📌 JUST IN: Quad foreign ministers - Australia, Japan, India and US - express concern over situation in East and South China Seas, oppose 'unilateral actions' that seek to change status quo by force (joint statement)

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🇻🇪Venezuela Declares Maduro Election Winner - US State Dept “Disputes” Vote

President Nicolás Maduro has won Venezuela's presidential election, according to partial results announced by the electoral council.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, banned from running for office, said opposition candidate Edmundo González won 70% of the vote and urged the military to “respect the will of the people.”

Meanwhile, the West has taken the result badly - US Sec of State Antony Blinken whining: "We have serious concerns that the results announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people... the international community is watching this very closely and will respond accordingly."

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EU readies "carrot-and-stick" trade strategy to deal with Trump 

The European Union is hammering out a two-step trade plan to tackle Donald Trump if he wins a second term as US president, the FT has reported. 

"We have to show we are a partner for the US, not a problem. We will look for deals, but we are ready to defend ourselves if it comes to it. We won’t be guided by fear," an unnamed EU source told the newspaper.

If Trump prevails in the November election, EU negotiators are reportedly planning to immediately approach his team to discuss US products that the EU could buy in larger quantities. 

A possible collapse of the talks, and Trump slapping higher tariffs, could prompt the European Commission’s trade department to draw up lists of US imports for retaliatory duties of 50% or more, according to the source. 

The FT noted in this regard that EU officials “see the carrot-and-stick approach as the best response” to Trump’s previous pledge to impose a tariff of at least 10% on all $3 trillion worth of US imports, in the event of his victory on November 5. 

Former US President Trump initiated a tariff war with the EU in March 2018, when he announced a 25% duty on imported steel and 10% tariff on aluminum, which prodded the bloc to retaliate with tit-for-tat levies worth about $3 billion.

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❎ NEW: Fibre optic networks ‘sabotaged’ in several parts of France - police

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❎ Israeli defense firm Elbit Systems awarded $190mn contract to supply IDF with advanced mortar system - statement

Elbit says the supply of the Iron Sting laser and GPS-guided 120mm mortar will be carried out over a two-year period.

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❎ UPDATE: China Warns US, Japan to “stop creating imaginary enemies" - after QUAD countries hit out against Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea in Tokyo talks

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🐀Letter ‘laced with the plague’ sent to France’s interior minister

The police were called after the “suspicious” looking letter was intercepted at a mail sorting center near Dijon.

The envelope - addressed to Gerald Darmanin - contained a letter bearing racist insults and black powder.

Preliminary tests – carried out by the police unit that deals with chemical, biological, nuclear, radiological and explosives matters – revealed a “slight positivity for the plague.”

Darmanin has yet to speak publicly about the letter and police have not released any information about the possible sender or motive.

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❗️ “Any attack on Lebanon is an attack on the Lebanese - there will be no difference between Lebanese and Hezbollah” - 🇱🇧 FM Abdallah Bouhabib

“Most of the fighting is going to be with Hezbollah but it will be supported by most Lebanese.”

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😂 “2.3mn Brexit border post has performed just two checks

Spanning over 2,000 square meters and boasting two large unloading bays, inspection rooms and refrigeration facilities, the new border control post was well equipped to deal with the expected influx of imports from the EU.

Eight months on from the ribbon-cutting ceremony, however, and the atmosphere at the port is decidedly less jubilant.

Since the former Conservative govt introduced physical checks on imports of plant and animal products from the EU in April, the border control post has conducted a grand total of two checks.

With the new Labour govt talking about ending some barriers with the bloc - the facility could be rendered useless, a true “Brexit white elephant.”

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⚡️ BREAKING: German Citizens "Urgently" Advised to Leave Lebanon - Berlin

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⚠️ Iran Seizes Togo-Flagged Tanker Carrying ‘Smuggled’ Crude – Tasnim News Agency

Iran seized the Pearl G tanker carrying 700,000 liters of crude in the Gulf on Friday - based on a judicial order.

The tanker had a crew of 9 Indians aboard.

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😒 Israel Expects UK to Revoke Weapons Export Licenses Within Days (Ynet)

Israel’s Defense Ministry is now looking for alternatives in Eastern Europe, South America and Asia to replace “increasingly unreliable” European suppliers.

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🩸 US Tells Citizens in Lebanon to Make “Crisis Plans”

American citizens should ‘create a crisis plan of action and leave before the crisis begins to keep you and your loved ones safe,’ Rena Bitter, assistant secretary for consular affairs, said in a video on X.

Washington is “laser-focused on Lebanon,” she added, but asked citizens to tell any relatives planning to visit the country to “reconsider their travel” due to the threat of further conflict in the region.

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⚡️ French Police Arrest ‘Ultra-Left Activist’ after Railway Sabotage Attacks

The man, who was arrested in Oissel near Rouen, northern France, had “access keys to SNCF technical premises” in his vehicle, a police source told Le Parisien.

The source said there were also wire cutters, “a set of universal keys” and other items, as well as literature with links to the ultra-Left.

Will Western MSM, politicians apologize for fingering Moscow before any evidence was provided? Don’t hold your breath…

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⚠️ JUST IN: Israel Detains Nine IDF Soldiers over Suspected Torture of Palestinian Prisoner at Sde Teiman Facility (TOI)

The soldiers are being taken for questioning – a tenth suspect has not yet been arrested.

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