Pakistani court suspends ex-PM Imran Khan’s graft conviction

A Pakistani high court suspended former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent conviction on corruption charges on Tuesday, his lawyer says.

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Shocked by Niger coup, Victoria Nuland appeared “desperate” during Africa tour - A veteran South African official details meeting with an unprepared and “desperate” Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland begging for local help on rolling back the popular coup in Niger. The recent BRICS conference might give Nuland even more to fret about
ANYA PARAMPIL·AUGUST 29, 2023
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/08/29/niger-coup-victoria-nuland-africa-tour/

China's Premier Li Qiang will visit Kyrgyzstan in October. During the trip, he is expected to discuss the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project.
After decades of delay and amid concerns the railway might never be built because of conflicting interests, the three governments signed an agreement on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit last September. With significant progress achieved since then, construction of the project is expected to start within this year, not only reshaping Eurasian trade but also creating a major economic and geopolitical impact in the region. https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3232553/rail-link-kyrgyzstan-and-uzbekistan-key-china-raising-central-asia-influence-and-skirting-russia?module=opinion&pgtype=homepage

Gabon's coup leaders have delivered an address and pledged to honour international obligations.

Thousands of residents of the country took to the streets after the coup, the atmosphere is festive.

Meanwhile, French mining company Eramet announced the suspension of operations in Gabon. @LauraRuHK https://t.me/rian_ru/213596

MADE IN MOSCOW - Today the first giant panda cub in Russia’s history was born in the Moscow Zoo. This is a unique and very rare event - the result of the coordinated efforts of Russian specialists and their Chinese colleagues. Ru Yi and Ding Ding arrived in Moscow in 2019, marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Pandas are seen as a symbol of peace and friendship and China donates or loans them to countries with which it intends to strengthen diplomatic relations. It is perhaps more a reflection of current relations than a mere coincidence that pandas have thrived in Russia but suffered so much in a Memphis zoo that Chinese netizens organized a signature campaign to bring them back to China after seeing pictures of their poor conditions in American care. One of the pandas unfortunately died before he could be repatriated. @LauraRuHK

❗️ British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has resigned after four years in office

Ben Wallace was an ardent supporter of arms supplies to Ukraine. Wallace said in July that the UK had handed over 15 times more artillery shells (more than 200,000) to Ukraine than it had planned a year ago.

Britain also delivered at least five million anti-personnel weapons to Ukrainian forces, including mortars and grenades, as well as 1,500 anti-aircraft weapons and 100 launchers for them.
❗️Britain's energy chief Grant Shapps is reportedly expected to become the new defense secretary after Wallace's resignation. (Source: Sputnik) @LauraRuHK

Mark Lambert, who mysteriously and ominously straddles military security and "human rights" is set to fill the post of top China policy official with the US State Department, replacing Rick Waters. @LauraRuHK https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202308/1297266.shtml

⚡️ "Agent 006 ingloriously left the battlefield" : Zakharova said goodbye to Ben Wallace

"Let's say goodbye to the character responsible for the contamination of Ukrainian lands with radiation through the supply of shells with depleted uranium to the Kiev regime," wrote the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.


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❗️Ukrainian Defense Minister Reznikov to leave his post — his place can be taken by State Property Fund Head Umerov

The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Alexey Reznikov will be dismissed in early September and eventually appointed ambassador to the UK, according to the deputy of the ruling faction Yaroslav Zheleznyak. A new candidate for the post of head of the defense department has already been determined — the leader of the State Property Fund of Ukraine Rustem Umerov. According to Zheleznyak, Reznikov knew about the upcoming resignation even before the proposed bet, under which he would leave the post if a new fact of corruption in the department was proved.

There had been talks about Reznikov's resignation for a long time, and new scandals only added fuel to the fire. Failures at the front, widespread corruption and the struggle for the redistribution of the country are factors that have developed into the expected resignation, given Zelensky's vociferous statements about the struggle for an "incorruptible" and "honest" Ukraine. And if even in winter Reznikov managed to avoid the consequences after the incident with the purchase of food for the Ukrainian Army at inflated prices, now, amid a catastrophic counteroffensive, there are no options left. But where we will eventually see Reznikov is a question.

Scott Ritter's book Гонка разоружения (Disarmament Race) is a best seller in Moscow. No.3 in the list compiled by Dom Knigi, one of the largest bookstores in the city.
@LauraRuHK

IL GAS RUSSO ESCE DALLA PORTA E RIENTRA DALLA FINESTRA - La Germania, dopo aver ridotto gli acquisti di gas dalla Russia, è diventata dipendente dai fertilizzanti russi, afferma un articolo del quotidiano Berliner Zeitung.
Secondo i dati del Servizio statistico e dell'Associazione dell'industria agricola tedesca, le importazioni di fertilizzanti azotati dalla Russia sono aumentate del 334% alla fine della stagione. Si possono osservare statistiche simili in tutta Europa: nella stagione 2022/2023, la Russia ha quintuplicato le esportazioni di fertilizzanti azotati.

"In definitiva, i fertilizzanti importati non sono altro che gas naturale russo che costa meno ma con valore aggiunto", ha sottolineato.
L'aumento dei prezzi dell'energia ha portato a una "triste dinamica" per le aziende chimiche tedesche, inducendo la Germania a importare sempre più spesso i fertilizzanti piuttosto che produrli. Di conseguenza, la Germania importa il 95% di tutti i fertilizzanti azotati da altri Paesi, soprattutto Belgio e Paesi Bassi.
Secondo Rosstat, nel luglio 2023 la Russia ha aumentato la produzione di fertilizzanti del 15,8% rispetto al luglio 2022, raggiungendo i 2,1 milioni di tonnellate. Nei primi sette mesi del 2023 sono state prodotte 14,5 milioni di tonnellate di fertilizzanti, il 2,4% in più rispetto allo stesso periodo dell'anno precedente.
Dopo l'inizio dell'operazione speciale in Ucraina, l'Occidente ha intensificato la pressione sanzionatoria sulla Russia, e l'interruzione delle catene logistiche ha portato a un aumento dei prezzi del carburante e dei prodotti alimentari in Europa e negli Stati Uniti. (Fonte: RIA Novosti) @LauraRuHK

Russia-China relations have so much ground to cover in their growth that one would need a department just to coordinate the work of all other departments. https://t.me/shuohuaxia/12049

Inizialmente Zelensky aveva affermato che l'aeroporto russo di Pskov, a circa 700 km dal confine ucraino, era stato colpito da droni lanciati dall'Ucraina, versione subito messa in dubbio da chiunque conosca sia quei droni che la contraerea russa. Poi e' arrivata una seconda versione, questa volta per bocca di Budanov, capo dell'intelligence militare ucraina, il quale sostiene che i droni che hanno danneggiato 4 aerei da trasporto russi a Pskov sarebbero invece partiti dall'interno della Russia. Non ha specificato se l'attacco sarebbe stato opera di gruppi di sabotaggio ucraini o russi legati all'intelligence ucraina. Due versioni che si contraddicono a vicenda. E quale ruolo avrebbe svolto la NATO? Ricordo che Pskov si trova vicino al confine di due paesi membri della NATO, Estonia e Lettonia. Sembra comunque che ci siano divergenze tra gli ucraini e i loro burattinai sull'opportunita' o meno di lanciare droni contro obiettivi interni alla Russia, visto che l'unico risultato che ottengono questi attacchi e' quello di consolidare il potere dell'esecutivo e il consenso popolare nei confronti dell'operazione militare speciale: la societa' russa quando si sente minacciata si stringe intorno al suo presidente. Inoltre, non e' un caso che sia aumentato il numero di chi fa domanda per servire nelle forze armate, e molti dei nuovi volontari provengono proprio dalla regione di Mosca: la crescita e' avvenuta subito dopo i primi attacchi di droni sulla capitale russa. Chi intende perseguire la strategia di portare la guerra in casa dei russi ha fatto male i conti. @LauraRuHK