😊🥤The Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Fire Department Ocean Rescue team accepted a big donation Friday.

Keegan and Brody, also known as The Cookie Monster, and his family set up a lemonade and cookie stand last weekend to raise money for the team.

They raised $400, and the department held a special ceremony to thank them for their donation. "We just thought it would be kind to do it for our fireman because we’ve had some bad issues in the water lately. So, we thought we could do it and help them," Keegan and Brody said.

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📌 On this day 80 years ago, the Battle of Stalingrad began. It turned out to be one of the largest and fiercest battles, which radically changed the course of the Great Patriotic War and World War II.

▪️ In the summer of 1942, Hitler launched a major offensive into southern Russia, seeking to destroy what was left of the Soviet Army and ultimately capture the Caucasus oilfields. The initial advance went well, and the German Sixth Army under General Friedrich von Paulus was ordered to capture the city. However, Stalin demanded that it be defended at all costs. Every available soldier and civilian was mobilized.

The Luftwaffe heavily bombed Stalingrad, and its ruins became the scene of bitter street fighting for months. By October most of the city was in German hands, but the Soviet troops clung onto the banks of the Volga, across which they ferried vital reserves.

Meanwhile, Soviet General Georgy Zhukov built up fresh forces on either side of the city, and in November launched a massive assault to surround and trap von Paulus’s army. Forbidden to break out by Hitler, the Sixth Army endured until February 1943, when its exhausted remnants surrendered.

The Germans lost a total of 500,000 men during the Stalingrad campaign, including 91,000 taken prisoner.

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😬 US President Joe Biden did not tell Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud that he believed the Crown Prince was responsible for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir told Fox News.

🗯 "I didn't hear that particular phrase," Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News' Alex Hogan after Biden departed Saudi Arabia.

▪️ The details of al-Jubeir's interview with Hogan were first revealed by White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich via social media late on Saturday night.

🗯 "The President mentioned that the US is committed to human rights because since the founding fathers wrote the constitution and he also made the point that American presidents - this is part of the agenda of every American president," Adel al-Jubeir told Fox News.

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🤔 The man who shot dead former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Tetsuya Yamagami, sent a letter to a critic of the religious group the Unification Church of Sun Myung Moon, signaling his intentions, Japanese media reported on Sunday, citing the recipient.

▪️ According to Kyodo news and Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, the letter was addressed to a man, who ran a blog criticizing the Unification Church, which, as the shooter believes, Abe was linked to. The unnamed recipient reportedly found the letter on Wednesday, five days after the deadly attack on the former prime minister.

▪️ The postmark on the envelope suggests that it was sent on July 7, one day before the incident, from Okayama Prefecture, where Abe had a campaign speech that day. Yamagami reportedly plotted to attack Abe there, but abandoned this plan as it was necessary to register for the event and enter his personal information.

🗯 "I realize that this is deplorable, but Abe is not the original enemy. He is only one of the most influential sympathizers of the Unification Church", the printed letter said, as quoted by the media.

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📸 BBC photographer Mark Harrison has claimed he has an “embarrassing” picture of Prince Andrew that would make the monarchy feel awkward if the photo ever became public.

▪️ Speaking to the Daily Mail, the award-winning portrait photographer, who worked for the BBC during Prince Andrew's so-called “car-crash” Newsnight interview in 2019, declined to reveal what he captured, but argued the image would “embarrass Prince Andrew and the Royal Family” if the photo was released.


🗯 “It has been seen by only a few people but it would be a big deal for the Royal Family. There is a lot more from that day that is not yet in the public domain,” Harrison told the Daily Mail.

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"People’s lives are at risk”: UK cabinet office minister urges Brits to take precautions during the "absolutely unprecedented” record-breaking heat that is about to hit the country.

Speaking after an emergency COBRA Committee meeting on Saturday, Kit Malthouse cautioned that “services are going to be significantly affected” and if people don’t have to travel, "this may be a moment to work from home.”

The minister also urged citizens to look out for “particularly vulnerable groups" referring to older people and babies.

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❗️📹 Russia's MoD released footage showing the destruction of the US installation of HIMARS in the DPR

🤔 When describing his Middle East trip goals in a Washington Post op-ed, US President Joe Biden said he was embarking on a journey to conduct diplomacy and work in order to normalize relations between Israel and the Arab world, particularly by making sure that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process continues.

❓ However, many critics begged to differ, mainly because of the background behind his first presidential trip to the Middle East. Biden's trip came amid severe economic hardships at home, which a handful of other Western countries are facing as well. With energy prices soaring, one of the main objectives of the US president was to persuade Saudi Arabia to boost oil production in the hopes of curbing prices.

▪️ It brought little results, as Riyadh made it clear it could only boost production from 10 to 13 million barrels per day and no more. On top of that, it created an impression among some observers that Biden, in fact, only came to Middle East because he was compelled to sort out US economic grievances, rather than to promote peace and prosperity.

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🌎 Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair says that Western political and economic dominance is coming to an end and there will be a new, bi-polar or multi-polar world order with China playing a major role.

🗯 "In 2022, we can reasonably say the following. For a large part of the Western population, living standards are stagnating, millions are struggling with basic necessities, and inflation is set to cause real wages to fall. If we take Britain, we will soon be taxed more than at any time since the 1940s, spending more than ever and yet our public services are creaking at the joints," Blair said during his annual Ditchley lecture on Saturday, as quoted by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.

▪️ He said the coronavirus pandemic has had a negative effect on the situation in Western countries, as well as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

💭 "Western politics is in turmoil – more partisan, ugly, unproductive; and fuelled by social media," Blair said, arguing that "...the biggest geopolitical change of this century will come from China not Russia. We are coming to the end of Western political and economic dominance. The world is going to be at least bi-polar and possibly multi-polar."

▪️ According to the former prime minister, China is already the world’s second superpower and the West needs to develop a new approach to deal with Beijing, as well as to bolster its own development.

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🇮🇷 🇺🇸"Deception and hypocrisy": Iran accused the US of attempting to destabilize the Middle East shortly after President Joe Biden ended his tour.

▪️ The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Nasser Kanani stressed that Washington “has once again resorted to the failed policy of Iran-phobia, trying to create tensions and crises in the region.”

▪️ The spokesman slammed Biden for signing a security communique with Israel, calling the move a "great sign of the deception and hypocrisy" of the US leaders, because "they turn a blind eye to the Zionist (Israeli) regime as […] the greatest holder of the arsenal of nuclear weapons in the region."

▪️ As Biden called for more diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, Kanani emphasized that the allegations that Iran is trying to obtain an atomic bomb are false and "in line with Washington's seditious policy […] in the region”.

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❗️📹 "Failing of humanity": UK journalist in Donbas speaks of the children that were killed with NATO-supplied weapons.

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Exodus: Two more top officials have left VP Kamala Harris’ team, adding their names to a growing list of departures from the White House.

Domestic Policy Adviser Rohini Kosoglu announced she would step down in August, while Director of Speechwriting Meghan Groob reportedly plans to leave after working for just four months in the position.

❓While Kosoglu said that she resigned to spend more time with her family, many people question if the exodus from the administration has something to do with Harris' plummeting ratings and shaky position amid top Democrats

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❗️📹 "They’ve bombed everything here": German journalist Alina Lipp asked a resident of Severodonetsk about the tactics of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

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🗣 "So many things thrown his way": Jill Biden laments her husband's hindered progress in the White House due to "unforeseen crises".

Addressing Joe Biden's misfortunes, the First Lady of the United States said: "[The president] had so many hopes and plans for things he wanted to do, but every time you turned around, he had to address the problems of the moment." She also complained about how her husband had "so many things thrown his way".

👀 But netizens weren't apparently touched by FLOTUS' words, with many noticing that "Any president of any country is supposed to be ready for any crisis," while others suggested, "They just wanted the power minus any responsibility".

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❌ Woke dance school in the UK removes ballet from the audition list as "it is based on the principles elaborated by white Europeans."

According to the Telegraph, the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, part of London's Conservatoire for Dance & Drama, has made the decision to review the "elitist" art form as part of a diversity drive to become a progressive institution.

🗣 "It is a very specific form that is built around particular white European ideas and body shapes that are often alienating to young people who do not fit that aesthetic ideal," head of undergraduate studies at the conservatoire, Francesca McCarthy, was quoted as saying by the Telegraph.

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✝️ Pope Francis has said an upcoming visit to Canada would be a “pilgrimage of penance” that he hopes will help to heal wounds left in Indigenous communities by Roman Catholic priests and nuns who ran abusive residential schools that sought to assimilate children forcibly.

“Unfortunately, in Canada, many Christians, including some members of religious orders, contributed to the policies of cultural assimilation that in the past gravely damaged native populations in various ways,” Francis said at his weekly address to people in St Peter’s Square on Sunday.

During the July 24 to July 30 trip, Francis is set to make a promise to apologize to victims on their home territory for the church’s role in the state-sanctioned schools, which aimed to erase Indigenous cultures, ripping about 150,000 First Nations.

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The crazy scene out of Vegas last night as reports of an active shooter sent people into chaos at multiple casinos on the Las Vegas strip.

Las Vegas Police Department "Reports of a shooting near MGM tonight are unfounded. Initial reports are a glass door shattered causing a loud noise which startled people in the valet area”.

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💕😍Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are reportedly married after they obtained a marriage license in Las Vegas, multiple sources confirm to Media Reports.

Lopez and Affleck, who announced their engagement in April, obtained the license in Clark County, Nevada, over the weekend.

The famous pair previously dated between 2002 and 2004 after meeting on the set of the 2003 romantic comedy “Gigli.” They rekindled their romance in April 2021 following the “Let’s Get Loud” singer’s breakup with baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez.

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📽🍿Disney will soon lose the copyright to the original Mickey Mouse. Mickey Mouse first appeared in 1928 in the animated short film "Steamboat Willie" — the first animation film to use synchronized sound.

In the US, the copyright for original works of authorship lasts until the author's death plus 70 years. But for works created anonymously, pseudo-anonymously, or by an employee as part of their job, it lasts 95 years. Works published before 1978, like Mickey Mouse, only have copyright of 95 years from the date of publication.

While the first version of Mickey Mouse is nearing the end of its 95-year copyright protection, the mouse has had a few transformations since 1928, and subsequent versions of Mickey Mouse will still be protected until their 95 years run out.

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⚡️❤️The Marvel sequel “Thor: Love & Thunder” dropped a hefty 68% in its second weekend of release but still held the top spot at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. At the same time, the bestseller adaptation “Where the Crawdads Sing” debuted with a better-than-expected $17 million.

Taika Waititi’s “Love and Thunder” led all films with an estimated $46 million, bringing its two-week global total to $498 million. The sizable decline is more than most Marvel films but in line with recent releases from the Walt Disney Co. superhero studio, including “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (68%), “Black Widow” (68%), and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (67%).

“Love and Thunder” also faced a trio of newcomers, though none came close to toppling Chris Hemsworth’s god of thunder.

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🔲One person is dead, and another is hurt after a shooting involving off-duty police officers at the Wharf Southwest in Washington D.C. Saturday night, according to authorities.

Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee says two off-duty MPD officers were "enjoying the evening" in the 800 block of Wharf Street Saturday night when they noticed a person pull out a gun and begin pointing it. Chief Contee says the man was standing near a restaurant at the Wharf's pier.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. The gunfire also grazed another person nearby, causing them to be taken to the hospital for treatment. Chief Contee described the person as a "witness" who may have been with the person holding the gun.

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