🎧 Sputnik Africa’s AfroVerdict podcast sits down with the general secretary of the South African Communist Party to hear the story of Chris Hani, one of the nation’s most prominent anti-apartheid heroes.

Check out the full episode dedicated to South Africa’s Freedom Day!

https://news.1rj.ru/str/sputnik_africa/3657

❗️LIVE NOW: Russian FM Lavrov chairs UNSC meeting on 'effective multilateralism'

📹 Join the live stream here or follow this link to Sputnik’s website

Australia unveils new strategic defense review to become 'more self-reliant'

Australia's Defense Strategic Review sets out a plan for military reform, including the development of nuclear-powered submarines and longer-range strike capacity. The Australian Defence Force will also gain the ability to strike targets more than 500 km away.

The review highlights the US-China competition in the Indo-Pacific and calls for improved strategic cooperation between Canberra and its key partners in the region.

The document emphasizes that Australia should avoid the prospect of major conflict in the region and work closely with the US.

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❗️ The Western minority should behave decently and respect other members of the world community, the Russian foreign minister tells UN Security Council

❗️ Kiev's [neo-]Nazi regime cannot be seen as representing residents of territories that refused to accept the 2014 coup, Lavrov said at the UN

Hungary won't agree to any sanctions against Russian nuclear energy

Budapest will not agree even to a partial imposition of sanctions against Russia's nuclear energy sector, as proposed by the Baltic states, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Monday.

Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis proposed last week to gradually impose sanctions against Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom or against Russia in the field of nuclear energy, but give two years to complete contracts.

"If there were a decision on sanctions in the nuclear sphere, it would mean that the security of the energy supply of one EU member state, Hungary, would become quite concretely impossible in the subsequent period... My colleagues from the Baltic states asked, they say, let's see if it is possible... to slightly impose sanctions against [Russia's] nuclear energy - no, you cannot," Szijjarto said, as broadcast on his social media.

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❗️ Lavrov's main statements in the UN Security Council:

▪️ The United States sought the destruction of globalization, which for many years was extolled as the highest good of all mankind.

▪️ The Western minority should behave decently and respect other members of the world community.

▪️ Now significant forces of the United States and its allies are thrown to undermine multilateralism in the Asia-Pacific region.

▪️ Today, both the UN and the requirements of its Charter pose a threat to US global ambitions.

▪️ It is impossible to consider the Ukrainian issue in isolation from the geopolitical context.

▪️ Once again, as in the years of the Cold War, we have approached a dangerous, and perhaps even more dangerous line.

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❗️ The US has violated its obligations under the UN Headquarters Agreement by denying visas to Russian journalists who were supposed to accompany Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on his official visit to the New York City-based UN Security Council.

What does the Western media say about it?

Nothing! Unfortunately, our colleagues in the Western media have failed to comment on the US decision not to issue visas to Russian journalists and don't consider it necessary to tell their readers what the US attitude to the freedom of speech and the rights of journalists really is.

To get the most extensive coverage of the situation – click here.

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❗️Latest statements by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

▪️ The hybrid war and the lies waged against the Russian Federation require willpower, faith in our innocence, creativity and understanding of what is happening from us.

▪️ Claims that Russia allegedly launched a special operation for no reason is a monstrous lie

▪️ Poland is seized with an attack of Russophobia and hates us, sooner or later it will pass like any acute illness.

▪️ NATO is not an instrument of peace, but an instrument of war, has always been close to the borders of the Russian Federation.

▪️ Statements that sanctions against Russia are working and the Russian economy is dying are a lie.

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⚡️ Fox News host Tucker Carlson and the media company have "agreed to part ways," Fox announces

China's France envoy may be declared persona non grata after calling Crimea 'historically Russian'

EU lawmakers have urged France to declare the Chinese ambassador persona non grata over remarks on former Soviet republics.

The MEPs accuse Lu Shaye of violating international law and insulting the ex-Soviet republics' history, culture, and integrity. They claim his comments threaten the security of France's European partners and demand immediate action.

The Chinese ambassador made the remarks in an interview with a French news network last week, including comments on the status of Crimea as historically Russian.

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📹 At a meeting of the UN Security Council, the minister of foreign affairs of Russia addressed journalists covering the event.

He noted that the United States did not allow Russian journalists to attend the meeting and asked them to give the most objective reports that reveal the versatility of the discussion.

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⚡️ A Fly Dubai plane caught fire while taking off from Kathmandu Airport and is now trying to land, media reported