The audience gave a standing ovation to the Belarusian leader's words at COP28: geopolitical and military enmity, escalation of conflicts are "the main source of dirt on our continent".

Speaking at the COP28 plenary in Dubai, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that countries that talk about peace, a clean planet and their grandchildren "have started and are waging the most terrible war on the planet".

"How much will the slaughter in the Middle East cost? What if a war breaks out in the Pacific? It will cost trillions and trillions of US dollars. So let's spend it on cleaning up the planet. Then we wouldn't have to raise money for it.

The president also mentioned that Belarus is complying with the mandates of the Paris Agreement, but is receiving new economic sanctions and international trade barriers in response.

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🇦🇺🇬🇧🇺🇸 Australia, the UK and the US will test a new AI system that they say will help their navies detect submarines in the Pacific.

The three, which are members of the AUKUS pact, said their navies would use AI algorithms to process sonar data from underwater detection devices from America, Australia and Britain.

AUKUS is a trilateral security pact between Australia, the US and the UK, signed in 2021, under which Washington and London will provide Canberra with nuclear-powered submarines, among other things.

Russia, China and North Korea have repeatedly criticized AUKUS, warning that the pact could spark a new regional arms race.

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A Palestinian doctor with Russian citizenship died as a result of an Israeli airstrike in Gaza on Friday, his relative told Sputnik.

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🇮🇱 The IDF reported that it struck the infrastructure of the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, targeting operational command centers and underground facilities.

"In the past hours, terror infrastructure in the Gaza Strip was targeted and struck. The targets included operational command centers in which Hamas terrorists were operating, underground sites, and a military compound from which anti-tank missiles were launched at soldiers earlier today," the IDF said on Telegram on Friday.

Yesterday morning, the IDF said Hamas broke a lull in hostilities and opened fire into Israeli territory, and the Israeli military resumed hostilities against the Palestinian movement in the Gaza Strip.

In a separate development, the Palestinian enclave's Health Ministry said in a statement that the death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip has reached 178 people since the ceasefire expired.

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#SputnikInfographic📊 Russian President Vladimir Putin said last July that his country will send the free grain to Africa by the end of the year

Putin promised to supply Russian food to six African countries for free: Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea. Each will receive about 50 tons of grain. Russia also takes care of all transportation costs, the Russian president stated during the plenary session of the Russia-Africa forum in St. Petersburg.

Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, already welcomed the arrival of the first cargo ship carrying free grain. This timely delivery, comprising a substantial 25,000-ton shipment, aims to alleviate the impact of the recent devastating floods in the region.

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🇫🇷🇶🇦 French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to pay a diplomatic visit to Qatar

Macron is expected to meet with Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha and discuss a variety of issues related to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, including ways to achieve a humanitarian pause in fighting, free more hostages and facilitate peace talks. At least four French nationals are believed to continue to be held hostage by Hamas.

The French president will be traveling to Doha from Dubai, where he arrived earlier in the week for the COP28 conference and reportedly discussed the Middle East crisis with several regional leaders on the sidelines, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi.

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📹 No one will remain hidden

Russian servicemen attacked the assault groups of the Ukrainian troops who were trying to approach the positions of the Russian troops in the Kleshcheyevka area of the DPR.

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🇷🇺🪖 Key points of Russian MoD briefing on progress of special military op in Ukraine

▪️In the Kupyansk region, Russian forces repelled 18 Ukrainian attacks during the week. Ukrainian losses amounted up to 315 troops and two tanks;

▪️In Krasny Liman, 13 attacks by Ukrainian assault groups were repelled. Ukrainian losses amounted to over 950 soldiers;

▪️ In the Donetsk area, Russian forces repelled 17 attacks. Ukrainian losses amounted to over 1,680 military personnel and six tanks;

▪️ In the South Donetsk region, three attacks by Ukrainian troops were repelled. Ukrainian losses amounted to over 880 soldiers and one tank in a week;

▪️ In Zaporozhye, the Russian forces repelled 14 attacks. Ukrainian losses amounted to up to 315 soldiers and five tanks;

▪️ In the Kherson region, the enemy failed to land combat groups on the islands and the left bank of the Dnepr River. Ukrainian losses amounted to 450 soldiers and 23 boats.

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🇩🇪 German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall’s proposed armored vehicle production on Ukrainian soil may be unrealistic, Andrey Koshkin, retired colonel and expert at the Association of Military Political Scientists, told Sputnik.

He suggested that Germany could have been instructed by the US to let Kiev know that it wouldn’t be abandoned by its Western allies, and that Rheinmetal’s statement is little more than a politically-motivated push.

Koshkin also warned that the construction of this plant would pose a threat to Russia’s security, which is why the enterprise would be destroyed if built.

👉 Check out Sputnik's article to find out more

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Ukraine is sliding into authoritarianism because of Zelensky, Kiev's mayor has said.

🗣 “At the moment there is only one independent institution left, but it is under enormous pressure: local government,” Vitali Klitschko told Spiegel.

Klitschko also emphasized that for more than a year and a half since the beginning of the conflict, he had not had a single meeting or telephone conversation with Zelensky.

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🗣 The war in Gaza will last ten years if Israel intends to completely destroy the Palestinian Hamas movement, French President Emmanuel Macron said.

He also called on Israeli authorities to formulate their goal in the conflict more accurately.

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🇰🇿 Kazakhstan picked Su-30SMs jets over the French-made Rafales due to the advanced characteristics of the Russian aircraft, a US military magazine reported.

The media outlet in particular mentioned the Su-30SM’s ability “to fly much further and with a much greater weapons load” compared to the Rafale jets. In addition, the Su-30SM’s “situational awareness is considerably greater with its radar being approximately twice the size of the Rafale’s RBE2.”

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❓Have you seen our fresh episode of the New Rules podcast?

👆Here is a quick peek on what our host Dimitri Simes Jr. discussed with veteran geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar.

Make sure to subscribe on our Rumble channel to follow our work!

🔥 Attack helicopters in action

📹 The crews of Ka-52 attack helicopters of the Russian Aerospace Forces destroyed the control center and armored vehicles of Ukiranian forces in the Donetsk region

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