Turkiye's newly appointed finance and treasury minister said that he would seek to bring macro-financial stability to the country's economy and reduce inflation

Mehmet Simsek took over as finance minister from Nureddin Nebati on Sunday.

"In the midst of global challenges and increasing geopolitical frictions, we will prioritize strengthening macro-financial stability along with strengthening quality and capacity ... Our main goals are, without wasting time, to ensure price stability [and] to bring inflation down to single digits in the medium term," Simsek was quoted as saying by the Turkish newspaper.

The key to Turkiye's prosperity is a predictable, rule-based economy, the minister said.

"The main goal of our government will be to improve social welfare. In the coming period, we will use the fundamental principles of transparency, consistency, predictability and adherence to international norms to achieve this goal. Turkiye has no choice but to return to the path of reason," Simsek said.

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🇨🇳🇺🇸 A Chinese warship performs a maneuver in front of a US destroyer

▪️ The Global News TV channel published a video showing a Chinese ship approaching the US destroyer USS Chung-Hoon in the Taiwan Strait. This maneuver "nearly" led to a collision.

▪️ The Chung-Hoon was forced to change course and slow its speed to 10 knots "to avoid a collision".

▪️ A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Canada said Chinese forces were tracking and monitoring the two vessels "legally and professionally".

▪️ "Relevant countries have deliberately fueled unrest and risk in the Taiwan Strait, maliciously undermining regional peace and stability and sending the wrong signals to forces advocating Taiwanese independence."

▪️ He added that China would take all necessary measures to "respond firmly to all threats and provocations"

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N. Korea may no longer tip off the International Maritime Organization (IMO) about its missile launches after the UN agency adopted a resolution condemning them

"As IMO responded to the DPRK's advance notice on its satellite launch with the adoption of an anti-DPRK "resolution", we will regard this as its official manifestation of stand that the DPRK's advance notice is no longer necessary. In the future, IMO should know and take measures by itself over the period of the DPRK's satellite launch and the impact point of its carrier and be prepared for taking full responsibility for all the consequences to be entailed from it," a commentary by international affairs analyst Kim Myong Chol published in the state-run news agency said.

The analyst argued that the IMO "cooked up such resolution" for "the first time in history," which testifies that the organization "has been completely politicized, abandoning its original mission of promoting international cooperation in the field of maritime security."

He added that improving North Korea's military capabilities is the country's sovereign right, which is necessary to "protect the security of the country and the people from the ever-more reckless military hostile acts of the US and its vassal forces and to defend the regional peace and stability."

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❗️Ukrainian sabotage group retreated from Novaya Tavlozhanka, Belgorod region, after being hit by Russian artillery: Russia's MoD

⚡ OPEC+ has agreed to adjust the level of oil production from 2024 to 40.46 million barrels per day, the organization said in a statement.

▪️ Russia must adjust production to 9.828 million barrels per day.

▪️ The next OPEC+ meeting is scheduled for November 26 in Vienna.

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The goal of the Zelensky government's recent attack on Russia’s Belgorod Region was to prompt a knee-jerk reaction from the Russian military

The Russian armed forces thwarted a new attempt by Kiev earlier this week to carry out a terrorist attack against the civilian population of the town of Shebekino in Russia’s Belgorod Region and violate the country’s state border.

The purpose of this terrorist attack on the Belgorod Region is “to try to trick the Russians into some kind of a stupid or a hasty or an emotional response,” ex-US diplomat and former senior foreign policy advisor Jim Jatras told Sputnik.

This, he added, “would then trigger the Ukrainians’ hope for some kind of direct NATO entry into the war, which they see as their only possible lifeline.”

“I don't think it's going to work, even if they thought they'd get into the war, by the way, directly, [and] I don't think it would save the current Ukrainian state. And in any case, I don't think the Russians are going to fall for it. They realize what's going on, that this is a provocation. They're not going to fall for it. They're going to stick with whatever their plans are,” the former US diplomat pointed out.

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▪️The train accident in Odisha's Balasore that killed at least 275 and injured 1,175 was caused by a change in electronic interlocking, Indian Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday.

📹 What are the deadliest train crashes in India‘s history? Watch Sputnik's video to find out.

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⚡ The OPEC+ alliance has agreed to further cut oil production:

▪️All previously agreed production limits for the current year remain in effect, and the target level for 2024 will be lower by another 1.393 million barrels per day and will amount to 40.463 million;

▪️So-called voluntary cuts in oil production by Russia and Saudi Arabia remain in action;

▪️Target production levels for two OPEC+ flagships (Russia and Saudi Arabia) for the current year are the same - 10.478 million barrels per day, and next year Russia's quota will decrease to 9.828 million;

▪️These levels do not take into account voluntary production cuts;

▪️Saudi Arabia announced it would deepen its voluntary production cut by a million bpd from July.

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Serbian president said that he receives 200 death threats every day and believes that tolerating them is an intrinsic part of presidential duties

"I am the president of the republic, and it is my job to put up with death threats. I don't know if it is prosecutable officially or privately, for my part, there are over 200 death threats against me every day. When you are a president, learn to tolerate it," Vucic told a briefing when asked to comment on the effigy that resembled him and was hanged at a Saturday opposition march.

The president said he was "tired of the lie that someone from the outside" had brought the effigy to the rally, adding that it is his job to put up with "such dirty acts and nastiness."

On Saturday, the Serbian opposition held their fifth march and rally in Belgrade. Although there is no official data on the number of participants, the opposition media put the attendance at over 10,000. Some actors, TV presenters, and politicians opposing the ruling party addressed the crowds.

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There is no glimpse of hope in relations between Russia and the United States 

"There is no glimpse of hope at all. You know, the situation on the Russian-American track is not optimistic," Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said in an interview for a Russian TV program.

Diplomatic relations between Russia and the US took a turn for the worse after the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine in February 2022. In May, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said that the US will one day abandon its hostile policy toward Russia and realize that there is no alternative to building mutually respectful and pragmatic relations with Moscow.

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The United States is not ready to predict when the peace talks to resolve the Ukraine conflict can start

"Well, I'm not going to put a timetable on it because, as you know, war is unpredictable," US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told in an interview with an American TV channel.

Sullivan said that events currently taking place on the battlefield will have a decisive influence on how the dialogue on peace plays out. Ultimately, however, the conflict in Ukraine will end at the negotiating table, he added.

The official noted that Washington intended to help Kiev make as much progress as possible on the battlefield to enable it to take the most advantageous position at the table of future peace talks.

"We do believe that this counteroffensive will allow Ukraine to take strategically significant territory back from Russia," Sullivan said.

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📹 American journalist Max Blumenthal joined the Truman Center's TruCon conference on US politics and national security and asked how many Lockheed Martin weapons had been launched on the heads of the children of Palestine, Yemen and Syria

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Weapons supplied to Ukraine by Western countries are becoming more and more advanced

"Indeed, the level of tactical and technical characteristics of the weapons that are going [to Ukraine] is constantly rising. Now we can already see the beginning of discussions on the supply of missiles with a range of 500 kilometers [310 miles] or more from France and Germany. This is a completely different type of weapon," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, adding that such deliveries would bring about a new phase of escalation.

He added that these developments force Russia to be "more concentrated, stronger, more mobilized" and to continue the special military operation.

Last week, German newspaper cited sources as saying that Kiev had asked Germany to supply Taurus missiles with a range of up to 500 kilometers.

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Germany will send two warships to the Indo-Pacific in 2024

"The German Federal Government sent a frigate to the Indo-Pacific in 2021, and will again, in 2024, deploy maritime assets — this time a frigate and a supply ship — to the region," Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in Singapore, citing the need to uphold "rules-based international order".

The minister stressed that the deployment was not directed at any nation and was aimed at protecting sea lines of communication. He said the 2021 deployment was in response to tensions on the Korean peninsula.

The German defense minister said Berlin was committed to contributing to peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and would increase its engagement in the region in the coming years.

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🇷🇺 Watch ships floating 'over' Azov Sea in Russia's Krasnodar region caught on camera!

▪️ Experts told Sputnik that this optical illusion (known as Fata Morgana) is rather common for the area because of the temperature differential that occurs when the water is still chilly but the air above it is already warm

▪️ Video courtesy of "Typical Krasnodar" Telegram channel

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Romanian president expressed his hope that the country will become part of the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone this year

"Romania has once again demonstrated that it fully meets the criteria for Schengen integration by managing its external borders responsibly and efficiently. The decision in favor of Romania's accession to Schengen this year will be a very important signal to our citizens of belonging and trust in the common European project," Klaus Iohannis told reporters.

He added that Romania has also proven that it can protect the EU's external borders.

In December 2022, EU interior ministers agreed on Croatia's accession to the Schengen zone but postponed decisions on Bulgaria and Romania. Austria blocked the two countries' accession, saying that their efforts to combat illegal migration on their territories were insufficient. Illegal migration is a security threat not only for Austria, but for the entire EU, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said at the time.

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The amount of ice at the frozen continent of Antarctica has been increasing over the past several years

Even though parts of the Antarctic ice shelves had indeed ended up collapsing and retreating over the past several decades, the overall volume of the ice shelves on the continent might have increased, a new study authored by researchers from the University of Leeds and published in The Cryosphere journal suggests.

The scientists used Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer satellite data to measure the “in-ice shelf calving front position and area on 34 ice shelves in Antarctica” during the period between 2009 and 2019.

Having analyzed this data, the scientists concluded that the reduction of the ice shelves in some parts of Antarctica had been compensated by the increase in size of ice shelves in other areas of the continent.

“Overall, the Antarctic ice shelf area has grown by 5305 square kilometers since 2009, with 18 ice shelves retreating and 16 larger shelves growing in area,” the study’s authors stated.

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Henry Kissinger’s idea of Ukraine entering NATO for the sake of European security is ludicrous

“I think it's typical of the ludicrous ideas that Henry Kissinger routinely comes up with. Age has not brought him wisdom, I'm afraid to say,” Dr. Gerald Horne, Moores professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston, told Sputnik.

He underscored that the idea that Kiev would join NATO “was a red line for Moscow” and that “in some ways, that prospect helped to instigate the [Russian] special military operation in [Ukraine], along with [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelensky going on about how his country might want to become a nuclear power as well.”

Horne added that, “there have been some very disturbing developments” that the US professor said make the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO “even more ominous.”

“I'm referring to the fact that just a few days ago […] you had neo-Nazis from Ukrainian soil invading Russian territory with US military material. If that is not sufficiently ominous and dangerous for you, consider the other aspect of what Mr. Kissinger was referring to. That is to say, Ukraine being so well-armed,” the US political scientists stressed, in an apparent reference to Western countries’ ongoing arms supplies to Kiev.

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Bank of America CEO said the US may face a mild recession in the second half of this year 

"So the last time I was here was the end of last year and we predicted a recession this year. We moved it out. It's basically third quarter this year, fourth quarter, this year into first quarter, a mild recession. And unemployment gets up in high 4% range, still very low by historical norms," Brian Moynihan said in an interview to CBS News channel.

In May, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that the US may be heading toward what he hopes is a mild recession.

Policymakers at the Federal Reserve have also projected that the US will experience a "mild recession" later this year that could take two years to overcome, minutes of the central bank's policy meeting from March showed.

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