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Pentagon chief revokes widely criticized plea deal with three 9/11 defendants

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has revoked a plea deal with three defendants accused of playing a role in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, a release published on the US Department of Defense website shows.

The widely criticized deal would have taken the death penalty off the table for Khalid Shaikh Mohammad, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin Attash, and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi, currently awaiting trial in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The co-accused are believed to have provided training, financial, and other support to the perpetrators of the 9/11 attack on the United States. The Pentagon chief also dismissed the official heading the military commission that signed the plea deals on July 31.

News of the original pre-trial deals created a furor among victims groups. On Friday, the House Armed Services Committee announced the start of an investigation into the plea deals and the part the Biden administration played in the process, despite assurances to the contrary by the White House.

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◾️ US sends additional cruisers and destroyers to the Middle East amid fears of Iran’s retaliatory strike on Israel

◾️ Pentagon chief revokes widely criticized plea deal with three 9/11 defendants

◾️ When will Trump and Harris face each other during a debate?

◾️ US Secret service admits Trump’s security level ‘was a failure’

◾️ Will Argentina see again the bullions it has sent abroad?

◾️ Watch Chinese bird-shape drone fly so naturally

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Israel's claimed right to provoke enemies with impunity 'does not work anymore' - analyst

Israel’s policy of killing its adversaries among militant groups in Palestine and neighboring countries has not achieved much success, and might achieve “even less in the future,” Dr. Marco Carnelos, a former Italian diplomat and Middle East adviser to Prime Ministers Romano Prodi and Silvio Berlusconi, told Sputnik.

“The Israelis wrongly believe that their claimed right to provoke anybody, anywhere, anytime will scare their enemies, I am afraid this calculus does not work anymore, if it ever worked,” he stated. Israel’s decades-long policy of assassinations has not weakened the Hamas movement at all, the CEO of MC Geopolicy consultancy noted, adding:
“I believe that the Palestinian society will continue to struggle against the Israeli occupation as it did so in the last decades. Once a Palestinian leader is eliminated, another one is immediately ready to step in.”


By continuing to target Hamas leaders for elimination amid ongoing ceasefire negotiations, Israel intends to make the point that “it is ennoscriptd to do everything without accountability,” Dr. Carnelos believes.

“It is a purely psychological move aimed to show its superiority and its impunity to push the others to adjust to its policy and to bend to its will,” he remarked.


There is only one political dividend that is being contemplated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – to stay in power, according to the pundit.

“Therefore, if the continuation of the conflict is useful for his staying in power, as he apparently believes, he will not spare any efforts to extend his grip on Israel’s premiership. If the Axis of Resistance will react, Netanyahu can claim the existence of a permanent state of war and further justify his staying in power and the impossibility to go to early elections,” Dr. Carnelos concluded.

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S&P downgrades Ukraine's credit rating as country defaults on bond payment

International ratings agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) has lowered Ukraine's long- and short-term foreign currency credit ratings to SD/SD (Selective Default) after the country failed to make a bond payment this week.

"We... understand the government has decided to suspend payments on the affected bonds before the restructuring," S&P said in a statement, noting Ukraine's passage of legislation last month suspending payment on debt liabilities.

"To that end, the government did not make the coupon payment on its 2026 Eurobond Aug. 1, 2024, when the payment was due... We therefore lowered our long-term and short-term foreign currency (FC) ratings on Ukraine to 'SD/SD' (selective default) from 'CC/C' and our issue ratings on the sovereign's 2026 Eurobond to 'D' (default) from 'CC.'"


"We do not expect the payment within the bond's contractual grace period of 10 business days," the agency added. S&P also said it affirmed its 'CC' rating on Ukraine's remaining unsecured foreign currency debt.

The move comes after the US credit rating agency Fitch similarly downgraded Kiev's rating last week. Ukraine has long suffered rampant corruption and economic mismanagement. Experts classify the country as "the most corrupt nation in Europe," a fact exploited by the United States as it has courted Ukrainian leaders to weaponize the country against Russia.

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Maduro says Venezuela's largest oil and gas investments are from BRICS countries

The South American nation’s biggest investors in oil and gas projects come from the BRICS group countries – namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro told a press conference.

"The largest investments we have in oil and gas come from the BRICS, and if these people in the north and their partners in the world make the mistake of their lives, then those oil and gas blocks that were already signed will go to our allies of the BRICS," Maduro noted.


The president added that the BRICS group had also committed investments in the steel and aluminum industries, and those projects are in full-scale development.

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❗️Russian forces hit two S-125 SAM launchers and a temporary deployment point of foreign mercenaries – Russian Defense Ministry

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❗️Russian forces hit two S-125 SAM launchers and a temporary deployment point of foreign mercenaries – Russian Defense Ministry 📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt
❗️Ukraine lost up to 710 militants and one tank in attacks by the Russian Yug Battlegroup – the Russian Ministry of Defense

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry’s daily briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:


▪️Ukraine lost up to 200 militants in the Russian Sever Battlegroup's combat zone;

▪️The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 400 militants in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's combat zone. The battlegroup hit formations of six UAF brigades;

▪️The Russian Vostok Battlegroup struck the personnel and equipment of two Ukrainian brigades. The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 115 militants;

▪️The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 470 militants and two ammunition depots in the Russian Zapad Battlegroup's combat zone;

▪️The Dnepr Battlegroup hit formations of four Ukrainian brigades;

▪️ Russian air defenses shot down a Patriot SAM missile, nine HIMARS MLRS rockets and 140 UAVs.

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Israeli assassination spree has untied Hezbollah’s hands for ‘broader and deeper’ strikes, Iran warns

“Until now, Hezbollah and the [Israeli] regime have, in an unwritten understanding, practically adhered to certain limits in their military operations, meaning…confining their actions to border areas and shallow zones, targeting primarily military objectives,” a spokesperson for Iran’s permanent mission to the United Nations said Friday night.
“However, the Israeli regime’s attack on Dahieh in Beirut and the targeting of a residential building marked a deviation from these boundaries. We anticipate that, in its response, Hezbollah will choose both broader and deeper targets, and will not restrict itself solely to military targets and means,” the spokesperson added.

The comments followed Tuesday’s Israeli airstrike on a building in a suburb of Beirut, which killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr and four civilians – two children and two women.

Hezbollah has amassed a vast missile, rocket and drone arsenal, and has up to 100,000 trained fighters, many of them battle hardened in combat against foreign-backed jihadists in Syria over the past decade, and against Israel during the 2006 Lebanon War. The Lebanese militia is closely aligned with Iran in the so-called Axis of Resistance anti-terrorism, anti-US and anti-Israel political and military coalition.

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UK government's failure to resolve migrant crisis fuels cycle of violence & crime

Britain is reeling from the latest wave of interethnic violence. Anti-migrant anger has been fueled by the recent tragedy in the town of Southport, where a 17-year-old of Rwandan origin stabbed to death three little girls at a dance session on July 29.

Ensuing protests have involved everyone from football fans to activists of the right-wing English Defense League (EDL). Mosques have been attacked, police premises ransacked, as well as cars and buildings set ablaze, with crowds chanting “We want our country back!”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer attempted to brush off the unrest as a one-timer triggered by the Southport attack. Proffered clarifications that the perpetrator was not an immigrant have made little headway, as the unrest fits a distinct pattern.

◾️ On July 17, a Jordanian asylum seeker who assaulted a female police officer dodged doing community service because he cannot speak English.

◾️ The clampdown on student riots in Bangladesh spilled into the streets of London’s Whitechapel on July 19. The district – home to a large ethnic Bangladeshi population – was overrun by protesters.

◾️ On July 26, an Asian man assaulted several police officers at Manchester Airport, prompting a harsh response. But the beginning of the story surfaced later, while a viral video clip first showed a police officer stomp on the Asian man. Local Labour MPs sided with the arrested, bewailing police brutality, and the town of Rochdale was flooded by angry protests.

◾️ On July 30, a homeless Kurdish migrant pushed a man onto Tube tracks simply because three women had made him angry by laughing at him.

Overall, facts and figures paint a bleak picture in the UK.

◾️ Crime is skyrocketing across the country, with the number of stabbings soaring to 50,000 a year, as per official statistics.

◾️ Just 6% of all reported crimes resulted in a suspect being charged.

◾️ Met Police failed to solve a single neighborhood crime in 166 areas of London in three years. And if that were not enough, Labor is planning the early release of about 10,000 inmates sentenced to terms of up to five years from the UK’s overcrowded prisons.

Meanwhile, UK police are gearing up to face more protests planned for the week ahead.

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Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed by "a short-range projectile with a warhead weighing about 7 kilograms."

Haniyeh's assassination was orchestrated by Israel with US support, the IRGC added.

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Russian engineers create lightweight antenna for use aboard armored vehicles with cope cages

Engineers from the Samara Innovative Enterprise of Radio Systems (a subsidiary of Rostec) have created and tested a sturdy new lightweight antenna for use on vehicles fitted with improvised anti-drone shelters (colloquially known as cope cages, and in Russian as mangals, or ‘barbeques’).

▪️ Russian defense conglomerate Rostec says the new product is a “high-endurance, ultra-wideband transmitting and receiving antenna,” and touts its compatibility with “a wide range of radio stations,” from stationary sites to mobile equipment. “In addition, thanks to the ability to adjust its height, it can be placed on top of anti-drone shelters (‘mangals’) and camouflage nets,” the company said.

▪️ The antenna works with radio stations in the 30-520 MHz range.

▪️ It weighs about 6 kg and comes with a universal mounting base.

▪️ The antenna’s use of modern composite materials adds to its durability.

▪️ Its interface allows it to receive and transmit communications from different frequency ranges simultaneously, ensuring stable all-weather reception and a “significant” expansion of coverage area.

▪️ The antenna has undergone successful mobile testing to confirm its characteristics, and is being prepared for mass production (a timeframe has not been specified). It’s expected to be displayed at the upcoming Army-2024 military expo outside Moscow August 12-18.

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🇷🇺🇰🇵 Vladimir Putin sent condolences to Kim Jong-un over the tragic consequences of floods in North Korea's northwestern provinces.

The Russian president said the DPRK can always count on Russia's help and support, a Kremlin statement said.

The North Korean leader had earlier supervised the rescue operation and evacuation of residents in areas affected by heavy downpours.

The water level of the Amnok River rose well above the danger level, leaving more than five thousand people stranded in areas at risk of flooding.

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🎥 SUP board rally along St. Petersburg’s canals? Easy!

More than 10,000 participants from 12 countries paddled through the center of St. Petersburg as part of an SUP festival. People came from Estonia, France, Bolivia, South Korea, Australia Egypt, and other countries. The 8 km route ran along the rivers and canals in the historic center of the city.

The river carnival is considered the largest SUP festival in the world.

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📊 Russia ranks among G20's lowest in national debt per capita

New data shows Russia has one of the lowest per-capita debt levels of the G20 group of nations.

◾️ India has the most modest sovereign debt, with the latest data from the G20 showing $1,316 per person. Indonesia follows with $1,747 and Russia is third with $2,076 per capita at the end of the first half of this year.

◾️ Other countries with national debts less than $5,000 per person include Turkiye ($2,800), China ($3,000) and South Africa ($4,500).

◾️ Countries with debts ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 include Brazil, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Argentina.

◾️ South Korea's national debt is almost twice that of Argentina, at $16,000 per capita, Germany's is $20,900 and Australia's is $21,200 per capita.

◾️ The six countries with above-average national debts are all members of the Group of Seven (G7).

◾️ Of those, Canada has the lowest debt at $25,300 per capita. France's debt stands at $40,300 per citizen, while the UK and Italy have accumulated debts twice as large as Canada’s at $51,600 and $51,900 per person. Japan has the second-largest national debt at $70,400 per capita.

◾️ The United States continues to have the highest sovereign debt, at $104,500 per capita — 80 times higher than India's and 50 times higher than Russia's. Among all countries in the world, only Singapore has a higher debt figure at $149,300 per person.

Check Sputnik's infographic to find out more:

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'We'll be told to pay even more': French politician reacts to S&P downgrading Ukraine's credit rating

"We will be told to pay even more! We will be told that this is for the sake of saving Ukraine and, of course, for 'peace',” leader of the French Patriots party Florian Filippo wrote on X.
“In reality, this will obviously be done to fatten up a few private big creditors, in particular [the US investment company] BlackRock."


The next money transfer to Ukraine would only enrich those from BlackRock, who "have spent their lives in Ukraine since 2022," Filippo alleged.

"We must stop giving arms and money to this country, to all these people behind it! No more one euro, nothing! Peace negotiations, that’s all!," the politician concluded.


International rating agency S&P had earlier downgraded Ukraine's credit rating to SD/SD (Selective Default) due to the country's decision to suspend payments on foreign loans.

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