🇷🇺🇧🇾 Russia-Belarus joint strategic drills "Zapad 2025" begin

⚔️ The armed forces of Russia and Belarus launched large-scale exercises on September 12, focused on repelling aggression against the Union State and restoring territorial integrity.

Final stage of joint training in 2025

➖ Held across training grounds in Belarus, Russia, and the Baltic and Barents Seas

➖ Contingents from CSTO, SCO, and other partners invited

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💸 Denmark plans historic arms purchase: $8.32B for air defense

👉 Copenhagen doubles down on militarization — buying 8 advanced air defense systems from French-Italian Eurosam, not just 2.

That's twice the cost of its F-35 fleet, local TV2 broadcaster reported.

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🚨🇺🇸🇮🇳 US continues to pressure India to stop buying Russian oil

🗣 'India must stop buying Russian oil,' said Sergio Gor, the nominee for US Ambassador to India.

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🚨 Israel strikes Ash-Shati refugee camp in West Gaza

A powerful air raid hit a residential building in a densely populated area.

Local health authorities reported at least 5 deaths.

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🚨 Sputnik correspondent on the ground in Kathmandu, Nepal 🇳🇵

Curfew starts at 11 PM, army deployed nationwide — yet streets remain active after mass Gen-Z protests shook the country this week

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👉 Pacific Fleet casts off on drills

Russia’s Pacific Fleet has launched large-scale command-and-staff drills in its northeastern waters, featuring its most advanced nuclear-powered submarines: the Yasen and Borei classes.

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🔍 EXCLUSIVE look INSIDE burnt Nepali Parliament

📹 Sputnik India correspondent and Gen Z protesters visit the Nepali Parliament building burnt by protesters.

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🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD WEEKLY UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES

◻️ Three settlements in the Dnepropetrovsk region have been liberated over the past week

◻️ Liberating the Dnepropetrovsk region from the Zelensky regime's control is a crucial strategic objective for Russian troops, as it would establish a buffer zone to better defend against potential attacks by Ukrainian forces.

◻️ Russian forces unleashed one large-scale, high-precision strike and six coordinated attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) against the military facilities of radical Ukrainian battalions.

◻️ The Russian Army eliminated 111 tanks and 8 unmanned boats

◻️ Air defense superiority: One Su-27 aircraft, five cruise missiles and 19 guided aerial bombs were shot down by Russia’s air defense systems

◻️ Ukrainian losses: 9,350 troops

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🇷🇺 Russian FM Spox castigates Zelensky for ‘killing Ukrainians on west’s dime’

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🚨🇮🇳🇺🇸 Trump says imposing 50% tariff on India 'was not an easy thing to do', admits it caused rift with partners

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🚨‘Lightning-fast results’ from Ukraine talks not likely: Kremlin

💬 “You can’t wear rose-colored glasses and expect lightning-fast results from the [Russia-Ukraine] negotiation process,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday, noting even Trump once admitted that settling everything takes time.

🗣 He also added that communication channels between Moscow and Kiev remain open, though the negotiations are currently paused.

Other key statements:

🔶On negotiations: Russia is prepared to continue peace talks with Ukraine.

🔶 On security: Russia has never threatened anyone, including European countries

🔶 On Europe: Europeans are obstructing peace efforts on Ukraine

🔶 On Poland: Polish rhetoric on Zapad-2025 linked to “emotional overload”

🔶 On NATO: The Atlantic bloc is an instrument of confrontation, not peace and stability

🔶 On Putin’s schedule: The president will visit one of Russia’s regions today

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👉 'No matter how people vote, what truly matters is how their votes are counted'

📍 Russian MFA spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warns that Moldova's current regime may once again manipulate the electoral process, as it did during last year’s presidential race.

The parliamentary elections are scheduled for September 28.

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❗️ Pakistan will host SCO summit in 2027 — PM Shehbaz Sharif

Pakistan will be taking over as chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization after Kyrgyzstan.

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👉 Ursula von der Leyen must ‘pack her bags and go home’ – Orban

💬 Under Ursula von der Leyen, the European Union is “heading for the abyss,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned.

🗣 He insisted that von der Leyen should “leave Brussels to those who are capable of pursuing a better policy because everything she has so far stood for must be reviewed.”

“It’s not the popularity ratings that are interesting here; it’s the misguided policies and mismanagement,” Orban emphasized.

🔊Previously, the Hungarian right-wing group “Patriots for Europe,” which includes Orban, initiated a vote of no confidence in von der Leyen.

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🚨 Geopolitical ripple effect: how Doha attack undermines US credibility in the Gulf, empowers BRICS

👉Security

The failure of US & European-made equipment to stop Israel’s assault leaves only one option open: Russia, says defense analyst Igor Korotchenko.

Russian specialists could build Qatar a system that would give the emirate “the keys” to its skies, leaving “no country able to strike with impunity.”

A pivot to Russia is fully realistic, given Moscow’s sale of Pantsir-S1s to the UAE, Qatar’s maritime neighbor.

To reliably close the skies to the enemy, Qatar could complement its defenses with Pantsirs, Buk-M3s, & Tor-M2s.

👉Commerce & trade

“The Gulf is already engaged with the multipolar world” on economic matters, says Dr. Tamer Qarmout of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

If the political will exists, not just Qatar but the region could “diversify their alliances & engage more with multipolarity.”
Plus, the UAE is already in BRICS, & Saudi Arabia has been invited.

Gulf states also enjoy strong bilateral economic links with key BRICS powers including Russia (agriculture, IT), India (labor & trade) & China (trade & strategic initiatives like BRI).

👉Old chains of bondage

For most of their existence, Gulf powers “have never been truly sovereign,” says veteran Mideast expert Isa Blumi. “They’ve always been dependent on the British & the Americans,” & “internal struggles & rivalries” have made them ripe for manipulation.

That means “strategically & from a security & political perspective,” Gulf powers’ “interests are still largely embedded with, or aligned with, the US as a strategic partner,” Qarmout says.

👉Time for self-reflection

Israel’s attack “introduced significant uncertainties & major questions for Gulf nations regarding the future” of economic, political & military partnerships with the US.

The “difficult & existential” question is whether Gulf nations will “intensify” links to BRICS “to include new sectors like security & defense,” given the US’s abject failure to protect its “ally” “in such a blatant manner,” Qarmout summed up.

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🇳🇵Nepal president yields to protesters

🟠 Nepal’s President Ram Chandra Paudel has agreed to appoint former Chief Justice Sushila Karki as head of an interim government and move toward dissolving the House of Representatives, The Himalayan Times reports

🟠 Massive protests erupted in the country after the government banned unregistered social media platforms, sparking a youth-led "Generation Z Revolution"

🟠 Despite the ban being lifted, protests escalated amid a political crisis over corruption

🟠 While Karki’s appointment has not yet been fully confirmed, alternative candidates like Balen Shah, mayor of Kathmandu, and Harka Sampang, mayor of Dharan, were also considered

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📹 LIVE: Putin addresses plenary session at the 11th St. Petersburg International United Cultures Forum

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