceased, have been returned.

Hamas is estimated to be still holding 51 living hostages. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu was cited as saying at a parliamentary commission meeting on foreign affairs and security in September that only half of the hostages were believed to be alive. Only 37 hostages were officially declared dead, and their bodies are still being held in the Gaza Strip.

The information comes from open data sources and intelligence assessments, but it does not allow the Israeli government to make official statements on the matter, the daily reported.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt