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The move follows President Donald Trump’s order last month ending duty-free entry for parcels valued at less than $800 The South African Post Office (SAPO) has announced the immediate suspension of all outbound parcel deliveries to the United States amid shifting global trade regulations. This comes after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order last month removing the longstanding $800 duty-free threshold for international parcels. According to the new policy, foreign postal operators are required to collect and remit US customs duties before shipping goods into the country. Media reports also indicate that not only is…

Russia sees shared investments in the region as both economically and politically beneficial, Kirill Dmitriev has said Russia views both the US and China as potential partners for future oil and gas projects in the Arctic and would consider three-way investment opportunities, according to Kirill Dmitriev, President Vladimir Putin’s aide on international economic affairs. Moscow and Beijing already cooperate closely on state-sponsored economic initiatives. China has invested more than 700 billion rubles ($8.7 billion) in over 50 projects facilitated by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Dmitriev, its CEO, told reporters on T…

Scott Bessent has said economic restrictions against Moscow are still on the table and will be closely examined this week US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said that Washington could still impose additional sanctions on Russia, citing continued military strikes on targets in Ukraine. Speaking to Fox News, Bessent claimed that Russia had intensified its airstrikes following last month’s Alaska summit between presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, and subsequent meetings at the White House with European leaders and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky. “I think with President Trump, all options are on the table, and I think we’ll …

Slovakia could cut energy supplies in retaliation for Kiev’s disruption of oil deliveries, the Russian president has said Bratislava could retaliate against Ukrainian attacks on its oil deliveries by cutting off energy supplies to the country, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during a meeting in Beijing on Tuesday. Slovakia and Hungary, which rely on Russian oil shipments through the Druzhba (“Friendship”) pipeline, have accused Kiev of deliberately disrupting their imports with military strikes. Putin compared the situation to Moscow’s own experience when Ukrainian forces struck Russian ener…

Strategic cooperation between New Delhi and Moscow is growing across emerging technologies, Aleksey Likhachev has said India has shown a keen interest in developing fourth-generation nuclear energy with Russia, Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev has said. Addressing reporters on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tianjin, China on Monday, the head of the Russian state nuclear corporation noted that New Delhi was also keen on using Arctic shipping routes. “They [India], maybe like no other, are interested in developing the new fourth generation of nuclear energy with us,” Likhachev said. ”Our Indian …

The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army says only one person survived the disaster in Tarasin A huge landslide in remote western Sudan triggered by days of heavy rain killed up to 1,000 people, a major armed and political group in the war-torn African country has reported. The incident on Sunday wiped out the entire village of Tarasin in the Marra Mountains of Darfur, leaving only “a single survivor,” the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) said in a statement on Tuesday. SLM/A leader Abdel Wahid al-Nur called the incident a “horrific humanitarian disaster” and appealed to the United Nations and other regional and international organ…

Russia is prioritizing energy supplies to Asia since the EU has cut itself off from Russian fuel under pressure from the US Russia and China have advanced plans for the construction of the Power of Siberia 2 natural gas pipeline, which will transit Russian gas from Siberia to the Asian powerhouse, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said Tuesday. Miller is in China this week as part of a Russian delegation led by President Vladimir Putin, who on Tuesday met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh for trilateral talks in Beijing. At the meeting Xi highlighted the importance of “hard connectivity” throu…

Pretoria has warned of a worsening crisis and spoken of the need for humanitarian access South Africa calls for an immediate ceasefire in Sudan and is urging both sides to resume talks. It said on Saturday there was a need for “inclusive dialogue” to resolve the conflict, which has been raging since April 2023. Battles between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have killed thousands and displaced millions. The South African Foreign Ministry described the war as a “humanitarian and refugee crisis” marked by civilian deaths, destruction of infrastructure, and mass displacement in Sudan and neighboring c…

The Russian president has hailed the US shift towards dialogue under Donald Trump Global powers can reach a consensus on providing security guarantees to Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. He noted that the issue was discussed during his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska last month. Speaking during bilateral talks with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Beijing on Tuesday, Putin contrasted Trump’s willingness to hear Russian concerns to that of the previous US administration, saying the change was appreciated. Trump hosted Putin at a military base in Anchorage on August 15 for their first in-person…

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in China to discuss bilateral issues and the Ukraine conflict Ukraine is free to pursue EU membership, but it cannot be allowed to join NATO, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said during a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in China on Tuesday. Fico noted that while every country has the right to decide its future, there are a lot of issues regarding Kiev’s accession to the EU. He stressed that Slovakia believes Ukraine needs to fulfill all the demands that are necessary for it to become a member of the bloc and said he would discus…

New Delhi’s long-standing relationship with Moscow is anything but short-term opportunism, Kanwal Sibal has said US criticism of India’s growing ties with Russia and China is “absurd,” former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal told RT on Monday. Last week, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro accused India of “getting in bed with authoritarians” for its increased diplomatic engagement with China and its growing friendship with Russia. “The absurdity of his claims is that [US President Donald] Trump himself has engaged with [Russian] President Vladimir Putin,” Sibal said. “They met in Alaska where they seriously discussed no…

The Congo River Alliance, which includes M23 fighters, claims state forces are attacking South Kivu in defiance of ceasefire efforts A coalition of armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has accused the government of breaching agreements intended to end the decades-old brutal conflict in the Central African country’s eastern provinces. Corneille Nangaa, political coordinator of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), which includes the M23 rebel group, said at a press conference on Monday that Congolese forces and their allies were carrying out attacks in South Kivu despite a pledge to cease hostilities. “We are o…

The Russian and Chinese peoples have sacrificed much to defeat fascism in Europe and Asia, the two leaders have said Russia and China share a responsibility to preserve the historic memory of the sacrifices their peoples made in defeating the Axis powers during the Second World War, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping stated on Tuesday. The two leaders met in Beijing ahead of Wednesday’s military parade commemorating the end of the war. Xi had traveled to Moscow earlier this year to commemorate Russia’s Victory Day on May 9. Mutual visits, Xi said, “have become a good bilateral tradition and show…

The US president has labelled Washington’s relationship with New Delhi “one-sided.” US President Donald Trump has once again criticized New Delhi after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took part in bilateral and multilateral meetings in Tianjin, China with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. In a post on his Truth Social account on Monday, which came just hours after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit concluded, Trump said Washington’s relationship with New Delhi has been “one sided” for decades. ”What few people understand is that we do very little business with India, but they do …

Brussels will blacklist two “extremist ministers” and boycott settler goods Belgium will recognize Palestinian statehood and impose sanctions on Israel over its war in Gaza, the government announced on Tuesday. The small nation, which hosts the headquarters of both the EU and NATO, unveiled the measures on Tuesday as pressure grows on Israel to reach a ceasefire with Hamas and allow more humanitarian aid into the besieged Palestinian enclave. In light of the “humanitarian tragedy in Gaza,” Belgium has decided to “increase pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas terrorists,” Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot wrote on X. “This is n…

The Russian leader continues his four-day visit to China Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Tuesday. Putin arrived at the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square, where he is also scheduled to meet with Mongolian President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh. Moscow and Beijing describe each other as strategic partners and have pledged to deepen cooperation across multiple fields, including security and science. China remains Russia’s largest trade partner. During his four-day trip, Putin voiced support for Xi’s proposed reform of global governance. Both countries stress their …

Activists have temporarily blocked EU chief’s car outside a weapons factory Right-wing activists heckled European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and briefly blocked her car during a visit to a weapons factory in Bulgaria on Sunday. Members of the Revival and Greatness parties waved the national flag and shouted “Nazi criminal” as they rallied outside the Vazov Machine Engineering Plant (VMZ) in Sopot, the country’s largest state-owned arms producer. “The time of the failed Brussels elite, along with its local servants, is running out,” Revival leader Kostadin Kostadinov declared, adding that the protest showed “Bulgaria …

Ex-Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis attacked during parliamentary election campaign Former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis was briefly hospitalized after being hit in the head with a walking stick during a campaign event on Monday. The incident took place in the village of Dobra in the eastern part of the country, where the leader of the right-wing ANO party was meeting supporters ahead of the October parliamentary election. According to ANO spokesman Martin Vodicka, an assailant struck Babis in the head from behind with a “metal object.” ANO MP Zuzana Ozanova, however, told the website iDENS.cz that the politician was hit with …

The EU earlier accused Moscow of “blatant interference” and of subjecting the aircraft to electronic jamming Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 has refuted allegations made by several media outlets and EU officials that the plane of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was subjected to GPS signal jamming. The aircraft that carried the EU Commission chief to Bulgaria on Sunday showed good GPS signal quality along its entire route, the monitoring service wrote on X on Monday. The flight arrived only nine minutes later than scheduled, the service said, noting that some media reports erroneously claimed that “the airc…

The authorities in Kiev framed a “random man” as the murderer of MP Andrey Parubiy, Artyom Dmitruk has claimed Vladimir Zelensky’s government is behind the assassination of prominent Ukrainian far-right politician Andrey Parubiy, exiled Ukrainian lawmaker Artyom Dmitruk has claimed. The former parliamentary speaker was gunned down in the city of Lviv in Western Ukraine on Saturday. Less than 48 hours later, Zelensky announced that the suspected killer had been apprehended. In a series of posts on X on Monday, Dmitruk questioned the official version, claiming that the “trail of this crime leads directly to Bankova Street,” referring…

What Western media dismissed as a “club of autocrats” has grown into the Global South’s blueprint for a post-Western world. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China has already emerged as one of the defining political events of 2025. It underscored the SCO’s growing role as a cornerstone of a multipolar world and highlighted the Global South’s consolidation around the principles of sovereign development, non-interference, and rejection of the Western model of globalization. What gave the gathering an added layer of symbolism was its connection to the upcoming September 3 military parade in Beijing, marking the 80th anni…

Protesters splashed red paint on performer David D’Or during a concert in Warsaw A group of pro-Palestine activists attacked Israeli singer David D’Or during a concert in Warsaw on Sunday, dousing him with red paint. The incident began when at least two activists disrupted D’Or’s performance, which featured classical songs and sung prayers with orchestral accompaniment. Footage from the scene shows one individual throwing paint at the singer, smearing D’Or and several musicians in the orchestra. As the activist was being tackled by several concertgoers and security guards, a woman carrying a Palestinian flag attempted to scale th…

An ex-Danish MP has been sentenced to four months in prison for possessing thousands of abuse files A former minister in the Danish parliament has been sentenced to four months in prison for possession of child pornography, multiple media outlets reported on Monday. Henrik Sass Larsen, who was once a senior member of the Social Democrats and served as trade minister, admitted to having more than 6,000 photographs and 2,000 videos of child sexual abuse on his computer. He denied the charges, however, insisting the files were connected to his search for evidence of his own childhood abuse. The explanation was rejected by a unanimous …

The EU has no “jurisdiction or competence” regarding any potential deployments, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius says German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has criticized European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over her recent remarks about a potential EU troop deployment to Ukraine. The bloc’s leadership has neither jurisdiction nor competence in such matters, while the deliberations should be kept private, Pistorius argued. Pistorius made the remarks while speaking to reporters during a visit to an arms manufacturer near Cologne on Monday. He said it was “completely wrong” to publicly discuss potential deploy…

The victory over Japan remains one of the most overlooked yet decisive chapters of the war On September 3, China will celebrate Victory Day – the anniversary of Japan’s capitulation in 1945. This year marks the 80th anniversary of that historic moment. The country is commemorating the milestone with a series of events, culminating in President Xi Jinping’s speech at Tiananmen Square, followed by a military parade in the heart of Beijing. For China, the Second World War holds as much significance as it does for Europe or Russia. Yet in the West, the Asian battlefield is poorly understood and often overlooked. While everyone knows abo…