❗️ Russia's MoD says that 81% of Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine are beaten, 55% are forced to be filmed for propaganda videos, and 46% are denied medical care. In turn, 79% of prisoners are denied phone calls, while 19% are being fed poorly.

❗️ RT military correspondent Andrey Filatov was wounded in the Avdeevka region, DPR, TV channel reported

⚡️US negotiator Malley heading to Vienna to resume Iran nuclear talks

❗️ Azerbaijan claims to have captured several positions in Nagorno Karabakh

❗️ Russian Defense Ministry reports Azerbaijan ceasefire violation in Nagorno-Karabakh

🎥 Long-awaited recovery: the final patient from the May 24 Uvalde shooting, ten-year-old Mayah Zamora, has been discharged from hospital.

The little girl spent more than two months in a San Antonio hospital in Texas after being shot and injured in three of her limbs.

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🇺🇸🦠 Joe Biden tested positive again for the novel coronavirus and continues to experience less frequent, occasional cough with all other indicators being normal, presidential physician Kevin O’Connor said on Wednesday.

⚖️ Paul Pelosi, husband of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has pled not guilty to two charges related to his involvement in a drunk driving accident in May, Fox News reported.

He is scheduled to return to court on August 23 for a hearing in the case, according to the report.

✈️China sent 27 aircraft to Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the island's Defense Ministry said on Wednesday, hours after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taipei following a high-stakes visit that spiked tensions in the Taiwan Strait.

This incursion came after 21 Chinese military aircraft flew into the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defense zone on Monday night.

In response to Chinese aggression, Taiwan sent an air patrol to monitor the situation and deployed anti-aircraft missile systems.

Pelosi's trip to Taiwan ended today as she departed from the self-ruled island after a short and gripping trip that upped the ante in the Taiwan Strait.

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🚨🚨A South Carolina agent was injured after a shooting trap incident early Wednesday morning. According to Sheriff Leon Lott with the Richland County Sheriff's Department, a 911 dispatch received two calls from a man saying a woman was being assaulted and needed help around 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday. Lott noted that when three deputies arrived, the woman said she didn't call the police and was not being assaulted.

As deputies left the scene, they were ambushed by the man who made the 911 call. Gunfire rang out and struck one of the deputies' cars. According to Lott, deputies could not immediately determine where the gunfire was coming from.

Following a search of the area, a man identified as Frederic Westfall, 25, was found in the neighborhood driveway suffering from a gunshot wound. Westfall was pronounced dead at the scene.

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⛽️A chain of record-breaking profit reports from the world's largest oil companies has raised eyebrows, given that consumers worldwide are grappling with a worsening energy crisis. The global energy crisis and high inflation are causing pain and uncertainty for consumers, which means historically good business for the world's biggest oil companies.

On Tuesday, BP became the latest oil major to report a massive increase in profit for the second quarter of this year. The company reported its highest quarterly profit in 14 years.

US energy giants ExxonMobil and Chevron also recently announced record quarterly profits. Exxon pocketed $17.9 billion in the quarter, smashing its previous record by $2 billion. Chevron's second-quarter profit was $11.6 billion, also a record.

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🎥 🎞 The Academy of Motion Pictures and Arts, known for the Oscars, has for the first time elected an Asian-American woman as its president.

Producer Janet Yang has been elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the organization's board of governors announced Tuesday. Yang is the first Asian-American to lead the group that awards the film industry's prestigious Oscar awards. The New York City-born daughter of Chinese immigrants has long been a significant figure in Hollywood's Asian American community. She co-chairs the academy's Asian Affinity Group.

She has served on the academy's board of governors since 2019 as one of three governors-at-large who was added following the #OscarsSoWhite movement to help boost diversity and inclusion.

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😢Indiana Republican Representative Jackie Walorski was killed in a car crash on Wednesday. The 58-year-old was just two weeks away from celebrating her 59th birthday when she and three others died in a car crash at around 12:39 p.m.

According to the Elkhart County Sheriff's Office, a vehicle was traveling northbound when it crossed the opposite lane, colliding head-on with a southbound SUV in which Walorski, Zachery Potts, 27, and Emma Thomson, 28, were killed.

The former Indiana state lawmaker was a member of the Republican party and represented Indiana's 21st district from 2005 to 2010, and began representing Indiana's 2nd congressional district from 2012 until the time of her death.

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🔻Security cameras at a Des Moines, Iowa, gas station show what police say is Jonathan Cruz just moments before he stole a car, which was left running with a 16-month-old baby inside. The theft occurred on July 24 at a gas station off Pacific Highway South. The car was found an hour later, not far away.

“That hour must have been the longest hour of that mother's life,” said Casey McNerthney, the director of communications with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. “It sounds like an absolute nightmare.”

Police were able to track down and arrest Cruz this Monday in Des Moines. He’s in jail, and at his first court appearance on Tuesday, prosecutors asked for his bail to be $300,000. The bail was later approved.

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⏳Democrats displayed a newfound optimism about the election-year political climate Wednesday after voters in traditionally conservative Kansas overwhelmingly backed a measure protecting abortion rights.

Republicans and the high court “don’t have a clue about the power of American women,” Biden said. “Last night in Kansas, they found out.” On Capitol Hill, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., boasted of the political winds “blowing at Democrats.”

At the White House, President Joe Biden hailed the vote in Kansas as the direct result of outrage at the Supreme Court’s decision to repeal a woman’s constitutional right to obtain an abortion in June.

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😧 A McDonald’s employee was left battling for his life after he was shot in the neck by a customer during an argument over cold french fries in New York.

▪️ Matthew Webb, 23, was working at the fast-food joint on Fulton Street on Monday evening when a woman, in her 40s, said the fries served to her were cold.

▪️ The customer was reportedly on a video call with her 20-year-old son during the altercation. The son subsequently reached the McDonald's outlet and started arguing with the employee.

▪️ The dispute escalated and soon turned into an altercation outside the eatery, after which the customer's son shot Mr. Webb in the neck with a 9mm handgun, police said.

▪️ The employee was rushed to the Brookdale hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

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⚡️ US plans to contain China with the help of Taiwan will fail and will not prevent the inevitable return of the island to its homeland - head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry