The former US first lady is seeking to secure her financial future and that of her son Barron, reports claim
Former United States first lady Melania Trump is believed to have “quietly” renegotiated her prenuptial marital agreement with her husband Donald Trump as the ex-president’s legal issues continue to mount, a US media report says.
Melania Trump, who has maintained a low profile since Joe Biden succeeded her husband as US president in January 2021, amended her marital agreement in order to secure her own financial future, as well as that of their 17-year-old son Barron Trump, the New York Post reported earlier this week citing anonymous sources.
The report comes just days after a judge in New York ruled that Donald Trump had committed widespread and prolonged real-estate fraud – including while he was president - by artificially inflating the value of his holdings by billions of dollars.
“This is at least the third time Melania has renegotiated the terms of her marital agreement,” a source told the New York Post. “Melania is most concerned about maintaining and increasing a substantial trust for their son, Barron.”
The report adds that Melania Trump’s legal team began talks with Donald Trump’s representatives last year, at around the time that the former president began signaling that he was preparing to begin a bid to regain the White House in the 2024 presidential election.
Donald Trump has subsequently been faced with an array of legal issues, including four criminal indictments and possible imprisonment. He denies all claims of wrongdoing.
“It’s not that she threatened to leave him,” the New York Post’s source said. “I know that she wanted it to provide her with more money and also, from what I understand, there’s a specific amount at minimum that Barron is supposed to obtain.”
In addition to the real-estate fraud case in New York, Donald Trump also faces myriad legal issues. He is alleged to have made illegal ‘hush money’ payments to an adult film actress, and to have wilfully mishandled classified government documents at his Florida estate. He is also facing charges related to election meddling in the state of Georgia.
He has denied all allegations of illegality, and said this week that the New York real-estate case is “un-American” and a “scam” designed by his political opponents to impact his campaign to return to the White House.
On Friday, an ally of Donald Trump, Republican poll-watcher Scott Hall, pleaded guilty to conspiring to interfere with the process of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. He is expected to testify against Trump in upcoming court proceedings.
Read more
September 30, 2023 at 02:34AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
Prime Minister Viktor Orban says Budapest wants to isolate the conflict, while the rest of the West wants to globalize it
The Ukraine conflict is a face-off between two Slavic nations in which the rest of the world should not get involved, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said. He added that most other Western countries are doing everything they can to spread the hostilities.
In an interview with Kossuth Radio on Friday, Orban said the conflict between Kiev and Moscow “is not our war,” but rather a “Slavic fraternal war between two countries.” For this reason, he said other nations should strive to “isolate it, separate it, prevent it from spreading further.”
He acknowledged, however, that Budapest and the rest of the Western world have markedly different views on the situation, with the latter intent on globalizing the conflict and seeing it as their war.
According to Orban, this approach is mistaken as Western nations are risking severe consequences without having a clear goal.
He attributed this difference in positions to the fact that Hungary directly borders Ukraine, while most of Kiev’s backers are quite far away from the country.
The Hungarian prime minister noted that, while “tens of thousands die,” the front lines remain stationary, and there is a “constant danger” of other nations being affected by the conflict.
Orban also suggested that it would be a mistake to admit Ukraine into the European Union before the conflict is over. He noted that Kiev and Moscow have territorial disputes, and it is therefore difficult to predict how big or small Ukraine will end up being, and how much of the population will remain when hostilities end. He said these are key parameters for distributing responsibilities and resources within the EU.
The prime minister concluded by claiming that the bloc is short of funds, and currently has to decide between supporting Ukraine or its own less-developed member states, such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Croatia.
Earlier this month, Orban predicted that the “deterioration of the economic situation in the West will force countries to stand up for peace,” and they will urge Kiev to negotiate with Moscow.
Since the conflict broke out in February 2022, Hungary has been highly critical of Western economic sanctions on Russia, as well as the shipment of increasingly more advanced weaponry to Ukraine.
Read more
September 30, 2023 at 01:16AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
Sber also earns title of fourth most-valuable European lender
Russian state-run lender Sber (formerly Sberbank) has won the title of strongest brand among European financial institutions, according to the latest issue of the annual Brand Finance Europe 500 rating.
The London-based consultancy Brand Finance puts 5,000 of the biggest names to the test, and publishes over 100 reports, ranking firms across all sectors and countries. The world’s top 500 most valuable and strongest European brands are featured in the annual Europe 500 2023 ranking.
The strength of brands is based on marketing investment, stakeholder equity, and business performance, and shows how effectively a company invests, develops brand awareness, takes care of its reputation and establishes customer loyalty, and how successfully it operates its business.
Outpaced by HSBC, Santander and Barclays, Sber was also ranked the fourth most-valuable bank in Europe. In addition, the Russian banking giant entered the top 40 of the Brand Value Ranking, having been placed 37th.
Moreover, Sber was named as the seventh strongest European brand, with a Brand Strength Index score of 88.2/100, ahead of Michelin, Lamborghini and Rolex.
“The Brand Finance report shows that despite the difficult conditions in foreign markets, the Russian bank demonstrates strong financial results, keeps developing innovative products and world-class services, maintains the trust of more than 110 million private and corporate clients, remaining among the top most valuable and powerful European brands,” Sber's press office said in a statement.
A prominent UAE firm plans to go forward with construction projects in Moscow
UAE developer Reportage Properties plans to launch construction projects in Russia in the near future, the company’s managing director Andrea Nucera told reporters this week.
He said three sites are currently being considered, including one in the south of Moscow. Negotiations are reportedly underway on cooperation with a local developer.
“The implementation of the projects is planned to begin in the next nine to twelve months,” Nuchera announced.
The UAE company’s financial model does not involve credit funds, its managing director explained, noting that the firm can easily adapt to local legislation.
In the meantime, a sales office has been opened in Moscow to coordinate projects which are currently being developed in other countries, Nucera said. Reportage Properties reportedly also aims to enter the Belarusian market.
Founded in 2014 in Abu Dhabi, Reportage Properties is one of the largest private developers in the United Arab Emirates, with projects in the UAE, Egypt, Türkiye, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and other countries.
A recent study by IBC Real Estate showed that investment in Russian real estate surged 75% as of mid-September in annual terms. By the end of 2023, the figure is expected to break last year’s record of $6.2 billion.
Taipei may strike a deal with New Delhi to hire Indians for its infrastructure and agriculture sectors
Taiwan and India are reportedly in talks to sign a pact on “migration and mobility” as the Chinese territory grapples with a shortage of workers in the manufacturing, construction and agriculture sectors. The agreement could be signed “as early as next month,” the Hindustan Times reported earlier this week, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Taiwanese firms have expressed a keen interest in hiring people from India’s northeast region, home to around 45 million people, due to the similarity in “culture and diet,” the report claimed. The move could put bilateral trade “in the right direction” and has “immense potential,” the report said, citing Manharsinh Laxmanbhai Yadav, director general of the India-Taipei Association.
Although India does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which Beijing views as its own territory, bilateral trade has been growing steadily in recent years, with India ranking as Taiwan’s 14th-largest export destination and its 18th-largest source of imports, the report noted. Trade has grown more than seven-fold in the past two decades, from $1.19 billion in 2001 to $8.4 billion in 2022.
According to data from Taiwan’s Ministry of Labor, cited by the Taipei Times, as of August the territory has attracted over 746,000 migrant workers in traditional industries and the caregiving sector, with the majority coming from Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand, and to a lesser extent Malaysia and Mongolia.
Jobs in Taiwan could have a strong appeal for Indian workers – the monthly minimum wage on the island is 26,400 New Taiwan dollars (about $820) per month, in contrast to India’s national-level minimum daily wage of 178 rupees (US$2.15), which translates to around 5,340 rupees ($65) per month.
India and Taiwan established their representative offices in the mid-1990s, acting as de-facto missions. In July, Taiwan announced plans to expand the network of such offices in India – with a new one potentially opening in Mumbai later this year. Taiwan has two operations offices in India – the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in New Delhi, and an office in Chennai.
The strengthening of economic ties between India and Taiwan will be closely watched by Beijing, which has traditionally objected to any such engagement. New Delhi has been gradually bolstering its alliance with Taiwan amid tensions with Beijing, following a deadly border stand-off in 2020.
Last year, following former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, China sought a reaffirmation of India’s adherence to the ‘One China’ policy. India’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at the time that “India's relevant policies are well-known and consistent. They do not require reiteration.” Despite New Delhi following the ‘One China’ policy, it has not reiterated the stance publicly or in bilateral documents for over a decade.
Read more
September 30, 2023 at 12:36AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
James Cleverly claims, however, that the West would be courting even more trouble for itself by cutting aid
British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has acknowledged that backing Ukraine is “tough and painful.” He cautioned NATO allies against wavering, however, as turning their back on Kiev would cause greater problems down the line.
In an interview with The House media outlet on Saturday, Cleverly was asked to comment on “growing anti-Ukrainian sentiment” in some Western nations. He admitted that helping Kiev was “tough and this is painful,” with the conflict generally “putting pressure on countries all over the world.”
However, the foreign secretary insisted that “if we don’t stick with our support to Ukraine, if we send the signal that aggressors can prosper, then all the problems that we are currently facing … will just get worse.”
He urged Western allies to address fatigue, which has become a “big thing.”
Commenting on former US President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to end hostilities between Ukraine and Russia within 24 hours, Cleverly said the Republican “did some very surprising and positive things with regard to international relations” during his first term in the White House. The British minister specifically mentioned the Abraham Accords, which paved the way for the normalization of relations between Israel and Arab nations.
Cleverly added that, while he would be delighted if Trump managed to secure a just peace swiftly, this is not something London is banking on.
In a TV interview on Friday, Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Aleksey Danilov lamented that the country’s Western backers had not made it clear whether they will stand by Kiev until it wins the conflict or only for some limited amount of time. “No one can clearly answer us what our victory means,” he claimed.
Earlier, Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko admitted that the number of nations willing to give Kiev money is “growing smaller and smaller.”
Moscow has repeatedly accused the US and its allies, which have spent billions of dollars supporting Kiev, of using the conflict to wage a “proxy war” against Russia.
Speaking on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova accused US and UK intelligence agencies of helping to coordinate the latest Ukrainian strike on Sevastopol, Crimea, which targeted the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.
The British media has also reported that Kiev used UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles in the attack.
Russia had previously claimed that Western-provided weapons, including those donated by Britain, had been deployed in Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory. Moscow has repeatedly warned NATO member states that the US-led military bloc is getting dangerously close to direct involvement in the conflict.
Read more
September 30, 2023 at 12:28AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
“We are one people, and together we can overcome anything,” he told residents of Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson
Millions of people made a conscious choice to unite with their Fatherland a year ago, President Vladimir Putin has said in an address marking the first anniversary of Russia’s reunification with the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
The signing of agreements on September 30, 2022 incorporating the four territories into the Russian state was a “defining and truly historic event,” Putin stated in a video message, which was published early on Saturday.
“Millions of residents of Donbass and the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions made their choice to be with their Fatherland,” he said.
Their reunification with Russia was a “conscious, long-awaited, hard-won and genuinely popular decision ... made collectively through referendums in full compliance with international norms,” the president added.
By going to the polls, “the people showed courage and integrity in the face of attempts to intimidate and deprive them of their right to determine their own future, their destiny, and to take away something every person values. Namely, culture, traditions, and mother tongue,” he said.
According to Putin, all those things had been “loathed by nationalists and their Western patrons who orchestrated a coup in Kiev in 2014 and then unleashed a full-scale civil war and terror against dissenters and organized blockades, constant shelling, and punitive actions in Donbass.”
He was referring to the so-called Euromaidan uprising, which led to the overthrow of the democratically elected Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich in February 2014, and the conflict between the new government in Kiev and the Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk that started shortly after the coup.
Speaking about Russia’s ongoing military operation in Ukraine, the president said that “by defending our compatriots in Donbass and Novorossiya, we are defending Russia itself. Together, we are fighting for the Motherland, for our sovereignty, spiritual values, unity, and victory.”
The people of Russia fully backed the decision of the new territories, and now all regions of the country are involved in “rebuilding and building schools and hospitals, housing and roads, museums and memorial sites” in the People’s Republics of Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR), and Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, Putin said.
“We are one people, and together we can overcome anything and meet any challenge,” he continued, addressing the residents of the newly incorporated regions.
The results of the referendums, which took place between September 23 and 27 last year, have not been recognized by the Ukrainian authorities and their Western backers. During the votes, the number of those who supported reunification with Russia stood at 99.23% in the DPR, at 98.42% in the LPR, at 87% in Kherson Region, and at 93.11% in Zaporozhye Region.
Read more
September 29, 2023 at 11:02PM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
The blast occurred at an event marking the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad
At least 52 people have died and dozens more are injured following a suspected suicide bombing on Friday at a procession marking the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad, close to a mosque in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, according to officials and media. Many of those injured are understood to be in a critical condition.
The explosion in the Mastung District is being presumed to have been a suicide attack, Mastung Assistant Commissioner Atta Ul Munim told reporters. The official claimed that a senior police officer, Mohammad Nawaz, who died in the blast, was the primary target of the attack.
“The Prime Minister expressed his condolences to the families of those who died in the blast,” a statement from the office of Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, said. “Prime Minister’s prayers for forgiveness for the deceased and patience for the families.”
Balochistan, the largest province in Pakistan by area, has seen several flashpoints in recent months following a decades-long insurgency, waged by separatists who accuse Islamabad of unfairly exploiting the province’s resources.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a collective of various Sunni Islamist militant groups, has denied any involvement.
There has been an increase in militant attacks in Pakistan’s west ahead of national elections scheduled to take place in January. Earlier in September, at least 11 people died in another bombing in Balochistan. More than 40 were killed in a July suicide attack at a political party gathering in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Authorities in Karachi, Pakistan’s most populous city some 370 miles (600km) from Mastung, have been ordered to increase security and remain on “high alert,” according to the region’s inspector general.
Officials had asked police to be wary of militants targeting gatherings celebrating the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday, Mawlid an-Nabi, a national holiday which features day-long celebrations and the distribution of free meals. Pakistan’s caretaker interior minister, Sarfraz Bugti, denounced the bombing as a “heinous act.”
Meanwhile, reports also indicate that there was a second explosion on Friday at a mosque near the city of Peshwar in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The number of casualties remains unclear, but authorities say that some victims could be trapped under rubble. The capacity of the mosque is 40 to 50 people, officials said.
Read more
September 29, 2023 at 02:07AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
The pivot to Asia has made recovery more sustainable, Maksim Oreshkin says
Western sanctions have forced Russia to restructure its economy and reorient towards rapidly developing markets in Asia, Kremlin adviser Maksim Oreshkin said at the Moscow Financial Forum on Thursday.
According to the official, the shift towards the “healthy part of the global economy” has allowed Russia’s recovery to become more sustainable. The country can also meet its objectives in a variety of areas, from defense and security to technological advancement and educational development, he added.
“In fact, what we’ve done over the past year and a half is a very big structural reform. A structural reform that switched the Russian economy, its focus, from the sick part of the global economy towards the healthy one,” Oreshkin stated.
He noted that the changes are ongoing and at certain points have been “painful,” as the country was faced with multiple challenges all at once, including reorienting logistics systems and creating new payment mechanisms.
However, without sanctions and the changes they brought, Russia would now be worrying about the crises plaguing Western countries instead of looking forward to the benefits of working with fast-growing economies such as India and China, according to Oreshkin.
“If we stayed in the past, we’d be sitting around right now discussing Germany’s recession and how bad it is for us. Or that America can’t cope with its financial sector instability. It is far more important for us now that China’s economy accelerated 6.5% in the second quarter and India’s economy grew 7.8%,” he argued.
Russia’s gross domestic product shrank by 2.1% last year amid severe economic restrictions imposed by Western states, according to official statistics from Rosstat. However, by the end of 2023, the Finance Ministry expects the economy to grow by 2.5%.
Over the past year, Moscow has gradually strengthened trade ties with partners in Asia, Africa, and South America. Russia has become the largest oil supplier to India and China, and is now the top provider of gold to the UAE. Earlier this month, President Vladimir Putin said that the economy has completely recovered from last year’s downturn, noting that GDP has already reached pre-sanctions levels.
Their discussion focused on the situation in Libya and the surrounding region, according to the Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a meeting in Moscow with the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
“Yes, we confirm this meeting. Indeed, it took place today in the Kremlin. The situation in Libya and in the region as a whole was discussed,” said Peskov.
LNA officials said Haftar discussed “bilateral relations between the two countries, ways of their strengthening and development, as well as issues of mutual interest” during his meeting with the Russian leader.
The Libyan commander arrived in Russia for an official visit on Tuesday, when he was greeted by Russian Deputy Defense Minister Colonel General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov.
A Russian Defense Ministry delegation visited Libya for the first time on August 22. According to the department’s press service, Yevkurov and Haftar planned to discuss the potential for collaboration in the fight against international terrorism and other issues of mutual interest.
On September 17, Yevkurov traveled to Benghazi and met with Haftar, visiting Derna, a city that had been devastated by intense floods.
Meanwhile, US Africa Command Leader Michael Langley met with the head of the Libyan Government of National Unity, Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, in Tripoli. He then traveled to Benghazi to meet with Khalifa Haftar, and this happened just six days after Yevkurov had visited Benghazi and Derna. The Wall Street Journal reported that Langley had intended to discuss Russia’s growing presence in the region.
Read more
September 29, 2023 at 12:28AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
Volunteer service members are enough to fill in ranks in the Ukraine campaign, a senior military official said
The Russian military leadership has no plans to conduct mobilization as its current needs are fulfilled by career military service members, including those who volunteered to fight against Ukraine, according to a senior official.
The pledge not to draft additional troops was reiterated on Friday by Vladimir Tsimlyansky, the deputy chief of the mobilization directorate of the General Staff. He was briefing the public about a scheduled conscription campaign that kicks off next week.
“The number of people wishing to enrol in Russian military service under a contract, as well as volunteers who have decided to take part in the special military operation, is sufficient for fulfilling our tasks,” he said.
President Vladimir Putin ordered mobilization of an additional 300,000 troops in September last year. The enrolment was announced seven months into the Ukraine conflict, after Kiev rejected a peaceful resolution and pledged to continue fighting against Russia with Western help.
Ukrainian officials have been predicting a new round of mobilization in Russia for months. Kiev’s military intelligence chief Kirill Budanov claimed in late August that Moscow was planning to enrol an additional 450,000 troops in autumn.
He added that Ukrainians “should not be afraid of it too much” because Russia supposedly has been secretly mobilizing tens of thousands each month and “nothing bad happened.”
The Russian president reported earlier this month that some 300,000 people had enrolled in the Russian army this year alone, explaining why, unlike Kiev, Moscow had no particular need for foreign fighters. The remark was in response to claims that Moscow had asked assistance from North Korea to replenish manpower, an idea that he branded “total nonsense.”
Mobilization in Ukraine has been ongoing since the start of the conflict and had some bumps recently. The country has been hit by scandals involving conscription chiefs, prompting President Vladimir Zelensky to announce in August that he was firing all regional draft heads in the country.
The Ukrainian government has relaxed eligibility standards for recruits, declaring people with certain mental and physical conditions fit for duty. Its Defense Ministry has also ordered female medics and pharmacists to register for possible enrolment, reportedly causing an exodus of women in those professions.
Read more
September 29, 2023 at 12:22AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
Employment has dropped for the first time in three years, a survey shows
Hiring in Germany has stalled amid a worsening economic environment as the country continues to struggle with an energy crisis and soaring borrowing costs, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing the German Ifo Institute for Economic Research.
A measure reflecting hiring activity dropped to its lowest level since February 2021 this month, as employers in manufacturing and construction are thinking twice before taking on new staff, the study revealed.
“The robust expansion of employment seen over the past few months has come to a standstill,” said Klaus Wohlrabe, head of surveys at Ifo. “Due to a lack of orders, companies are being rather cautious about filling vacant positions.”
Economists say that the German labor market is showing the first cracks in what had been until now a “very resilient” environment and is now losing steam as overall economic activity weakens. Unemployment is expected to further increase until the economy recovers, experts warn.
“Companies’ willingness to hire new staff will presumably rise again once the economy recovers,” Wohlrabe said. “In the medium term, demographic change will deprive the labor market of more and more workers.”
Hirings in the EU’s largest economy dropped for the first time in nearly three years, a separate survey of purchasing managers showed last week. This comes as businesses and industry are increasingly pessimistic regarding Germany’s economic outlook amid weaker external demand and a lack of orders, as well as shortages of qualified workers and tighter monetary policy.
Germany’s economy officially slipped into a technical recession in the first quarter of the year after contracting by 0.3%. Its GDP is expected to shrink by another 0.5% by the year’s end.
Kiev has reportedly lost one-fifth of the ten Stridsvagn 122s it had received from the Nordic nation
A point-of-view online video purportedly shows Russian drone strikes on a Swedish variant of the German Leopard 2A5 main battle tank, the Stridsvagn 122. Ukraine was given ten of them and has reportedly lost at least two.
The footage shows two separate attacks on a stranded tank in the same location, both using a quadcopter kamikaze drone called the VT-40. The video was published on Thursday by a Telegram channel promoting the UAV.
Swedish media reported last week that its government had delivered ten Stridsvagn 122 tanks to the Ukrainian military, delivering on a commitment announced in February. The batch accounts for roughly 10% of the country’s tank fleet.
The “best tank in the world, according to Discovery Channel,” as Swedes like to point out, has heavier armor than the original German model, along with other features. Ukrainian crews were trained to operate them.
Two other videos that emerged online last Friday indicated that Ukrainian troops had abandoned at least two of the Swedish armored vehicles, exposing them to Russian drone attacks.
One of the short clips depicted the same location as the video circulating online now. The poster misidentified the tanks as Leopard 2s and reported they were hit by Lancet kamikaze drones somewhere near Svatovo, a frontline city in the Lugansk People’s Republic that has seen heavy fighting during Kiev’s summer counteroffensive.
Another abandoned 🇺🇦Leopard 2 (Strv 122) tank being hit with Lancet loitering munitions near Stelmakhivka on the Svatove direction. pic.twitter.com/qFGahSmk87
Neither video showed troops near the Swedish tanks nor offered any clue as to how they were disabled. In both cases, the tanks’ reinforced hatches can be seen open, implying that the crew had evacuated.
The US and its allies provided hundreds of heavy weapons to Ukraine to bolster its push against Russia, but Kiev has largely failed to seize territory in the past four months.
Moscow has accused the West of waging a proxy war against Russia and using Ukrainians as “cannon fodder.” Kiev has lost an estimated 2,700 pieces of heavy weaponry and over 17,000 troops this month alone, the Russian Defense Ministry reported earlier this week.
Read more
September 28, 2023 at 11:06PM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
The Ukrainian weapon was reportedly spotted from a drone in a Kiev-controlled village
A Russian frontline unit has shared footage with the media of one of its operations, which involved finding and destroying a camouflaged Ukrainian mortar hidden in a village.
The video, which RIA Novosti published on Thursday, was provided by a howitzer battalion. Its leader said he was aware of the presence of the Ukrainian weapon in the general area and asked for assistance from a fellow recon unit to pinpoint the target.
“As usual for us, it was discovered with the help of drone operators from the Sparta battalion,” he said, referring to a unit that originated as part of the militia of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic.
The footage showed the weapon covered by a camo tarp placed in a foxhole among several rural buildings. The same location then came under fire from Russian artillery, filmed from a distance.
The drone operator experienced interference by a Ukrainian electronic warfare team, the source explained, but the intelligence was deemed good enough to fire ten 122mm shells at the defensive position.
“The house that most likely served as a shelter to the mortar crew was destroyed,” the artillery leader said.
The news agency identified neither the location of the strike nor the battalion which claimed credit for the hit, only reporting that it is manned by recruits from the Urals.
Earlier this week, the Russian Defense Ministry released footage of what it said was the destruction of some 3,000 tons of Ukrainian munitions in a precision strike. The depot was located near the village of Kiselyovka in Kherson Region. People in the formerly Ukrainian part voted to join Russia last year amid the armed conflict, but parts of it remain under Kiev’s control.
Read more
September 28, 2023 at 02:24AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
The mayor of Cape Town has unlocked additional resources after two days of devastating weather and flooding
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis signed a major incident declaration on Tuesday, unlocking additional resources and relief measures to deal with the impact of devastating flooding in the South African city and surrounding region.
The Klein River burst its banks during heavy downpours in the Western Cape province on September 24-25, causing at least 11 deaths.
“The heavy rains are an indication of climate change, and while our early warning and mitigations systems did work, we have to keep investing,” Anton Bredell, the Western Cape’s provincial minister for local government and development planning, stated on Tuesday.
“We will be having some very serious budget conversations going forward. Our climate strategy is working but it needs to step up,” he added.
Eight of the 11 dead were electrocuted in shacks due to illegal power lines being swamped by water. The flooding caused 84 roads to be closed.
According to the Weather Service, the rain recorded at two stations in Cape Town was the highest for a September day in at least 22 years.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated, while around 80,000 people in the region are believed to have been left without electrical power.
The Department of Social Development and the South African Red Cross Society are coordinating the distribution of aid to the communities affected.
Speaking to RT on Wednesday, environmentalist Allan Schwarz said that “it’s largely human guilt, 99% human guilt and 1% Mother Earth being really pissed off.”
Read more
September 28, 2023 at 02:18AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
Analysts link the latest surge with dwindling crude inventories at a key storage hub in the US
Global oil prices edged closer to $100 a barrel on Thursday amid a drop in stocks at a key storage facility in the US, amplifying concerns of tightening global supplies.
Brent futures climbed 1% to $97.25 a barrel at 11:00 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) futures briefly touched $95 per barrel, the highest since August 2022.
Analysts link the latest surge in oil prices with the news from the strategic storage hub in Cushing, Oklahoma, where stocks fell by 943,000 barrels in the fourth week of September due to strong refining and export demand. The inventories there are now at just under 22 million barrels, close to the operational minimum, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Total US crude stocks dropped by 2.2 million barrels last week to 416.3 million barrels, government data shows, far exceeding industry experts’ predictions of a 320,000-barrel drop.
“Today’s price action seems to be Cushing driven, as it reaches a 22 million bbl low, the lowest level since July 2022,” Bart Melek, managing director of TD Securities, told CNBC. According to the analyst, the global oil market is headed for a “pretty robust deficit” which will keep oil prices at a “high level” for the rest of the year if US storages continue to shrink and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) continues to keep supplies tight.
Earlier this month, oil producing heavyweight and de-facto leader of OPEC Saudi Arabia extended its 1 million barrel per day (bpd) voluntary oil production cut until the end of the year.
Its OPEC+ ally and the world’s second-largest crude producer, Russia, has also recently pledged to extend its voluntary cut in oil exports by 300,000 bpd until the end of the year. Last week, the Russian government introduced a temporary ban on foreign sales of diesel and gasoline in order to stabilize the domestic fuel market.
The slow approval of new arms supplies to Kiev has frustrated some officials in Washington, the outlet has reported
The US government is divided over how to arm Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, Politico has reported, citing disagreements that the outgoing chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, has been forced to contend with.
Milley’s four-year term as America’s senior-most military commander ends this week, when he will be replaced by Charles Brown, the chief of staff of the US Air Force. The transition “couldn’t come at a more precarious time” considering the state of the Ukraine conflict, Politico claimed on Wednesday.
Looking back at Milley’s time tackling the Ukraine crisis, Politico noted that the Pentagon had often been criticized by US officials for allegedly not sending weapons to Ukraine fast enough.
“It’s been frustrating with the administration,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said.
Friction was also evident between the military and the State Department, an anonymous senior administration official told the outlet.
“State is looking at opportunities, DOD [the Defense Department] is looking at threats,” the source explained. “Folks at DOD would say they need to think about the pros and cons of each weapons decision, and that responsibility falls on them.”
Milley has argued that his aim was to provide Ukraine with the weapons it needed at a particular juncture, rather than agreeing to all of Kiev’s requests. He also weighed decisions against Washington’s own needs and contingencies, especially concerning “escalation management” and the need to avoid an all-out war against Russia.
The top general stirred anger in Ukraine last year, when he urged Kiev to use a window of opportunity to resolve the conflict diplomatically. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s government has rejected any peace talks with Russia, and has declared a military victory to be its only option.
By August, and with the Ukrainian summer counteroffensive falling far short of expectations, the White House had reportedly conceded that Milley “had a point” and that the chance for negotiations had been lost.
The saboteur group reportedly consisted of eight soldiers carrying small arms, US-made grenades, and explosives
Russian law enforcement agencies in Belgorod Region, which borders Ukraine, have foiled an attempted incursion by a Ukrainian saboteur group, local officials have said.
In a statement on Thursday, a local response center denied reports that the saboteurs had infiltrated into Russia near the settlements of Staroselye and Terebreno, both of which are located in the western part of the region several kilometers from the border.
“There was no entry. Border guards, along with other security forces, engaged in fighting on the demarcation line,” officials said.
The response center also recalled that there have been no civilians in Staroselye since last October when they were evacuated from the area. However, it denied claims that residents had been evacuated from Terebreno, which is further from the border.
Officials added that the Ukrainian forces had also shelled settlements in the border district of Krasnoyaruzhsky, noting that the extent of the damage was being assessed.
While the center did not provide further details about the attack, the Russian Telegram channel Shot reported that the Ukrainian force had consisted of eight people, who were carrying small arms, US-made grenades, and explosives. According to preliminary data, the unit had split into two groups of four men each and attempted to infiltrate the region from different sides, Shot noted.
“All members of the sabotage reconnaissance group were ‘moved back’ deep into Ukrainian territory. During the retreat, some of them were blown up on a minefield,” the outlet said, adding that there were no casualties among the Russian military.
Belgorod Region, along with other areas bordering Ukraine, has come under intense Ukrainian drone and artillery attacks in recent months, which have claimed numerous civilian lives and caused significant damage.
Ukrainian forces have made numerous other attempts to infiltrate Russian territory. Some of these incursions have been staged by the Russian Volunteer Corps, which is composed of neo-Nazi militants and collaborationists fighting for Ukraine, and the Freedom of Russia Legion, another group consisting of Russian defectors.
Read more
September 28, 2023 at 01:08AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
The top Russian diplomat has once again charged that Kiev’s backers failed to follow through on the Minsk agreements
Ukraine’s Western supporters are the ones that undercut the country’s territorial integrity by effectively reneging on the Minsk agreements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has claimed. The diplomat added that despite talk of potential negotiations coming from Western capitals of late, Moscow has yet to see readiness for serious dialogue.
In an interview with TASS published on Thursday, Lavrov speculated that Kiev’s backers are likely seeking a few months’ respite to supply Ukraine with more weapons. He suggested that this was the pattern first tried back in 2014-2015 when France and Germany brokered the Minsk 1 and Minsk 2 agreements, putting an end to the fighting between Ukrainian government forces and the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass. Ukraine, however, never kept its side of the deal, with Berlin and Paris fully aware that Kiev had no such intentions in the first place, Lavrov recounted, citing last year’s admissions made by former French President Francois Hollande, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Ukrainian President Petr Poroshenko.
According to Lavrov, the West used the accords as a mere ploy to buy time and beef up the Ukrainian military.
“If they had complied with the Minsk agreements, then Ukraine’s territorial integrity would have been ensured,” the diplomat alleged, adding that this was the whole point of the accords, which also called for a special status for the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
Lavrov went on to say that Russia was ready to negotiate with Ukraine as recently as last April, but that London and Washington had intervened.
The minister noted that while Moscow is ready for peace talks in principle, it would not agree to an immediate ceasefire this time around. Lavrov lamented a lack of any “serious [peace] proposal on the part of the West” so far, with the latter insisting on Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s peace formula as the only possible framework for negotiations.
The top diplomat described the Ukrainian head of state’s vision of peace as a “pure ultimatum,” which Russia would never accept.
Earlier this month, commenting on a remark by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said that “it takes two to tango” and accused Russia of being unwilling to negotiate with Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted that the “Americans, they don’t know how to do this tango themselves.”
The Russian leader maintained that Washington typically deals “with everything from a position of power,” resorting to economic sanctions, financial restrictions, threats, and force.
Read more
September 28, 2023 at 12:52AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
The government says the project will strengthen the country’s energy security
The UK has officially greenlit one of its biggest oil and gas projects in years, despite backlash from environmentalists.
The authorities announced the decision to develop the North Sea Rosebank field in a press release on the government’s official website on Wednesday.
According to the announcement, the regulators have granted permission to Norwegian energy giant Equinor to develop the offshore deposit alongside Britain’s Ithaca Energy. The companies hold 80% and 20% stakes respectively in Rosebank, which is considered the largest untapped oil field in the UK.
As noted in the press release, the permission to proceed with the project was granted with the intention to “strengthen [the UK’s] energy security” and followed “extensive scrutiny by the regulators,” including with regard to concerns over its environmental impact.
“The government has today welcomed the decision by regulators to approve the new Rosebank development... While the government is scaling up homegrown clean energy sources such as offshore wind and nuclear, the UK still relies on oil and gas and this will continue to be the case over the coming decades,” the press release stated.
Equinor expects the field to start output in 2026-27 and produce around 300 million barrels of oil until 2051.
Plans to tap Rosebank have long been met with public backlash amid questions over its environmental impact. Campaigners had demanded that London halt development of the field, saying it goes against the country’s goal of attaining net-zero emissions by 2050.
However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed support for the project in July, saying the UK needs new domestic sources of oil and gas to boost the country’s energy security, and that it would be impossible to remove oil and gas from the energy mix by 2050. At the time, he also announced plans to issue more new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea.
Energy Security Minister Claire Coutinho said that Rosebank is expected to be less emissions-intensive than older oil and gas developments, largely due to the planned electrification of the extraction process.
“We will continue to back the UK’s oil and gas industry to underpin our energy security, grow our economy and help us deliver the transition to cheaper, cleaner energy,” she stated.
Footage released by the Defense Ministry showcases the capabilities of the Tor-M2 air defense system
The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage showing a Tor-M2 short-range anti-aircraft system intercepting a US-made Switchblade kamikaze drone deployed by Ukrainian forces.
The ‘M2’ variant is the latest in the Tor family, which has the ability to engage targets on the move rather than after stationary deployment. This makes it efficient in protecting military columns.
The new footage showcases the highly automated weapon system’s features and includes an example of its successful use against a US-made AeroVironment Switchblade.
The loitering munition is first shown on an onboard display, with its characteristic two pairs of wings clearly seen. Then the Tor-M2 launcher is shown firing a missile, with the crew monitoring its progress and the hit from inside.
It was not clear from the video and comments by crew members whether the destroyed kamikaze drone was the lighter Switchblade 300 model or the heavier Switchblade 600. ‘Kuzya’, a deputy commander of the Tor-M2 battery, explained the distinction between the two variants as he listed different targets that Russian air defense forces deal with in the fight against Ukraine.
The advanced interceptors used by the Russian system are efficient against all sorts of aerial threats, from surveillance quadcopters to artillery rockets, ‘Tourist’, a fellow leader from the same unit said.
“We have plenty of them. Enough for all drones… that the Ukrainian forces may have,” he said.
The projectile normally used by the Tor-M2 system is rated to engage targets at a distance of up to 12km and an altitude of up to 10km. A single launcher carries 16 of them.
Read more
September 27, 2023 at 11:02PM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
A Russian MP has called for Western surveillance aircraft to be downed for allegedly facilitating Ukrainian strikes
NATO members have sharply increased the number of surveillance flights over the Black Sea off Crimea in recent months, RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday, citing public data.
The Russian news agency analyzed data from Flightradar24, an aggregator of unclassified flight information, and focused on flights that could have been made to surveil the Russian peninsula. Since the spring, the number has grown from seven per week to 21.
While European members of the US-led bloc have accounted for some of the flights, Washington is the primary operator of NATO spy aircraft in the Black Sea region, the outlet said. It highlighted that American planes and drones, such as the RQ-4B Global Hawk, conducted 16 of the total 21 flights made last week.
The report comes amid a debate in Russia about NATO’s role in facilitating Ukrainian attacks on Crimea. Kiev hit a military shipyard in Sevastopol two weeks ago and the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the same city last Friday. In both operations, UK-provided Storm Shadow missiles were reportedly used.
The US and its allies continue to provide intelligence to Kiev as it attacks Russian targets. Information from Western partners “about radars, electronic warfare, and air-defense assets” deployed by Russian forces has helped Ukraine launch multiple kamikaze drone raids deep inside Russian territory, including in Moscow, The Economist reported last month.
Mikhail Sheremet, a Russian MP representing constituents from Crimea, has suggested attacking spy aircraft due to their perceived complicity in Ukrainian strikes.
“Strange things happen during or after [NATO] flights, and I think it is no coincidence. Drone and rocket attacks by Ukrainian terrorists begin,” he told RIA Novosti.
“I believe that all NATO military surveillance planes and strategic drones over the Black Sea should be designated legitimate targets. They should be destroyed or forced to land,” the MP added.
The US previously accused Russian military pilots of “harassing” drones flying in international space over the Black Sea. One notable incident in March resulted in a US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper crashing.
Washington said a pair of Russian Su-27 fighters had dumped fuel on the spy drone, while one of them reportedly clipped its propeller. Moscow stated the UAV had been trespassing in a restricted flight zone designated by Russia, and that the crash had been caused by “sharp maneuvers” taken by its operator.
Read more
September 27, 2023 at 01:58AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
Przemyslaw Czarnek wants a probe into Yaroslav Hunka’s possible war crimes
Polish Minister of Education Przemyslaw Czarnek has signaled that he intends to seek the extradition of a Ukrainian Nazi SS veteran who was cheered in the Canadian Parliament last week.
Czarnek was reacting to the controversy surrounding Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian-Canadian who fought for the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as the 1st Galician Division, formed by Nazi Germany from mostly Western Ukrainians, that took part in atrocities against Russian, Polish, and Jewish civilians during WWII.
Hunka received a standing ovation during the ceremony in the House of Commons after being introduced by now-former House Speaker Anthony Rota as “a hero… who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky also attended the ceremony.
Writing on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, Minister Czarnek said that “in view of the scandalous events in the Canadian Parliament,” he “has taken steps towards the possible extradition” of the SS veteran to Poland. The minister also appealed to Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance to “urgently examine the documents whether Yaroslav Hunka is wanted for crimes against the Polish nation and Poles of Jewish origin.”
Commenting on a potential extradition request from Poland, however, Canadian Attorney General Arif Virani said he had not seen one. “What I would say to you is that an extradition process is a sensitive matter,” he told Politico. He refused to elaborate on the issue until the document was produced for him, arguing that this “would jeopardize the investigation.”
The controversy sparked fierce international backlash, especially from the Jewish community. The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center said it was “appalled” by the celebration. At the same time, The Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs said it “can’t stay silent when crimes committed by Ukrainians during the Holocaust are whitewashed.”
The Russian and Polish foreign ministries also joined the condemnation. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow blasted Ottawa for abusing the memory of victims of the Nazisms as well as “unbridled Russophobia.” Meanwhile, in addition to calls for charges against Hunka, Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk urged then-Speaker Rota to step down over a lack of diligence and historical knowledge.
For his part, Rota issued a public apology and later announced his resignation, while Trudeau admitted that the latest scandal was “deeply embarrassing” for Ottawa.
Read more
September 27, 2023 at 01:13AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
Russia's VSMPO-AVISMA has been added to a list of foreign firms reportedly posing a risk to US national security
The US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has introduced export restrictions on 28 international companies, including a well-known Russian titanium exporter, determined to be acting contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.
According to a notice posted in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the targeted entities from Russia, China, Finland, Germany, Oman, Pakistan, and the United Arab Emirates will be subject to additional license requirements for exports, re-exports, and transactions.
The list of sanctioned Russian companies includes the world’s largest titanium producer, VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation, which used to be a major supplier for US aerospace giant Boeing’s commercial production. Titanium parts manufactured by VSMPO-AVISMA have been used on Boeing 737, 767, 787, 777 and 777X airplanes. In 2022, the US plane maker reportedly decided to stop titanium purchases from the Russian firm.
According to the statement, the Russian company was added to the entity list “for representing a critical risk of diversion of US defense technologies” while being “directly involved in producing and manufacturing titanium and metal products for the Russian military and security services.”
Four other Russian companies added to the blacklist include Device Consulting, Grant Instrument, SMT-iLogic, and Streloy. All of them have been “implicated in a conspiracy to violate US export controls, including a scheme to supply the Special Technology Center, an entity on the BIS Entity List, with components to make unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff (GRU),” the document claimed.
While Moscow has repeatedly called for keeping politics out of sport, most Russian athletes currently cannot compete internationally
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has given the green light to the return of Russian junior teams to international events. This marks the partial lifting of a blanket ban imposed on the country after the start of the Ukraine conflict.
Following a meeting held in Limassol, Cyprus on Tuesday, UEFA released a statement that “children should not be punished for actions whose responsibility lies exclusively with adults.” The association explained that a whole generation of young players is being deprived of the opportunity to “compete in international football” – something UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin described as a violation of their “fundamental rights” and discrimination.
“For these reasons, the UEFA Executive Committee has decided that Russian teams of minor players will be readmitted to its competitions in the course of this season,” the statement read.
The decision, which concerns Russian teams made up of players under 17, stipulates that the raising of the country’s flag and the playing of the national anthem will remain off limits, with no fixtures played on Russian soil either.
At the same time, UEFA’s Executive Committee reiterated its commitment to the ban it slapped on Russian adult clubs and national teams on February 28, 2022, saying that the suspension will “remain in force until the end of the conflict in Ukraine.” On top of that, the association terminated all its events on Russian territory.
Speaking to TASS, the honorary president of the Russian Football Union, Vyacheslav Kolosov, described UEFA’s ruling as a “great decision you can only applaud.” He noted, however, that there may still be obstacles in practice due to ongoing visa restrictions and a halt to direct flights between most European nations and Russia.
Meanwhile, England’s Football Association has already made it clear that it does not “support the position of readmitting Russia to UEFA Age Grade Competitions,” and that “England teams won’t play against Russia.”
Read more
September 26, 2023 at 11:44PM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
The Meta-owned messenger will not launch the ‘Channels’ feature, to avoid belong blocked by the Russian authorities
Russian users of Meta’s WhatsApp messenger will not receive access to a new feature that would allow them to create and view media channels, the Moscow Times reported on Monday, citing a Meta spokesperson.
“The product will not be available to users within Russia anytime soon,” the spokesperson said, noting that the feature will, however, be launched in a total of 150 countries.
In a blog post in June, WhatsApp described ‘Channels’ as “a one-way broadcast tool for admins to send text, photos, videos, stickers, and polls” to their followers. The platform has invited celebrities, sports teams, artists, creators, and “thought leaders” to take advantage of the new feature.
According to the Moscow Times, Meta decided to scrap the feature in Russia to avoid being blocked in the country, as was done to Facebook and Instagram. Both apps were banned after Meta was designated as an extremist organization for allowing hate speech against Russian nationals and distributing what Moscow deemed to be false information about the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
At the time, lawmakers made an exception for WhatsApp, arguing that the messenger is a means of communication rather than posting information.
Earlier this month, Russia’s media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, and the State Duma threatened to reconsider the exception if the app expands its functionality to become more than a simple messaging platform.
“If the product of the extremist company Meta begins to expand its functionality towards mass dissemination of information, the official position regarding its activities on the territory of the Russian Federation may be revised,” the first deputy head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Anton Gorelkin, said.
Senator Viktor Bondarev, a member of the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, wrote that WhatsApp’s Channels feature would cause “particular concern,” as it could turn the app into a “means of information warfare.”
Bondarev said the exception for WhatsApp should be reviewed and that Moscow should instead follow in the steps of China, which has its own WeChat app, and create a “fully local messaging platform.”
Meanwhile, the senator urged Russian users to use alternatives to WhatsApp such as Yandex Messenger and Telegram, which he described as “friendly to the Russian information space.”
Read more
September 26, 2023 at 03:05AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
Polish investigators have reportedly ruled out Ukrainian claims that Russia was the culprit in the November 2022 incident
Despite a lack of cooperation from Kiev, Polish investigators have confirmed that a missile, resulting in the deaths of two farmers in the border village of Przewodow in Poland, was fired by Ukrainian forces. This revelation was reported by the newspaper Rzeczpospolita on Tuesday.
The Polish publication referenced a comprehensive report prepared by investigators who meticulously examined all available forensic evidence in the case. A spokesperson for the National Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged the receipt of this classified document.
“We have sent an application for legal assistance to Ukraine, and we are waiting for a response,” the official told the publication.
The tragedy in Przewodow happened last November amid a Russian missile barrage hitting targets in Western Ukraine. The victims, aged 59 and 60, were killed after a projectile hit a grain farm.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky immediately branded the incident a “Russian missile strike on collective security.” Hours later, Warsaw reported that the weapon was most likely Ukrainian, but the leadership in Kiev doubled down on claims that Russia fired it.
According to Rzeczpospolita, Polish investigators have successfully identified the missile responsible as a 5V55 model known to be used in the Soviet-designed S-300 air defense system. Polish authorities have also pinpointed the precise location from which this missile originated in Ukraine. The article points out that, given the interceptor’s range, it is evident that it could not have been launched from any Russian positions at that particular moment, including those in Belarus.
Sources cited by the newspaper, who are familiar with the investigation, explained that Kiev was employing a strategy of firing two anti-air missiles at each incoming target to enhance the likelihood of interception. However, the experts suggested that, in this particular case, the projectile in question failed to self-destruct as intended, contrary to standard protocol.
Senior Ukrainian officials had reportedly expressed their willingness to collaborate in investigating the incident. Aleksey Danilov, the secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council, asserted that Kiev possessed “evidence of a Russian trace” and offered to share it with Warsaw.
According to Rzeczpospolita, however, Polish prosecutors declined a joint investigation and did not permit Ukrainian officials to visit the site of the strike, citing legal constraints. Instead, they sought assistance through established bilateral channels, the newspaper reported.
Concluding their report, the publication recalled the tragic incident in Konstantinovka, a city under Kiev’s control in Donbass, where a missile struck a market, resulting in the deaths of at least 15 civilians.
President Zelensky accused Russia of being responsible for the strike. Last week, The New York Times published findings suggesting that a Ukrainian Buk missile was likely responsible for the deaths.
Read more
September 26, 2023 at 02:39AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
Anthony Rota has shown a lack of knowledge of history and diligence and should face “personal consequences,” a deputy FM has said
The speaker of Canada’s House of Commons, Anthony Rota, should step down for inviting a Ukrainian Nazi veteran to parliament and honoring him, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk, has said.
The controversy first erupted last week when the Canadian parliament celebrated Yaroslav Hunka, a 98-year-old Ukrainian-Canadian who fought for the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, an infamous volunteer unit formed by Nazi Germany from mostly western Ukrainians in the second half of World War II. The commemoration took place as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky were delivering speeches in the House of Commons.
Rota hailed Hunka as “a Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero… who fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians.” However, in the face of fierce backlash both at home and abroad, he apologized for inviting the Nazi veteran.
Commenting on the scandal in an interview with the PAP news agency on Tuesday, Mularczyk stated it was “a great embarrassment” for Rota, who had shown a “lack of insight, lack of knowledge of history, and lack of diligence.”
Mularczyk recalled that the Waffen SS was among the German units that committed the most war crimes during World War II, primarily against Poles and Jews. “The lack of clear condemnation of these individuals and at the same time glorifying them is a great disgrace,” he said.
In this light, the deputy FM stressed that the speaker should suffer “some personal consequences.““There should be a resignation from the position of Speaker of the House.”
The official also pointed out that the whole controversy shows that there are “unresolved… issues in the history of Ukraine,” lamenting what he called constant attempts at revisionism. He indicated that Ukrainian historical policy was marked by “the lack of dealing with the criminal past, hiding its past, and in some situations, even glorification,” Mularczyk said.
While Poland has emerged as one of Ukraine’s most stalwart supporters amid its conflict with Moscow, the relations between the two remain marred by Kiev’s continued veneration of Ukrainian nationalists, many of whom collaborated with the Nazi regime.
Warsaw has repeatedly demanded that Zelensky apologize for the 1943 Volyn Massacre, widely regarded as genocide, committed by Ukrainian nationalists. In May, however, Kiev protested attempts to force the Ukrainian leader to make a statement of contrition on the matter.
Read more
September 26, 2023 at 01:03AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
Customs authorities have prohibited tourists from taking the country’s primary export crop out of the country
Ethiopian authorities have temporarily prohibited airline passengers from taking domestically produced coffee out of the country, the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa announced on Monday.
The embassy advised air travelers to consider this information when planning trips to avoid “unpleasant situations” at Ethiopian airports.
“In connection with the introduction of a new export order by the customs authorities of Ethiopia, Ethiopian coffee export by air passengers is temporarily prohibited in any form and quantity,” the embassy said in a statement.
The embassy did not elaborate on the details of the new coffee export ban nor the reasoning behind it. Analysts warn, however, that the decision may have significant implications for the global coffee market and could spark a surge in coffee prices.
According to the London-based International Coffee Organization, Ethiopia is the largest Arabica coffee producer among African nations and ranks fifth globally in coffee production after Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, and Indonesia. Over a quarter of Ethiopians live off the coffee trade, generating up to 30% of the country’s foreign exchange earnings.
According to the Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA), the country exported 240,000 tons of coffee worth $1.34 billion to the international market last year. Ethiopian coffee exports amounted to 27,000 tons worth $140 million in August alone.
Ethiopia’s major coffee buyers are the US, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Belgium, and the UAE. So far this year, the volume of coffee exports has jumped 18% in annual terms.
The price of Urals crude is planned to be fixed at $15 per-barrel below Brent next year
The Russian government plans to continue reducing the discount of Russia’s flagship Urals blend of crude oil to the Brent benchmark, RBK business daily reported on Monday, citing a draft of the federal budget for 2024-26.
According to the report, the discount is expected to gradually decrease from the current $20 per barrel to $6 in 2026. Next year, the discount will stand at $15 per barrel and in 2025 it is expected to be $10.
Moscow has changed the way it assesses crude prices for tax purposes after the imposition of the EU’s embargo on purchases of Russian oil in December and the price cap by G7 nations. The move is aimed at offsetting the effect that the drop in prices for Urals crude was having on budget revenues. The price of Urals at times has been around $35 to $40 per barrel lower than that of Brent.
In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law amendments in the tax code for the energy sector to reduce the discount of Urals crude to Brent from $25 per barrel to $20 starting in September.
According to RBK, the planned changes in the discount will allow the Russian budget to collect an additional 860.9 billion rubles ($8.9 billion) next year, another $9.7 billion in 2025, and an additional $8.9 billion in 2026. As a result, oil and gas revenues, which are projected at $92 billion in 2023, are expected to jump to $119 billion in 2026.
The government is reportedly working on the development of Russia’s own price indicator, which will be calculated on the basis of trading on the St. Petersburg International Mercantile Exchange (SPIMEX). It should be operational from the beginning of 2024 and will also be used to calculate oil taxes, according to RBK.
Ukraine had earlier reportedly refused to accept ten outmoded Leopard 1 tanks over their poor condition
Some of the weapons Berlin has given Kiev to aid in its fight against Russia were either in bad condition or outdated, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has admitted.
In an interview with CNN released on Monday, Baerbock admitted major technical issues with arms being delivered to Ukraine, conceding that the effort to furnish Kiev with weapons has been hamstrung by delays.
Baerbock pointed out that Ukraine would not benefit from promises to deliver arms that remain unfulfilled, or shipments of inoperable military equipment. “Some of our systems are really old-fashioned… and we said in the beginning that some are not functioning,” she said, explaining that this is due to the fact that Germany had not fought in a major war in many decades.
“When we deliver something, it has to work in the field,” she stressed, adding that this was the reason why Germany has not provided Ukraine with long-range Taurus missiles which she described as extremely sophisticated.
“This is the newest thing [we have], so we have to be clear on every detail, how does it work, who can actually operate it. Yes, it takes some time… but when we deliver it, it has to work,” she noted, adding that the same considerations apply to some other German-made armaments.
For several months the Ukrainians have been asking for Taurus missiles, which have a range of about 500 kilometers and can carry a 500-kilogram warhead. However, despite media reports that Berlin was laying the groundwork for the shipments, Baerbock cautioned earlier this month that delivery would not come in the nearest future because “every detail has to be worked out beforehand.”
Germany has also been reluctant to supply the missiles over concerns that a major escalation could be triggered if Kiev were to use them to strike deep into Russia.
Last week, Der Spiegel reported, citing sources, that Ukraine had refused to accept ten outmoded Leopard 1 tanks because of their poor mechanical state. Ukrainian officials reportedly told the Germans that the armor which had arrived in Poland should be repaired before being deployed to the frontline, but that there were neither maintenance personnel nor spare parts to do so.
Russia has repeatedly warned the West against supplying Ukraine with weapons, arguing that it will only prolong the conflict without changing its ultimate outcome.
Read more
September 25, 2023 at 11:17PM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
Nations downstream from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which has been under construction since 2011, are concerned about water access
Trilateral talks held over the past weekend in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa failed to find a resolution to longstanding disagreements between Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt over a gravity dam being constructed on the Blue Nile River. The latter two nations fear the facility will affect their water supply.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, which has been under construction since 2011, has a planned capacity of 5.15 gigawatts, which will make it the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa once completed. Last February, the dam produced its first electricity, delivering 375 megawatts to the grid per day.
During the talks, Egypt stated that it will approach the meetings in Addis Ababa with the same level of “seriousness and goodwill” as before, according to a statement by Hani Sewilam, the minister for water resources and irrigation.
Sewilam confirmed that Egypt is in search of a “fair and balanced” agreement that will protect its water security and the interests of Ethiopia and Sudan.
The parties engaged in a productive exchange of constructive ideas that aimed to find common ground on the differences that have persisted, Ambassador Seleshi Bekele, the leader of the Ethiopian negotiating team, said on Sunday.
“The two-day tripartite negotiations on the Renaissance Dam have been completed this evening. We have exchanged constructive ideas on various outstanding issues with a view to bridge the differences among the parties. Ethiopia reiterates its commitment to continue negotiating in good faith,” Seleshi said in a statement.
However, Egypt’s Ministry of Irrigation released a statement saying that the latest round of talks about the dam concluded without significant progress.
The three parties have said they hoped to reach an agreement by the end of the year.
Egypt derives 97% of its water from the Blue Nile River, which is one of the main tributaries of the Nile River, where the GERD is located. How the facility will affect downstream water flow into Egypt and Sudan has been the key point of contention.
The talks held this past weekend are the first since December 15, 2022, despite informal talks.
Egypt and Ethiopia recently accepted invitations to join the BRICS group, which could provide a new platform to discuss the issue. It has also been noted by analysts that higher water levels in recent years have meant that floods may have become a greater threat to Egypt and Sudan than droughts.
Read more
September 25, 2023 at 02:08AM
from RT - Daily news
via IFTTT
