🇦🇺 Australia 'compromised' by National Bank rule closing accounts for 'speech violations'

A new forthcoming rule by the National Australian Bank (NAB), expected to be implemented in November, would allow the bank to close customers' accounts for a wide range of speech-related offenses. A banking expert said it was an abuse of human rights and "antithetical to democratic values."

The rule change is in keeping with guidance issued by Canberra in June that seeks to bring various government institutions’ functioning in line with national law.

The move has aroused the fury of defenders of free speech, which does not have the same legal foundations as it does in the United States, where speech by and large is legally restricted only by its potential to imminently provoke violent or illegal behavior.

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Russia may hit its national record for grain exports in the 2023-2024 agricultural year that started on July 1, with supplies forecast to exceed 60 million tons registered last season, Russian Grain Union President Arkadiy Zlochevskiy said.

Shipments have already reached record rates, with 13 million tons of Russian grain exported in the first two months of the current agricultural season, he added.

"We are expecting our second biggest gross harvest in history. All analysts have kept their forecasts at around 140 million tons. We have been keeping our forecast at this level since spring and have recently raised it for wheat from 86-89 million tons to 91-92 million tons," the Russian Grain Union chief said.

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Russian FM Sergey Lavrov arrives in Jakarta, Indonesia 🇮🇩 for ASEAN summit

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Russian troops fired at militants of Ukraine's Azov battalion* and troops of the 67th brigade of the Ukrainian armed forces using artillery and aviation near the Serebryanskoye forestry, with the enemy losing up to 30 militants, Alexander Savchuk, the head of the press center of Russia's Center Group of Forces, told Sputnik.

He added that a Western-made artillery reconnaissance system had been destroyed in a counter-battery fire. He also said that Russian bombers had struck a Ukrainian command and observation post and two temporary deployment hubs of enemy forces in the areas of the town of Kirovsk and the village of Serebrianka.

*terrorist organization banned in Russia

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The Ukrainian government has reportedly spent at least $17.6 million on drones that have largely shown to be faulty

According to a report by a Ukrainian investigative outlet, Ukrainian Aviation Systems (UAS) failed to meet a deadline to provide the Armed Forces of Ukraine with 55 HAWK reconnaissance drones (not to be confused with the American produced Global HAWK), only managing to deliver four and of which just one was accepted by the army.

Of the three that were rejected, reporters who previewed the trial of the deliveries drones reported that one drone frequently lost connection with its operator, another lost its wings mid-flight and crashed, and the third never managed to take off at all.

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❗️ Britain's Defense Minister confirmed the destruction of a Challenger 2 tank in the special military operation zone, adding that London does not plan to send a new tank to replace the one that was destroyed.

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US Secretary of State Blinken arrived in Kiev on an official visit, Ukrainian media reported

▪️Antony Blinken is paying a visit to Kiev amid a failed counteroffensive by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

▪️Blinken last visited Ukraine in September 2022.

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🥴 The Ukrainian news agency UNIAN illustrated a publication about the Ukrainian counteroffensive with a photo showing military personnel… with PAINTBALL MARKERS

The photo depicts several people in military gear on the attack, with heavy equipment in the background.

However, a closer look at the photo reveals that the fighters are holding paintball markers, not real guns.

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Russian troops in the special military operation zone near the village of Rabotino have repelled several Ukrainian attacks, inflicting losses on the enemy and forcing them to retreat, Vladimir Rogov, head of the public movement "We are together with Russia," told Sputnik.

According to him, fierce battles for the village continue, and there is no advancement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

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🙄 No mask, Joe? So, how susceptible are the elderly to Covid-19?

📹 Despite assurances from White House Press Secretary Jean-Pierre Karin that the president is following COVID-19 restrictions (like wearing a mask indoors) given his wife's recent positive test, it seems Biden doesn't care too much about his own health or the health of those around him.

🤔 Or did he just forget to wear a mask?

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🇮🇳 India That Is Bharat Is In Constitution: S #Jaishankar on Possible Changing Country Name

India's EAM said that the connotation of the word 'Bharat' is also reflected in the Constitution.

🗯 "India that is #Bharat, it is there in the Constitution. Please, I would invite everybody to read it," S Jaishankar said.

📜 The Indian government is likely to introduce a resolution to officially change India's name to "Bharat", during a special parliamentary session scheduled for September 18-22, local media report.

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🗣 "The United States and Russia will be in a hot war"

📹 Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene reveals that her "biggest concern" is Joe Biden initiating the outbreak of World War 3

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🇷🇺🇸🇦 Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the Kremlin said

▪️The Crown Prince thanked Moscow for supporting Saudi Arabia's request to join BRICS.

▪️The parties noted that the agreements on reducing oil production helped ensure the stability of the global market.

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❗️ The US’ plans to support Ukraine’s military efforts until there are no Ukrainians left will not change the outcome of the special operation, spokesman Peskov said, commenting on Antony Blinken’s visit to Kiev

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📹 Russia's Podnos 82mm Roving Mortar Units in Combat

▪️The tactics of Russian mortars allow for both harassing and targeted suppressive fire. Roving mortars remain undetected by enemy aerial and artillery reconnaissance.

▪️High speed and accuracy in hitting targets are achieved through fire correction by UAV units.

▪️Skillful actions of the military personnel under the guidance of experienced commanders ensure both a high degree of damage and safety of the mortar unit personnel.

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❗️The Ukrainian parliament has approved Rustem Umerov as Ukraine’s new minister of defense

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⚡️ US military test-launches Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile

Earlier, Pentagon Press Secretary Patrick Ryder announced the launch of the Minuteman III ICBM, saying that its purpose is to demonstrate the readiness of America’s nuclear forces, as well as national nuclear deterrence forces.

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The Russian MoD’s latest statements on the Ukraine crisis:

▪️The Russian Aerospace Forces have carried out a group strike with long-range precision weapons against a training base for sabotage groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at night. The facility has been neutralized. The goal of the attack has been achieved.

▪️The Russian Armed Forces have repelled 10 attacks by enemy assault groups in the DPR. The enemy losses were up to 285 Ukrainian servicemen, 1 tank, 2 infantry fighting vehicles, 5 motor vehicles, 1 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, 1 Rapira gun, and 1 drone control post.

▪️The Russian Armed Forces have repelled one attack by an enemy assault unit in South Donetsk. The enemy losses were over 180 Ukrainian servicemen, 5 tanks, 2 armored fighting vehicles, 2 motor vehicles, 1 Polish-manufactured Krab self-propelled artillery system, 2 Gvozdika self-propelled Howitzers, and one D-20 gun.

▪️The Russian Armed Forces have repelled 4 enemy attacks in the Zaporozhye region. There were no changes in the tactical position of Russian troops. The enemy losses were up to 40 Ukrainian servicemen, 1 tank, 2 armored fighting vehicles, 2 pickup trucks, 2 U.S.-manufactured M777 artillery systems, 3 U.S.-manufactured M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery systems, 1 UK-manufactured FH-70 gun, 2 Msta-B Howitzers, 2 D-30 guns, and 2 Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems.

▪️The Russian Armed Forces have improved the tactical situation in the LPR. The enemy losses were up to 40 Ukrainian servicemen, 2 motor vehicles, 1 U.S.-manufactured M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery system, and 1 D-30 Howitzer.

▪️The enemy losses were up to 65 Ukrainian servicemen, 4 motor vehicles, and 1 Msta-B Howitzer in the Kherson region.

▪️Russia’s air defense facilities have intercepted 12 HIMARS and Uragan rocket-propelled projectiles.

▪️Some 467 airplanes, 248 helicopters, 6,426 unmanned aerial vehicles, 435 air defence missile systems, 11,696 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 1,148 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 6,253 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 12,749 special military motor vehicles have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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Russia's state-owned defense corporation Rostec has supplied the Army with a new batch of modernized BMP-2M IFV containing Russia's"Berezhok" fighting compartments

The Berezhok-equipped IFV-2M has shown its effectiveness in the zone of the special military operation. The troops, who actively use military equipment both day and night, note its high firepower and mobility, Bekhan Ozdoev, the Rostec industrial director of the conventional weapons, ammunition and special chemicals cluster, said.

He recalled that at present teams of the corporation's defense enterprises work in two or three shifts six days a week.

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