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From Molecules to Missions: How a 2006 Email Sparked a Russian–Ethiopian Scientific Alliance
A scientific journey that began nearly 20 years ago with a shared fascination for caffeine molecules is now evolving into a full-scale international collaboration.
🤝 What started in 2006 as remote research between Dr. Maxim Evstigneev (Sevastopol State University (SevGU), Russia) and Professor Abebe Belay (Adama University, Ethiopia) has matured into a formal agreement for long-term cooperation in the emerging field of nanobiotechnology.
🌱🔬 This renewed partnership draws on unique strengths: Ethiopia’s rich biodiversity—especially its endemic, plant-derived nanoparticles—and SevGU’s advanced analytical technologies.
The two universities are laying the groundwork for a joint master’s program in biophysics and nanobiotech, set to launch in 2026. It includes dual-teaching formats, student exchanges, and collaborative lab work.
🔜 Initially, a leading Ethiopian professor will join SevGU’s lab full-time under two major state-supported research projects. A pilot group of Ethiopian students is also expected to study in Sevastopol, potentially expanding to include other African universities and fields like marine biology.
🎯 The ultimate vision? A Russian–Ethiopian research center on nanobiotech—bridging continents through science, education, and shared innovation.
📹 What makes Ethiopia’s role in this project unique? Watch Dr. Evstigneev explain in his own words in the video👆🏽
📌 ወደ ስፑትኒክ ኢትዮጵያ እንኳን ደህና መጣችሁ
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Iconic Lebanese Pro-Palestinian Activist Returns Home After Over 40 Years in Prison
Hundreds greeted George Ibrahim Abdallah at the Beirut International Airport, after he was freed from a French prison earlier on Friday.
✊ Representatives of various parties and supporters welcomed the activist, hailing him as a symbol of struggle for Palestine's resistance.
Abdallah's brother Robert previously told Sputnik that family feared Israeli assassination attempts. And not in vain… Israeli drones were reportedly circling Beirut airspace hours before the legend's arrival.
The state must ensure Abdallah's security, the Lebanese Communist Party leader Hanna Gharib stated to Sputnik.
Abdallah, a Lebanese communist and Palestinian cause supporter, was convicted in the 1980s for attacks linked to the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Factions. He describes himself as a resistance fighter, not a criminal, motivated by the struggle against Palestinian oppression.
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‘African Food is the Future, and the Future is Now,’ Says Ghana-Based Chef
Food is more than nourishment—it's identity, hope, and opportunity. That’s the message from Chef Fatmata Binta, a Sierra Leonean culinary visionary based in Ghana.
She shared her passion with Sputnik Africa during the African Chefs Gathering and Policy Convening on African Food Systems in Addis Abeba.
“Africa is a diverse ritual of indigenous food systems, and these systems hold invaluable knowledge that can guide us to a more sustainable and equitable future,” she said.
“It’s a grain that I see as a solution when you think about food insecurity, think about climate change.”
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❗️Thailand has declared martial law in eight provinces along the border with Cambodia
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#viral | Nightmarish Giant Hornet Nest Being Destroyed
📍China
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Out of grace: Zelensky loses US backing
Volodymyr Zelensky is facing his first wave of mass protests since 2022 — and it’s a bad omen for him, veteran ex-CIA and State Department official Larry Johnson tells Sputnik.
Zelensky's under rising pressure
The trouble has brewed for the past month, according to the pundit.
💬 "We had a news article by Seymour Hersh... that indicated that his sources from the CIA and Department of Defense were telling him that Zelensky was on his way out, that they're going to get rid of him," Johnson says.
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"The fact that there are rumors circulating that Washington wants to get rid of Zelensky is a sign that the relationship is not what it was two years ago under Biden," the CIA veteran says.
Major World Events by the Morning of July 25
🟠Newly appointed AU Special Envoy to Sahel, Burundi's Ndayishimiye, held a meeting with Burkina Faso's President Traore. The envoy's mission is to foster dialogue with Sahel nations to reach peace in the region;
🟠Ghana narrowed its 2025 budget deficit target after a better-than-expected result in the first six months of the year, the finance minister said, vowing to get public finances back on track;
🟠The threat of nuclear weapons use remains globally, the South African FM said, urging better international cooperation on non-proliferation while ensuring equitable access to peaceful nuclear technologies;
🟠The trial of former DRC President Joseph Kabila on charges including treason and supporting M23 rebels is set to begin in Kinshasa on Friday, local media reported;
🟠The Hamas movement welcomed France's intention to recognize Palestine in September;
🟠Thailand rejects any third-party involvement in resolving its conflict with Cambodia, the Foreign Ministry said;
🟠Hungary is decisively against turning the budget of the European Union into the "budget of Ukraine," Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told RIA Novosti;
🟠The UK tried to use a military provocation in the Baltic to disrupt the Russian-US talks and convince Washington to continue full-scale military assistance to Ukraine, Putin's aide told Sputnik.
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Islamic Countries Condemn Israel's Motion to Annex West Bank, UAE Foreign Ministry Says
The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Nigeria, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation "strongly condemn the Israeli Knesset’s approval of the declaration calling for the imposition of the so-called 'Israeli sovereignty' over the occupied West Bank, considering it a blatant and unacceptable violation of international law [...]."
Breach Exposes Sensitive CIA Tech Submissions in Major Intelligence Website Hack: Report
Unidentified hackers have compromised the Acquisition Research Center — a website critical to US intelligence contracting, used by agencies like the CIA and Space Force, according to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO).
The breach, still under federal investigation, exposed sensitive personal data and proprietary technologies, including information from the Digital Hammer program — a top-tier CIA initiative focused on combating foreign intelligence threats using advanced surveillance and counterintelligence technologies.
While the NRO says classified data was not compromised, the loss of proprietary innovations could have serious national security implications. Critics blame reliance on an unclassified platform for the breach.
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Putin Participates in Flag-Raising Ceremony on Nuclear Ballistic Missile Submarine Knyaz Pozharsky
The "Borei-A" project missile submarines form the backbone of maritime strategic nuclear forces, and with their modernization capabilities, they will ensure the country's security in the coming decades, the president stated.
At the end of the video, footage from the flag-raising ceremony on the nuclear submarine Knyaz Pozharsky can be seen.
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Group of Five Suspects From Ukraine, Georgia Wanted in Crimean Bridge Terrorist Attack Case, Russia's Chief Investigator Says
"All of them have been charged in absentia with committing a terrorist act and illegal trafficking and smuggling of explosive devices," Russian Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin told Sputnik.
Africa Bleeds $90 Billion Yearly Buying Foreign Fuel — Often Substandard, Nigeria's Dangote Warns
Despite producing ample crude oil, Africa imports over 120 million tonnes of refined petroleum products annually worth more than the GDP of 85% of African countries, Aliko Dangote said.
"We are effectively handing over an entire continent's economic potential to others—year after year," the businessman lamented, speaking at the West African Refined Fuel Conference in Abuja.
Art as Mirror of History: Why Africa Fights to Reclaim Stolen Cultural Identity
"Art and artistic performances have always been a platform for people to showcase their social discontentment," Dr. Ntsikelelo Breakfast of the Nelson Mandela University, SA, told Sputnik Africa.
Nigeria's Defense Industry Takes Off: Focus is on Domestic Weapon Production, Officer Says
🛠"In-house" weapon development allows Nigerians to avoid international restrictions and build self-reliance in defense capabilities, Colonel Nanpon Gambo told Sputnik Africa.
Nigeria has been following this strategy for decades; that is why now it is capable of producing its own drones, the officer pointed out.
🎯Current efforts concentrate on training the manpower in technical skills so that local specialists could supervise the future homegrown weapon production on their own, he added.
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#viral | Power of Sand: Violent Sandstorms Blanket Southeastern Iran
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‘We Should Be Able to Eat What We Produce’: Cameroonian Official
🙌🏽 Africa’s strength lies in its soil, its culture, and its plate, said Stephen Andong Ujambeng, Representative of the North West Regional Assembly in Cameroon. He also believes that reclaiming our food systems is key to Africa’s future.
🌽 Speaking to Sputnik Africa on the sidelines of the African Chefs Gathering and Policy Convening on African Food Systems in Addis Abeba, Ujambeng emphasized the importance of embracing and promoting locally grown, nutritious African foods—not just in homes, but across government events, restaurants, hotels, and even in the diaspora.
🗣 He called on policymakers, educators, and citizens alike to drive a continental shift—from dependence on Western imports to pride in African agriculture and cuisine.
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Morocco Bets Big on Airports With $4.2 Billion Upgrade Deal Ahead of 2030 World Cup
The government and the Moroccan Airports Authority signed a deal laying the foundation for a modern, resilient "Airport 2030" model aiming to boost infrastructure, handle traffic growth, and develop the tourism sector, the Head of Government's office said.
✈️ Key goals and targets:
🟠Build a new hub terminal and a runway at Casablanca's Mohammed V Airport;
🟠Expand seven airports in cities hosting World Cup matches;
🟠Expand airport capacity from 34 million to 80 million passengers by 2030;
🟠Prepare to welcome 26 million tourists by 2030 (up from 17.4 million in 2024).
The 2030 FIFA World Cup will mark Africa's second hosting and Morocco's debut. The North African nation had previously bid unsuccessfully in 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010 and 2026.
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East African Leaders Call for Stronger Collaboration to Align Capital with Development Goals
Hosted by Stanbic Bank (Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda), the East Africa Institutional Investors Forum in Arusha gathered regulators, pension funds, banks, ministries, and development financiers to discuss mobilizing institutional capital for infrastructure. Focus aligned with Tanzania’s Vision 2050 and EAC Vision 2050.
✅Speakers emphasized the opportunity to unlock long-term savings from pension funds and institutional investors for transformative projects in energy, housing, water, transport, and digital connectivity.
“There is a growing alignment between public sector development goals and private sector capital flows,” Aboubakar Massinda, EVP for Energy and Infrastructure at Stanbic Bank Tanzania, was quoted as saying by media.
Russian self-propelled artillery crews of "Giatsint-K" destroyed a camouflaged enemy UAV control point in the Konstantinovsky area of the DPR
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Russian Defense Ministry publishes footage of Zverevo liberation in DPR
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The Russian Defense Ministry has shown footage from the settlement of Novoekonomicheskoe in the DPR, the liberation of which was announced on Thursday
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World Became Safer After Resumption of Russian-US Dialogue, Hungarian Foreign Minister Says
"I do hope that a comprehensive, overarching US-Russia agreement will be made. With President [Donald] Trump entering office, I think the world has already become a safer place because the Russian and the American leaderships have re-engaged with each other," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told RIA Novosti.
❗️ MACRON'S BOMBSHELL: France will recognize Palestine in September
"The urgent need today is to end the war in Gaza and provide assistance to the civilian population," French president wrote on X.
The announcement prompted an immediate backlash:
🇮🇱 Netanyahu: "Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy"
🇺🇸 Rubio: "This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace"
Kagame Replaces Long-Serving PM With Economist Once Pardoned for Corruption
🆕 Rwanda's President has appointed Justin Nsengiyumva, deputy governor of Rwanda's central bank and a former UK-based economist, as the new prime minister. The move ends Edouard Ngirente’s seven-year tenure, though no reason for the change was given.
Nsengiyumva, a PhD holder from the University of Leicester and ex-permanent secretary at the education ministry, was convicted of corruption in 2008 and pardoned by Kagame in 2023.
He responded to his appointment by pledging “to serve…with humility and dedication under your leadership and guidance.”
Ngirente, thanking Kagame on X, said: “This journey has been deeply enriching.”
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Putin Welcomes the Knyaz Pozharsky Missile Carrier Crew in Severodvinsk
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❗️Putin arrived in the Arkhangelsk region on Thursday, where he will hold a meeting on the development strategy of Russia's naval submarine forces
"Today will be devoted to the strategy for the development of the submarine component of the Navy. There will be a meeting on this topic, and the president's speech will be open," the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists.
❗️Cambodia launched missile strikes on Thailand without selecting targets, killing and injuring mostly civilians, acting Thai PM says
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Zimbabwe’s Leader Inaugurates Mining Giant Zimplats’ Green Shift: Smelter Expansion and First 35MW Solar Plant Phase
President Mnangagwa presided over the commissioning ceremony, which included a tour, ribbon-cutting, and plaque unveiling —marking a major milestone in Zimplats’ $1.8 billion expansion strategy.
☀️ The new 35MW solar plant features 74,000 panels across 109 hectares. It's just the first phase — three more will follow, reaching 185MW total. This clean energy will power Zimplats' Selous and Ngezi sites. Right now, this first phase provides 12% of the company's electricity.
Zimplats is Zimbabwe's biggest platinum metals producer. It continues to drive sustainability, efficiency, and economic growth through investments in mining, processing, and renewable energy, the Ministry of Information stated.
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