⚡️ 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.

🔻 The US House Ways and Means Committee is legally able to receive information from Donald Trump’s tax returns as part of the congressional panel's probe into the former president’s finances.

The Ways and Means Committee requested information for several years of Trump’s personal and business tax returns in order to better understand the Presidential Audit Program run by the Internal Revenue Service. Trump unsuccessfully challenged the release of the returns by the Treasury Department, arguing that it violates the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the constitutional principle of separation of powers.

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❗️📹 "They shoot at everything and everyone": A resident of Severodonetsk reveals how her little son was wounded by Ukrainian neo-Nazi shelling.

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Joe Biden vs his clothes: POTUS failed to put his jacket on until his wife Jill helped him. After the jacket issue was solved, there came another one: he dropped his glasses.

👀 What would happen if he tried putting on his jacket while going up the stairs?

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❗️Twitter users around the world report problem with the platform - Downdetector