Watered-down G20 statement on Ukraine is sign of India’s growing influence

It took exhausted Indian diplomats 200 hours of non-stop negotiations, 300 bilateral meetings and 15 drafts, but in the end the G20 countries reached a consensus declaration on the war in Ukraine – one that largely retreated into generalised principles rather than the specific condemnation of Russia that the same group of leaders agreed when they met in Bali a year ago.

Moreover, no invitation was extended to Ukrainie’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to address the gathering, meaning the only direct combatant around the table was Russia, represented by its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.

Russia hails unexpected G20 'milestone' as Ukraine fumes

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has praised a joint declaration by G20 leaders in Delhi that avoids condemning Moscow for its war against Ukraine.

Russia had not expected consensus and agreement on the wording was "a step in the right direction", said Mr Lavrov.

The closing G20 statement denounced using force for territorial gain but made no mention of Russian aggression, prompting criticism from Ukraine.

Lula says Putin will not be arrested at Brazil G20 meeting

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has said that Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not be arrested in Brazil if he attends the Group of 20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro next year.

Lula, speaking to the Firstpost news show at the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Delhi on Saturday, said Putin would be invited to next year’s event.

He added that he himself planned to attend a BRICS bloc of developing nations meeting due in Russia before the Rio meeting.

Appeals court scales back order squelching Biden administration contact with social media platforms

NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court Friday significantly whittled down a lower court’s order curbing Biden administration communications with social media companies over controversial content about COVID-19 and other issues.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans on Friday said the White House, the Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and the FBI cannot “coerce” social media platforms to take down posts the government doesn’t like.

Putin hopes for closer ties with North Korea in message to Kim Jong Un

Russian President Vladimir Putin is calling for Russia and North Korea to intensify their ties amid rumors that he could meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the coming days.

“I am convinced that thanks to our joint efforts we will continue to strengthen … bilateral ties on all fronts,” Putin said in a letter addressed to Kim on Friday, quoted by AFP and North-Korean media.

Former British soldier fighting in Ukraine found dead with hands tied

A former British army soldier was found dead in a body of water in Ukraine with his hands tied behind his back after he went to the country to fight alongside Ukrainian forces, it has emerged.

Jordan Chadwick, who served in the Scots Guards from 2011 to 2015, travelled to Ukraine to fight in October last year. Eight months later, on 26 June, Lancashire police told his mother, Brenda, that her son, known as Joe, had been killed. British government officials later confirmed his death.

Putin’s collection of oddball allies grows by the day. It’s time the west got tougher

Vladimir Putin must be feeling fairly desperate if he’s relying on Kim Jong-un for friendship and support. There’s a reason why North Korea’s unpredictable dictator is among the world’s most ostracised leaders.

Nobody likes him and he don’t care, as the saying goes. Yet Russia’s despised, isolated war-criminal president is in much the same leaky boat these days, slowly sinking, calling out for help.

G20 leaders agree joint declaration after deal on Ukraine statement

The G20 leaders have agreed a joint declaration, Narendra Modi announced on Saturday, alleviating fears that disagreements over the Russia-Ukraine war would prevent a consensus for the first time.

Speaking at an afternoon session of the G20 summit in Delhi, the Indian prime minister said he had “just got the good news that due to the hard work of our teams and your cooperation, a consensus has been reached on the New Delhi G20 leaders’ summit declaration”.

What we are witnessing in Africa is not an anti-colonial revolution

On August 17, Arikana Chihombori-Quao, former permanent representative of the African Union to the United States, claimed the recent military coups in Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea were part of the early stages of an “African revolution” against Western neocolonialism.

“What is going on now in Africa is a revolution similar to what we saw with the demise of the mighty Roman Empire, similar to what we saw with the fall of the mighty British Empire,” Chihombori-Quao said in an interview with New York-based Nigerian news channel Arise TV.

Sorry Trumpers, there won’t be a US civil war for 2024

Every once in a while, Sarah Palin tries to escape the purgatory of irrelevancy by doing or saying something that the failed Congressional candidate is likely convinced will inject her back, however briefly, into the cultural zeitgeist.

It must be galling for the former Republican “it girl”– who was plucked from obscurity and thrust into the ego-swelling limelight as John McCain’s running mate in 2008 – to watch from afar as the diabolical duo of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert slowly and inevitably overtook her in the calcified hearts and conspiracy-consumed minds of the party’s looney tunes faithful.