“This pact exists throughout Brazil. It’s not privileged to Rio de Janeiro. Truth be said, it’s a very organic, structured relationship between Rio de Janeiro politicians, militia groups and the police. 

How does it function?

Militias control growing amounts of territory. Approximately one million to 1.9 million people (in Rio de Janeiro) reside under the dominion of militia groups that control these territories. They also control how people vote to elect representatives to parliament or state congress or the legislative assembly or even federal congress.

Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic: Why has Zelensky purged the Ukrainian government?
Over half of the country’s ministers have been dismissed. Why did Vladimir Zelensky decide to gut his team during an ongoing conflict?

A series of high-level resignations has taken place in the Ukrainian government and the Office of the President of Ukraine. Several ministers, including long-standing figures like Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olga Stefanishyna and Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, have left their posts.  

By Petr Lavrenin

The global order is under threat from a number of state actors, the heads of the American and British foreign intelligence agencies – the CIA and MI6 – claimed in a joint op-ed published by the Financial Times on Saturday.

In the piece, Bill Burns and Richard Moore pledged that Washington and London would work in lockstep to retain the status quo in a world where technology has considerably accelerated geo-political trends.

Following the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, and the sharp downturn in ties with the West, senior Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have repeatedly proclaimed the end of US hegemony and a global shift to multipolarity.

Contemporary US-China tensions are often likened to the Cold War competition between the United States and the USSR. However, the rivalry also mirrors “The Great Game,” an intense 19th-century contest between the British and Russian Empires in Central Asia. Both empires saw this region as strategically crucial — Britain aimed to protect its colonial interests in India, while Russia sought to expand southward, threatening British India.

Before the last election in 2022, the Labor opposition promised to establish an integrity commission that would have a broad jurisdiction and strong investigative powers including the capacity to hold public hearings when it was in the public interest to do so.

This had been widely supported in the community, including by an open letter sent to the then Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, in December 2018, signed by 34 judges (including myself). Three former chief justices of the High Court (Sir Anthony Mason, Sir Gerard Brennan and Murray Gleeson AC) had also expressed their support for commissions being entitled to hold public hearings.

In his first public statements since his arrest by France on Aug. 24 at Paris’ Le Bourget airport, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov blasted French authorities for detaining and charging him, but also admitted that Telegram is not perfect and that he’ll work to clean up instances of criminals abusing the platform.

He argued in a post to Telegram that it wildly departs from norms for a government to go after a CEO personally, as opposed to the “established practice” of bringing legal against the company.

BY TYLER DURDEN

“Using laws from the pre-smartphone era to charge a CEO with crimes committed by third parties on the platform he manages is a misguided approach,” the billionaire tech entrepreneur wrote.

On September 22 and 23, the United Nations member states will gather in New York City at the UN headquarters for the historic Summit of the Future with the intention to sign the Pact for the Future. This document is expected to radically accelerate the push towards the completion of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Agenda 2030.

The Summit of the Future is taking place during the 79th session of the annual UN General Assembly. The summit has been in the making since at least 2022 after repeated calls by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to shift financial resources to rapidly complete the Agenda 2030 goals set by the UN in 2015.

TLAV

War in Ukraine must end ‘this fall’ – Zelensky

Kiev has asked its Western helpers to redouble their pressure on Moscow

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has urged NATO countries to pressure Russia to agree to Kiev’s peace terms this fall. He made his statement during a meeting with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Regular gatherings at Ramstein are designed to coordinate military aid to Kiev. 

Zelensky urged Western countries to help arrange joint production of weapons on Ukrainian soil, including drones and missiles. 

“To achieve this, we need funding – we are ready to quickly produce everything that will help us bring this war to an end, namely, by putting decisive pressure on Russia for real peace,”Zelensky said, according to his website. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxJVmPObidE&list=TLPQMDcwOTIwMjRdi35KC8MsbA&index=2

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POLTAVA, Ukraine — The screams in Room 6 could be heard from the hallway.

Next week, Land Forces 2024 will take place in Naarm. “Land Forces 2024 International Land Defence Exposition” to give its full, rather innocuous title, is the largest land-based weapons expo held in the Southern Hemisphere and — as its website proudly announces — “the premier gateway to the land defence markets of Australia and the region, and a platform for interaction with major prime contractors from the United States and Europe.”

The Eastern Economic Forum began on Tuesday and [ran] through Friday. It [was] hosted by the Far Eastern Federal University in the Russian Pacific coast city of Vladivostok.

Sputnik is live as Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the Eastern Economic Forum in Russia’s Far Eastern Federal District.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a number of international meetings on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), including with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, and will also hold a meeting on the development of the Far Eastern Federal District’s infrastructure.

The main theme of the Eastern Economic Forum this year is "Far East 2030. Let's Join Forces, Creating Opportunities."

Follow Sputnik’s live feed to learn more!

Much of the angst being generated by Australia’s worst foreign policy decision since joining the American invasion of Vietnam may well be misplaced. It is unquestionable that the former prime minister and two former foreign ministers have been correct in their assessments of the decision by the Albanese Government to proceed with the AUKUS deal, as being nothing short of disastrous for Australian sovereignty and for our economy, but the question arises, will it ever happen?

US Republican candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday that he doesn’t know how to feel about Russian President Vladimir Putin stating a preference for his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election.

The Russian leader said earlier in the day at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok that Moscow would rather see Harris win the US presidential election in November. Putin told the audience that he admired the Democratic Party candidate’s “infectious laugh” and that he respected current President Joe Biden’s choice to endorse her as his successor. 

The resilience of the Russian economy in the face of harsh Western sanctions sent those cheering the rise of multipolarity into victory laps. And it has been a huge embarrassment to the West. But Russia’s burgeoning problem settling payments with China demonstrates that this resilience isn’t without setbacks.

Has the US finally succeeded in choking off Russia’s biggest trade lifeline?
With its threat of secondary sanctions being felt acutely by Chinese banks, Washington may be winning a single battle – but in an economic war being decisively lost

New PM Barnier vows to address 'anger and grievances' of French
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier on Thursday vowed to address the "anger and grievances" of the French at a handover ceremony at the Hôtel de Matignon. Barnier was named to the role after nearly two months of political turmoil following surprise snap elections that saw no party winning an outright majority. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.