Swiss commodities firm Trafigura goes on trial over alleged bribes paid to secure Angola oil contract

Swiss commodities firm Trafigura goes on trial over alleged bribes paid to secure Angola oil contract

Trafigura said it has invested “significant resources” in strengthening its compliance programme over a number of years. The defendants are entitled to a presumption of innocence as the court case plays out in Switzerland.

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Al Qaeda affiliate kills at least six Russian mercenaries in central Mali, group says

Al Qaeda affiliate kills at least six Russian mercenaries in central Mali, group says

Russia has capitalised on deteriorating relations between the West and coup-affected Sahel nations in West Africa to send fighters and assert its influence. Wagner has been active in the Sahel, the vast expanse south of the Sahara Desert.

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Deployment of North Korean troops to Kursk by Russia informed Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use long range missiles

Deployment of North Korean troops to Kursk by Russia informed Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use long range missiles

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A State Department spokesperson declined to say whether Biden had authorised the longer-range strikes but said Russia was escalating the conflict by deploying North Korean troops.

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Russia raises stakes in war with Ukraine as it hits Dnipro city with intercontinental ballistic missile

Russia raises stakes in war with Ukraine as it hits Dnipro city with intercontinental ballistic missile

Ukrainska Pravda, a Kyiv-based media outlet, cited anonymous sources saying the missile was an RS-26 Rubezh, a solid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missile with a range of 5,800 kilometres, according to the Arms Control Association.

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Hours after Ukraine hit Russia with US-supplied ATACMS, it followed with UK Storm Shadow cruise missiles

Hours after Ukraine hit Russia with US-supplied ATACMS, it followed with UK Storm Shadow cruise missiles

The Storm Shadows have a range in excess of 250 kilometres (155 miles) and would give Ukraine the ability to hit targets far deeper into Russia than before.

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Top Russian officials reveal Putin’s willing to discuss Ukraine peace if Kyiv abandon ambitions to join Nato

Top Russian officials reveal Putin’s willing to discuss Ukraine peace if Kyiv abandon ambitions to join Nato

While Moscow claims the four regions as wholly part of Russia, defended by the country’s nuclear umbrella, its forces on the ground control 70-80 per cent of the territory with about 26,000 square kilometres still held by Ukrainian troops, open-source data on the front line shows.

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Tension builds between Washington and Moscow as US embassy in Ukraine closes over fears of air attack

Tension builds between Washington and Moscow as US embassy in Ukraine closes over fears of air attack

Russia had been warning the West for months that if Washington allowed Ukraine to fire US, British and French missiles deep into Russia, Moscow would consider those NATO members to be directly involved in the war in Ukraine.

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New twist in arms race as revised Russian war doctrine lowers threshold for nuclear weapons use 

New twist in arms race as revised Russian war doctrine lowers threshold for nuclear weapons use 

The new version of the document states that an attack against his country by a nonnuclear power with the “participation or support of a nuclear power” will be seen as their “joint attack on the Russian Federation.”

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Kremlin warns US long-range missiles to Ukraine is ‘a big step toward the start of World War III’

Kremlin warns US long-range missiles to Ukraine is ‘a big step toward the start of World War III’

Russia also is slowly pushing Ukraine’s outnumbered army backward in the eastern Donetsk region. It has also conducted a devastating aerial campaign against civilian areas in Ukraine. Peskov referred journalists to a statement from President Vladimir Putin in September in which he said allowing Ukraine to target Russia would significantly raise the stakes.

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How 1,000 days of Ukraine conflict demonstrate ‘modern war is a confrontation of technologies’

How 1,000 days of Ukraine conflict demonstrate ‘modern war is a confrontation of technologies’

Both Ukraine and Russia are on track to make around 1.5 million drones this year, mostly small “first-person view” vehicles that cost a few hundred dollars apiece and can be piloted remotely to identify and attack enemy targets.

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