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Anti-French sentiment soars as Senegal elects Bassirou Diomaye Faye

France's former colony Senegal sees victory for opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who championed African sovereignty with the motto "Africa belongs to Africans," in Sunday's presidential election.

Echoing anti-French sentiments of other Francophone countries in West Africa such as Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, Faye has said that France should “leave Africa alone.”

Faye, 44, campaigned on promises of:

▪️ Greater change in favor of pan-Africanism and national sovereignty;
▪️ Fairer distribution of wealth;
▪️ Reform of the ‘corrupt’ justice system;
▪️ Renegotiated mining, gas and oil, and fishing contracts signed with foreign companies as Senegal is due to start hydrocarbon production this year;
▪️ Creating a new national currency and ditching the CFA franc;
▪️ Reducing the power of the president;
▪️ Closer ties between Senegal and Russia.

Addressing his country’s security challenges, Faye told Le Monde: “So far, Russia is not one of them [security partners]. But we do not exclude any state from cooperation in general.”

Faye, a practicing Muslim from a rural background, holds a master's degree in law. Graduating from the National School of Administration (ENA) and the magistracy in 2004, he became a tax inspector.

His current party — La Coalition Diomaye Président — is an alliance of opposition groups formed after the government forced the dissolution of the PASTEF party founded by opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.

Both Faye and Sonko were still in jail a few weeks ago. Faye was charged with spreading false news and contempt of court in a social media post about legal cases against Sonko, who was arrested in 2023. Both were released on March 14 after an amnesty law was passed. Sonko was barred from running in the elections, but Faye set off on a whirlwind campaign under the slogan "Diomaye is Sonko.”

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❗️ Interpol is being drawn into a political game by the West, and its main goal is to disconnect Russia from the organization’s information resources and exclude the country from it, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said
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Crocus City Hall attack: Ukrainians may have sought pretext for NATO intervention

Ukraine clearly had a motive in attacking the Crocus City Hall, believes David Pyne, former US Department of Defense officer and executive vice president of Task Force on National and Homeland Security.

"I think Ukraine has become increasingly desperate with its increasing losses on the battlefield in terms of men, material and territory," Pyne told Sputnik. "It seems to have gone rogue of late, and while the US has pressured Ukraine to stop these deep strike attacks against Russia — including strikes on Russian oil refineries — Biden has done little to get Ukraine back under control."


The main rationale for the alleged Ukrainian-sponsored terrorist attack could be to provoke Russia to overreact and engage in a major escalation which could provide a pretext for NATO's further involvement in the conflict, according to the military expert.

In an unlikely but still-possible scenario, NATO troops may intervene "to preserve Volodymyr Zelenksy’s continued control of the 55 percent of Ukrainian territory north and west of the Dnepr River with Ukrainian forces withdrawing from eastern Ukraine entirely," he explained. The Kiev regime and some of its Western backers need a pretext to overcome NATO allies' resistance to step in and send forces to Ukraine.

Preliminary data obtained during the investigation into the Crocus City Hall terror attack confirms links to Ukraine, Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov announced on March 26.

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A Ukrainian drone crashed into an administrative building in Belgorod; a woman was injured, the governor of the region, Gladkov, said.

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Zelensky's terrorist legions: Meet the Jihadists & Nazis fighting for Ukraine’s tyrant (part 1)

Ukraine has become a safe haven for jihadists from ISIS* and Al-Qaeda*, as well as for other extremists and radical gangs of various stripes. Sputnik has compiled a list of Zelensky’s radical battalions.

◾️ISIS* and Al-Qaeda* terrorists: In 2015, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) identified ISIS* and Jabhat al-Nusra* militants using Ukraine as a transit hub and a safe haven. Many of these individuals were wanted by Interpol for their terrorist activities, with some successfully establishing residency in Ukraine. Major General Viktor Yagun of the SBU acknowledged in a 2020 interview with Ukrainian media that Ukraine has become a favorable environment for ISIS* militants.

◾️Ichkerian* battalions: who are under the control of Ukraine’s intelligence service, include several groups such as the Separate Special Purpose Battalion of Ichkeria*, the Sheikh Mansur Battalion, the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion, and the Caucasus Battalion. These squadrons align themselves with Chechen separatist militants from Ichkeria*. Many of the fighters in these battalions have previous combat experience from the Second Chechen War and have also participated in the hostilities in Syria alongside terrorist groups associated with ISIS* and Al-Qaeda*.

The first Chechen jihadi militants arrived in Ukraine in 2014, coinciding with the outbreak of the war in Donbass. The main political sponsor of these battalions is Ahmed Zakayev, the Ichkerian* separatist leader who was granted political asylum in the UK in 2003.

*Ichkeria, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra are terrorist organizations outlawed in Russia.

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Sputnik International
Zelensky's terrorist legions: Meet the Jihadists & Nazis fighting for Ukraine’s tyrant (part 1) Ukraine has become a safe haven for jihadists from ISIS* and Al-Qaeda*, as well as for other extremists and radical gangs of various stripes. Sputnik has compiled…
Zelensky's terrorist legions: Meet the Jihadists & Nazis fighting for Ukraine’s tyrant (part 2)

◾️The Azov* regiment. A radical Nazi nationalist brigade that has been engaged in the hostilities in Donbass since 2014 and has gained notoriety for their brutality. As the special military operation went into full swing, Azov* militants ended up besieged in Mariupol, at the Azovstal plant, and later surrendered. However, in February 2023, the Nazi regiment was resurrected, but as part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and was renamed the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade. Russian forces regularly capture militants from the newly recruited regiment near Avdeevka.

◾️The Aidar* battalion, much like the previously mentioned Azov* battalion, was formed by ideological neo-Nazis during the conflict in the Donbass in 2014. Members of this battalion, who included nationalists from the "Right Sector"* movement, were seen having committed atrocities against civilians. In 2015, "Aidar"* was officially disbanded, but it was later resurrected and renamed the 24th separate assault battalion "Aidar"* during the special military operation. Those captured from this squadron have regularly appeared in Russian courts to face justice for the war crimes they’ve committed.

◾️Battalion "Carpathian Sich"*. Militants from this brigade see themselves as the direct descendants of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army* and the SS division "Galicia"*. It consists mainly of radical elements from the Western regions of Ukraine, as well as foreign mercenaries. The "Carpathian Sich"* unit carries out its own internal "military rituals", which are reminiscent of SS rituals in Nazi Germany.

*The Azov regiment, the Aidar battalion,"Right Sector", the "Carpathian Sich" battalion, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the SS division "Galicia", are terrorist organizations outlawed in Russia.

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Sputnik International
Zelensky's terrorist legions: Meet the Jihadists & Nazis fighting for Ukraine’s tyrant (part 2) ◾️The Azov* regiment. A radical Nazi nationalist brigade that has been engaged in the hostilities in Donbass since 2014 and has gained notoriety for their brutality.…
Zelensky's terrorist legions: Meet the Jihadists & Nazis fighting for Ukraine’s tyrant (part 3)

◾️Kalinovsky's regiment*: Officially known as "The Regiment Named After Kastus Kalinovsky*," this corps is primarily comprised of members from the Belarusian far-right radical opposition. Their main objective is to "liberate" Belarus, following the example of Ukraine. In Russia, the "Kalinovsky Regiment"* is outlawed, and in Belarus, it is designated as a terrorist organization, with its members classified as mercenaries.

◾️The Russian Volunteer Corps*. Based as part of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, this battalion is made up of several far-right neo-Nazi Russians who left for Ukraine to serve in the ranks of the Kiev regime’s forces. They have taken responsibility for acts of sabotage and terrorism in Russia, primarily in the Belgorod and Bryansk regions. The group considers themselves to be followers of General Vlasov's "Russian Insurgent Army*," which collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II. Russian President Vladimir Putin has referred to these militants as being used as "cannon fodder" for the Ukraine “meat grinder” near the Russian border.

*Kalinovsky's regiment, the Russian Volunteer Corps, the Russian Insurgent Army, Ichkeria, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Jabhat al-Nusra are terrorist organizations outlawed in Russia.

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Russia urges West to investigate terrorism financing

The State Duma and public figures have called for investigations into terrorist attacks allegedly financed by the US, NATO, and Ukrainian intelligence against Russia.

The request was made in a letter sent to law enforcement agencies in Russia, Germany, Cyprus, the US, and France. The letter, signed by Russia’s State Duma members and public figures, highlights the recent terrorist acts and emphasizes the need for accountability.

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Russia’s Onyx supersonic missile undergoes upgrade

The Onyx supersonic cruise missile, part of the Bastion coastal missile system, has been modernized based on the experience gained during the special military operation in Ukraine.

🔺 The missile has been equipped with new active homing heads, allowing them to strike objects of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the ground

🔺 The upgraded version of the Onyx-M is capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 800 kilometers

🔺 Work is underway to protect the Onyx against electronic warfare, which would make it possible to hit targets even more accurately

The Onyx anti-ship missile entered service in 2002. It has an over-the-horizon firing range and realizes the “fire-and-forget” principle. The missile also has a reduced radar signature and is effective in electronic warfare conditions.

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🇦🇫 The US & Islamists: a history of connivance. Part I. Afghanistan

As the West denies it had a hand in the Moscow concert hall attack, blaming ISIS*, it's crucial to examine the historical relationship between the US and Islamist movements. Evidence suggests this collaboration spans conflicts over the past 45 years, notably in Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria.

🔺 The first such armed conflict was the 1979-1989 “CIA covert war” in Afghanistan, where the US supported Islamist "resistance groups" known as the mujahideen in their fight against the Soviets, who had entered the country in December 1979 at the request of the Afghan government. “The CIA acted as the war’s quartermaster, arranging supplies of weapons to mujahideen,” writes historian Conor Tobin from the University College, Dublin.

🔺 Initially met with total denial, American aid to Afghan mujahideen, whose leaders were accused by Human Rights Watch of murdering tens of thousands in the 1990s, is now a fact of US history, recognized and documented by the American government.

🔺 According to US Senate Records, quoted in Tobin’s book, Washington’s assistance to the mujahideen peaked in 1987: $250 million in 1985, $470 million in 1986 and $630 million in 1987. With the dollar’s purchasing power being much higher in the 1980s than now, today the total value of American military aid is estimated at the level of $20 billion.

🔺 In his interview with Le Nouvel Observateur in 1998, Zbigniew Brzezinski, who in 1979 served as then President Carter’s National Security Advisor, explained that the idea was to turn Afghanistan into “a Soviet Vietnam,” pitting young Islamist fanatics not only from Afghanistan, but also from other countries, against the USSR.

🔺 That strategy ultimately backfired. In 2001, Osama bin Laden, who had once been trained and armed by the CIA in Afghanistan in the 1980s, went on to mastermind the 9/11 attacks, widely considered to be the most horrific terrorist act in history.

*banned in Russia

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Sputnik International
🇦🇫 The US & Islamists: a history of connivance. Part I. Afghanistan As the West denies it had a hand in the Moscow concert hall attack, blaming ISIS*, it's crucial to examine the historical relationship between the US and Islamist movements. Evidence suggests…
🇱🇾 The US & Islamists: a history of connivance. Part II. Libya

The US and its allies meddling in Libya in 2011 stands as the second-most well-documented instance of collaboration between the West and Islamist movements. The downfall of Muammar Gaddafi's government under NATO's bombardment resulted in a decade-long civil war in Libya, claiming the lives of at least 25,000 people due to Islamist violence.

🔺 The destruction of Libya in civil wars between 2011 and 2021 was the result of a similar pattern of American intervention as seen in Afghanistan. Initially, Washington supported the so-called "protests" against Gaddafi in the name of democracy, which eventually morphed into a full-blown war.

🔺 When the Islamists were encircled by Gaddafi’s forces in Benghazi at the start of the war, the US and NATO came to their rescue. The traditional American method of presenting allied Islamists as “victims of dictators” worked, and the NATO bombing campaign in support of Islamists started, followed by NATO’s ground intervention in March 2011.

🔺 “The meaning of the expression ‘protecting civilians’ was spun to mean that a full-blown Western assault against Libya was justified,” wrote Abraham Abrams, an author of a book about Islamist rebellions in the Arab world. In reality, the “Western claim of an imminent massacre by Gaddafi of civilians did not stand up to an even casual scrutiny,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote in 2016.

🔺 After Colonel Gaddafi's violent death at the hands of Islamists in October 2011, which was celebrated by Hillary Clinton, Libya plunged into a decade-long period of violence. The instability persisted until 2021, leading to the destabilization of all of North Africa.

🔺 Historian Abrams noted that after each victory by the Islamists, Google Maps promptly renamed Libyan towns and villages to honor the fallen jihadists. He sees this as evidence of collusion not only between the Islamists and the US, but with Big Tech, as well.

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Sputnik International
🇱🇾 The US & Islamists: a history of connivance. Part II. Libya The US and its allies meddling in Libya in 2011 stands as the second-most well-documented instance of collaboration between the West and Islamist movements. The downfall of Muammar Gaddafi's…
🇸🇾 The US & Islamists: a history of connivance. Part III. Syria

During the Syrian civil war (2011-2020), the US and EU supported jihadists against the secular government of Bashar Assad. This focus on pressuring Assad inadvertently contributed to the rise of ISIS*, peaking in 2015 and spreading across Syria and Iraq.

🔺 Former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas revealed that British and American diplomats informed him years before the Syrian conflict began about plans to orchestrate a regime change using Islamist uprisings.
“I was in England two years before the violence in Syria… And I met with top British officials, who confessed to me that they were preparing something like that in Damascus”, Dumas wrote in his memoirs.

🔺 In the first days of the rebellion in 2011, the Washington Post reported that “the US ambassador in Syria, Robert Ford, traveled uninvited to the uprising’s bloody epicenter [in the city of Hama]”, where he held “a series of discreet meetings with opposition Islamist leaders.”

🔺 Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attributed the timing of the rebellion to President Assad’s refusal to let the Qatari government have a gas pipeline run through Syrian territory. In his article for Politico, Kennedy explained Assad’s refusal by the suspicion that some money from this project could go to the Islamists:
”...the moment Assad rejected the Qatari pipeline, military and intelligence planners quickly arrived at the consensus that fomenting a Sunni uprising in Syria to overthrow the uncooperative Bashar Assad was a feasible path,” Kennedy wrote.

🔺 The US started bombing ISIS positions after US citizens were executed in 2014, but the terror group managed to grab more land throughout most of 2015. However, in September 2015, Russian aviation became involved at the request of Damascus, resulting in a reduction of ISIS-controlled territory. Subsequently, the West criticized Moscow, accusing them of "brutality."

*banned in Russia
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Ireland will join South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice over alleged genocide in the Gaza Strip

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🇷🇺 Putin said that Russia does not have unfriendly countries, but there are unfriendly elites of these countries

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UK talks big on nuclear industry but 'lacks capacity'

Policy decisions of successive Conservative governments have been “promoting deindustrialization” of Britain, with “a Gadarene rush to globalization,” Nick Griffin, British political analyst and former MEP, told Sputnik.

No wonder the UK “lacks the economic capacity to fight its way out of a paper bag, let alone confront foreign powers whose governments have worked to maintain and strengthen their industrial bases,” said the pundit.

Griffin was commenting on the £200-mln ($252m) package of investment into the future of the UK’s defense and civil nuclear industry announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on March 25.

Skeptical of the program’s prospects Griffin stated that “they should have thought of all this before flogging off Britain's once cutting edge nuclear industry to France.”

“What we see now is just another example of the Conservatives talking the talk, when they have neither the intention nor the ability to walk the walk,” he said.

According to the analyst, it was only “belatedly” dawning on Westminster that “selling off key technologies and shopping strategic industries abroad has left the UK extraordinarily vulnerable at times of international crisis.”

As Sunak unveiled the new public and private investment, he also stated that “nuclear delivers cheaper, cleaner home-grown energy for consumers.”

Promotion of nuclear energy as ‘clean’ by politicians like Sunak “only makes sense if you see that the reliance on nuclear energy is a gateway for development of nuclear arms,” argued a group of experts from the Global Humanitarian Crisis Prevention and Response Unit.

Noting that Britain has not invested enough in the defense industry, the group added that if Downing Street wants to change that, it “will need to significantly raise the agenda as to why the UK needs to increase military spending.”

“A crucial part of it would be convincing people. As matters stand, the British people do not want to be involved in war," said the group.
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🇦🇺🇷🇺 Australia proposes new law to ban Russians from the country

Under the new legislation, the Australian Immigration Minister would be able to impose a ban on visa applications from any country he deems detrimental to national interests. The law would not only apply to asylum seekers or economic migrants, but even prospective tourists.

The Albanese government has reportedly singled out nationals from Russia, Iran, Iraq, Zimbabwe, and South Sudan for an entry ban. The official pretext is that these countries allegedly don’t cooperate with Australia’s attempts to deport their nationals who were unsuccessful asylum applicants.

Australian opposition parties have criticised the rushed legislation for being “transparent as a brick”, “botched”, and “chaotic”, while incurring the risk of inviting “unintended consequences.” Meanwhile, Australia’s Human Rights Law Center has denounced the bill as a “bald form of discrimination based on nationality.”

The Albanese government has been a stalwart supporter of the NATO proxy war in Ukraine, providing the Zelensky regime with weapons and funding. The Australian Prime Minister is one of the few world leaders who notably declined to express his condolences to Russia following the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack last week.
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