😬 UK newspaper The Guardian gained access to an audio recording of Liz Truss' statements made five years ago, when she was chief secretary to the Treasury.

🔉 In an audio recording leaked to The Guardian, Liz Truss, now the Tory leadership frontrunner, said that those living outside the British capital were less likely to be hard workers and she suggested paying attention to China.

👂 "If you look at productivity, it's very, very different in London from the rest of the country,” she said. "Essentially, it's partly a mindset and attitude thing, I think. It's working culture, basically. If you go to China it's quite different, I can assure you."

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❗️ Russian MoD’s latest statements on the Ukraine crisis:

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces hit an ammunition depot of the 95th Airborne Assault Brigade in the DPR using high-precision weapons. It resulted in the destruction of over 3,000 122mm artillery shells, mines, and over 30 nationalists.

▪️ High-precision strikes by the Russian Aerospace Forces against AFU manpower and military equipment concentration sites in the Kherson region destroyed over 40 nationalists and 10 special military vehicles.

▪️ Operational-tactical and army aviation, missile troops, and artillery strikes continue to strike military facilities in Ukraine.

▪️ Russian air defense units destroyed 4 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the Kharkov region, Kherson, and the DPR.

▪️ Some 267 Ukrainian airplanes, 148 helicopters, 1,747 unmanned aerial vehicles, 365 anti-aircraft missile systems, 4,334 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 799 multiple launch rocket systems, 3,310 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 4,922 special military vehicles have been destroyed during the operation.

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💎 The United States, the European Union and Canada have called for labeling Russian diamonds "bloody" over the conflict in Ukraine, the New York Times reported, citing US officials.

♦ The Western countries have taken steps against Russian precious stones because "proceeds from that [diamond] production are benefiting the same state that is conducting a premeditated, unprovoked, and unjustified war," a US State Department official, George Cajati, said in a letter to the Kimberley Process organization, as cited by the New York Times.

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😬 The head of the UK’s RAF recruiting team has resigned amid concerns the service paused recruitment of white males in favor of ethnic minorities and women in order to tackle diversity-related issues, according to Sky News.

▪️ The news outlet cited unnamed defense sources as saying that the RAF head - the senior female office whose name was not revealed – quit a few days ago in protest against “an effective pause” on recruiting white men.

▪️ The sources claimed that such a pause could undermine the RAF’s combat strength, berating the service for trying to hit "impossible" diversity targets.

▪️ Last year, UK Air Chief Marshal Mike Wigston called for “profound” change in the hiring of personnel as he committed the Royal Air Force (RAF) to doubling recruitment of women to 40% by 2030 and 20% from ethnic minorities.

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🇺🇳 🇹🇷 Turkey is proposing to reform the United Nations since the organization is ineffective in addressing ongoing humanitarian crises, creating deadlocks rather than solutions to the global problems, the head of communications in the Turkish presidential office, Fahrettin Altun, said on Wednesday.

🗣 "Today, in the face of every situation in which the UN creates a deadlock rather than a solution, the legitimacy and necessity of our President's [Recep Tayyip Erdogan] demand for a UN reform become increasingly clear," Altun was quoted as saying by the Turkish Communications Directorate.

▪️ Altun added that Turkey proposed restructuring the UN Security Council, so that it adopted the perspective that "the world is bigger than five [permanent Council members]."

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⚡️ Israel, Turkey restore full diplomatic ties, Tel Aviv says

📹 ‘No one came for me’: Ukrainian POW recalls how he was shot by his own and abandoned in a ditch

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💰 Democrats have spent approximately $3.8 trillion on their top agenda items since Joe Biden began his presidential term.

🗣 "Democrats, even in this tough situation — polarized 50-50 — can actually get things done," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after Democrats passed their Inflation Reduction Act this month. "They're going to see Democrats are actually getting things done that matter to them, mainstream things that matter to folks."

🗣 "No matter what they call their legislation, Democrats in Washington are addicted to spending your money," Chad Gilmartin, a spokesman for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy commented on the spending. "When Democrats said their multitrillion spending bill would ‘rescue’ the economy — it did the opposite by fueling historic inflation and imperiling every family’s budget.”

🗣 "Now Democrats say their latest spending bill, which also raises taxes during a recession, will ‘reduce’ the impact of their failures," Gilmartin said. "It’s clear Americans want a new direction to get our nation back on track."

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😕 Footage showing the demolition of a Soviet T-34 tank in the Estonian city of Narva.

▪️ It was dismantled in three hours and taken to the military museum in Viimsi, ERR writes.

▪️ Earlier, Estonian authorities announced that they had decided to get rid of all Soviet monuments in order, according to the country's prime minister, to prevent "inciting hatred in society."

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📹 ‘We see you running and we will shoot’: Ukrainian POW recalls how nationalist battalions opened fire on their own troops to hold back the retreat

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The 5th generation Sukhoi Su-57 stealth fighter jet was brought to the ARMY forum outside Moscow for the first time, presenting great opportunities for a photo op. Dr. Connie Rahakundini Bakrie – a military and defense analyst from Indonesia was among foreign guests who had a chance to go into the cockpit of the Russian plane.

📌 WATCH LIVE | Russian cosmonauts conduct spacewalk outside ISS

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👏 China highly appreciates the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan was a "carefully planned provocation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.

🗯 "China highly appreciates the position expressed by Russian President Vladimir Putin," the diplomat said when asked to comment on the statements of the Russian leader.

▪️ Wang added that since Pelosi visited Taiwan, more than 170 countries have reaffirmed their commitment to the One China principle and supported Beijing's efforts to protect its state sovereignty and territorial integrity.

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😮 In Munich, a 19-year-old security guard of Arab origin showed the Nazi salute to Israeli athletes marching to a monument to their compatriots killed by Palestinian terrorists during the 1972 Munich Olympics.

🙅‍♂️ The gesture is banned in Germany and the guard may face up to three years in prison.

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