❗️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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F-35’s ascent and nosedive: Costliest US warplane project hits fresh turbulence
 
The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fifth-gen supersonic stealth strike fighter just can’t seem to catch a break, with a report released Monday by the Government Accountability Office finding the jet woefully below mission-ready status for six straight years—i.e., every year that the Congressional watchdog has conducted its reviews.
 
The GAO blamed the readiness shortfall on “challenges with depot and organizational maintenance” and overreliance on contractors who essentially hold the Pentagon hostage with astronomical sustainment costs (which jumped from $1.1 trillion in FY2018 to $1.58 trillion in FY2023). The Navy and Air Force are set to take control of sustainment to get a grip on the situation, but not until FY2027.
 
◻️ The GAO estimates that only about 55% of the F-35’s three variants are mission-ready at any given time, with mission readiness requiring the ability to “fly and perform at least one mission.” 

◻️ With a per-unit cost of nearly $100M and a projected lifetime cost of over $2T, the F-35 program is by far the most expensive military project in history. 

◻️ Lockheed proceeded with the F-35’s development by taking cues from the Yak-43/141 VTOL jet—a Soviet carrier strike aircraft project scrapped in 1991. The X-35 first flew in 2000, and the F-35A in 2006. 

◻️ But the F-35’s makers have proven unable to work out all the kinks in the plane, with the GAO issuing report after report citing hundreds of flaws, including mission-critical defects that could injure or kill pilots or otherwise jeopardize the aircraft’s safety. 

◻️ These problems range from faulty landing gear and vibrating fuel tubes to fragile electro-optical targeting equipment, canopy delamination issues and weather sensitivity, engine heat issues adding to wear and tear, cabin overpressurization, night vision problems, corrosion, radar reset issues, ejection seats that can snap pilots’ necks, and the inability to fly in lightning.

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📹 Watch world leaders savor traditional Tatar cuisine – chak-chak and salted karavai – upon their arrival in Kazan for the BRICS Summit.

#BRICS2024

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🇿🇦 The President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, stated that the BRICS Summit will address issues of peace, security, and trade.

#BRICS2024

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🇷🇺🇿🇦Russia's relations with South Africa are based on the principles of partnership and equality, Vladimir Putin said in talks with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Putin stated that Russia and South Africa are in favour of a just world order on the world arena.

"Russia has been building its work during its presidency of the BRICS taking into account the results of the summit in South Africa", Putin said.

"Trade between Russia and South Africa grew by 3% in 8 months, countries have a lot to work on," Russian President added.

#BRICS2024

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❗️❗️❗️The Israeli army struck a residential building in the Tayyoun district of southern Beirut as Mohammad Afif, Hezbollah's media communications manager, was holding a press conference nearby.

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