News

Burkina Faso says it has ordered the Target Malaria research team to halt activities and destroy all genetically modified mosquitoes Burkina Faso has suspended a project funded by the Gates Foundation aimed at curbing the spread of malaria in Africa, amid concern that it could be misused to advance population control on the continent. The Target Malaria research team, based at the Burkinabe Institute of Health Sciences Research (IRSS), is working to alter mosquito genes to render the insects incapable of transmitting the disease, which the World Health Organization says killed 569,000 people in Africa in 2023. The non-profit consort…

The EU candidate nation is said to be at a crossroads between two versions of democracy as it approaches parliamentary elections Moldova will choose between two versions of democracy – one promoted by technocrats in the EU and another by the administration of US President Donald Trump – in its parliamentary elections next month, according to Darren Spinck, an associate fellow at the Henry Jackson Society think tank. The former Soviet republic’s current government led by President Maia Sandu is in the Brussels camp, Spinck wrote in the National Interest magazine on Monday. Sandu claims that Moldova’s integration with the EU depends …

Amar Preet Singh took to the skies a month ahead of the Russian-designed fighter’s retirement Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh entered the cockpit of the MiG-21 to join in one of its final sorties, one month ahead of the fighter jet’s official decommissioning ceremony, the Indian Air Force (IAF) said on Monday. The MiG-21 jets, which have been a cornerstone of the IAF’s fighter fleet for over six decades, were originally developed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. ”Honoring the enduring legacy of MiG-21, the Chief of the Air Staff visited No. 23 Squadron ‘Panthers’, the last squadron operating the legenda…

The president said Washington should seek ownership rather than leases for sites in South Korea President Donald Trump has said he would like the United States to obtain ownership of the land where its military bases are located in South Korea, instead of leasing it. Sitting alongside South Korea’s new president, Lee Jae-myung, on Monday, Trump claimed that Washington has invested heavily in infrastructure on the Korean Peninsula and maintains “over 40,000 troops” there, yet the land under those facilities remains leased from Seoul. “Maybe one of the things I’d like to do is ask them to give us ownership of the land where we have t…

Kiev’s attacks on critical energy infrastructure are unacceptable, top Hungarian officials have said Ukraine cannot force its way into the European Union with extortion, bombings and threats, according to Prime Minister Victor Orban and other Hungarian officials, who accused Kiev of jeopardizing the country’s energy security. Ukrainian forces struck the Soviet-era Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline several times this month, halting the flow of Russian oil to Hungary and neighboring Slovakia. Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky remarked on Sunday, with a smile and a play on the pipeline’s name, that Kiev’s “friendship” with Budapest depends on Hu…

The US is now profiting from selling weapons to Kiev, the president has said The United States is no longer directly funding Ukraine and will instead be profiting from arms sales to its European NATO partners, who in turn supply those weapons to Kiev, President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. Trump claimed that Washington was being “fleeced” under previous US administrations, which he said had committed $350 billion to Kiev. “I don’t blame Ukraine… if they come and ask for a hundred billion dollars and they get it,” he remarked, calling Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky “the greatest salesman I think I’ve ever me…

Soaring debt and borrowing costs are approaching levels that once forced London to seek an IMF rescue, according to a Telegraph report Britain is facing the prospect of a repeat of its crippling 1976 economic crash as soaring debt and borrowing costs raise doubts over Labour’s budget policies, leading economists have warned, according to a Telegraph report. The crisis nearly fifty years ago saw a Labour government forced to seek an emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after deficits and inflation spun out of control. It became one of Britain’s worst postwar crises, with the bailout bringing deep spending cuts an…

The move also puts funding for Kiev’s access to Starlink internet at risk Polish President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a bill on Monday to prolong benefits for Ukrainian refugees, arguing the legislation needs a rework. The current system of payments is set to expire in September. In announcing the decision, the president, who took office earlier this month, reiterated his stance that state benefits should only cover Ukrainians who work in Poland. “We remain open to providing assistance to Ukrainian citizens – that hasn’t changed. But after three and a half years, our law should be amended,” Nawrocki said in a statement. The vetoed bil…

Health authorities have reported a spike in new cases of the ‘Nimbus’ and ‘Stratus’ strains Mask mandates have been reintroduced in hospitals in some regions of Ukraine amid a rise in Covid-19 cases. In a post on his Telegram channel on Monday, the head of the Rovno regional council, Andrey Karaush announced the introduction of masks at a major local hospital. The official added that other medical facilities in the Western Ukrainian region would be considering mask mandates in the coming days. “Since the beginning of August, almost half a thousand cases of the disease have been officially confirmed in the region,” Karaush announced…

The US president’s push for the award captures the spirit of our age In the early 1980s, former US President Jimmy Carter visited Stockholm. At a reception he approached Stig Ramel, the long-serving executive director of the Nobel Foundation, and asked with some bitterness why he had not received the Peace Prize for brokering the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel. “If I had been awarded it, I might have been re-elected for a second term,” Carter remarked. He had lost to Ronald Reagan in 1980. Ramel’s reply was blunt: “I’m sorry, Mr. President, but you were not nominated.” The 1978 prize went instead to Egyptian President A…

Simplified entry rules and cooler weather have drawn a rising number of visitors from the Middle East Tourism from Gulf states to Russia has surged, as Moscow deepens ties with the region, offering streamlined visas, budget flights and curated travel experiences, Financial Times reported on Monday. Russia has eased its visa rules for many countries as part of an effort to boost foreign tourism amid Western sanctions. As a result, visits from the Gulf have more than quadrupled since 2019, with Saudi tourist numbers rising sixfold in the past year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in July. Budget airlines have responded to…

The negotiations over peace in Ukraine show that Moscow lives in the real world. The West – not so much In some important ways that Western information warriors love to miss, Russia and the West are quite similar. Like the West, Russia has a typically modern state, even if today it functions much better than its Western counterparts. Russia’s economy is capitalist like almost everywhere else on the planet now, even if the Russian state – because it functions better – has reasserted control over the rich, while the West, sick with neoliberalism, lets them dominate and damage national interests. This is one reason, incidentally, why R…

The US president has said he discussed limits on nuclear arsenals with his Russian counterpart in Alaska Washington wants a nuclear arms reduction deal with Russia and China, US President Donald Trump said on Monday, revealing that he talked denuclearization with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin during their recent meeting in Alaska. The US president made the remarks while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, claiming that Putin also showed interest in the matter during the summit. “We would like to denuclearize. It’s too much power, and we talked about that also,” Trump stated. “It was a very successful day for other t…

The late heavy metal legend has a massive following in Russia, according to organizers Moscow will host a major international rock festival, where musicians and fans from around the world will gather to honor Ozzy Osbourne, the Black Sabbath frontman and heavy metal pioneer who passed away last month. The self-described ‘Prince of Darkness’ died on July 22 after years of battling Parkinson’s disease and other ailments. His death came less than three weeks after a farewell reunion concert with Black Sabbath in his hometown of Birmingham which raised millions for local charities. His legacy will be at the heart of Moscow’s Sandlerfes…

Washington should support the effort led by Europe, the has president said Europe must take the lead in providing “significant security guarantees” to Ukraine, US President Donald Trump said on Monday. Washington’s role will be supportive rather than primary, he stressed. “Europe is going to give them significant security guarantees — and they should, because they’re right there,” Trump told reporters at the Oval Office. He added that Washington would remain involved “from the standpoint of backup.” View the full article

The incident comes just two weeks after another six journalists perished in an Israeli attack Five journalists were among at least 20 people killed on Monday in an Israeli “double tap” airstrike on Nasser Hospital, the largest medical facility in the southern Gaza Strip, according to local health authorities. The attack on the hospital came in two waves, with the second strike hitting first responders and reporters at the scene. The second strike was captured by an extremely graphic livestream by Jordan-based Alghad TV. The munition directly hit people gathered on an external stairwell of the hospital, frequently used by media to fi…

A recent poll shows that Valery Zaluzhny, currently Kiev’s ambassador to London, is more popular than Vladimir Zelensky There is an “increasing belief” in Kiev that former commander-in-chief, Valery Zaluzhny, is preparing to go head-to-head with Vladimir Zelensky in a potential presidential race, The Guardian has claimed. Amid growing tensions, Ukrainian leader Zelensky removed the general from his post in February 2024 and dispatched him to the UK to serve as Kiev’s ambassador. In an article on Monday, The Guardian claimed that while Zaluzhny has painstakingly concealed any political ambition he may have, “many assume he is just b…

Relations between Washington and Brussels have been strained as Trump has called on Europe to play a bigger role in its security Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has claimed that his country can be considered the foundation of Western unity. His comments come amid strained relations between Washington and Brussels over defense spending issues and further military aid to Kiev. In a Telegram post on Sunday, Zelensky said “Ukraine can in a single day gather and unite the world’s leaders around itself.” He further claimed that Kiev has “restored the unity of Europe and the US and now serves as the foundation of this alliance.” However, ties…

Musicians from Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe are taking part in the Spasskaya Tower Music event for the first time Army bands from Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, and Ethiopia have performed for the first time at the ongoing international military music festival hosted by Russia, in which various foreign orchestras are taking part. The Spasskaya Tower Music Festival, now in its 17th edition, is taking place from August 22 to 31 on Moscow’s Red Square, featuring Russian and foreign military bands performing national songs and dances. According to the organizers, the Zimbabwean Defense Forces Orchestra, led by Rutendo Mutonono, is per…

Limited relations could be restored once a “lasting” peace in Ukraine is achieved, President Alexander Stubb has said EU countries could eventually restore ties with Russia once the Ukraine conflict is settled, although any cooperation will look fundamentally different from the arrangements that existed before the fighting began, Finnish President Alexander Stubb claimed on Monday. Stubb has previously said Finland will seek pragmatic, interest-based relations with Russia once the Ukraine conflict is over. ”Establishing relations between Russia and the rest of Europe in one form or another will only be possible once a just and last…

Islamabad and Dhaka have signed six agreements, covering visa-free travel for diplomats, education and media collaboration Pakistan and Bangladesh have signed six cooperation agreements that are expected to deepen the bilateral engagement between the two South Asian nations. The agreements, which include visa-free travel for diplomats and government officials, were signed on Sunday during Pakistani Foreign Minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar’s visit to Dhaka, the first such high-level trip in more than a decade. Trade and diplomatic engagement between Islamabad and Dhaka has been nearly absent over the last decade. This is primarily due t…

The Hollywood legend has made a virtual appearance at a Russian cinema event The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has blasted US filmmaker Woody Allen for participating in a Russian cinema event, calling his involvement an insult to Ukrainian movie professionals. The 89-year-old film director appeared via videolink on Sunday at the Moscow International Film Week, where he spoke about his career and ties to Russia. Kiev condemned the participation, describing it on Monday as “a disgrace and an insult to the sacrifice of Ukrainian actors and filmmakers” affected by the conflict. The ministry said Allen’s remarks amounted to ignoring what i…

The bloc plans to match last year’s support to Ukraine despite Russia’s warnings that it only prolongs the conflict NATO intends to spend another $50 billion on military aid for Ukraine and match its contributions from last year, a senior official has told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper. The bloc’s Military Committee Chairman Giuseppe Cavo Dragone stated that NATO has already provided more than $33 billion since January and plans to raise the total to $50 billion by the end of the year. Asked about the alliance’s stance as Washington and Moscow pursue peace efforts, Dragone said NATO would “continue military assistance and e…

The country’s citizenship law should reject the ideology of Stepan Bandera, President Karol Nawrocki has said Polish President Karol Nawrocki wants to amend the country’s citizenship law to say that the naturalization of Ukrainian nationalists is undesirable. Warsaw and Kiev have long been involved in a dispute over crimes committed by nationalists during World War II and their lionization in modern Ukraine. During a press conference on Monday, Nawrocki weighed in on recently-adopted changes to the citizenship law, and said his office was working on additional amendments. He said the law should include the slogan “stop Banderism,” …

A Russian woman was allegedly tricked into sending $37,000 to the Ukrainian security services before being dragged into a terror plot Ukrainian operatives allegedly tricked a Russian woman into debt before attempting to use her in a suicide bomb plot, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Monday. The woman, a 54-year-old resident of Volgograd Region, was reportedly targeted by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), which initially posed as the Russian FSB. According to investigators, she was told that a person with power of attorney over her affairs had taken out a loan in her name and donated part of the funds to the Ukrainian mi…