The governments of the United States and Japan have announced a series of measures aimed at strengthening their military ties amid growing aggression from China, The New York Times reports.
Lloyd J. Austin III, US Secretary of Defense, Anthony J. Blinken, US Secretary of State, Yoko Kamikawa, Japanese Foreign Minister, and Minoru Kihara, Japanese Defense Minister, held a press conference in Tokyo to express concern over China’s rapid military build-up.
The new measures include the creation of a joint force headquarters subordinate to the U.S. commander in the Indo-Pacific, as well as increased joint production of air-to-air missiles and air defense interceptors. Anthony Blinken noted that the new headquarters will allow for closer cooperation to ensure greater peace and stability.
These changes are a response to China’s aggressive actions in East Asia, particularly in the East China and South China Seas. In addition, they emphasized the importance of the mutual defense clause in the US-Japan treaty in the face of growing security threats.
U.S. and Japanese officials reaffirmed their strong opposition to China’s attempts to change the status quo through force or coercion. During the 2+2 meeting in Tokyo, they discussed further steps to strengthen the alliance, especially in light of the upcoming changes in the US leadership following President Biden’s announcement of his re-election bid.
Mr. Blinken and Mr. Austin also discussed the deployment of U.S. troops in the region, which remains a key deterrent against possible conflicts with China or North Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Biden previously announced increased military cooperation, including Japan’s purchase of 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Further cooperation includes the production of Patriot interceptor missiles, which are being supplied to Ukraine to protect it from Russian attacks. After their visit to Tokyo, Blinken and Austin plan to visit the Philippines to participate in another 2+2 dialog.
Thus, the United States and Japan are taking significant steps to strengthen their military alliance to ensure peace and stability in the region amid growing tensions with China.
On July 23, 2024, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Ukraine Ayman Elgammal held a diplomatic reception on the occasion of the 72nd anniversary of the Revolution of July 23, 1952.
On July 23, Egypt celebrates a public holiday – the Day of the Revolution of 1952, which resulted in the overthrow of the feudal monarchical regime of King Farouk and the establishment of a republic.
In 1953, Egypt was proclaimed a republic. Since 1971, the official name of the country is the Arab Republic of Egypt.
The solemn event on the occasion of the holiday was attended by honored guests: heads of diplomatic missions of foreign countries accredited in Ukraine, representatives of the leadership of state authorities, including Special Representative of Ukraine for the Middle East and Africa Maksym Subkh, Islamic religious figures, members of the Egyptian diaspora, educators and cultural figures.
At the beginning of his speech, Ambassador of Egypt to Ukraine Ayman Elgammal congratulated all those present on an important date in the history of the Arab Republic of Egypt, highlighted the main stages of Egypt’s formation as a sovereign country and economic achievements over the past 10 years – during the revolution that took place on June 30, 2013 and the establishment of the third Egyptian Republic in 2014.
In his speech, Mr. Ambassador emphasized that our countries have established close friendly relations in political, economic, commercial and investment spheres.
“The trade balance between Egypt and Ukraine before the coronavirus pandemic and the current war was $2.1 billion, and in 2023 it amounted to about $1.3 billion. Egypt is still the main trading partner for Ukraine in Africa and the Middle East and the seventh trading partner in the world, and the beginning of this year shows progress in returning the trade balance to pre-war levels,” the diplomat said.
He also emphasized that Egypt and Ukraine have a long history of cooperation in the space sector, and the first Egyptian satellite was designed and built in Ukraine with the participation of Egyptian experts.
In his speech, the Head of the Diplomatic Mission elaborated on the recent history of Egypt after the 1952 revolution, when his country witnessed the wars of 1956, 1967 and 1973, where more than 30% of the country, namely the Sinai Peninsula, was occupied for 6 years and, like Ukraine, underwent severe trials.
However, Egypt managed to liberate all of its lands not only through military force, but mainly through diplomacy, applying to the International Court of Justice to return the last disputed territory, the Egyptian city of Taba, even 16 years after the end of hostilities in 1973.
Drawing on this page of history, the Ambassador emphasized his country’s unwavering position in support of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, as these principles have defined Egypt’s position on all conflicts, including Ukraine, since 2014.
“In addition, Egypt believes that no conflict can be resolved by military means alone, as diplomacy plays a primary role in resolving any conflict, so we participated in the Arab Ministerial Liaison Committee on the Ukrainian Crisis, which was established by the Arab League and at the initiative of African presidents after the outbreak of full-scale armed aggression against Ukraine. During the OAS Summit27 , President Al-Sisi called on world leaders to work toward a peaceful resolution of the war in Ukraine. In addition, Egypt supports all efforts of the parties to resolve the conflict peacefully,” the diplomat said.
On behalf of the Ukrainian government, the Special Representative of Ukraine for the Middle East and Africa, Ukrainian diplomat and historian Maksym Subkh expressed congratulations on the occasion.
26 laboratories of the well-known medical chain Eskulab have suspended their work due to an internal conflict between the company’s co-owners. According to Serhiy Dyadyushko, one of the brand’s co-owners, his colleagues Denys Melnyk and Stanislav Luhovskyi, along with software administrator Igor Malinovsky, are committing illegal actions to gain full control over the company.
“Melnyk and Luhovskyi have repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction with the official cash accounting. Their actions are aimed at gaining control over Eskulab in order to gain full access to its financial flows, to further direct them into their own hands, outside the official accounting and without paying taxes,” says Sergiy Dyadyushko.
He also claims that other co-owners offered to spend a significant portion of the cash outside the cash register and distribute it without paying taxes.
“They offered to spend the lion’s share of the funds received outside the cash accounting and distribute them without paying taxes among the company’s members. I categorically disagreed with such proposals and repeatedly informed them of my rejection of illegal actions. In this regard, Melnyk and Luhovskyi launched a raider attack to exclude me from the company’s shareholders by depriving me of my share,” said Diadiushko.
According to Dyadyushko, the raider attack included the systematic convening of general meetings of participants in violation of the established procedure, which led to the artificial creation of preconditions for his exclusion from the company. Melnyk and Luhovskyi also involved employees of the Lviv Directorate of Ukrposhta to ensure that he did not receive notices of the meeting.
“I have appealed to law enforcement agencies and am preparing documents to go to court. Despite constant psychological pressure and threats, I was forced to agree to resign as director and sign a new version of the charter to prevent my exclusion from the company,” he said.
This situation led to a temporary paralyzation of 26 laboratories of the Eskulab network in Kyiv, which negatively affected the provision of medical services to the population.
“As of today, having gained control over Eskulab, as a result of consistent raider actions, Melnyk and Luhovskyi, as well as Malinowski, who administers the software (computer program) of the company on the basis of which the latter conducts its business activities, have blocked me as a participant and medical director of Eskulab access to the said program and jointly withdraw cash from the company without paying taxes monthly in the amount of about UAH 20,000,000 Such actions of these persons lead to the actual non-receipt of biological products by the state budget. Because of this, 26 biomaterial collection points in Kyiv are actually unable to carry out their activities,” emphasizes the co-owner of the company.
Sergiy Dyadyushko considers these actions to be nothing more than a raider attack aimed at depriving him of his share in Eskulab.
“They demanded that I either resign as a director or they would exclude me from the company’s shareholders. The case has now been referred to law enforcement agencies. We are also preparing documents to go to court to restore my legal rights,” Dyadyushko said.
Established in 2009, Eskulab is a leading medical laboratory in western Ukraine that provides a wide range of laboratory services to the public with four laboratories and more than 150 biological sampling points.
In 2023, Eskulab paid UAH 33.8 million in taxes, including UAH 14.97 million in unified social tax, UAH 1.33 million in military duty, and UAH 14.034 million in personal income tax. It is one of the ten largest taxpayers in Lviv region.
The co-founders of PE “PSML ‘Eskulab’ are Dyadyushko, who owns 43% of the company, Luhovskyi (43%) and Melnyk (14%). The co-founders of Eskulab Center LLC are Dyadyushko, Luhovskyi and Melnyk, who each own 20% of the company, and Ruslana Soltani, who owns 40%.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to pay a historic visit to Ukraine in a few weeks, according to Sidhant Sibal, chief diplomatic correspondent for the Indian publishing house WION, citing his own sources in New Delhi. This visit, which is currently being prepared, is tentatively scheduled for the third week of August, probably on the 23rd.
Earlier this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally invited the Indian leader to visit the country during a phone conversation. Since then, the two countries have been holding active high-level talks. Indian Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar and his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba discussed bilateral relations. National security advisors from both countries, Ajit Doval from India and Andriy Yermak from Ukraine, also held talks.
In June, Prime Minister Modi met with President Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Italy. Discussing the current situation in Ukraine, the Indian leader emphasized the need for dialogue and diplomacy, stressing that India is ready to support a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
This visit will be the first personal contact between the two leaders since the beginning of the war, outside the format of the G7 summits. Prime Minister Modi may travel to Ukraine via Poland, and is likely to hold talks with the Polish leadership before traveling to Kyiv.
Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Ukraine comes almost two months after he traveled to Russia for the annual Russian summit, during which the war in Ukraine was also discussed. During his talks with Putin, Prime Minister Modi expressed regret over the deaths of innocent people and children at the Okhmatdyt hospital.
The State Regulatory Service (SRS) has declared the order of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MES) banning full-time contractual postgraduate studies illegal. This is stated in the regulator’s letter No. 2886/20-24 of July 19, 2024, published on the Kommersant website.
The special order of Minister Oksen Lisovyi deprived full-time graduate students of the right to study on a contract basis. In response to this appeal from the NGO Youth Human Rights Agency, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal instructed the regulator to consider it. Representatives of the Association of Student Governments and the Union of Rectors of Higher Education Institutions also appealed to the SRS.
They emphasized that the actions of the Ministry’s leadership violated the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, which could lead to an outflow of academics and dismissal of employees of higher education institutions.
According to the applicants, such actions of the Ministry of Education and Science will cause an outflow of young scientists to foreign universities, significant losses of extra-budgetary funding for Ukrainian universities and, as a result, the forced dismissal of some research and teaching staff and deterioration of the prospects for the development of domestic science.
The SRS noted that the orders of the Ministry of Education and Science contradict international treaties ratified by Ukraine, violate the right to education, the principle of non-discrimination and proportionality of restrictions in a state of emergency.
The state regulator has concluded that the provisions of the MES orders violate international treaties and agreements ratified by Ukraine regarding restrictions on the right to education, do not ensure equality and non-discrimination, and do not comply with the principles of proportionality and justification of restrictions under martial law. The Ministry of Justice should review and cancel these orders in the near future.
The furniture industry is constantly evolving, offering new solutions for creating stylish and functional interiors. One of these innovative solutions is the GOLA profile system for handleless facades, which is becoming increasingly popular among designers and consumers. Let’s take a look at the main features and advantages of using GOLA profiles, as well as their impact on the appearance and functionality of furniture.
GOLA profiles are a system that allows you to completely eliminate the use of traditional handles on furniture facades. Thanks to special grooves built into the furniture body, it is possible to open doors and drawers by gripping the facade with your hand. This solution provides a sleek and minimalist look for furniture that meets modern trends in interior design.
Advantages of GOLA profiles
Aesthetic appearance: One of the main advantages of GOLA profiles is their ability to create a clean and elegant look for furniture. The absence of visible fittings allows you to focus on the lines and shapes of the furniture itself, which gives the interior a modern and stylish look.
Functionality: GOLA profiles make furniture more convenient to use. Thanks to special grooves, opening and closing doors becomes easy and convenient. This is especially important for kitchen furniture, where quick and convenient access to the contents of cabinets and drawers is of great importance.
Easy to maintain: The absence of protruding elements, such as handles, simplifies the maintenance of furniture. Dust and dirt do not accumulate on the fittings, and smooth surfaces are easy to clean, which is an important aspect of maintaining cleanliness and hygiene in the house.
More space: The use of GOLA profiles allows for more efficient use of space in the room. The absence of handles provides more freedom when arranging furniture and reduces the risk of accidental bumps or snags, which is especially important in small spaces.
GOLA profiles can be used in various types of furniture, but they are especially popular in kitchen sets. Thanks to them, even the simplest kitchen facades acquire a modern look. In addition to kitchens, the GOLA system is also perfect for bathrooms, dressing rooms and living rooms, where aesthetics and functionality are also of great importance.
The GOLA profile system is an innovative solution that combines modern design and high functionality. The absence of handles not only improves the appearance of the furniture, but also makes it easier to use and maintain. GOLA profiles transform furniture, adding style and elegance to it, making it the perfect choice for modern interiors.
