Netanyahu and Putin, who have met several times this year and enjoy good relations, spoke on the phone to diffuse tensions after the downing of the Russian military aircraft [PPIO]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russian President Vladimir Putin that he regretted the deaths of 15 Russian soldiers aboard a downed IL-20 military surveillance plane but blamed the Syrians for shooting it down over the port town of Latakia.
The two leaders have met many times to resolve their WWII issues, but differ in approach [PPIO]
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appears to have balked at an offer by Russian President Vladimir Putin to sign a peace treaty “without any preconditions”.
A peace treaty has eluded both countries ever since Russian troops seized four Japanese islands – known as Kuril (or Kurilskiye Ostrova in Russian, the Japanese call them the ‘Northern Territories’) – in the summer of 1945.
Russia conducted a number of drills in August and early September in the build-up to Vostok 2018 [Russian MoD]
Russia today launched its larged military exercise in nearly four decades, involving hundreds of thousands of troops and thousands of pieces of military hardware in all branches of its armed forces.
Chinese forces will also participate in the six-day exercise, titled Vostok 2018, contributing some 3,200 troops 900 pieces of military hardware and 30 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
Rouhani, Putin and Erdogan – who have met several times in the past year to discuss Middle East tensions – say the end of the war in Syria is at hand [PPIO]
Leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey are due to meet in Tehran today to discuss ways to bring the Syria war to an end without further bloodshed.
Final sales grew 2 per cent in second quarter as exports surged 13.7 per cent
South Africa recently hosted the 10th BRICS Summit amid growing global trade tensions[PREUSS]
The South African economy reaped the benefits of a weaker rand as real final sales, which is gross domestic product (GDP) less the change in inventories, grew by 2.0 per cent on a quarter-on-quarter (q/q) seasonally adjusted annualized (saa) basis in the second quarter after exports surged by 13.7 per cent on the same basis, while imports grew at a slower rate of 3.1 per cent.
Presidents and prime ministers of the entire African continent are in attendance at the two-day forum
Chinese President Xi Jinping told dignitaries at the opening session of the Third Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) that he believed working together, the two regions could achieve a win-win scenario for all.
“No one could undermine the great unity between the Chinese people and the African people. No one could hold back the Chinese people or the African people as we march toward rejuvenation,” he said.
Lavrov says he fears the US is working to keep Ahrar Al Sham entrenched in Idlib [PPIO]
Russia has been for weeks warning of a planned false flag operation in the besieged city of Idlib in northwestern Syria allegedly to be carried out by Islamist extremists.
The warning comes as Syrian Army forces reinforce their positions around the city currently under the control of the Ahrar Al Sham rebel group affiliated with Al-Qaeda.
The Syrian military, with the help of Iran and Russia, is preparing for a final offensive to take Idlib and end the war.
Trump agreed with Kim when they met in June in Singapore that there were road bumps on the path to the summit, but that these were overcome [Archive]
China has rejected tweets made by US President Donald Trump that Beijing is not helping in denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Trump had blamed insufficient progress in talks with North Korea on China, which he said was not helping like it once did because of the growing trade war with America.
US President Donald Trump has since his election campaign accused China of unfair trade policies and practices [PPIO]
Efforts by Chinese and US officials meeting in Washington to stave off a worsening trade war between both countries appeared to fizzle this weekend.
Chinese trade representatives were in Washington to discuss means to de-escalate a trade war which began earlier this summer following US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods.
Lula is credited with reforms which brought many Brazilians out of poverty [PPIO]
With the national elections in Brazil less than two months away, some are calling for former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to be allowed to run despite being incarcerated on a corruption conviction.
And he continues to dominate pre-election polls despite being behind bars where he is serving a 12-year sentence.
