Russia says US is making 'grave mistake' on nuclear, 'hammer and axe' aimed at Israel over shocking pager explosion

A series of Hezbollah pager explosions shook Lebanon, Russia commented on the US assessment of a nuclear war, German Chancellor met with heads of state of 5 Central Asian countries... were some of the outstanding international events of the day.

A series of pager explosions across Lebanon on September 17 raised the risk of escalating tensions in the Middle East. (Source: Soldier of Fortune.)

Europe

* Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov warned that Washington is making a serious mistake in assuming that a nuclear conflict would only affect Moscow and Europe because "America will not be able to hide across the ocean. A global nuclear disaster will affect everyone."

Criticizing the US Department of Defense's initiative to study the consequences of using nuclear weapons on farmers in Eastern Europe and Russia, Ambassador Antonov said that simulating such a global nuclear war that would only affect Europe and Russia is too short-sighted. (TASS)

* Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk will visit Pakistan on September 18-19. During the visit, Mr. Overchuk will meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. (THX)

* Crimea confiscated all assets of Ukrainian oligarchs, the head of the Crimean Legislative Assembly Vladimir Konstantinov said. He stressed that the newly elected Crimean legislature will continue to work on identifying the assets of Ukrainian oligarchs hostile to Russia. (RIA Novosti)

* France's national budget situation is "very serious", according to Prime Minister Michel Barnier. France is being placed under formal proceedings by the European Union (EU) for violating the bloc's budget laws. (AFP)

* Finnish President Alexander Stubb proposed sweeping reforms to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), including expanding its permanent membership to 10 countries, adding representatives from Latin America, Africa and Asia, removing the veto power and suspending the membership of countries that wage illegal wars. (Reuters)

* Russia commented on the explosion of a series of pagers in Lebanon , saying that the incident requires investigation and international attention. Experts must make the necessary assessment of the explosion. (TASS)

Asia-Pacific

* Russia and China have decided to hold annual joint Pacific patrol exercises following the success of the recent drills in Peter the Great Bay, Primorsky Krai in Russia's Far East. Next year, Russian coast guard forces will visit one of China's ports to conduct the exercises. (TASS)

* Five Central Asian countries have called on Germany to help boost ties with Europe and invest in energy and transport sectors to help create links with Europe without Russia. The call came during a meeting of the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Germany on September 17 in Astana, Kazakhstan. (Akorda)

* Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim will pay a state visit to China from September 19-22 at the invitation of President Xi Jinping. The visit coincides with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Kuala Lumpur-Beijing diplomatic relations. (Bernama)

* The Bali International Airshow 2024 opened on September 18 in Indonesia's Bali island and will last until September 21, and is an important aerospace and defense technology event in Southeast Asia.

The event is expected to bring together global aerospace leaders, major defense companies and industry experts, and showcase cutting-edge aviation technologies, military defense systems and sustainable aerospace solutions. (Sputnik)

* New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters will visit the United States and France next week to reaffirm his country's commitment to the international order and strengthen regional partnerships. Specifically, Mr. Peters will travel to New York to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly and visit French Polynesia. (beehive.govt.nz)

* New Zealand Trade Minister Nicola Grigg will attend the ASEAN Economic Ministers' Meetings in Vientiane, Laos this week. The trip is aimed at boosting trade ties between New Zealand and ASEAN - its third-largest trading partner. (beehive.govt.nz)

* The AUKUS alliance (including Australia, the UK and the US) announced that it is discussing with Canada, Japan and New Zealand about expanding cooperation in defense technology projects, also known as Pillar II of this alliance. (White House)

* Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles visited Vanuatu from 18-19 September. Australia and Vanuatu share a deep and enduring partnership, built on a shared vision for a prosperous, peaceful and resilient region. (Defence Minister)

Middle East-Africa

* Pager explosions across Lebanon on September 17 killed eight people and injured about 2,750. The pagers were used by the Lebanese Hezbollah movement. Iran's ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was also injured in one of the blasts.

Hezbollah and Hamas blamed Israel for the shocking incident, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an urgent meeting with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to assess the situation and develop response scenarios, although he has not commented on the accusation. (AFP)

* Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi on September 17 strongly condemned the pager explosions and blamed Israel for the incident. Mr. Araghchi also expressed solidarity with Lebanon and affirmed that the country is ready to support the treatment of the injured.

* The US urged Iran to avoid "taking advantage of any incident to try to further destabilize and further escalate tensions in the region" after a series of Hezbollah pager explosions in Lebanon injured Iran's ambassador to Beirut.

The US also said it had no prior knowledge of and was not involved in the explosions, and was gathering information about the incident. (AFP)

* Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty reaffirmed support for Lebanon's stability and called on the international community to urgently provide assistance to the people of this Middle Eastern country. (Ahram Online)

America

* Bolivian Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa denounced a new coup attempt against President Luis Arce and that the person behind the plot was former President Evo Morales, with the aim of becoming a candidate in the 2025 presidential election.

On the morning of September 17, Mr. Morales led an anti-government march from Caracollo in the southern province of Oruro to the western city of La Paz to demand respect for the Movement for Socialism (MAS) and solutions to the country's difficult economic situation. (Facebook)

* Mexican President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum declined Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's invitation to visit Ukraine , affirming that the North American country's foreign policy according to the Constitution does not allow this country to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and should support the resolution of disputes and conflicts by peaceful means. (TASS)

* Argentina's foreign minister insists there is no diplomatic crisis with Spain, despite tensions between the South American country's far-right President Javier Milei and the European nation's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Argentina and Spain continue to cooperate normally on important issues, according to Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino. (EFE)

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/tin-the-gioi-189-nga-noi-my-dang-sai-lam-nghiem-trong-lien-quan-nhat-nhan-bua-riu-chia-vao-israel-trong-vu-no-may-nhan-tin-rung-dong-286742.html