❗️Russia is willing to help Mali increase the combat readiness of its armed forces, Russian FM Lavrov tells his counterpart from the Sahelian country, Abdoulaye Diop

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🇸🇴 A sealed barrel containing unidentified substances found in Mudug region of central Somalia, the police say 

The blue container was washed up on the coast of Puntland. The contents of the barrel are unknown. Authorities are warning citizens not to approach the strange object, as it may contain dangerous substances. 

👉 A similar incident occurred in this part of Somalia in 2004. At that time, the United Nations Environment Program discovered barrels of unidentified substances on the coast. The main suspects were unknown European companies that allegedly used Somalia's poorly policed waters to dump waste. However, tests did not confirm the toxicity of the contents.

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🇫🇷 🌍 Paris Olympics: 'games wide open' for all but Africans?

While the Paris Olympics boast a "Games Wide Open" theme, promising inclusivity and global participation, a closer look reveals a stark reality for many Africans.

⛳️ Africans' access to the Olympic Games was hampered by discrimination in the issuance of Schengen visas, and African athletes face racism, the South African Institute for Security Studies found.

The issue of Schengen visas casts a shadow over the Games' inclusivity. With a rejection rate 10% higher than the global average, many African athletes and spectators are simply denied access to the event.

Racial prejudice against African athletes and performers extends beyond visa hurdles.

🗣 "Malian-born French dual citizen Aya Nakamura sang last Friday at the Olympics opening ceremony. For months, rumors of her performance sparked an onslaught of online racism, calling her ‘vulgar’ and saying Paris wasn’t the Bamako market. Far-right politicians, including National Rally Party leader Marine Le Pen, claimed Nakamura was not French enough and would ‘humiliate’ the country," the institute noted.

The French government's ban on athletes wearing religious headscarves, hijabs, aimed at promoting secularism, further underscores the lack of inclusivity, according to ISS. This decision, despite criticism from human rights organizations, discourages Muslim women and girls from participating in sports.

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❗️Ten of the prisoners exchanged in Ankara are heading to Russia, 13 to Germany and three to the United States, Turkish channel NTV reports

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❗️Lebanese movement Hezbollah moves on to the next stage of military operations against Israel on all fronts, the organization's Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah says

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❓Which Russian prisoners could be part of the Ankara exchange?

🟠Maxim Marchenko

Arrested in September 2023. He pleaded guilty to illegally purchasing and shipping dual-use American microelectronics to Russia. The combined maximum sentence the Russian faces is 30 years in prison.

🟠Vadim Konoshchenko

Detained on October 27 while attempting to leave Estonia for Russia. On July 13, 2023, he was extradited to the US from Estonia. In the United States, the Russian is accused of conspiring to circumvent sanctions, illegal purchases for the Russian defense industry, and related financial fraud. Konoshchenko did not admit guilt in court; he remains under arrest.

🟠Vladislav Klyushin

Arrested in March 2021 in Switzerland at the request of the United States. He was extradited to the United States, and in February 2023, a jury found the Russian guilty. In September 2023, a court in Boston, US, sentenced Klyushin to nine years in prison. The founder of the M13 IT company was accused by the US authorities of insider trading in securities based on stolen and non-public information with the participation of several accomplices.

🟠Anna and Artem Dultsev

Arrested in Slovenia in December 2022, the court found them guilty of espionage. They were sentenced by the court to one year and seven months in prison and deportation from the country.

Vadim Krasikov

On December 15, 2019, the Berlin Supreme Court found Russian Vadim Sokolov (Krasikov) guilty of murdering Georgian citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

🟠Roman Seleznev

The son of a State Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, detained by US special service agents in July 2014 in the Maldives, was taken to the United States and, in April 2017, received 27 years on charges of cyber fraud, in particular, stealing credit card data and organizing online fraud, with damages of $170 million. In the second case, he pleaded guilty to being part of the international cyber fraud group Carder.

🟠Vladimir Dunaev

At the request of the United States, Russian citizen Vladimir Dunaev was detained in South Korea on May 25, 2021, in a cyber fraud case. On October 29, South Korea notified the Russian side of the detention and extradition of the Russian to the United States. In January 2024, a US court sentenced Dunaev to 5 years and 4 months in prison in a cyber fraud case. According to the American side, from November 2015 to August 2020, Dunaev was engaged in the theft of funds and confidential information and was also a member of a transnational criminal organization that developed the Trickbot malware.

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🇷🇺🌍 Russia may send grain supplies to African countries instead of Kazakhstan, an expert says

This comes against the background of Kazakhstan's extension of the ban on Russian wheat imports.

According to Leonid Khazanov, an independent industry expert, the amount of grain exported from Russia to Kazakhstan can be estimated at least at 1.5 million tonnes per year, while the harvest in Kazakhstan exceeds 16 million tonnes per year.

"The decision of Kazakhstan’s government is unpleasant for [Russian] farmers but not fatal; they can increase grain sales to other countries, for example, to African countries," he said.

The ban on imports of Russian wheat to the Central Asian country was first introduced in April 2023. Earlier, it became known that Kazakhstan extended the embargo until the end of this year.

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❗️Russian FM Lavrov discusses the assassination of the Hamas Politburo chief by phone with acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri

The parties pointed out the unacceptability of political assassinations and the extremely dangerous consequences of such actions.

Lavrov also called on all parties influencing the situation in the Gaza Strip and the Middle East as a whole to avoid actions that could lead to further destabilization.

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🇿🇦 🇪🇺 South Africa slams EU's "green fee" as violation of WTO norms

Pretoria has accused the EU's new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) of unfairly shifting the burden of climate change onto developing countries.

Trade Minister Parks Tau, speaking at a recent BRICS trade ministers meeting, argued that the mechanism, which will gradually introduce a "green duty" on imports from countries outside the EU based on their carbon emissions, contradicts WTO principles of "common but differentiated responsibility" for climate change.

The South African minister called for a revision of the CBAM, highlighting the potential negative impact on South African exports.

The EU, however, maintains that the CBAM is necessary to ensure a level playing field for European businesses and to incentivize global emissions reduction. The mechanism will be fully implemented by 2034.

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🐶 A tailed fashionista was spotted roaming the streets of Vietnam

Where could he be going so fast? Share your thoughts in the comments👇

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🇲🇱 🇧🇫 "The AES countries will not bend the knee to any terrorist group," says Malian journalist

The strikes by Malian and Burkinabe forces in Tinzaouatène are important to "warn armed terrorist groups of the imminent dispatch of military ground convoys," Moussa Naby Diakité, publishing director of L'Elite newspaper in Mali, told Sputnik Africa.

This response to the attack on FAMa and its Russian allies should also "allow for the evacuation of civilians," Diakité added. It also reflects the "determination of the Malian army to fully exercise its sovereignty over its territory."

👉 According to Diakité, there are several advantages to joining forces:

🔹 Capable, determined, and motivated human resources;
🔹 Combined skills in investment and equipment procurement;
🔹 Exchange of information through intelligence services;
🔹 harmonious coordination of all operations.

🗣 "The assets of this force are therefore its unity, and above all its determination in the face of common evil," the journalist concluded.

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🇳🇪 Niger: More than 600 billion CFA francs to revolutionize agriculture

The $1 billion program to modernize the agricultural and livestock sectors was officially launched on July 29 in the presence of Prime Minister Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine.

The project aims to
✔️ ensure food security,
✔️ ensure resilience to climate risks,
✔️ increase agricultural productivity.

Zeine stressed that the plan, the first of its kind, "is a challenge that must be met very quickly."

✍️ The financing agreement with the World Bank was signed during the ceremony. It will be divided into three phases, according to the WB vice president. The first will see the immediate allocation of $350 million, while the remainder will be mobilized over the course of the project.

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❗️Eight Russians detained and imprisoned in a number of NATO countries have been returned to their homeland, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) says

Their return was made possible thanks to the systematic work of competent government agencies and foreign partners, the service noted.

👉 As a result of the exchange, minors were also returned to Russia, the FSB reported.

The Russians who returned to their homeland were exchanged for a group of individuals who acted in the interests of foreign states to the detriment of the security of Russia, the agency said.

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