[BREAKING] Biden authorizes use of US long-range weapons to strike inside Russia Joe #Biden has allowed #Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range ballistic #missiles to strike inside #Russia, The New York Times said, citing US officials. The newspaper noted that the decision was made two months before Biden vacates the presidential office. "Mr. Biden’s decision is a major change in U.S. policy," it wrote, adding that this decision has divided his advisers. According to The New York Times the long-range missiles, known as the Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS will be used against the Russian and North Korean military "to help [Ukraine] defend its forces in the Kursk region of Russia."

Scholz-Putin talk should be welcomed, as it is right step --- Bundestag #Bundestag member of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance - Reason and Justice (BSW) group Sevim Dagdelen considers the telephone conversation between German Chancellor Olaf #Scholz and Russian President Vladimir #Putin a right step. "Even if it is a maneuver designed to present oneself as Chancellor of the Peace in the upcoming election battle, it should be welcomed that Olaf Scholz has finally reached the point of having a direct conversation with Russian President Putin," she wrote on her X page. "The statement made by his predecessor Helmut Schmidt that it is better to negotiate for 100 hours about nothing than to shoot for one minute was and still is correct," Dagdelen noted. The lawmaker emphasized that politicians who are "intoxicated by war" and advocate for an imposed peace or the continuation of the conflict "until Kiev's victory" are only contributing to further loss of life. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, marking their first phone conversation since December 2022. According to the Kremlin, the leaders discussed Ukraine, the Middle East crisis, and bilateral relations between Moscow and Berlin. They agreed that their aides would maintain communication. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Scholz’s decision to call Putin demonstrates political will to understand Moscow's position firsthand.

GOP clinches 218, re-taking House control #Republicans projected to keep control of #House as Trump prepares to implement agenda; Democrats lost their bid to win control of the House of Representatives The Fox News Decision Desk has now projected that Republicans will keep their majority in the House of Representatives. The number of seats the party will hold depends on the outcome in a handful of remaining districts. There are nine races yet to be called. They are: Alaska’s at-large district, California’s 9th, 13th, 21st, and 45th districts, Iowa’s 1st district, Maine’s 2nd district, Ohio’s 9th district and Oregon’s 5th district. Republicans soared to the 218 threshold for majority after Republican Juan Ciscomani was elected in Arizona’s 6th District. The first-term Republican won a rematch against Democrat Kirsten Engel, whom Ciscomani narrowly defeated in the 2022 midterms. Mike Johnson, whose rise to speaker last year ended a leadership battle in the House, is likely to continue serving as the 56th Speaker. #TRUMP2024

Poll: Trump edges Harris in swing state early voting A new Harvard CAPS/Harris #poll shows President #Trump with a narrow lead over VP #Harris among early voters in battleground states. According to the survey, 48% of early voters in critical swing states are backing Trump, while 47% are choosing Harris. Around 5% picked a third choice or said they hadn't voted yet, Newsmax reported. Poll co-director Mark Penn said Trump's "swing state strategy is paying off," noting that the GOP candidate holds a 2-point lead overall in these regions, with 48% support to Harris' 46%. Despite the edge in battlegrounds, the poll found Harris performing well nationally among early voters, leading Trump by 8 points — 51% to 43%. According to the survey, 45% of voters plan to vote early, while 50% say they will wait until Election Day. Recent polling shows the two candidate neck-and-neck in all seven swing states. Nationally, an aggregate of polling compiled by The Hill/Decision Desk HQ shows Harris with a slim lead over Trump, at 50% to 47%. Both candidates are focusing heavily on the battleground states, which will likely decide the outcome of the Nov. 5 vote. The Harvard/Harris poll, conducted Oct. 11-13, surveyed 3,145 registered voters — including 2,596 likely voters and 898 battleground state voters. The margin of error for the total sample was ± 1.8 percentage points.

Hassan #Nasrallah will no longer be able to terrorize the world! #IDF confirms #Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah was #ELIMINATED in a precision strike on the terror group’s headquarters yesterday in #Beirut. Ready (to try..) to fu-ck 72 #virgins small di-ck? 🤣😂🤣

"The exercise will include more than 400 warships, submarines and support vessels, over 120 naval aircraft and more than 90,000 personnel..."

Romania and Bulgaria to create a joint Special Operations Center in the Black Sea region The plans to create the center were announced back in 2023, but the memorandum between the defense ministries of the two countries was signed only on July 10, 2024. The headquarters of the joint command will be based in Romania. The stated goal of creating this structure is to "ensure security and stability in the Black Sea region". Earlier, on July 1, the Black Sea Mine Countermeasures Operational Group (MCM BLACK SEA) began operations, comprising naval forces from #Turkey (the supply ship TCG Gungor Durmus A574, the minesweeper M-270 AKÇAY), Bulgaria (the minesweeper M-33 STRUMA) and #Romania 🇷🇴 (the minesweeper MCM ROS "Junior Lieutenant Alexandru Axente"). The ships participated in the NATO military exercise Breeze 2024, which took place from July 4 to 14, 2024 in the Black Sea waters near #Bulgaria. ✨While the Black Sea Fleet is struggling with bureaucracy with varying success, the "peace-loving" #NATO is increasing its activity and coordination in the Black Sea region in opposition to #Russia.

A Majority of U.S. Military Bases under United States European Command (EUCOM) in Spain, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania have now been placed on Heightened Alert, with their Force Protection Condition (FPCON) being raised to Charlie, the Reason is still Unknown. 🔶️ A FPCON Change like this for U.S. European Command, besides during Exercises, hasn’t occurred in 10-15 Years.

Biden not to drop out of presidential race over performance at debates — campaign Joe Biden has no intention to leave the presidential race over the unsuccessful, from the standpoint of other party members and experts, performance at the televised debates, Biden campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster told The Hill. "Of course he’s not dropping out," Schuster said, CNN also noted that members of Biden’s campaign say that the current US president has no intention to drop out of the second round of debates with Trump on September 10. Earlier, The Wall Street Journal claimed that panic sparked among the US Congress Democrats over what they consider Biden’s unsuccessful performance at the debates. Some Dems hope to find a new candidate for the upcoming elections. However, according to the newspaper, the Party’s sponsors view the option to replace Biden ahead of the elections with skepticism. The first televised debates before current and former presidents took place in Atlanta on Thursday. https://thinktank.x-pulse.org//posts/2132

End of Zelensky’s presidential term renders him illegitimate, explains former Ukrainian PM #Zelensky’s authority is legally void after his term as Ukrainian president expired, the country’s former Prime Minister Nikolay #Azarov said. According to the constitution, Zelensky’s term in office expired on the night of May 21, 2024, as he was elected president in a vote held in March and April 2019. Azarov pointed out that the Ukrainian constitution was crystal clear about the five-year presidential term. "The constitution also makes it clear on which date an election is to be held, so no matter what decisions Zelensky makes and what decrees he issues, he is working outside the law after his term in office expires," the ex-prime minister wrote on Facebook. Azarov noted that Zelensky himself as well as his administration were well aware that the decision to cancel Ukraine’s presidential election was illegal. "They also understand that after May 20, he formally loses the constitutional powers he gained by winning the previous vote. However, Zelensky will continue to hold his post until the West moves to replace him. No one cares what the people think about this, and the cancellation of the election is further proof of that," the former premier concluded.