📹‘I have no intention of being a part of America, my life is in Russia’: Jeff Monson, an American-born MMA fighter who was granted Russian citizenship in 2018, says the only thing he misses in the US is his three kids.

Monson explains that he plans to open "more than 100 free sports schools" in Russia, drawing inspiration from the Soviet-era

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📹‘Western Ukraine f*cking profits from refugees like us’: A refugee from Donbass who came back to Ukraine from "very expensive Europe" is amazed by the extremely high cost of living in western Ukrainian cities. "1000 euros for rent in Lvov, Ivano-Frankovsk ... I’d rather pay this money to Europe rather than you," she says.

Moreover, if a refugee is registered in Donbass, it's impossible for them to rent something in western Ukraine, the girl says. "You're ‘United Ukraine,’ for f*ck's sake!" she exclaims.

💬“You’re not going to get COVID if you have these vaccinations,” Biden said on CNN last July.

The US president has been fully vaccinated and boosted twice with the Pfizer vaccine, but still has been infected

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⚡Scoop: Ukrainian grain issue appears resolved, agreement to be signed Friday, UN source says

📹‘I think I belong here’: Francois Modeme (François Mauld d'Aymée), a French volunteer fighting for the DPR, talks about his service.

Modeme is a graduate of France's Saint-Cyr Military Academy (Charles de Gaulle also graduated from it)

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⚡A document on the "grain issue" will be signed on Friday in Istanbul at 13.30 GMT, with UN Secretary-General Guterres to take part in the ceremony, Erdogan's administration says

👉What drugs is Biden on? COVID-19 remedy Paxlovid explained

📹WATCH LIVE | White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre holds briefing as Biden tests positive for COVID

A video update from Joe Biden on his condition after testing positive for COVID-19: the president says he's "getting a lot of work done" and emphasizes that he's "double vaccinated, double boosted."

📹4-year-old shoots at police officers

▪Sadaat Johnson from Utah was forcibly removed from his car by police when they responded to reports that a suspect had allegedly brandished a firearm at McDonald's employees due to an incorrect order

▪During the arrest, one of the man's children fired a single shot at police officers, but the cops escaped injury

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❗US "applauds" work of UN Secretary-General, Turkey on reaching Ukraine grain deal - State Dept.

🌎 Google’s prototype augmented reality glasses are going on a trip

The company is planning to test augmented reality (AR) prototypes in public beginning next month. Google has been exploring concepts like AR glasses that show translations in real time, but they want to take its ideas from the lab into the real world.

The tech giant claims its prototypes don’t support photography or videography, though any image data captured during its tests will be deleted unless the data is used for further analysis or debugging.

Google lists “translation, trannoscription and navigation” as the features in testing and previewed glasses at Google I/O earlier this year that can show language translated right in front of your eyes. But in announcing these tests well ahead of when they’ll actually take place in the real world and describing what they will involve, Google seems to be attempting to avoid a repeat of the “Glasshole” debacle that plagued the company’s infamous Google Glass headset.

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‼️ EU Publishes New List of Sanctions Against Russia

The European Union published new list of sanctions against Russian officials and organizations in the Official Journal of the EU.

The new list of sanctions includes Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, actors Sergei Bezrukov and Vladimir Mashkov, parliamentarian Adam Delimkhanov and Russian presidential envoy in the North Caucasus Federal District Yuri Chaika, among others.

Among the affected organizations are: Rossotrudnichestvo, Sberbank, Young Army and the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Fund.

The EU ban on the purchase of Russian gold and jewelry will take effect from July 22, the document says.

‼️ Italian President Signs Decree on Early Parliamentary Elections on September 25

Italian President Sergio Mattarella signed decrees to organize snap elections to the country's parliament on September 25 and the first meeting of its chambers on October 13, the presidential office said.

The president received the resigned Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese, who presented him with decrees that had previously been approved by the country's Council of Ministers.

After the vote, the number of parliamentarians in Italy will be reduced by a third: in September 2020, the Italians in a referendum advocated reducing the number of parliamentarians from almost 1,000 to 600.

Earlier Thursday, Mattarella signed a decree on the early dissolution of the national parliament as a result of the aggravated political crisis in the country. On Thursday morning, Draghi confirmed his resignation.

⚡️ Moscow Says New EU sanctions Illegitimate, EU Attempts to Put Pressure Have No Prospects

The EU sanctions are illegitimate, attempts to put pressure on Moscow have no prospects, and the European Union continues to drive itself into a dead end with enviable persistence, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"On July 21, the EU Council announced the expansion of illegitimate unilateral restrictive measures against Russia. Thus, the European Union continues to drive itself into a dead end with enviable persistence," Zakharova said in a statement.

Against the background of the obvious hopelessness and futility of the long-term policy of pressure on Russia, the disastrous consequences of the EU sanctions for various segments of the global economy and security, including the EU member states, are becoming more and more obvious, she said.

"The EU Council made another attempt to shed responsibility for provoking and exacerbating the global food and energy crises," Zakharova said.

"But the facts speak for themselves. Along with the COVID-19 pandemic, the short-sighted economic and energy policy of the West is the main reason for the rise in prices for agricultural products and hydrocarbons. The situation is aggravated by the anti-Russian measures of the EU, openly pursuing the goal of undermining the foreign economic activity of our country, including in the agricultural sector," she explained.

🇬🇧 Truss Favored by Over 60% of Tories in Upcoming Party Leadership Election - Poll

Over 60% of members of the UK's Conservative Party are prepared to vote for Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, while her opponent former Chancellor Rishi Sunak struggles to secure 40% of the votes, according to a YouGov poll published on Thursday.

The poll of Tory members suggests that Truss may receive 62% of votes and Sunak - 38%. The foreign secretary has a 24-point advantage. In a Tuesday poll, which was carried out before the final two candidates were determined, the figures suggested that Truss would beat Sunak in a hypothetical head-to-head by only 19 points. 

On Wednesday, the fifth round of voting by Conservative Party members took place in Parliament to elect the leader of the party, who will also become prime minister of the country. As a result, two candidates reached the final of the election race - Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak.

Voting will take place by mail from August 4 and the results on September 5.

🏥 Amazon makes $3.9 billion bet on primary care provider One Medical

The deal — one of its largest acquisitions ever — will give Amazon a physical network of health care offices and providers, as well as access to technology the start-up has built to enable virtual doctor visits. It adds to the company’s existing health care portfolio, which includes an online pharmacy and Amazon Care, a virtual urgent care service.

Primary care is often focused on helping patients make improvements to their lives, and Amazon could use the acquisition to point people to buy nutritional food at Whole Foods or get prenoscriptions from Amazon Pharmacy.

Health care is in need of reinvention, said Neil Lindsay, senior vice president of Amazon Health Services, in the release announcing the deal, and the combo will aim to improve the quality of service for customers. 

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👮‍♂️ Ex-cop Lane gets 2 1/2 years on Floyd killing federal charge

A federal judge sentenced former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane to 2 1/2 years in prison Thursday for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, calling Lane’s role in the restraint that killed Floyd “a very serious offense in which a life was lost.” However, the judge handed down a sentence well below what prosecutors and Floyd’s family sought.

Judge Paul Magnuson’s sentence was just slightly more than the 27 months that Lane’s attorney had requested, while prosecutors had asked for at least 5 1/4 years in prison — the low end of federal guidelines for the charge Lane was convicted on earlier this year. He said Lane, who faces sentencing in September on state charges in Floyd’s killing, will remain free on bond until he must turn himself in Oct. 4.

Two other officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, were also convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights and will be sentenced later.

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📚 Michelle Obama’s book ‘The Light We Carry’ coming this fall

The former first lady will have a book out this fall, “The Light We Carry,” in which she reflects upon her experiences and shares insights on navigating an increasingly stressful world.

The new book is his first entirely new work since the 2018 release of her acclaimed blockbuster “Becoming,” which has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide, surpassing the sales of any memoir by a previous first lady or modern president, including her husband, former President Barack Obama. Penguin Random House will publish the 336-page book Nov. 15 and has announced a first printing of 2.75 million copies for the US and Canada.

On Thursday, Penguin Random House announced an annual writing prize in her honor, the $10,000 Michelle Obama Award for Memoir, part of an awards program for public high school students the company launched in 1993.

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