Opening day of the Russia International Exhibition and Forum, which runs from 4 November 2023 to 12 April 2024 at VDNKh in Moscow.

It has been organised to showcase the country's most important achievements in different sectors of the economy, with all 89 Russian regions presenting their stands. @LauraRuHK https://t.me/tass_agency/217434

🗣️ Blinken and Sullivan in for a rude awakening

"Blinken and Sullivan are living in a different world, and they said it ... 'The US has to lead the world. The US is the indispensable nation.' It's as though they're back in 1946 or after the fall of the Soviet Union, 1991. They don't realize that they are no longer indispensable. They're no longer all powerful," Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst and activist, told Sputnik.

👉 Watch the full episode of our show on Rumble

🎧 Listen to more of McGovern’s analysis in our podcast New Rules

‘Rational actors’ ready to take power in Ukraine – Moscow
Certain forces in the country are prepared to put an end to the Kiev “regime,” the Russian Security Council secretary has said.

Not all Ukrainian elites and politicians agree with Kiev’s current belligerent stance against Moscow, Nikolay Patrushev, the secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said on Sunday while speaking at the ‘Russia’ exhibition in Moscow. “Rational actors” do exist in Ukraine but are currently “suppressed” by the Kiev government, he added.

These forces are already “standing in the wings” and are ready to take power when the time is right, the former Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) chief said, without elaborating who exactly he may be referring to.

Patrushev also said that the Ukrainian governments after the Maidan coup, including the current one led by President Vladimir Zelensky, are “bound to answer” for all the atrocities committed in Ukraine since 2014, including the years-long persecution of the Russian-speaking minority and the people of Donbass, as well as the attacks on Russian civilians, public figures, journalists, and infrastructure.

“They will not be able to hide from a just people’s court like the former SS member Yaroslav Hunka,” Patrushev said, referring to a Ukrainian SS veteran hailed by Canada’s parliament during a visit by Zelensky in September. The incident sparked an angry reaction from Poland, Russia, and several Jewish organizations, and led to the resignation of Canadian House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota, who claimed that he was unaware of Hunka’s past. (Source: RT) @LauraRuHK

Max Blumenthal: The Pentagon assesses Israel's child massacring operation in Gaza as a military failure, concluding that no important Hamas commanders have been eliminated, and that it wouldn't matter much if they had been.

Meanwhile, the US continues to provide Israel with absurd advice, like the need to use "smaller bombs," seemingly ignorant that the Israeli military's entire strategy is based around the Dahiya Doctrine of deliberately slaughtering civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure in delusional hopes of demoralizing the political support base of Hamas.

"Often the wrong military means, like bombs that kill too many civilians, make the political endgame harder to reach," Rep. Seth Moulton now complains https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/04/us/politics/israel-gaza-deaths-bombs.html

U.N. LOSSES IN GAZA - The number of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) workers killed by Israel in the Gaza Strip has risen to 88, more than in any other conflict. Can you imagine the outrage if U.N. staff had been killed in Ukraine instead? @LauraRuHK

Demand for English language textbooks in Russia plummets.
More people are buying books that teach Asian languages

The number of English language textbooks sold in Russia has dropped by a third during the first six months of 2023 compared to the same period last year, the news agency RBK reported on Saturday, citing the data from the country’s largest bookstore chain.

A similar decline in sales was recorded for books that teach other major European languages, namely German (29%), Italian (27%), French (24%), and Spanish (8%).

The sales of Japanese language textbooks also dropped by 14%. In the meantime, the sales went up for the books that teach Korean (9%), Chinese (4%), and Turkish (1%).

Russian officials have endorsed the popularization of the Chinese language as Moscow seeks to reroute some of its supply chains damaged by the Western sanctions. The demand for workers who can speak Chinese grew by 40% during the first three months of 2022, RBK reported last year, citing recruiting service HeadHunter. In August, Andrey Fursenko, education and science adviser at the Kremlin, said that more Chinese classes would be included in the curriculum of top research universities.

At the same time, the interest in learning Chinese, Korean and Turkish is growing in Russia thanks to TV shows and music. “The main drivers of the popularity of these three languages are media content and pop culture, as well as academic and career opportunities,” the publisher AST said. (Source: RT) @LauraRuHK

La domanda di libri di testo in lingua inglese in Russia crolla.
Sempre più persone acquistano libri per l'apprendimento di lingue asiatiche

Il numero di libri di testo in lingua inglese venduti in Russia è diminuito di un terzo nei primi sei mesi del 2023 rispetto allo stesso periodo dell'anno scorso, ha riferito sabato l'agenzia di stampa RBK, citando i dati della più grande catena di librerie del Paese.

Un calo simile delle vendite è stato registrato per i libri che insegnano le altre principali lingue europee, ovvero il tedesco (29%), l'italiano (27%), il francese (24%) e lo spagnolo (8%).

Anche le vendite di libri di testo in lingua giapponese sono diminuite del 14%. Nel frattempo, le vendite sono aumentate per i libri di coreano (9%), cinese (4%) e turco (1%).

I funzionari russi hanno appoggiato la diffusione della lingua cinese, in quanto Mosca cerca di diversificare alcune delle sue catene di approvvigionamento danneggiate dalle sanzioni occidentali. La richiesta di personale in grado di parlare il cinese è cresciuta del 40% nei primi tre mesi del 2022, ha riferito lo scorso anno RBK, citando l'agenzia di ricerca del personale HeadHunter. Ad agosto, Andrey Fursenko, consigliere per l'istruzione e la scienza del Cremlino, ha dichiarato che un maggior numero di corsi di cinese sarebbe stato incluso nel curriculum delle migliori università di ricerca.

Allo stesso tempo, l'interesse per l'apprendimento del cinese, del coreano e del turco sta crescendo in Russia grazie ai programmi televisivi e alla musica. "I principali motori della popolarità di queste tre lingue sono i contenuti mediatici e la cultura pop, oltre alle opportunità accademiche e di carriera", ha dichiarato l'editore AST. (Fonte: RT) @LauraRuHK

Telecom Italia (TIM) on Sunday approved the 19 billion euro ($20 billion) sale of its fixed-line network to U.S. private equity firm KKR, becoming the first telecoms group in a major European country to part ways with its landline grid. The deal, backed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's administration, involves an asset of national strategic importance. It is estimated that half of TIM workforce (now it employs around 40,000 people) will be made redundant. ▪️KKR - Since 2013 General David Petraeus has served as chairman of the KKR Global Institute. General Petraeus served over 37 years in the U.S. military, including command of the Surge in Iraq, command of U.S. Central Command, and command of coalition forces in Afghanistan. Following retirement from the military he served as Director of the CIA. He is currently Senior Vice President of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), and a Member of the Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, and the Aspen Strategy Group, as well as a member of the boards of the Atlantic Council, and the Institute for the Study of War. @LauraRuHK

Asset strategico italiano diventa americano. Telecom Italia ha approvato la vendita per 19 miliardi di euro della sua rete fissa alla società statunitense di private equity KKR, diventando il primo gruppo di telecomunicazioni in un grande paese europeo a separarsi dalla propria rete fissa. L'operazione, sostenuta dal governo Meloni, riguarda un asset di importanza strategica. Si stima che la metà dei dipendenti di TIM (oggi impiega circa 40.000 persone) sarà licenziata. ▪️ KKR - Dal 2013 il generale David Petraeus è presidente del KKR Global Institute. Il Generale Petraeus ha prestato servizio per oltre 37 anni nell'esercito americano, compreso il comando dell'operazione militare Surge in Iraq, il Comando Centrale degli Stati Uniti e il comando delle forze della coalizione in Afghanistan. Dopo il pensionamento dall'esercito ha servito come direttore della CIA. Attualmente è vicepresidente senior del Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), membro della Commissione Trilaterale, del Council on Foreign Relations e dell'Aspen Strategy Group, nonché membro dei consigli di amministrazione dell'Atlantic Council e dell' Institute for the Study of War. @LauraRuHK

How the US undermining Europe

In dollar terms, the European Union economy is now 65% of the United States economy, FT reported. That’s down from 91% in 2013.

Quite a drop.

American GDP per capita is more than twice that of Europe, and the gap continues to widen.

And why exactly is 2013 important?

Because after that since 2014, the US began to use sanctions mechanisms to deprive Europe of cheap Russian gas and forcing it to break off beneficial projects with Russia.

They'll probably throw allies under the bus if needed

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"Gaza bombings deprive Biden of his last chance for re-election"
by Pyotr Akopov
Unconditional support for Israel will cost the US and the Biden administration dearly - and it's not just the billions of dollars allocated to the Jewish state. It is the US, whose patronage and military might enable Israel to kill thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip with impunity, that is the target of the wrath of the entire Islamic world - and while Arab governments still hope that they will be able to persuade Washington to press Netanyahu to stop the Palestinian genocide, these illusions will soon dissipate. And the attitude towards America as the main enemy of the two-billion-strong Islamic world will only intensify - with corresponding consequences for American influence not only in the Greater Middle East, but worldwide. Moreover, even in the U.S. itself, Biden's unambiguously pro-Israeli stance is already having a major impact on the outcome of the upcoming presidential election in exactly one year.
And it's not just the split within the ruling Democratic Party - its left wing opposes the bombing of Gaza and demands that Israel be stopped. Many Democrats are horrified by Israel's war crimes, but the establishment knows how to ignore the voters. Almost always - except during election season. Because in an election a year from now, voters will remind Biden of what he said and did during the Gaza bombings. Of course, left-wing Democrats won't vote for Trump in retaliation, especially since Republicans take an even more pro-Israel stance than the current administration, but they may vote for independent candidate Robert Kennedy or they may not vote at all. And this is especially true of Muslim Democrats, and there are many of them.

But the problem is not even their number, but the states in which they live. In 2020, Biden won Michigan - one of the so-called swing states, i.e. those where voters give the majority of votes to Democrats and Republicans. Biden's margin of victory then was 155,000 votes - a rather noticeable figure for a state with a population of ten million. Most of the 146,000 local Muslims who came to the polls, who traditionally favoured Democrats, voted for him. But now they won't support Biden - even CNN acknowledges that in its report. That is, the Democrats will lose Michigan - fresh opinion polls also show this. Trump's advantage over Biden in that state has reached five per cent: 48 to 43 percent. Clearly, this is not just about Muslims: Biden is consistently losing support in virtually all major groups of his nuclear constituency, from Latinos to blacks (among whom, incidentally, there are many Muslims).
Most importantly, the incumbent is now losing not only in Michigan, but also in five of the six swing states. Moreover, his gap with Trump is tangible everywhere, and in Nevada it even reaches ten per cent. Biden only leads in Wisconsin, but by only two per cent.

What does that mean? That if current trends continue, Biden is virtually guaranteed to lose the presidential election - because it is the swing states that determine the outcome. Virtually everyone else votes traditionally: some for the blue (Democrats), others for the red (Republicans). Even if Biden manages to get ahead of Trump in national polls (and he's behind him here), it won't make a difference - if he loses in swing states, he'll lose the White House. (1/2) continues

(2/2)
How are the Democrats going to prevent Trump's comeback? They can put him in jail, of course, but that will only result in the ex-president getting more votes from behind bars and triumphantly entering the White House. Ban his registration in some states, so that when voters come to the polls, they simply won't see Trump's name on the ballot? But that would backfire on the Republicans - their states would start blocking Biden's registration. Not to mention that such a mutual cross-out would be a huge step towards the refusal of individual states to recognise the legitimacy of the election and its results, i.e. it would open the way to the collapse of the federation.

The only option left is to assassinate Trump, but even this is only half the solution. The "Washington swamp" can physically eliminate the hated candidate, but this will not ensure Biden's re-election and the Democrats' staying in power. Stunned by the assassination, voters will vote for a replacement for the slain ex-president - whether it will be Florida Governor Desantis or someone else. Of course, all of them will be a little more acceptable to the elite than Trump, but they will radicalise the Republican Party and strengthen the positions of Trumpists in it even more.
In other words, the "Washington swamp" simply does not have a workable strategy to ensure Biden's re-election in November 2024. And the international situation - both in Ukraine and especially in the Middle East - will only work to reduce the support of American voters for the incumbent president. At the same time, Biden simply cannot change his foreign policy line (neither on Ukraine nor on Israel), i.e. he will continue to bury himself. It is clear, however, that the American establishment is not going to allow Trump's return to the White House, and in the coming months we will see how exactly they will try to realise the impossible. (Source: RIA Novosti) @LauraRuHK

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Il commercio Russia-Cina è aumentato del 27,7% nei primi 10 mesi del 2023

Nel periodo in esame la Cina ha esportato verso la Russia beni per un valore di $90,076 miliardi, il 52,2% in più rispetto allo stesso periodo del 2022, e le consegne dalla Russia alla Cina sono aumentate del 12,4%, raggiungendo $106,405 miliardi.

Solo a ottobre il fatturato commerciale tra i due Paesi ha raggiunto quasi $19,8 miliardi. (Fonte: Sputnik) @LauraRuHK

🇷🇺🇨🇳 Russia-China trade up 27.7% in 10 months of 2023

China delivered goods worth $90.076 billion to Russia in the reporting period, 52.2% higher than during the same period in 2022, and deliveries from Russia to China increased by 12.4% to $106.405 billion.

Separately, in October, trade turnover between the two countries reached nearly $19.8 billion, with Russia exporting $11.1 billion of goods to China and purchasing $8.68 billion of goods. (Source: Sputnik) @LauraRuHK

Pfizer ha deciso di licenziare 781 dipendenti attualmente impiegati nel New Jersey. Ecco cosa succede quando Ursula Von Der Leyen non rinnova gli ordini 😏 @LauraRuHK