🖥 A group of US defense experts and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) conducted a simulation of a hypothetical Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The experts believe that Taiwan will be able to repel the invasion, but China will sink most of the United States and Japan’s surface fleets.

🗯 "The results are showing that under most — though not all — scenarios, Taiwan can repel an invasion," CSIS Senior Adviser Mark Cancian said, as quoted in the report.

▪️ The experts conducted 22 rounds of simulation and in 18 of them, Chinese missiles were able to sink a significant part of the US and Japanese surface ships and destroyed hundreds of aircraft, according to Cancian.

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♨️ The UK is braced for drought conditions to last until October, with rivers forecast to be low and exceptionally low in central and southern England, according to the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

▪️ This could have dire consequences for farming, as soil in much of the country is too dry to till, and many crops set to be harvested next year and the end of this year need to be planted by the end of October to be viable.

▪️ South-east England has had 144 days with little or no rain since January, which is the longest dry spell since the 1970s, according to Met Office figures.

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❗️SHOCKING

📹 "We must not take prisoners. We must kill them."

▪️ With these words, the famous Ukrainian presenter, Yanina Sokolova, called for the death of all Russians in a broadcast on NTA, a television channel.

▪️ According to her, all Russians "have a collective illness" and the only remedy is "annihilation".

▪️ After the 2014 coup d'état, there have been numerous calls by the new political and social elites in Ukraine to assassinate and exterminate Russians; the ethnic Russian diaspora in Ukraine numbers in the millions.

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"Game-changing for ordinary folks": US President Joe Biden touted that the Inflation Reduction Act will have a big impact on US families.

“When you sit down at that kitchen table at the end of the month, you’re going to be able to pay a whole hell of a lot more bills because you’re paying less in medical bills.”

While the US president apparently tried to praise the bill, the phrasing he used had an unintended effect on the public.

"What we're doing today, what we passed yesterday, helping to take care of everything from health care to God knows what else," Biden said earlier on Monday.

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🗣 US Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has called for Joe Biden to be impeached after the FBI search at Trump's Florida residence.

▪️ The politician wrote about this on social networks.

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⚡️ The United States will not allow China to isolate Taiwan, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told NBC News.

🗣 "China will not be allowed to isolate Taiwan," Pelosi said during an interview regarding her controversial trip to the self-governed island on August 2-3 as part of her Indo-Pacific trip.

▪️ The situation around Taiwan escalated following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent visit to Taipei. China considers Taiwan part of its territory and opposes any direct official foreign contacts with the island.

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⚖️ The UK government is being sued by at least six Afghan translators who collaborated with the British army during their deployment in Afghanistan and were allegedly left behind during last year’s evacuation from the country, according to Sky News.

▪️ The broadcaster cited one of the translators as saying that he'd lodged a legal challenge after his relocation application under the ARAP (Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy) scheme was rejected.

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⚡️ Serena Williams announces retirement from tennis

🗣 "I have never liked the word retirement. It doesn’t feel like a modern word to me. I’ve been thinking of this as a transition, but I want to be sensitive about how I use that word, which means something very specific and important to a community of people. Maybe the best word to describe what I’m up to is evolution. I’m here to tell you that I’m evolving away from tennis, toward other things that are important to me", Williams told Vogue.

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⚡️⚡️ Several rounds of ammunition detonate at Crimea airfield, Russian Defense Ministry says

⚡️ Report indicates no fire impact at bunded ammunition storage area at Saki airfield in Crimea, where explosion happened - Russian Defense Ministry

🇷🇺 The Russian Foreign Ministry's Twitter account in English has been blocked since August 5, Maria Zakharova, the ministry's spokeswoman said

🗣 "On the night of August 5, the administration of the Twitter platform blocked the official account of the Foreign Ministry in English for 7 days. The reason is the publication of statements from the briefing of Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the head of the radiation, chemical and biological defense of the Russian Armed Forces, about military biological activities of the United States," Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel.

❗️ Five injured, including one child, were taken to hospital after explosions in Crimea - Ministry of Health.

❗️🇺🇸🇨🇳 Joe Biden signs bill bolstering US semiconductor industry, science amid competition with China

❗️📹 "People burnt to death on their beds": A Ukrainian prisoner of war speaks about the shelling of the pre-trial detention center in Yelenovka, saying it was carried out by Kiev.

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🇺🇸🗣 US House Republicans have demanded an immediate briefing by FBI Director Christopher A. Wray concerning the raid on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, calling the action “unprecedented” in the history of the country.

In a letter to the FBI, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, Michael R. Turner, said that he was "unaware of any actual or alleged national security threat" posed by any information, data, or documents in the possession of Trump.

📍 International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples: Check out Sputnik's infographic to learn about the chronology of Africa's decolonization.