S. Ramaphosa and V. Putin discussed progress in peace process between Russia and Ukraine by phone

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –

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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News

JOHANNESBURG, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which the two sides discussed the advancement of the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised South Africa's participation in advancing the peace process between Russia and Ukraine," said a statement released by the South African president's office.

S. Ramaphosa expressed “South Africa’s full support for peace initiatives that will end the war and ensure long-term peace between Russia and Ukraine.”

As noted in the statement, the heads of the two states agreed to continue discussions on “advancing strategic relations between the two countries.” –0–

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China's current account surplus was $300.6 billion in the first half of 2025

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –

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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — China's current account surplus stood at $300.6 billion in the first half of 2025.

Data released Friday by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed that the goods trade surplus reached $456.6 billion during the period, while the services trade surplus was $105.9 billion.

In terms of special drawing rights (SDRs), China's current account surplus in the first half of the year reached SDR 225.7 billion.

The SDR is an interest-bearing international reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund to supplement other reserve assets of member countries. –0–

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The Presidents of Uzbekistan and Russia discussed current issues on the bilateral and international agenda by telephone

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –

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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News

Tashkent, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — A telephone conversation took place between Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, the press service of the Uzbek leader reported.

As reported, current issues on the bilateral and international agenda were discussed.

The Russian President reported on the main results of the talks with US Presidential Special Envoy Steven Witkoff, held in Moscow on August 6, the report says.

Practical aspects of further development and strengthening of Uzbek-Russian relations of comprehensive strategic partnership and alliance in the context of implementing agreements at the highest level were also discussed.

“Special attention is paid to the adoption of coordinated measures aimed at ensuring the dynamics of growth in mutual trade and investment indicators, accelerating cooperation projects in priority sectors of the economy, continuing productive contacts, business and humanitarian exchanges at the regional level,” the statement says. –0–

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China to Continue Promoting Peace Talks on Ukraine Crisis – Xi Jinping

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –

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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News

BEIJING, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — China will remain consistent in its position on the Ukrainian crisis and continue to promote peace talks regardless of how the situation develops, Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Friday.

Pointing out that there are no simple solutions to complex problems, he outlined China's principles and position.

According to him, China is glad that Russia and the United States maintain contacts, improve relations and promote a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.

Xi Jinping and V. Putin also agreed to jointly promote the further development of Chinese-Russian relations. –0–

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Drone attack alert declared in Russian city of Sochi

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –

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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News

Moscow, August 8 (Xinhua) — A threat of attack by unmanned aerial vehicles has been declared in the Russian city of Sochi, and an air defense system is in operation, the city's mayor Andrei Proshunin said on Telegram on Friday.

All city services have been put on high alert, and are being coordinated by the city's emergency response team. City residents living near the coastline are ordered not to go outside.

In addition, temporary restrictions on the arrival and departure of aircraft were introduced at the Sochi airport. According to the airport's press service, the restrictions were later lifted, and a schedule for the arrival and servicing of all aircraft is being formed taking into account the forced changes. –0–

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RUDN students talk about participating in the summer track and field championship

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Peoples'Friendship University of Russia –

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For some, summer means relaxing on the beach or mountain hikes, walking in parks or traveling around Russian and foreign cities. But for athletes, it is also a time of constant training and competitions. In honor of Physical Culture Day (it will be celebrated on August 9), we talked to RUDN students who took part in the Summer Student Track and Field Championships in Smolensk and returned from there with third place in the team and personal victories.

The competitions were held in July at the Smolensk State University of Sports. 362 athletes from 46 universities in 21 regions of Russia competed. The disciplines included walking, running, hurdles and barriers, long jump, high jump and pole vault, triple jumps, relay races, javelin, hammer and discus throwing, and shot put.

The composition of the RUDN University track and field team:

1. Polina Khomyakova (400, 800 m run, 4 x 400 m relay).

2. Anastasia Matveeva (long jump, triple jump, 4x100m relay).

3. Timofey Shilov (long jump, triple jump).

4. Elizaveta Ipatova (100, 200 m run).

5. Victoria Isakova (200, 400 m run, 4 x 400 m relay).

6. Jesse Otaigbe (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay).

7. Donaldson Onoigboria (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay).

8. Viktor Shebalin (400 m run, 4 x 400 m relay, 4 x 100 m relay).

9. Nikita Gubarev (400 m run, 4 x 400 m relay).

10. Veronika Divakova (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay).

11. Denis Abitabile (javelin throw).

12. Ruslan Zalyaev (shot put, discus throw).

13. Lada Pelevina (high jump, 4x100m relay).

14. Daria Semyonova (100, 200 m run, 4 x 100 m relay).

15. Tengei Senyo (100m, 200m, 4x100m relay).

16. Kirill Kovalev (200 m run).

Ahead – 16 meters

"I liked how the event was organized, especially the stand where you could leave your autograph. I was also pleased that there was a broadcast of the competition. However, I was a little disappointed that the relay race was scheduled in parallel with the jumps, and my plans to participate in it did not come true," says Timofey Shilov, a bachelor of the RUDN University Agrarian and Technological Institute (Standardization and Metrology major, 3rd year).

Timofey has been involved in track and field since he was 13, starting with short-distance running, but then, together with his coach, he discovered his talent for the triple jump. After which the young man began to specialize in this discipline. At the competition, the student won silver in the triple jump with a result of 15.51 m and bronze in the long jump with a result of 7.18 m.

"I am not entirely happy with how I performed at the championship. If I had been more focused from the first attempts, I would have shown myself better. In general, I strive to overcome the 16 m mark in the triple jump, so I focus more on achieving a personal result than on winning the competition," – Timofey Shilov, Bachelor of Science at the RUDN University Agrarian and Technological Institute (Standardization and Metrology, 3rd year).

In love with running

Polina Khomyakova ran for gold at the summer championship. The student covered 400 m in 54.77 seconds. She has been involved in track and field since elementary school and has been involved in the sport for about 13 years.

"My physical education teacher noticed me and invited me to join her track and field section. I fell in love with running from the very beginning of my career; just long jumping or throwing a javelin was boring. I loved competing for first place in a race, which I was good at! My greatest achievement was third place in the Russian Championship in the 4x400m relay," says Polina Khomyakova, a bachelor's student in the RUDN University Faculty of Philology (Psychology major, 3rd year).

According to Polina, the RUDN team coach Olesya Vladimirovna Pogorelova helped her prepare for the competition perfectly. The girl is happy with her result in Smolensk, but she certainly has new goals for the future. She dreams of winning a personal medal in the 400 m race at the Russian Championship, because these are the largest track and field competitions in our country.

In mother's footsteps

Another gold medalist of the Summer Student Championship from RUDN is Anastasia Matveeva. She began to seriously engage in athletics after entering our university in 2020, although she has been in sports since childhood. The girl's first major victory was third place in jumping at the Russian Championship under 20 in 2021 in Ufa, and a year later she won bronze at the Russian Championship.

"I followed in my mother's footsteps in triple jumps. She also did this discipline and was quite successful. But I also run relays. Because it is a team effort, I am even more nervous before relays than before my own event, but I really like running. At the competition in Smolensk, I performed even better than I expected. I jumped 13.24 m, but I always want to be even better. My main goal for the future is to improve my results and meet the standards for a master of sports," – Anastasia Matveeva, Master of Philology at RUDN (Psychology major, 1st year).

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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The first one has gone: orders on admission to budget places in bachelor's degree programs have been published

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: Official website of the State –

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The main stage of enrollment of students entering bachelor's degree programs at the State University of Management is coming to an end.

Orders on enrollment within the admissions target figures and for budget places have been published. 188 recent schoolchildren are already ready to join the family of the country's first management university.

Let us remind you that preliminary lists for the contract will be published on August 11.

In 2025, more than 40 thousand applications were submitted to the State University of Management, which is almost a quarter more than in 2024.

32 students were enrolled under the special and separate quotas, including 18 under a separate quota for SVO participants and their children.

The most in-demand specialties were: state and municipal administration, where the competition was 16 people per budget place, marketing and information technology.

All departments have established close cooperation with industrial partners. For example, in 2025, the first basic department of state and municipal administration was opened at the FADM Rosmolodezh office of the State University of Management.

The average cost of educational programs at the State University of Management is 315-320 thousand rubles. The most expensive program is "Ecology and Nature Management", the cost of which reaches 350 thousand rubles.

During this year's admissions campaign, in addition to the in-person work of the admissions committee, digital means of communication were actively used: video calls, simple telephony, online support for applicants, communication in the official channels of the State University of Management. The staff responded to questions from applicants in the shortest possible time and provided the necessary information to make the admissions process as comfortable as possible.

Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 08.08.2025

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Iranian, Egyptian FMs Call on Muslim States to Take Effective Action to Stop Genocide in Gaza

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –

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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News

TEHRAN, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdel Atti called on Muslim countries in a phone conversation on Thursday to take effective action to stop the genocide in the Gaza Strip and ensure immediate delivery of humanitarian aid there.

The Iranian foreign ministers exchanged views on the grave humanitarian crisis in the enclave and Israel's aggressive plans to intensify its offensive and completely occupy Gaza, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

After nearly two years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Gaza Strip is suffering from famine and siege. At least 61,258 people have been killed and 152,045 injured since October 2023, according to the enclave's health authorities. Ceasefire talks have stalled, and Israel has approved a plan to take control of Gaza City.

During their second telephone conversation this week, the ministers also reviewed the situation in Lebanon. They stressed the need to maintain an atmosphere of trust and internal harmony between the various political parties in the Arab state and to refrain from actions that could cause tensions in the country.

Foreign ministers said Israel needed to withdraw completely from occupied southern Lebanon and stop Israeli attacks. –0–

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Escalation of Israeli offensive in Gaza 'wrong' – Cr Starmer

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –

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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News

LONDON, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday urged Israel to reconsider its misguided escalation of its offensive in the Gaza Strip, warning of more bloodshed and worsening prospects for peace.

In a statement released by 10 Downing Street, the politician said the Israeli government's decision to further escalate the offensive in Gaza "will do nothing to end this conflict or secure the release of the hostages."

According to K. Starmer, the long-term plan is to ensure peace in the region within the framework of the “two states for two peoples” plan and ultimately achieve “a brighter future for Palestinians and Israelis”.

He warned that without good faith participation of both sides in the negotiations, the prospect of realizing the “two states for two peoples” plan disappears, leading to a path of destruction.

Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to take control of Gaza City, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Friday. -0-

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Germany halts military exports to Israel over Gaza concerns

Translation. Region: Russian Federal

Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –

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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News

BERLIN, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on Friday that Germany will suspend all exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip.

The decision came after the Israeli cabinet approved military operations aimed at occupying the Gaza Strip. Merz called on the Israeli government to “refrain from further steps to annex the West Bank.”

F. Merz also expressed deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, stressing that in the context of the ongoing offensive, Israel bears a greater responsibility than ever to meet the needs of the civilian population of the enclave. He called on Israel to ensure full access to the humanitarian sector, including from the UN and other non-governmental organizations.

“Following the positive steps taken in recent days, Israel must continue to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza in a comprehensive and sustainable manner,” the German Chancellor said. –0–

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