Pepe Escobar: geopolitical chessboard shifts against US empire

Sputnik's columnist Pepe Escobar spoke about the loss of NATO's prestige and the beginning of an improvement in relations between the states of the Global South. The author also revealed the topic of the emergence of a new currency within the framework of the BRICS.

Check out his full article on Sputnik's website

Russian ombudswoman appeals to UN High Commissioner after attack on Russia's city of Taganrog

"Due to the shelling of residential infrastructure in Taganrog, I have appealed to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and other competent international bodies with a request that this outrageous violation of the norms of international humanitarian law by Ukrainian armed forces be publicized and brought to public attention," Moskalkova said on Telegram.

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The governments of the United States and Australia said on Saturday they had agreed to create a joint intelligence center by 2024 to enhance defense cooperation between the two nations.

"The principals agreed to establish Combined Intelligence Centre – Australia within Australia's Defence Intelligence Organisation by 2024. The Centre would further enhance the long-standing intelligence cooperation between the Australian Defence Intelligence Organisation and the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, focused on analysing issues of shared strategic concern in the Indo-Pacific," the authorities said in a joint statement issued after the 33rd Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN).

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🇳🇦🇷🇺 'We Should Live Up to Africa's Weight': Namibian Vice President

Namibian Vice President Nangolo Mbumba recently attended the second Russia–Africa Summit, which took place in St. Petersburg on July 27-28. The summit brought together African leaders and senior officials, as well as representatives of business, NGOs and academia, to discuss ways to enhance cooperation between Russia and Africa.

"We have a responsibility. Africa is a huge continent, bigger than Europe, even bigger than America, the US and Canada, put together," the Namibian VP said in an excusive interview with Sputnik. "So we should live up to that weight of the mother continent to make sure that we defend our own interests, that we cooperate with our friends"

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❗️LIVE NOW: Vladimir Putin holds a press conference following the Russia-Africa summit

⚡️ Russia did not refuse peace talks on Ukraine, Kiev signed a decree banning negotiations, Vladimir Putin said

❗️ Vladimir Putin’s latest statements on the results of the Russia-Africa summit:

▪️ Africa has enormous potential, and it is growing exponentially

▪️ African friends do not ask for any handouts, it is true, there has not been a single direct request, everyone is trying to find mutually interesting projects.

▪️ It is pleasing to realize that the African continent has a friendly and positive attitude towards Russia.

▪️ Russia is ready to provide humanitarian support to African countries

▪️ Africa needs Russia's support as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council on international platforms, and they are grateful for it.

▪️ African countries do not forget about Russia's support, including in the United Nations.

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❗️ Vladimir Putin on the possibility of a clash between the Russian and NATO militaries: we are ready for any scenario, but we do not want it

❗️ Putin's latest statements on Ukrainian conflict:

▪️ The peace plan for Ukraine and the grain deal are in no way related to each other.

▪️ None of the promises about the delivery of Russian grain have been fulfilled, we said the West has to fulfill what was promised first.

▪️ The provisions of the African peace initiative are being implemented, e.g. exchange of prisoners, humanitarian issues.

▪️ Africa's initiative on Ukraine can be used as a basis for peace processes, like the Chinese initiative.

▪️ There are no serious changes in Ukraine, the enemy has sent its units to the place of deployment for reconstruction.

▪️ Ukraine has suffered heavy losses both in manpower and in military equipment, but there are changes, as they are preserving equipment.

▪️ Two-thirds of the equipment lost in the fighting in Ukraine is Western-made.

▪️ The enemy in Ukraine has been stopped and pushed back everywhere.

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❗️ More of Vladimir Putin's statements on the grain deal:

▪️ There is nothing to say about withdrawing from the grain deal that has not already been said.

▪️ Our fertilizers are lying in the Baltic ports, we are ready to give them to countries in need at no cost, but we are not allowed to do this, for reasons which have yet to be explained.

▪️ The West behaves irrationally and shows a lack of care and used Ukrainian grain as a cover-up, so traders could resell their grain for profit.

▪️ The end result of the Ukraine's agricultural year will be worse in a number of ways, they have no one to work and no one to fight. Ukraine's mobilization resource is running out, it is running out of resources.

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🇵🇱 The entry of Polish military units in Ukraine may be the beginning of a path that will see Ukraine reject western territories in favor of Poland, said Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"There [in Ukraine] ideas are already being thrown in to introduce certain Polish military units in a broader sense - to ensure security, because everyone is raked out as part of mobilization measures, but you have to somehow maintain order and discipline. But if this [entry of Polish units] happens, then it will be the beginning of this path towards the rejection of western territories of Ukraine in favor of Poland," Putin said on Saturday.

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🇬🇷 Greece has lifted a state of emergency that was imposed earlier this week on the island of Rhodes due to severe forest fires, the Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection said on Saturday.

Fires started in Rhodes on July 18, with the entire island put under a state of emergency on Wednesday.

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🇸🇨 Africa by Default Wants to Be Able to Engage in 'More Multipolar' World, Says Seychelles FM

It's a "given" fact that the African continent "by definition" wants to be able to engage with the world on more equal terms and be part of a multipolar framework, Seychelles Foreign Minister Sylvestre Radegonde told Sputnik Africa in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the recent Russia-Africa Summit, which took place in St. Petersburg on July 27-28.

"Africa [...] in its partnership with the world by definition wants to have the ability to be more multipolar in its engagement with the world," he said

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🇸🇪 Russian servicemen captured a Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicle during a battle with the Ukrainian military outside Krasny Liman; this is the first vehicle to have been taken as a trophy by the Russian military in the special military operation zone, a Sputnik correspondent reports.

Sweden announced in February that it would deliver 50 of these vehicles to Ukraine. On July 7, the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov said that the CV90 infantry fighting vehicles had arrived in Ukraine and were ready for battle.

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🇧🇴 Bolivian Economy Minister Marcelo Montenegro said at a press conference this week that his country follows "a pattern at the level of international trade, that is generating a progressive increase in the use of the yuan in foreign trade," according to media reports.

According to the minister, financial transactions worth about 278 million yuan were conducted by Bolivia from May through July, which amounts to about 10 percent of transactions in Bolivia’s foreign trade during that period.

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🇹🇭 At least 10 people died and 118 suffered injuries and burns as a result of an explosion at a fireworks factory in Thailand's southern Narathiwat province on Saturday, with over 200 residential facilities and a local market also affected by the accident, Thai media reported.

The preliminary police data suggest that the explosion was caused by a spark that flew into a box of fireworks during the welding of metal structures, the newspaper reported.

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🇲🇱 Mali's interim president for a transitional period, Assimi Goita, on Saturday thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for grain deliveries to his nation.

"I would like to sincerely thank you for the grain supplies to my country. This indicates the solidarity that your country has extended to our country as part of your decision to help Mali," Goita told Putin during a meeting.

In this regard, he also noted that Mali is one of the main recipients of Russian grain.

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The coalition led by the United States made 23 close encounters with the Russian aerospace forces in Syria in 2023, Rear Adm. Oleg Gurinov, the deputy head of the Russian Center for the Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in Syria, said on Saturday.

He also said that the coalition’s failure to follow deconfliction rules and violation of the Syrian border threatens the fragile balance of power in the region.

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