🌍 Africa is the "new frontier" in tourism, South African official says

As the world celebrates World Tourism Day, Sputnik Africa sits down with Barba Gaoganediwe, Head of Destination Marketing & Communications at the Gauteng Tourism Authority, to talk about the prospects for tourism in South Africa and what Africa in general has to offer in the sector.

🗣 "It's a continent pregnant with opportunities, endowed with natural resources, and some of the most breathtaking world heritage sites and experiences are found on the mother continent," Gaoganediwe says.

Despite having a "unique offering of global wildlife of good standard" and diversity, Africa is still facing the impact of new "geopolitical setups", "the continuing rise in oil prices", and the fact that people are "now forced to sit within their geographical boundaries, afraid to go out."

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🇨🇦❓Why are there so many Nazi war criminals in Canada?

💬"That defense, which we call the ‘superior orders defense’ – in other words, someone of a higher rank gave me an order and that's why I had to do it, has never ever been accepted in any court of law anywhere in the world, except in Canada. Now, once that verdict was approved by the Ontario Supreme Court, if I'm not mistaken, it became clear that Canada could not prosecute any Nazi war criminal, because every single Nazi war criminal would use the same defense," Dr Efraim Zuroff, chief Nazi-hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the director of its Israel Office, answered, why is Canada so popular among the Nazi war criminals.

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💥How laser weapons work?

Laser weapon systems mark an ingenious shift in modern warfare, with continuous research and warfare prospects shaping their deployment. Integrating laser weapons poses challenges, from technical to strategic. Yet progress is evident, as armed forces worldwide are pursuing their development for military integration.

Sputnik explains the laser phenomenon, highlighting what it is made of, how it became weaponized, what makes it different from other weapon systems, and several other pertinent aspects.

👉Follow the link to learn more about laser weapons

💬 "...Women, among them a student by a certain name, were smashing the heads of Jewish children either with boulders, big rocks, or taking babies and smashing their heads together. They didn't want to waste a bullet on the Jewish babies. I found someone with that name – she named the person who committed this horrendous crime, this disgusting murder. I found two people with that name, only the last name, who had emigrated to Canada. And this is one of the cases, for example, that never was prosecuted – although in this case itself, the problem was that she didn't identify the murderer by her full name, but she identified her by her family name," Dr Efraim Zuroff, chief Nazi-hunter of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the director of its Israel Office, comments on impunity for the Nazis in Canada.

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🇺🇸⚖️ Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan court in a corruption case, Sputnik’s correspondent reports

Menendez was ordered to post bail of $100,000, and his wife $250,000. They have been subjected to travel restrictions. In particular, the senator is allowed to travel abroad only on official business.

The couple must surrender their personal passports. They are under supervision until trial. The next meeting is scheduled for October 2.

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BBC admits Ukrainian counteroffensive failed

Contrary to Western expectations, the much-touted counteroffensive attempt launched by the Kiev regime on June 4 has stalled without making a breakthrough, BBC reporter Mark Urban said, citing Ukrainian soldiers.

The TV channel's correspondent spoke to the servicemen of the 24th Mechanized Brigade and their families who have complained about preparing for "a long war with no end in sight."

The BBC correspondent notes that Russia surpasses Ukraine in the number of drones, which have been ravaging Ukrainian positions and armored vehicles. Thus, Kiev's troops are forced to hide as much as possible due to poor air defense and total dominance of Russia in the airspace.

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🇨🇦 Canadian PM Trudeau promised to apologize to Canadians and the world in the near future for inviting the Ukrainian SS man to the country's parliament.

Trudeau called the commemoration of a Nazi in the Canadian Parliament "a monstrous outrage against the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and others who suffered under Nazism."

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🇨🇦 Trudeau says he extends apologies on behalf of Canada's House over the commemoration of the Nazis, adding that Canada will continue supporting Ukraine amid the scandal.

At the same time, Trudeau did not admit his responsibility for the presence of the SS veteran at a meeting of the Canadian Parliament, saying that the fault lies with the resigned speaker

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What are Kalibr and Kh-101 cruise missiles, and what's made them effective in Ukraine?

NATO countries continue to climb up the escalation ladder with Russia, suppling Kiev with ever deadlier and more advanced weapons. Kiev reportedly now wants Western analogues of Russia’s best cruise missiles, the Kalibr and Kh-101. What are the missiles’ characteristics? Why does Ukraine’s military want them?

👉Sputnik explains

🇨🇦The University of Alberta had a scholarship in Ukrainian Studies named in honor of Yaroslav Hunka, that same Nazi who was invited to and applauded in parliament.

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🇷🇺 Russia's GDP grew by 2.5% in January-August in annual terms, and separately in August the growth accelerated to 5.2% year-on-year, the Economic Development Ministry said on Wednesday.

"According to the Russian Economic Development Ministry, in August 2023, GDP exceeded the level of last year by 5.2% year-on-year (after 5.1% year-on-year in July)… Overall, in 8 months of 2023, GDP grew by 2.5% year-on-year," the ministry’s estimate showed.

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🇦🇺 Australian Political Crisis: The resignation of longtime Victorian Premier Dan Andrews exposes the growing divide between ordinary Australians and the country’s entrenched political class.

“The Australian political landscape at the moment is quite fragile. The Albanese government’s ratings are at all time low. The support for the Voice Referendum is at an all time low. And this comes off the back of many years of government overreach and police intimidation tactics,” Aussie Cossack Simeon Boikov @AussieCossack said in his first video column for Sputnik.

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🇺🇸 The United States intends to agree with allies on details of an international observation mission for Karabakh in the coming days and is pleased that Azerbaijan is ready to receive it, the State Department said.

Will this mission really contribute to peace?

Earlier, from September 11-20, Armenia hosted the joint US-led Eagle Partner 2023 exercise, which was supposed to include "stabilization tasks between conflicting parties during the peacekeeping mission," as the Armenian Defense Ministry said in a statement. However, the US failed to ensure Armenia's security.

"Armenia is [Moscow's] strategic partner, which security [Russia] has ensured throughout its history, and, of course, we have colossal ties, it is being dragged by the countries of the West to their side. What is this for? To rekindle the conflict in the South Caucasus, near the borders of Russia," Evgeny Mikhailov, political scientist and director of the Center for Strategic Studies of the South Caucasus, told Sputnik.

👉 Read the full expert analysis on US intentions

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🎙 Join the latest AfroVerdict podcast to listen to experts ponder about the benefits of the AfCFTA for Africans and the role the proposed BRICS currency can play in the initiative.

🇺🇸 Republican Senator Lindsey Graham warned that the influx of undocumented migrants in New York City could lead to a financial crisis, endorsing Texas Governor Greg Abbott's strategy of transporting migrants to 'sanctuary cities' to pressure Democrats into addressing the border crisis.

US-Mexico border crossings in fiscal year 2023 have already reached a record 2.4 million, according to a US Customs and Border Protection source.

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US and NATO officials initially blamed Ukrainian military tactics for their counteroffensive's failure but now suggest that limited training time with advanced NATO heavy weapons and improper hardware use are causing high breakdown rates.

A report citing defense officials and Western arms manufacturers highlights the example of the Panzerhaubitze 2000, with Ukrainian artillerymen receiving only five weeks of training compared to four months for Bundeswehr soldiers. Maintenance issues are also cited, with manufacturers emphasizing the importance of proper and timely upkeep.

Additionally, equipment overuse is a concern, as one Ukrainian soldier reported a Polish-made AHS Krab howitzer's barrel tearing off due to excessive use.

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🇿🇦 South African expert elaborates on ICC's bias towards non-Western countries

Following the reports that a former ICC official is suspected of supporting extremists in Uganda, Sputnik Africa spoke with Ntsikelelo Breakfast, a senior lecturer in the Department of History and Political Studies at Nelson Mandela University, about the role of the court for the global South.

🗣"Those countries also, like the US and England and other countries of the West, are not signatories of the ICC, but they expect other countries that have signed up for the Roman statute to abide by their rulings and the orders of the ICC," Breakfast said.

The South African lecturer noted that those who been brought to the forefront of accusations tend to be people from the global South.

👉 Read the full story!

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US-made Abrams vs Russia's T-90: which battle tank has better odds in Ukraine conflict?

The US press has hailed the delivery of American main battle tanks to Ukraine, claiming that the Abrams are among the world's most sophisticated tanks and boast technical advantages many other tanks can't match. Is that true?

Sputnik has reached out to military expert Boris Rozhin to find out which Russian main battle tank can knock out the American "wonder-weapon."

Check out his full analysis

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Rumble, an online video platform featuring Russell Brand and other notable commentators, faces potential blocking or shutdown in the United Kingdom due to recent tensions with the Conservative-led government.

These concerns have arisen as the chair of the UK government's culture, media, and sport committee, Dame Caroline Dineage, has requested social media companies to demonetize Brand's content. Additionally, a forthcoming bill would grant substantial new powers to the government's television regulator, Ofcom, for controlling online content in the UK.

Rumble's opposition to efforts to prevent Brand from earning income on the platform has been vocal, labeling such actions as "deeply inappropriate and dangerous." This situation mirrors Rumble's existing unavailability in France, where it refused to comply with demands to remove accounts linked to Russian state media, including Sputnik, resulting in French internet service providers blocking the platform since November 2022.

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🇺🇸 The US House of Representatives on Wednesday advanced a measure to cut Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s salary to $1, attaching the pay cut as an amendment to the lower chamber’s Defense Department appropriations bill.

House lawmakers agreed to the amendment by voice vote. The measure was brought by US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

"Secretary Austin has not fulfilled his job duties. As a matter of fact, he’s destroying our military," Greene said during remarks in support of the amendment.

Greene pointed toward a decline in military recruitment, the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Pentagon’s approach to the Ukraine conflict as reasons to reduce Austin’s salary.

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The House of Representatives Oversight Committee released redacted emails it claims show that Delaware Assistant US Attorney Lesley Wolf blocked federal agents from conducting a FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act) investigation into then-Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in August 2020.

"Newly released emails and documents show that Delaware Assistant US Attorney Lesley Wolf did not allow agents to investigate Joe Biden as part of a FARA probe," the Oversight Committee said via X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.

In the email, dated August 7, 2020, it appears Lesley told federal investigators they made a mistake in their search warrant request by including Biden. Lesley purportedly claims Biden falls outside of the scope of their FARA investigation.

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