West losing grip in Africa: Biden's charm offensive in Angola is too little too late – pundit

Outgoing US President Joe Biden paid a rare visit to the African nation of Angola on December 3. What's behind Biden's charm offensive?

"American interest in Africa can unfortunately only be viewed as a counter move to both China and Russia and nothing less," Professor Fulufhelo Netswera, Executive Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences at Durban University of Technology in South Africa, told Sputnik. "And with Russia winning the hearts of the Sahel, the Western concern continues to grow."

The West is slowly but surely losing a grip on Africa both politically, diplomatically and economically, Netswera said.

He noted that China has become Angola's largest trading partner. The total trade volume between the two countries reached $23 billion in 2023, according to the Chinese General Administration of Customs. China imports oil from Angola and exports electromechanical and steel products to the African nation.

India is Angola's second largest trading partner whereas the US doesn’t feature even in the top five, Netswera said. When it comes to the military technical cooperation, Angola has signalled its intention to develop closer ties with Russia.

"Biden's presidency has been about wars in Ukraine and Israel and nothing more to show" the professor stressed. "He may want to be remembered for having done something with African countries but it is too little too late."

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Leadership of South Korean presidential administration resigns – reports

Senior staff members of the South Korean administration under President Yoon Suk Yeol have resigned amid the controversy surrounding the introduction and subsequent lifting of martial law, Yonhap News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The report noted that Chung Jin-suk, the presidential chief of staff, Sung Tae-yoon, the chief of staff for policy, National Security Adviser Shin Won-sik, and seven other senior aides have resigned.

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Coups, assassinations, jail, suicide: unenviable fates of South Korea’s presidents

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has declared martial law, claiming the need to “protect” the country “from North Korean communist and anti-state forces.” Yoon’s move is risky, with most of his predecessors facing unenviable fates, sometimes for far less serious transgressions.

🔻 Syngman Rhee: handpicked US puppet who founded Republic of Korea in 1948. Overthrown in mass unrest in 1960.

🔻 Yun Po-sun: Ousted in a military coup in 1962.

🔻 Park Chung Hee: Ruled for 17 long years. Assassinated by a close friend (the director of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, the KCIA), in 1979.

🔻 Choi Kyu-hah: President for less than ten months. Overthrown in another military coup in 1980.

🔻 Chun Doo-hwan: Ruled with an iron fist (complete with personal concentration camp giving enemies a “purificatory education”). Left office after a revolution in 1988. Sentenced to death in 1996 for his role in a 1980 massacre. Pardoned a year later. Died peacefully at home in 2021.

🔻 Roh Tae-woo: President until 1993. Arrested in 1995, charged in connection with the 1980 coup, given 22-year jail sentence but released and pardoned with Chun.

🔻 Kim Young-sam: Ruled until 1998. Imprisoned during Park’s reign. Secured his predecessors’ convictions.

🔻 Kim Dae-jung: Led until 2003. Also imprisoned under Park, sentenced to death but spared by Chun. Advised Kim Young-sam to pardon Chun and Roh.

🔻 Roh Moo-hyun: President until 2008. Investigated for corruption. Committed suicide in 2009.

🔻 Lee Myung-bak: Leader from 2008-2013. Detained on embezzlement, graft and abuse of power charges in 2018. Sentenced to 15 years. Pardoned by Yoon Suk-yeol in 2022.

🔻 Park Geun-hye: President 2013-2017. Impeached in 2016 and removed from office in 2017. Sentenced to 25 years for corruption and abuse of power. Pardoned in late 2021 by her successor.

🔻 Moon Jae-in: 2017-2022: No jailtime, no coups, no impeachments, no assassinations. Phew!

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Which African countries have kicked out French troops?

Former colonial power France has been kicked out of a succession of countries in Central and West Africa after having deployed troops there for decades.

🇸🇳 Senegal

Allowing French bases in Senegal was incompatible with national sovereignty, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said on November 28. “Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” he stated. There are currently 350 French soldiers based in the country.

🇹🇩 Chad

Chad scrapped its defense cooperation pact with France to country to redefine its “strategic partnerships” on November 28. France “must now also consider that Chad has grown up, matured and is a sovereign state that is very jealous of its sovereignty,” said Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah. Under the deal, which was revised in 2019, France had about 1,000 soldiers stationed there.

🇲🇱 Mali

The government in Mali’s capital Bamako evicted French troops from its territory after the fall of the pro-French regime in 2021, turning to Russia for security aid instead.

🇧🇫 Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso gave France a month to withdraw its troops after it ended a military accord with the country in January 2023.

🇳🇪 Niger

Niger’s ruling National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland revoked an agreement governing the presence of US troops and officials on the country’s soil in the aftermath of the military takeover on July 26, 2023, which was supported by the majority of the Nigerien population. French soldiers left Niger Republic in December 2023.

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'We’re back in Moscow': Carlson interviews Russian FM Lavrov
 
Tucker Carlson, who interviewed Putin in the winter, said that he has come to Moscow again, this time to talk with Russian top diplomat Sergey Lavrov. The main topic was the relations between the United States and Russia.
 
The topics Carlson mentioned in the teaser are:
 
▪️Possible Russia-US escalation amid Biden's greenlighting Ukraine's deep strikes on Russia,
 
▪️Is there any way to peel Russia back from the East and China back into the West?
 
▪️Is the [Russia-China] alliance permanent?
 
▪️Does the election of Donald Trump mean an end to the Ukraine conflict, which is reshaping the world?
 
He called the interview with Lavrov "fascinating" and promised that it would be released "very soon."

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THROWBACK: Sputnik asks what do ordinary Russians think about Tucker Carlson?

Russians praised Tucker Carlson as a “courageous journalist who is willing to challenge the anti-Russian propaganda” dominating the Western mainstream media.

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💬Russian FM Sergey Lavrov's interview with Tucker Carlson turned out to be on a large scale — Zakharova

It is devoted to the most pressing issues and will be released in a couple of days, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova added.

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Six South Korean parties, including the main opposition Democratic Party, have submitted to parliament a draft impeachment against the president; the vote is scheduled to be held on December 6-7, local media reported

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🔹Tucker Carlson arrives in Moscow, announces interview with Russian top diplomat Lavrov

🔹South Korean government votes to lift martial law, main opposition party to initiate impeachment

🔹Coups, assassinations, jail, suicide: unenviable fates of South Korea’s presidents

Other topics we have covered:

🔸HTS terror record speaks louder than words

🔸Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deal: Expectations vs. reality

🔸Why didn’t Canada become the 51st state?

🔸West losing grip in Africa: Biden's charm offensive in Angola is too little too late – pundit

🔸Which African countries have kicked out French troops?

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The announcement of Tucker Carlson's interview with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has already gained over 4 million views

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Ukrainian specialists train Syrian terrorists to operate drones
 
Ukrainian specialists have been training Syrian terrorists, the employee of a military company who studies fighters’ UAVs in Syria, told Sputnik.
 

“I can assume with 100% certainty that the militants are trained by foreign specialists and instructors. I’ve been in the special military operation zone, and I saw how UAVs are working there. When I came here, I saw that the militants use the same tactics as the Ukrainians did,” he said.

 
He added that [Syrian] militants started using kamikaze drones at night, indicating that these drones are equipped with night vision cameras or thermal imagers. Such tactics are typical of Ukrainian servicemen in the special military operation zone, he stressed.

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Satanic Temple undesirable in Russia
 
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has declared the American organization "Satanic Temple" undesirable in Russia, stating that the organization:
 
◾️ speaks negatively about Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and calls for the overthrow of the constitutional order in Russia;
 
◾️ has posted information on fundraising for the Ukrainian armed forces on its website;
 
◾️ uses Satanic symbols to discredit traditional spiritual and moral values
 
◾️ with the support of government agencies of the United States, promotes occult practices and pseudoteological theories and justifies violence against people;
 
◾️ supports members of extremist and terrorist movements.
 
It was founded by graduates of Harvard University and has 23 branches in the US, Australia, Germany, Canada, Finland, and several other countries, with followers exceeding 10 million people.

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'No stability, no democracy, no legality' — Zakharova on the current situation in South Korea
 

"In the absolute majority, all the presidents [of South Korea over the past 70 years] have either committed suicide or been overthrown, killed, or imprisoned. Can at least one person say that this is normal? No, it's not normal," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

She added that there is no stability, democracy, or legality in South Korea.
 

"If this is the case, then the Western community needs to do something about this system. As soon as you get it right there, then move on to the DPRK," the Russian FM spokeswoman concluded.

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Lavrov will take part in the OSCE ministerial meeting in Malta on December 5-6, the Russian Foreign Ministry said
 
After that, the Russian foreign minister will travel to Qatar, where he will take part in a conference. A number of international contacts are being worked out, the department added.

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South Korea’s martial law turmoil: North Korea will watch ‘this drama play out’

“Ironically, we sometimes talk about deescalating tensions between the two Koreas, but here, it is deescalating tensions among the South Koreans,” Michael Madden, nonresident fellow at the Stimson Center, told Sputnik commenting on South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol’s aborted attempt to impose martial law in his country.

The move could be described as a “preemptive strike in terms of President Yoon's domestic standing”, Madden said.

He warned there could be far-reaching consequences from South Korea’s “domestic political turmoil” which saw the country’s parliament swiftly block Yoon’s martial law-related order:

💬“The most optimistic scenario would involve Yoon staying in office as a lame duck until his term expires, and the wider ROK political leadership running interim government until the next presidential election in 2027.”

💬“On the other hand, we are more likely to see this conflict prolong.”

💬Yoon “might find himself impeached - maybe declare martial law again - or there might be a negotiated settlement and an acting president. Despite the constant facetious concern about ‘instability in the North’, it is the South that we should watch for leadership fissures.”

💬North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his close aides “would watch this drama play out,” Madden concluded.

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🇷🇺🪖Key statements from the Russian Defense Ministry's daily briefing on the special military operation's progress:

🔸Ukrainian losses in the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's area of responsibility amounted to 530 militants, an armored personnel carrier and four armored vehicles;

🔸Ukrainian forces lost up to 500 servicemen and a "Zakhist-AF" electronic warfare station in the area of responsibility of the Russian Zapad Battlegroup;

🔸Ukrainian forces lost up to 350 servicemen in the area of responsibility of the Russian Yug Battlegroup;

🔸Ukrainian forces lost up to 150 servicemen in the area of responsibility of the Russian Vostok Battlegroup;

🔸Russian air defense systems shot down 61 Ukrainian drones during the day.

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Huge line spotted at the entrance to the “Russia Calling!” forum in Moscow where President Vladimir Putin will take part in the plenary session.

Stay tuned and don’t miss the livestream!

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🇰🇷 South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun apologized to citizens and announced that he had submitted his resignation to President Yoon Suk-yeol in light of the recent developments in the country, the Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday.

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Tucker's interview with Putin was long so Americans would be able to understand - Russian Foreign Ministry

"You need to make sure the world hears. If it takes 45 minutes to answer questions so that the American audience understands, hears, or at least thinks about it, then that’s how the answers will come," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova commented on the timing of the Carlson-Putin sit down.

She said the US audience knows very little about world history or geopolitics, which, however, has become part of US election campaigns. That's why it's important to convey the message effectively.

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📹 Nigerian businessman speaks about foreign investment in Russia at “Russia Calling!” forum

"The investment and cooperation between different countries, it's something that didn't start now and it's never going to stop... we're trying to maximize the opportunity, understanding that a lot of companies actually have left Russia, which means it's an opportunity for other companies to actually come in. And this is what we've been doing for the past three years," Clever Oghenerobo Light from the Nigerian delegation said.

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