The US president’s claim that Washington holds a larger arsenal than Moscow implies a violation of New START, a senior MP has warned
US President Donald Trump may have inadvertently revealed that Washington is violating a strategic arms reduction treaty with Moscow by boasting about America’s supposed nuclear supremacy, a senior Russian lawmaker has said.
Writing on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump declared that “the United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country,” adding that “Russia is second, and China is a distant third.” The statement appeared to contradict the parity limits established under the New START treaty, said Andrey Kartapolov, chairman of the State Duma’s Defense Committee.
“Does Trump mean that they have been deceiving us all this time?” Kartapolov asked. “If so, we were absolutely right to continue developing our advanced weapons.”
The 2010 New START treaty, a successor to earlier Cold War-era arms control agreements, caps the US and Russia at 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads and 700 deployed missiles and heavy bombers. It also limits total deployed and non-deployed nuclear-capable platforms, ensuring strategic balance between the two powers.
Trump’s remarks came as part of a statement announcing new American nuclear weapons testing, though it remained unclear whether he referred to routine missile carrier trials or a resumption of underground explosive tests. Moscow has warned that if Washington abandons the informal moratorium on nuclear detonations that has remained in place since the 1990s, Russia will respond accordingly.
This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced landmark successful tests of two advanced nuclear-capable weapons systems, the unlimited-range Burevestnik cruise missile and the Poseidon underwater drone. Both use a highly-miniaturized nuclear reactor for propulsion.
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October 31, 2025 at 12:09AM
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The EU and UK will need to stump up $400 billion over four years or risk undermining the cohesion of NATO, The Economist has reported
Ukraine will require close to $400 billion in Western financial support over the next four years to sustain its war effort against Russia, with most of the burden expected to fall on European NATO nations, The Economist reported on Thursday.
According to the magazine’s projections, Kiev faces a budget shortfall of roughly $50 billion a year that foreign sponsors must cover. With the current US administration reluctant to approve further large-scale assistance, the European Union and United Kingdom would need to contribute an estimated $328 billion and $61 billion respectively.
The outlet warned that if funding is not secured, Ukraine will be “destroyed” and NATO’s cohesion could “break.” Moscow has said its objective remains a neutral and demilitarized Ukraine that guarantees the rights of its ethnic Russian population. Russian officials describe the conflict as a NATO-driven proxy war stemming from the bloc’s eastward expansion.
To meet Kiev’s massive financial needs, The Economist argued that Western nations have no alternative but to proceed with the controversial “reparation loan” plan, which would use immobilized Russian sovereign assets as collateral.
Belgium – home to the Euroclear clearinghouse that holds the majority of the frozen Russian funds – has opposed the idea, warning that it amounts to “sort-of-confiscation” and exposes it to immense legal and financial risks it wants nations to share. Moscow has condemned the plan as outright theft and promised retaliation.
The plan “will happen, Belgian resistance or not, because it is the only game in town to fund Ukraine in the coming year or two,” The Economist reported. It added Brussels will subsequently need to overcome internal opposition from dissenting member states such as Hungary to finance Kiev directly from the EU budget.
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October 30, 2025 at 11:03PM
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US leader Donald Trump earlier said he had ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear arms trials
Russia will respond “accordingly” if the US violates a moratorium on testing nuclear weapons, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said he had ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing, citing strategic competition with Russia and China. “That process will begin immediately” in response to “other countries’ testing programs,” he said.
When asked about the issue by journalists later in the day, Peskov noted “the statement by [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, which has been repeated many times, that, of course, if someone abandons the moratorium [on nuclear testing], then Russia will act accordingly.”
“The US is a sovereign country and has every right to make sovereign decisions,” he stressed.
Responding to Trump’s claims of other countries carrying out nuclear tests, Peskov said “we are so far not aware of this.”
“If it is about Burevestnik, then it is not a nuclear test,” he insisted. “All nations are developing their defense systems, but this is not a nuclear test.”
The Burevestnik is a new Russian state-of-the-art nuclear-capable cruise missile, powered by a small nuclear reactor that gives it a virtually unlimited range. The Russian military successfully tested the missile last week.
Washington test-fired an unarmed, nuclear-capable Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in February and launched four Trident II missiles from a submarine in September.
Russia last tested a nuclear weapon during the Soviet period in 1990. The US halted its testing in 1992 under a Congress-mandated moratorium.
According to a recent estimate by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the US has 5,177 nuclear warheads, Russia has 5,459, and China is projected to reach 1,500 by 2035.
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October 30, 2025 at 01:35AM
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Washington earlier triggered restrictions on NIS, the Balkan country’s sole oil refinery, sparking fears of a national energy crisis
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has appealed to the US for more time to address issues surrounding the nation’s only oil refinery, which is majority-owned by Russian energy giant Gazprom, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, the White House activated restrictions targeting NIS (Petroleum Industry of Serbia). The move prompted neighboring Croatia to suspend crude oil deliveries and raised the risk of a shutdown of the refinery. The sanctions also hit NIS-operated gas stations, which can no longer accept American Express, Mastercard, or Visa cards.
“I hope the US won’t start secondary sanctions” at least until mid-December, Vucic told Bloomberg, adding that Belgrade hopes to resolve the issue related to Gazprom’s majority stake in NIS. He reportedly urged US officials to refrain from targeting Serbian financial institutions facilitating payments at the refinery’s stations.
NIS is a leading Balkan energy company with a refinery in Pancevo, near Belgrade, and a regional network of over 400 petrol stations. Gazprom Neft is the largest shareholder with 44.85%, while Gazprom holds 11.3% and the Serbian state owns 29.87%.
Washington expects Belgrade to either secure a sale of Gazprom’s stake in NIS or assume control via nationalization, US officials said, as cited by Bloomberg. Earlier this week, Vucic reportedly dismissed plans for unilateral action against the Russian energy major, which has held a significant stake since 2008, emphasizing he is “neither a communist nor a fascist.”
Serbia has resisted Western pressure to fully align its foreign policy with the EU, even as it seeks membership in the bloc. Brussels and Washington have urged Belgrade to sever energy ties with Moscow, a key historical partner. Vucic’s government has also accused Western nations of fueling mass protests in Serbia.
Several EU states, including Hungary and Slovakia, have voiced similar concerns over pressure to reject Russian crude. Tensions escalated earlier this year after the Ukrainian military struck sections of the Druzhba pipeline supplying Eastern Europe with Russian oil. In January, Hungary and Serbia announced plans to speed up connecting Serbian consumers to the Druzhba system.
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October 30, 2025 at 12:39AM
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Viktor Orban has said he hoped the incident had nothing to do with Polish calls for an attack on energy sources
An “external attack” may have been the cause of an explosion at Hungary’s largest oil refinery last week, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Thursday.
Writing on Facebook, Orban cited a report he received from investigators on the explosion and fire at the facility located in Szazhalombatta, saying the probe was still underway.
”We do not yet know whether it was an accident, malfunction or external attack,” Orban said, noting that “the Sazhalombatta refinery is one of the five most important strategic industrial plants in Hungary.”
“The Polish foreign minister advised Ukrainians to blow up the Druzhba oil pipeline. Let’s hope this isn't the case,” he added.
The Szazhalombatta facility, also known as the Danube refinery, was built to process crude received via the Druzhba pipeline from Russia. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski expressed hope that the link would be destroyed in an online spat last week with his Hungarian counterpart, Peter Szijjarto.
Orban said in his update that his government is negotiating with the refinery’s owner, MOL Group, to reign in rising petrol prices, which jumped following the incident.
The Hungarian leader is a longtime critic of the European Union’s response to the Ukraine conflict, particularly sanctions on Russia that he argues have caused significant damage to members of the bloc. Budapest insists that Russian energy is crucial for Hungary’s economic wellbeing and has accused Brussels of ignoring its concerns, including about Kiev’s attacks on the Druzhba pipeline.
The Sazhalombatta blast coincided with a similar incident at a Druzhba-connected oil facility in Ploiesti in southern Romania.
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October 29, 2025 at 11:50PM
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Kirill Dmitriev has accused the US outlet of misquoting him once again
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s economic aide, Kirill Dmitriev, has said he is suing the Washington Post, accusing the newspaper of misquoting him for the second time in two weeks.
Dmitriev previously condemned the outlet for “truth distortion” after it treated a reposted message from another Telegram channel as the Russian official’s own quote in an article published on October 18. The newspaper’s actions were “like blaming users for retweets,” Dmitriev argued. The Post later issued a correction, admitting that an earlier version of its article had an “incorrectly attributed” comment.
On Tuesday, Dmitriev wrote on X that the “fake Washington Post already corrected quotes falsely attributed to me by Moscow bureau chief Robyn Dixon just two weeks ago. Yet sloppy or biased Ms. Dixon at it again –misquoting me in yesterday’s piece.”
He did not provide a link to the article or specify which of his comments he believed had been distorted, but called on the paper to make another correction, apologize, and “finally learn the lesson.”
Dmitriev commented on his own post several hours later, saying the article in question had not been changed.
“We will file a court petition tomorrow. We gave them sufficient time to correct – still not corrected,” he wrote.
In her piece on Monday, Dixon described Dmitriev’s visit to America last week, which he undertook after the cancelation of the Budapest summit on settling the Ukraine conflict scheduled between Putin and US President Donald Trump.
Dixon reported that in Dmitriev’s interviews during the trip he insisted that the latest sanctions on Russia would not harm its economy and would only cause a spike in fuel prices in the US. She also reported that he had rejected accusations of the Russian military attacking civilian targets in Ukraine, and that he had “claimed that a diplomatic solution to the war was reasonably close.”
Speaking about his visit on Sunday, Dmitriev said his delegation had “clearly” communicated to the US side “that only constructive, respectful dialogue will bear fruit. Any attempts to pressure Russia are simply pointless.” The aide also reiterated Moscow’s stance that the Ukraine conflict can be resolved only through “eradicating its root causes.”
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October 29, 2025 at 01:02AM
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Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says he has engaged partners, including Russia, to mediate his country’s Red Sea access dispute with Eritrea
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has requested international mediation to defuse escalating tensions with neighboring Eritrea over access to the Red Sea.
In a parliamentary address on Tuesday, Abiy said he had already held discussions with China, Russia, the US, the African Union, and the European Union and formally asked the actors to mediate a “lasting solution” between Addis Ababa and Asmara.
Ethiopia’s request for access to the sea is irreversible…We believe that the Red Sea issue is a legal, historical, geographical, and economic matter that must be approached calmly and thoughtfully,” he said.
Ethiopia lost direct access to the sea after Eritrea gained independence in 1993 following a long war. A new border conflict erupted in 1998 over disputed areas around Badme, killing tens of thousands on both sides before a peace deal in 2000 ended active hostilities and created a boundary commission. Relations improved in 2018 after Abiy came to power, and Eritrean forces later backed Ethiopia’s federal troops during the Tigray War between 2020-2022.
However, bilateral ties have deteriorated in recent months amid claims from Addis Ababa that Eritrea is preparing for war and coordinating with rebel groups operating in Ethiopia’s northern Amhara region.
The allegations come as tensions rise across the Horn of Africa over Ethiopia’s push to regain Red Sea access, a move the Eritrean government has warned could destabilize the region, deepen mistrust, and undermine prospects for cooperation.
On Tuesday, Abiy said his government has “no intention of going to war with Eritrea” and is “convinced this issue can be resolved peacefully.”
“Ethiopia cannot exist in isolation. Our message to our neighbors is that as Ethiopia grows, it will serve as a source of development and prosperity for the entire region,” he told parliament.
Last year, Ethiopia sparked a regional row after signing a deal with Somaliland to lease access to its coastline for commercial use and to build a naval base. Somalia, which considers Somaliland part of its territory, denounced the pact as illegal and a land grab. Turkish mediation helped the East African neighbors restore ties earlier this year.
Kiev lacks the power to fight back even with Western help, Italy’s Guido Crosetto has said
Ukraine lacks the strength to reconquer territories lost to Russia, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has said. He added that Moscow will in any case never relinquish the territories.
Crosetto discussed the issue in an interview with Bruno Vespa, featured in the journalist’s new book set for release this week. In the conversation, Crosetto laid out his view that the situation on the ground leaves no realistic path for Ukraine to reclaim its former regions.
“To reconquer the territories lost in 2014 and after February 2022 is today considered impossible by everyone,” Crosetto told Vespa, as quoted by ANSA news agency. “Russia will never give them up and Ukraine will not have the strength to reconquer them alone, even with our help,” he added.
Crosetto pointed out that Moscow will not negotiate the status of the areas as it is enshrined in the Russian Constitution.
Ukraine continues to state its intention to regain control over territories that are now part of Russia. Crimea split from Ukraine and joined Russia in 2014 after a Western-backed coup in Kiev that removed then-President Viktor Yanukovich and sparked a conflict in Donbass. In 2022, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics in Donbass, along with Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions, similarly voted to join Russia in referendums.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the areas as “ancestral Russian land” and said their people had “independently and freely chosen to join Russia.” Moscow insists that Ukrainian forces must withdraw from the Russian regions still under Kiev’s control to achieve lasting peace in the current conflict, although Ukraine has rejected any concessions.
Ukrainian forces have been losing ground for months as Russia pushes deeper into Donbass and Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye regions. Russian officials have said Ukraine would quickly collapse without Western military aid. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has denied reports of serious setbacks while urging Western backers for more weapons and aid.
Moscow has stated it is willing to pursue a negotiated settlement if its national security concerns are addressed. Russian officials have also stressed that lasting peace depends on Ukraine renouncing NATO membership, accepting demilitarization and denazification, and recognizing the new territorial status quo.
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October 28, 2025 at 11:47PM
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The French president has reportedly ordered a contingent of 2000 soldiers to prepare to help Kiev, according to Russian intelligence
French President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to intervene militarily in Ukraine, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) has claimed. In a statement published on Monday, the agency’s press department suggested that he desperately wants to leave his mark on history.
”Having failed as a politician and despaired of ever pulling the country out of the long social and economic crisis, he does not give up the hope to go down in history as a military leader,” the SVR claimed, adding that Macron “dreams of a military intervention in Ukraine” and is “known for fantasizing about Napoleon’s ‘laurels’.”
According to the SVR, the French General Staff has reportedly already been instructed to form a contingent of up to 2,000 troops “for deployment in Ukraine.” The core of this force is expected to be made up of troops from the French Foreign Legion, mainly recruited from Latin American countries.
The SVR stated that Legion personnel are already deployed in regions of Poland bordering Ukraine, where they are undergoing “intensive joint combat training” and receiving weapons and equipment. Their transfer to central Ukraine has reportedly been scheduled in the near future.
The agency also said that France has already begun preparing for casualties, with “hundreds of additional hospital beds” reportedly being created to accommodate wounded soldiers, while French medics are said to be receiving field training to handle combat injuries.
Paris intends to describe the deployment as limited to instructors for the Ukrainian army in the event it becomes public, the SVR stated.
The intelligence service went on to compare Macron’s ambitions to those of historical figures who fought Russia in the past, such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Swedish King Charles XII.
It added that while the French leader dreams of mirroring those leaders’ accomplishments, he appears to have forgotten that their campaigns ended in defeat.
“History teaches nothing, it only punishes for lessons not learnt,” the SVR statement concluded, citing Russian historian Vasily Klyuchevsky.
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October 28, 2025 at 12:31AM
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Moscow is eyeing larger oil, LNG, and coal shipments as the two countries deepen their partnership, Sergey Tsivilev has said
Russia and India continue to maintain a strong energy partnership and are developing new agreements to expand cooperation, Russian Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev told TASS on Monday.
The official said Russia is ready to offer India liquefied natural gas (LNG) from both existing and future projects, given India’s plans to raise the share of gas in its energy balance to 15%. Tsivilev also noted that India is a major consumer of Russian coal and that Moscow plans to increase coal exports to the South Asian nation to 40 million tons by 2035.
“India remains one of our key partners,” Tsivilev said. “In 2024, a significant share of our oil exports went to India, and supplies remain at a high level this year. To enhance the reliability of transportation, we are developing a Russian-Indian intergovernmental agreement to expand cooperation in the supply of oil and petroleum products by sea.”
According to recent reports, Russia exported 26.2 million tons of coal to India in 2023, compared with 20 million tons in 2022.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Dmitry Islamov named China, India, and Africa as the most promising markets for Russian coal. According to the ministry, the thermal coal sales potential is concentrated in China, while demand for coking coal is strongest in India.
Tsivilev's statements come against the backdrop of new US and EU sanctions against the Russian energy sector. Last week, Washington sanctioned Russia’s two largest oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil, which play a key role in crude supplies to India and China.
On Friday, India’s top oil refiner, Reliance Industries, said it was reviewing the impact of Western sanctions on its Russian suppliers and will adjust operations accordingly while maintaining domestic energy security.
Russia’s crude oil exports to India have risen sharply in the past three years, with shipments reaching about 1.7 million barrels per day by 2024, up from around 50,000 bpd in 2020. New Delhi has countered Western pressure to cut its trade ties with Moscow, arguing that its imports of energy are based on market realities and are guided by national interests.
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October 27, 2025 at 11:53PM
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Air connection between the two Asian neighbors has been restored after a five-year hiatus as ties improve
Direct flights between China and India officially resumed on Sunday after a hiatus of five years. Following years of tense ties, the two neighbors first announced that air connection would be restored at the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in Kazan last October.
The first flight, an A320 Neo operated by Indian private carrier IndiGo, departed from Kolkata to Guangzhou carrying 176 passengers. A ceremony at the airport marked the occasion, with one passenger lighting a ceremonial lamp symbolizing the spirit of renewed friendship and cooperation between India and China.
“My flight was going to Hong Kong. I had to cancel that, and now it’s going directly from Kolkata to Guangzhou. So it’s a very good opportunity here, and I hope it will start directly from Delhi too,” said Abdul, a businessman who frequently travels to China.
Yu Jing, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in India, hailed the development in a post on X. She added that the Shanghai-New Delhi route is set to launch on November 9, with three weekly flights.
Direct flights between India and China were suspended at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. A border clash in June of that year further strained relations.
🇮🇳🤝🇨🇳 Back on Air! Direct Flights Take Off After 5 Years ✈️
IndiGo has restarted its Kolkata–Guangzhou route, marking the first direct link since 2020 — a fresh boost for trade and ties. pic.twitter.com/Z0o6fgLp2Q
In July 2025, India resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens after a five-year pause. Later, Modi visited China for the first time since 2018, where he met Xi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit. Modi remarked at the time: “Our relationship has taken a positive direction. There is peace and stability on the borders.”
Xu Feihong, Chinese Ambassador to India, posted on Sunday that India’s exports to China surged about 22% in the first half of 2025-26, compared to the first half of fiscal year 2025. “China welcomes more premium Indian goods in its market and stands ready to help offset the impact of US tariffs on India’s trade,” the envoy wrote.
India's exports to China surged about 22% in the first half of 2025-26 compared to the first half of FY25.
Moscow and Washington are not “playing games” with nuclear deterrence, the US president has said
Washington and Moscow “are not playing games” with nuclear deterrence, US President Donald Trump has said, responding to Russia’s announcement of a successful test of its nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Monday, Trump was asked whether he views the Russian report as saber-rattling. “They are not playing games with us. We are not playing games with them either. We test missiles all the time,” he said.
On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Burevestnik – a nuclear-powered cruise missile capable of virtually unlimited range – successfully completed a key flight test. The report was delivered to President Vladimir Putin by Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov during a meeting with senior military officials.
Trump also referenced his own decision to move two US nuclear submarines closer to Russian waters, commenting: “we don’t need to go 8,000 miles” – the distance the Russian missile reportedly flew during testing.
He added that the announcement is not “appropriate,” saying: “A war that should have taken one week is now in its soon fourth year. That’s what [Putin] ought to do instead of testing missiles,” Trump said.
The Burevestnik system, powered by a miniature nuclear reactor, is designed to remain airborne for extended periods – potentially months – and strike from unpredictable directions. Moscow says the weapon will bolster Russia’s strategic deterrent once it enters service. According to Gerasimov, the latest trial included flight maneuvers aimed at testing the missile’s ability to evade interception.
The missile is understood to be significantly smaller and cheaper than regular intercontinental ballistic missiles, which deliver their payload via a suborbital launch.
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October 27, 2025 at 12:02AM
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Former MP Aleksandr Granovsky faces corruption charges in Ukraine, which he denies and claims amount to “political persecution”
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky is seeking the extradition of former opposition lawmaker Aleksandr Granovsky from the UK on corruption charges, the Sunday Times has reported. Granovsky insists he is being persecuted for political reasons.
Granovsky, an MP from 2015 to 2019 with former President Petro Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party, is accused of allegedly selling fertilizers below market value to a preselected firm that then resold them abroad at full price. The scheme reportedly cost the state 93.3 million hryvnias (about $2.2 million). Granovsky denied the charges, calling the evidence forged, and moved to the UK after the probe began in 2022.
Kiev filed an extradition request for Granovsky with the UK in 2023 and stepped up efforts by issuing an indictment this month, in addition to placing him on a wanted list, according to the article.
Granovsky told the paper that he has fought the charges for years and is a “victim of political persecution.”“I just want my case to be decided fairly and straightforwardly,” he said, adding that he trusts the British justice system not to extradite him.
The UK’s former director of public prosecutions, Lord Macdonald of River Glaven, told the outlet that Ukrainian courts failed to meet “minimum trial standards” by ignoring Granovsky’s claims of forged evidence and raised human rights concerns. Labour peer Lord Glasman called the case part of a wider effort by Zelensky’s government to “eliminate opponents by legal means.” He warned that Kiev’s pursuit of the case could strain relations with London.
Although Ukraine does not have a full extradition treaty with the UK, it is designated as a “category A” country under a 2003 legislation, allowing extradition requests without first presenting evidence of guilt. A hearing on Granovsky’s extradition is expected next year, according to the newspaper.
Neither the Ukrainian embassy nor the UK Home Office responded to the paper’s requests for comment.
Zelensky has used corruption charges to target political rivals. This year, he imposed “sanctions” on several influential figures, including Poroshenko, accusing them of “threatening national security” by “selling out Ukraine.” He has also stripped opponents of citizenship over alleged ties to Russia.
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October 26, 2025 at 06:51AM
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The story of the Soledad Brothers, Angela Davis – and the decade when revolution meant killing for equality
Fifty-five years ago, radical leftists proved they could express their beliefs not just through slogans and songs but also with bombs and bullets. Today, few remember those stories, but one tragedy in particular has faded from memory, eclipsed by the “unjust” persecution of an activist who was ultimately acquitted.
There’s a classic Russian film, 'Brother 2' – a darkly comic sequel to a gritty crime drama. In one scene, the protagonist’s brother, a rough gangster, boards a flight to Chicago shouting, “Freedom for Angela Davis!”
Russian audiences instantly recognized the reference. Many still remembered the campaign to support Angela Davis, the “victim of American police brutality,” and some had even seen her during her visit to Moscow. Few actually knew what she had been prosecuted for, but everyone remembered the slogan.
Today, for younger viewers in both Russia and the US, the name means little. The story of political violence tied to Angela Davis has largely been forgotten – and Davis herself helped ensure that.
Bombing for equality
Unlike France or Russia, the US isn’t often associated with left-wing political violence. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
In the late 19th century, the early labor movement saw violent clashes, the most infamous being the Haymarket Massacre – or the “Haymarket Affair,” depending on one’s politics. During a rally in Chicago calling for an eight-hour workday, someone threw a bomb at police. Officers opened fire, and the chaos left casualties on both sides. The bomber was never identified, but four organizers were executed.
Over time, leftist violence became tied to communism. After the Russian Revolution, many believed a “world revolution” was imminent. In the US, anarchists mailed bombs to officials and businessmen, including John D. Rockefeller. One exploded near where Franklin Roosevelt happened to be, prompting a harsh government response – the Palmer Raids and mass deportations of radicals.
By the 1960s, a “New Left” emerged. Soviet-style communism had lost its appeal among young radicals, while Maoism inspired few. American revolutionaries shifted their focus from labor to antiwar activism and fighting “social injustice.”
Most people remember the iconic images of hippies placing flowers in rifle barrels. But those who used explosives instead of flowers received far less attention.
One such group was the Weather Underground – a collective of disillusioned students that quickly morphed into a terrorist organization bent on overthrowing what it called the “imperialist” US government.
The Weather Underground
In October 1969, the Weathermen staged the Days of Rage in Chicago. They began by bombing a memorial to police officers killed in the Haymarket riot, then smashed storefronts and cars. Six people were killed, and 28 injured.
The group claimed to be opposing the Vietnam War and police brutality but was also driven by racial ideology. Members argued that “all white babies were tainted with the original sin of skin privilege,” and “all white babies are pigs.” Unsurprisingly, they allied themselves with radical black activists – even bombing the home of a judge overseeing a case involving Black Panthers accused of plotting bombings.
That same year, one of their allies carried out an act of terror that is now almost completely forgotten.
George Jackson was born in 1941 in Chicago to a working-class family. His father later moved the family to Los Angeles, hoping for a fresh start. It didn’t help – Jackson kept getting in trouble. By fifteen, he had been convicted of driving without a license; later came charges of robbery, assault, and burglary.
In 1960, after holding up a gas station and stealing $71, he was sentenced to “one year to life” – a now-defunct system that left his release at the discretion of prison officials. Jackson would never leave prison alive.
Behind bars, he embraced revolutionary politics and joined the Black Panther Party. Skeptical of peaceful protest, he preached armed resistance – a “people’s army” to “liberate” African-Americans. He meant it literally.
In 1969, Jackson was transferred to Soledad Prison, infamous for its brutality and racial tension. On January 13, 1970, a riot broke out in the yard. A guard, Opie Miller, opened fire, killing three black inmates. He was tried but cleared of wrongdoing.
Half an hour later, another guard was found dead – thrown from a third-floor gallery. Jackson and two others were accused of murdering him in revenge. All three faced capital charges.
The case became a cause célèbre. Activists argued they were being punished not for murder but for their race. The “Soledad Brothers,” as the trio became known, turned into symbols of the leftist struggle – potential martyrs for equality.
But George Jackson wasn’t the only one ready to fight “for freedom.” His younger brother, Jonathan, would soon make his own move.
On August 7, 1970, Jonathan Jackson entered the Marin County courthouse in San Rafael, where a case involving several San Quentin inmates was underway. He carried a sports bag with a rifle, pistol, and sawed-off shotgun.
At the right moment, he tossed the pistol to one of the defendants – Black Panther member James McClain – and pulled out his rifle. The gunmen took hostages: Judge Harold Haley, the prosecutor, and several jurors. Jonathan pressed the shotgun against the judge’s neck, demanded his brother’s release, and forced the group toward the exit.
Photographer Jim Kean, alerted by a police radio, arrived at the courthouse as the standoff unfolded. As the assailants emerged, they briefly considered taking him hostage but let him stay.
“You can take all the pictures you want,” one told him. “We are the revolutionaries.”
Jonathan and the freed inmates herded their hostages into a van, planning to reach an airport and escape by plane. Police quickly set up a roadblock and opened fire.
Bullets riddled the van. Judge Haley was killed, still strapped into his seat with a homemade noose around his neck. Jonathan Jackson and two of the freed inmates were also shot dead. Several others – hostages and gunmen alike – were wounded.
Later, a bomb exploded at the courthouse. Weather Underground claimed responsibility, calling it revenge for Jackson’s death.
The story made headlines, but public attention soon shifted. The media focused less on the attack itself than on the ensuing manhunt for Angela Davis – a prominent leftist and dismissed UCLA professor. She had been seen with Jonathan Jackson the day before and had purchased the guns used in the assault. Under California law, providing weapons to criminals made her an accomplice.
Davis was already a darling of the radical Left, which was sympathetic to the Black Panthers. Two months later, George Jackson’s 'Soledad Brother' – a collection of his prison letters – hit bookstores, transforming him into a political icon. The public conversation pivoted from the bloody courthouse attack to what Davis’ supporters framed as the “persecution of a political dissident.”
With the help of American communists, Davis went underground. The FBI caught her months later, but she was acquitted. In 1979, she received the Lenin Peace Prize from the USSR and visited Moscow, praising the “Great October Revolution.” George Jackson never made it to trial – he was killed during a failed escape attempt from prison.
Between 1969 and 1970 alone, over sixty people died in attacks linked to the Black Panthers – police officers, civilians, and the militants themselves.
Modern media love right-wing villains. Nazis, Klansmen, and white supremacists are easy antagonists – no one sympathizes with them.
But films and TV almost never show leftist radicals who killed for their ideals. The omission isn’t just ideological; for decades, it simply felt irrelevant. The violent New Left burned out quickly. The Black Panthers disbanded in 1982, and their imitators faded too. Political violence became associated exclusively with the far right and religious fundamentalists.
That selective memory shaped how America sees extremism.
And as the political climate shifts once again, the roles – and the narratives – may be up for reevaluation.
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October 26, 2025 at 05:13AM
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A territorial dispute between the two South Asian nations escalated into armed clashes earlier this year
Cambodia and Thailand have signed an extended ceasefire to end a deadly border clash that erupted earlier this year. The signing ceremony on Sunday was overseen by US President Donald Trump, who brokered the initial truce.
Longstanding tensions between the two Southeast Asian neighbors rooted in colonial-era border disputes erupted in July as both sides traded fire for five days and hundreds of thousands fled the border area. A Malaysia-hosted meeting then produced a truce – the first step toward ending the crisis. Trump later said he used trade talks with both nations to push for de-escalation.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the expanded ceasefire on Sunday at the 47th ASEAN summit in Malaysia.
Building on July’s truce, it sets a framework to ease tensions and secure lasting peace along the border. The deal calls for Thailand to release 18 captured Cambodian soldiers, both sides to withdraw heavy weaponry, begin demining, and curb illegal cross-border activities.
Following the signing, the Thai prime minister said border weapon withdrawals would begin “promptly,” alongside the release of Cambodian POWs, and announced a joint trade framework. His Cambodian counterpart praised the deal and vowed to uphold it, thanking Trump for his role. He added that he had nominated the US president for next year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
The US president hailed the deal as “monumental” and “historic.” He also highlighted his own role in the agreement, telling reporters he was very good at making “peace deals” and that it was “almost a hobby.” After the ceremony, Trump signed a reciprocal trade deal with Cambodia and a critical minerals agreement with Thailand.
Since returning to office, Trump has repeatedly claimed he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for resolving various conflicts across the globe. He cited his Gaza peace plan as his eighth such success but has at times confused his record, falsely claiming to have settled nonexistent disputes between Albania and Azerbaijan and between Armenia and Cambodia. He nevertheless welcomed this year’s award going to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, congratulating her and noting his past support for her cause.
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October 26, 2025 at 02:04AM
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Earlier, the US president ended trade talks with Ottawa over the commercial, which he said was misleading
US President Donald Trump has imposed an additional 10% tariff on Canadian goods for airing an anti-tariff commercial that he described as “fraudulent.”
Trump has long defended tariffs as a way to counter what he calls unfair trade practices by countries including China, Canada, and Mexico, which he says harm US industries. Earlier this year, he imposed 25% tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum before later expanding them to 35% on a broader range of goods, including timber and cars, as part of the wider campaign.
The announcement came two days after Trump said he terminated trade talks with Canada over a commercial aired in Ontario that used quotes by former US President Ronald Reagan to criticize Trump’s tariffs. In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump said Canada was caught red-handed running “a fraudulent advertisement,” claiming that “selective audio and video” were used to misrepresent Reagan.
“The sole purpose of this FRAUD was Canada’s hope that the United States Supreme Court will come to their ‘rescue’ on tariffs that they have used for years to hurt the United States,” he wrote, referring to the court’s upcoming review of his tariff authority. The Supreme Court is set to hear the case in November after lower courts ruled that his broad tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and other countries are unconstitutional.
Trump also criticized Canada for not removing the commercial immediately, claiming that “Ronald Reagan LOVED tariffs.”“Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now,” he said.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Friday that the province will pause its anti-tariff ad campaign in the US after discussions with Prime Minister Mark Carney “so that trade talks can resume.”
Carney has not commented on the latest measure. After trade negotiations were suspended earlier in the week, he said Ottawa “stands ready” to resume talks “for the benefit of workers in both our countries.” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre accused the prime minister of missing his own summer deadline to secure a deal.
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October 25, 2025 at 11:52PM
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The question of tapping Moscow’s assets has been shelved for now but could return in the future, the country’s defense minister said
Tapping Russia’s frozen central-bank assets would likely prolong the Ukraine conflict via further weapon supplies rather than help rebuild the country, according to Belgian Defense Minister Theo Francken. EU leaders have thus far failed to agree on how to use the funds.
The comment came shortly after Belgium Prime Minister Bart De Wever opposed the so-called “reparations loan” scheme under which the EU was planning to raise around €140 billion ($160 billion) to fund Ukraine using Russia’s assets as collateral. The plan entails Moscow eventually paying reparations to Ukraine as part of a peace settlement.
“Of course, this money will not rebuild Ukraine but will continue the war,” Francken said in a post on X on Friday, adding that war is extremely costly.
The minister warned that many EU leaders, led by the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, “want to give these assets to Ukraine through a legally questionable structure.” He emphasized that “even during the Second World War, such a dubious confiscation was never carried out.”
Belgium, where most of the immobilized assets – estimated at around $300 billion – are housed at the clearinghouse Euroclear, has voiced concern over the risks the plan entails. De Wever has set three conditions for backing the loan, one of which is that the potential risks be shared, warning that otherwise he would “do everything” to stop the confiscation.
Francken reiterated that the EU proposal undermines trust in institutions such as Euroclear. He also warned that Russia could retaliate by seizing €200 billion ($172 billion) in Western assets, including both movable and immovable property, held in Russia by Belgium and countries such as the US, Germany, and France. The minister stressed that while the confiscation plan had been shelved for now, it could resurface in future discussions.
Moscow has repeatedly said it would regard any use of its frozen assets as theft. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that channeling Russian funds to Ukraine would “boomerang,” adding that “if someone wants to steal our property, our assets, and illegally appropriate them, they will be subjected to legal prosecution one way or another.”
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October 25, 2025 at 03:20AM
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Washington uses “bullying” and “naked force” to impose its will on other countries, Saeed Khatibzadeh has told RT
The US is a “hegemonic power” that “bullies” other nations or uses “naked force” to block the global shift toward multipolarity, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh has said.
Speaking to RT during an official visit to Moscow on Friday, he said many nations are striving for a multipolar system of equal participation, while the US and its allies and pursuing the opposite and are hindering that goal.
“There are contradictory trends happening in the world right now. There are those trying to establish a multipolar order, but unfortunately… the Americans are not sharing this idea. They want to be the sole hegemonic power over other countries,” he stated. Khatibzadeh cited decades of “illegal” US sanctions on Iran as proof Washington believes it “can impose its will over other countries.”
The US first sanctioned Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, freezing assets and restricting trade, later expanding measures over alleged terrorism ties and its nuclear program, which the West claims aims to build a bomb despite Iran’s insistence it is peaceful.
Many restrictions were lifted under the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) but reimposed in 2018 after Washington withdrew under President Donald Trump. Efforts to revive the pact have since faltered, and earlier this year Tehran restricted Western monitoring of its nuclear sites after Israeli and US strikes on the facilities.
Khatibzadeh accused the US of undermining sovereignty and reshaping the global order through force, and criticized Trump directly, recalling his campaign promise that “he’s coming for peace.”
“It is clear for everybody that it is not peace, it is hegemony, and it is not strength, it is use of naked force against others... Force will not bring peace. Radicalism only breeds more radicalism, and war brings more violence and bloodshed,” the diplomat said. “We have no option but to resist this bullying by the Americans.”
He concluded by calling for nations that share the vision of multipolarity to unite in building a fairer world. “We have to work together to ensure the future of the region and the world is more fair and more just,” he said.
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October 25, 2025 at 02:22AM
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The UK and EU fear dialogue between the US and Russia, President Vladimir Putin’s aide, Kirill Dmitriev, has said
The administration of US President Donald Trump is showing strong interest in understanding Russia’s position on the Ukraine conflict, according to President Vladimir Putin’s aide, Kirill Dmitriev. The senior official, who heads the Russian Direct Investment Fund, is currently visiting Washington.
Contact between the two nations, which was almost non-existent for three years under the previous administration, resumed after US President Donald Trump returned to office in January. Trump has taken a markedly different approach toward Russia by reopening high-level diplomatic channels and authorizing direct talks between senior officials.
“I think what’s very important and what’s very different with President Trump and his team is that there is a great desire to understand what the Russian position is, to really understand the logic, because only by understanding the logic you can either follow it or maybe modify it or suggest something,” Dmitriev said in an interview with US journalist Lara Logan.
He noted that there were no discussions with the previous administration of President Joe Biden “on anything,” and that the absence of dialogue created misperceptions and misunderstandings.
“When two of the greatest nuclear powers in the world don’t talk, it is a huge danger to the world,” Dmitriev said, adding that there is “a big fear for many of the forces in the UK and the liberal forces in Europe that Russia and the US would actually have a good dialogue.”
In an effort to settle the Ukraine conflict, several rounds of consultations have taken place since Trump’s return to office, including visits by senior diplomats and Putin’s in-person meeting with the US president in Alaska. Earlier this month, the two leaders agreed to hold a second meeting in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.
European leaders and the Ukrainian government have continued to push for expanded military support for Kiev while resisting direct diplomatic engagement between Russia and the US. Earlier this week, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky claimed credit for derailing plans for a second Putin-Trump summit.
The Kremlin maintains that Kiev’s Western supporters are only prolonging the conflict by increasing weapons supplies to Ukraine, which Russia says has not changed the situation on the battlefield.
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October 25, 2025 at 01:15AM
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The country’s political “fragmentation” puts its ability to deal with the deficit and rising debt at risk, Moody’s has warned
Moody’s credit ratings agency has revised France’s outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’, citing political “fragmentation,” which it warned could cripple the country’s ability to address key policy challenges.
France, the EU’s second-largest economy, has struggled to rein in spending as debt hovers around 115% of GDP amid persistent political turbulence.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government has lacked a parliamentary majority for two years, leaving the country divided among three rival blocs.
France has gone through five prime ministers in that time, with current leader Sebastien Lecornu narrowly surviving two no-confidence votes in October after suspending a contested pension reform. The government has also failed to pass the 2026 budget, which faces strong opposition over spending cuts and tax hikes.
The US-based agency said its decision reflects “the increased risk that the fragmentation of the French political landscape will continue to harm the functioning of legislative institutions.” It warned that instability could hinder efforts to reduce the deficit, debt, and borrowing costs.
Moody’s also cited “the risk of a sustained rollback of certain previously adopted structural reforms,” notably the pension reform raising the retirement age to 64. Delaying implementation, it said, could “exacerbate fiscal challenges and negatively impact potential growth by reducing labor supply.”
Despite the revised outlook, Moody’s kept France’s Aa3 credit rating, citing strong household and corporate finances and a robust banking sector. Nevertheless, analysts warned that the negative outlook could lead to a downgrade without swift improvements.
Moody’s is the last of the three major agencies to rate France this autumn. Fitch and S&P Global recently downgraded it to single-A, citing political paralysis, weak investment, and fiscal doubts. Experts warned that the downgrades could trigger forced bond sales by investors limited to high-grade debt. France’s ten-year yield stood at 3.4% on Friday, nearly matching Italy’s, the EU’s weakest performer.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said he “took note” of the decision, calling it proof of the “absolute need to build a collective path toward budgetary compromise.”
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October 25, 2025 at 12:00AM
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Berlin and the EU must pressure Kiev to reverse its relaxed travel rules, Markus Soder has said
The leader of Germany’s Christian Social Union (CSU), Markus Soder, has called on his country’s government and the EU to pressure Kiev into reinstating restrictions on young men leaving Ukraine.
Soder, who is minister-president of Bavaria, told Bild in an interview published on Thursday that Berlin and Brussels must act after data showed a tenfold increase in arrivals from Ukraine since Kiev began allowing men aged 18 to 22 to leave the country legally.
“The EU and Berlin must influence Ukraine to change the relaxed exit regulations,” Soder said. “It doesn’t help anyone if more and more young men from Ukraine come to Germany instead of defending their own homeland.” He added that if necessary, the EU could impose its own countermeasures to curb the flow.
Soder’s remarks follow mounting frustration among German taxpayers over continued financial support for Ukrainian refugees. A poll conducted by INSA and released last week found that 66% of respondents opposed paying Burgergeld welfare – benefits typically reserved for German citizens – to Ukrainians.
Ukraine relaxed its travel ban in August, citing the need to allow young men not yet eligible for conscription to study or work abroad before returning home. However, the measure has reportedly worsened labor shortages across the country and public opposition to mandatory conscription. Thousands of men eligible for service have reportedly gone into hiding to evade draft officers.
Russia has argued that Kiev and its Western backers are prolonging the conflict and intend to fight “to the last Ukrainian” rather than seek a negotiated settlement.
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October 24, 2025 at 12:19AM
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At least 20 children in India have died after consuming cough syrups contaminated with diethylene glycol, raising safety concerns
Nawab Khan pulls a donkey cart through the narrow lanes in Churu, Rajasthan. On October 2, he took his six-year-old son Anas to the district hospital. The boy had a cough and cold – the kind of illness every parent deals with when the season changes.
Doctors administered the boy dextromethorphan hydrobromide syrup, a generic cough syrup supplied at government hospitals in Sikar and Bharatpur under Chief Minister’s free medicine scheme.
Two days later, Anas’s condition had worsened. The doctors referred him to JK Lon Hospital in Jaipur, 200 kilometers away. He reached the state’s largest children’s hospital at 4 am on October 4. At 10 am, Anas was dead.
The family alleges the cough syrup killed their son. It was not the only death in the state that has been reportedly linked to the medicine. The Rajasthan government has ordered an inquiry and banned dextromethorphan hydrobromide syrup and all 19 of its formulations. Drug Controller Rajaram Sharma has been suspended.
In neighboring Madhya Pradesh, 19 children aged one to six died within weeks of taking a common cough syrup. Health authorities tested water supplies for mosquito-borne diseases, examined food sources. But it was a government laboratory in Chennai, southern state of Tamil Nadu, that provided the answer: the syrup administered to children contained 48.6% diethylene glycol.
Following the Madhya Pradesh deaths, the authorities issued alerts for two additional cough syrup brands: Respifresh (manufactured by Rednex Pharmaceuticals) and RELIFE (manufactured by Shape Pharma). Both contained diethylene glycol several folds above the permissible limit.
Diethylene glycol is an industrial solvent – used in antifreeze and brake fluid – and is toxic to humans. When ingested, it metabolizes into acidic compounds that crystallize in the kidneys, causing acute kidney injury. Children are particularly vulnerable because of their smaller body mass – a dose that might sicken an adult can kill a child.
The WHO maintains a database of diethylene glycol contamination incidents in medicines worldwide, documenting mass poisoning events across multiple countries. The compound has no legitimate use in pharmaceuticals. Its presence indicates either deliberate substitution – replacing expensive pharmaceutical-grade glycerin with cheap industrial diethylene glycol – or complete collapse of quality control systems that should catch such contamination.
The contaminated product that allegedly lead to deaths in Madhya Pradesh was Coldrif syrup, manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceuticals in Tamil Nadu. By October 2, tests had confirmed the contamination and the medicine was banned. Madhya Pradesh police arrested G. Ranganathan, the company’s owner, in Chennai. He faces manslaughter charges. On October 13, The Tamil Nadu Drugs Control Department canceled all manufacturing licenses of Sresan Pharmaceuticals and closed the company.
The same day, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a health advisory warning against the use and distribution of cough syrups believed to be responsible for the children’s deaths. WHO’s notification mentioned all three medicines reflagged by Indian authorities: specific batches of COLDRIF, Respifresh TR and ReLife, manufactured by Sresan Pharmaceutical, Rednex Pharmaceuticals, and Shape Pharma.
Meanwhile, the Indian Health Ministry announced inspections at 19 other manufacturing units across six states of the country. The scale of the crackdown suggests authorities suspect the contamination problem extends beyond the three identified companies.
Painful history
Recent death across Indian states may come as a shock to families but not as a surprise to the authorities.
Between December 2019 and January 2020, at least 12 children under five died in Jammu, Indian-administered Kashmir, allegedly after consuming cough syrup. Child safety activists stated the actual toll was likely higher.
The Indian government took strict actions to increase oversight of the manufacture of the medicine. New Delhi introduced mandatory additional testing for exported cough syrups at government laboratories. Medicines sold domestically face no such requirement.
“Indian law requires drugmakers to test each batch of raw materials and final products using the Indian pharmacopeia,” senior drug inspector Vaibhav Babbar told RT over the phone. In 2023, Babbar was instrumental in shutting down several cough syrup manufacturing sites where contamination of industrial grade of diethylene glycol (DEG) was found. In one of those cases, Noida-based Marion Biotech was exporting contaminated medicines to Uzbekistan, which allegedly resulted in the deaths of 18 children in the country.
The WHO’s latest notification stated that, according to India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), none of the contaminated medicines identified following the recent cases had been exported from India and there is currently no evidence of illegal export. The global body, however, encouraged national regulators to pay attention to “informal and unregulated supply chains where products may circulate undetected.”
In a written advisory from October 7, India's drugs controller general, Rajeev Raghuvanshi, stated that factory inspections revealed that drug makers had failed to test each batch of medicinal ingredients as legally mandated by law.
“It has been observed that manufacturers are not carrying out testing of each batch for verification of compliance with the prescribed standards before using them in manufacture and also in finished products,” the regulator said.
According to experts, this casts a shadow on India’s position as one of the world’s key medicine exporters. India supplies 40% of the generic medicines used in the US and over 90% of all medicines to many African nations. The country’s pharmaceutical industry is valued at $50 billion, making it the third largest globally, after the US and China.
India’s pharmaceutical exports exceed $25 billion annually. It produces one-third of the world’s vaccines. Indian generic medicines make life-saving drugs affordable in developing countries. When health systems in Africa faced medicine shortages during Covid-19, they turned to Indian manufacturers.
However, after the deaths in Uzbekistan and Gambia, several African nations increased scrutiny of Indian pharmaceutical imports.
Ayushmann Kumar, a resident of Gurgaon in Haryana who exports medicine and other supplies to gulf countries, suggested in a telephonic conversation with RT that there is increased scrutiny of Indian medicines.
“The Indian pharma industry has lost of a bit of trust in the international market and this is for the smaller companies which used to provide drugs at good rates and were very effective earlier,” he said. “We have dropped many such companies and now exporting the medicines which have a clean record. One of my orders to the tune of 2.5 million got canceled due to the recent episode.”
For India, however, the details emerging from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh reveal how contaminated medicine can potentially enter government medicines and vaccines distribution systems that are particularly essential for vulnerable section of the population.
Kayson Pharma, the company whose cough syrup has been linked to the tragedy in Rajasthan, had come to the attention of the government long before the deaths. The company supplied dextromethorphan hydrobromide syrup under the state’s Chief Minister’s Free Medicine Scheme.
In February 2025, six months before Anas died, a Kaysons syrup batch failed testing. The state banned the product for one year. “This wasn’t Kaysons’ first failure. Between 2021 and 2023, 40 samples from the company reportedly failed quality tests across 10 Rajasthan districts,” a senior drug office bearer at Rajasthan’s drug regulatory office told RT on the condition of anonymity.
The company faced a 19-month ban. When the ban ended, Kaysons was not blacklisted and allegedly resumed supplying medicines to government hospitals and clinics. “It is very unfortunate that we have to see children dying allegedly due to adulterated medicines when medicines are meant to save lives,” the official said.
Questionable drug
India’s cough syrup market is projected to grow from $262.5 million in 2024 to $743 million by 2035, according to Market Research Future. This is despite the WHO advising against the use of cough and cold medicines for children at all.
An acclaimed pediatrician in Mumbai, who spoke to RT on condition of anonymity, explained that most persistent coughs in Indian children result from allergies and airway irritation caused by pollution, not infections. “I don’t usually prescribe cough syrups for ordinary coughs and colds – except occasionally for comfort,” he said. “If a child is coughing badly and can’t sleep, I may give a dose of a mild syrup just to ease the discomfort. The main goal is relief, not treatment.”
Most childhood coughs are viral and abate within a week without medication. Medical literature shows no evidence that cough syrups shorten illness duration. The pediatrician noted that recurrent wet coughs – common in polluted cities – respond best to bronchodilators delivered through inhalers or nebulizers, not oral syrups.
Yet syrups remain the default treatment across India, particularly in rural areas where up to 75% of primary care visits are handled by informal providers without medical degrees.
Dr. Kafeel Khan, who worked as a pediatrician in Gorakhapur, Uttar Pradesh, recalled “syrups being handed out everywhere – even by those with no degree.”
Dr. Khan described another dynamic: “If a child’s cough or cold doesn’t improve in a couple of days, they often consult another doctor who will give a cough syrup.” He has observed qualified pediatricians prescribe ambroxol syrup to children under two, despite the fact that toddlers cannot expel the loosened mucus, creating aspiration pneumonia risk.
The Madhya Pradesh doctor who prescribed the contaminated syrup linked to recent deaths defended himself by stating: “I’ve been prescribing this cough syrup for 15 years.”
Nawab Khan continues pulling his donkey cart through Churu’s lanes. His son is buried. The grieving father, meanwhile, is worried that the next contaminated batch of the same medicines may already be in production. “The next child may already be taking it. The next family may already be traveling to a distant hospital like I did, hoping for treatment that will arrive too late.”
In a written reply in a messenger, the Rajasthan government official told RT the actual cause of deaths is under investigation and primary evidence “suggest the role of adulterated cough syrups.”“This is a very sensitive matter and we have not reached any conclusion yet. We condemn the deaths and will ensure no life is lost due to medicines,” the official said.
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October 23, 2025 at 11:21PM
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A rise in global oil prices could offset Moscow’s export losses, energy expert Amos Hochstein has warned
New US sanctions on Russian oil producers could end up benefiting Moscow by driving up global energy prices, a former White House energy adviser has said.
The administration of US President Donald Trump announced this week that it is sanctioning Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil, while warning of secondary penalties for companies that continue to do business with them.
Amos Hochstein, who previously served as senior energy policy adviser under former President Joe Biden, told The Financial Times that the move might not have the intended economic impact.
“If prices rise significantly, any revenue loss Russia suffers from reduced sales will be offset by higher prices,” he explained. “And if prices climb too much, Russia profits while American consumers and our allies end up paying more.”
According to the FT, Trump likely sees the sanctions as a less risky alternative to approving deliveries of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. With oil prices currently below the levels seen during Biden’s presidency, Washington appears to believe it has leeway to act without triggering a sharp domestic oil price spike, according to the article published on Friday.
Commenting on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that as a major producer, Russia plays a crucial role in maintaining stability in the global energy markets, calling the current supply-and-demand balance beneficial to both producers and consumers.
“Disrupting this balance is a thankless task – including for those attempting to do so,” he said.
Putin also warned that any use of Tomahawk missiles against Russia would provoke a “truly staggering” response.
Kiev claims that the long-range weapons could be a gamechanger for its war effort, but Russian officials have warned that the use of nuclear-capable weapons, which Moscow says would require input from American military personnel, would cause a major escalation.
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October 23, 2025 at 11:10PM
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Prime Minister Bart De Wever insists that all members of the bloc must share the financial risks of the proposed “reparation loan”
Belgium will not back the European Union’s plan to use frozen Russian sovereign assets as collateral for a massive loan to Ukraine unless the financial risks are shared across all member states, Prime Minister Bart De Wever has said.
The European Commission is promoting a scheme to raise around €140 billion ($160 billion) for Kiev, arguing that the money could later be recovered from Moscow as “reparations.” Russia has denounced any use of its immobilized assets as outright theft. Belgium holds the largest portion of the funds through the Brussels-based Euroclear clearinghouse.
Speaking ahead of an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on Wednesday, De Wever reaffirmed his government’s opposition to the plan, vowing to “do everything in my power” to block it unless guarantees of collective risk-sharing are provided.
Touching sovereign assets is “something that’s never been done before – not even during World War II,” the prime minister told reporters. If the pro-Kiev “coalition of the willing” is not ready to bear the risks, there’s “no point in continuing,” he added.
“We know there are vast amounts of Russian money in other countries that remain silent on this,” De Wever stated. “If we move, we must move all together. That’s European solidarity.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has likewise cautioned that the EU must avoid undermining “the financial and monetary stability of our economies and the euro area” when considering any steps involving the assets.
Russian President Vladimir Putin previously asserted that “smarter” European governments understand the danger the proposed loan to Ukraine poses to the stability of the global financial system.
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October 23, 2025 at 12:07AM
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The Dutch authorities took control of semiconductor producer Nexperia in September under pressure from the US
Germany’s largest carmaker, Volkswagen, could stop production at a key plant due to a shortage of semiconductors caused by the seizure of a Chinese-owned chipmaker by the Netherlands, Bild has reported, citing anonymous sources.
The Dutch government took control of the Nexperia factory in Nijmegen late last month, citing intellectual property and security concerns. The New York Times reported last week after reviewing documents from an Amsterdam court that the move had been made following pressure from US officials. Nexperia’s parent company, Wingtech, was blacklisted by Washington in 2024 as part of an ongoing trade war with China.
Beijing responded in early October by banning Nexperia from exporting finished chips from China, which are widely used in the electronic control units of VW vehicles.
Bild reported on Wednesday that Volkswagen – which also owns the Skoda, Seat, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Bentley brands – does not currently appear to have an alternative to Nexperia chips.
Sources in the company told the paper that due to the lack of semiconductors it plans to stop production at its plant in Wolfsburg from next Wednesday. Volkswagen Golf models will be affected first, followed by other vehicles, they said.
If the situation does not improve, work could also be halted at Volkswagen’s facilities in Emden, Hanover, Zwickau, and elsewhere, a person familiar with the matter said.
According to the report, the carmaker has started talks with the German authorities about a state-backed reduced working hours scheme for tens of thousands of its employees.
Bild warned that the chip crisis could also impact other carmakers in the country. Representatives for BMW and Mercedes told the paper that they were analyzing the situation. The German automobile industry has already been suffering due to high energy costs as a result of EU sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict and increased US tariffs.
A spokesman for Volkswagen's Zwickau plant told AFP that the report by Bild was “incorrect.” However, according to an internal letter seen by the media, the company acknowledged that “impact on production cannot be ruled out in the short term” due to a semiconductor shortage.
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October 22, 2025 at 11:52PM
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