💭 Sputnik special correspondent Denis Bolotsky has shared his thoughts on what he saw inside the Samarkand SCO summit venue and while taking a tour of the city’s landmarks

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Vice President Kamala Harris evaded reporters for a second day in a row when a journalist asked her about Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who delivered 101 migrants to her official residence on Thursday.

Harris’ silence came days after she insisted in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press that “the border is secure” – a claim the White House backed up hours after the migrants arrived at her front door

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🔎West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed a controversial bill into law that bans abortions in the state with few exceptions. The governor signed the bill Friday morning, a spokesperson told WCHS. Justice announced during his coronavirus news conference that he had signed the bill.

State lawmakers approved the bill Tuesday. The move by the state House and Senate set off a firestorm of protests that led to some being physically removed from the state's Capitol building

Under the legislation, rape and incest victims could obtain abortions at up to eight weeks of pregnancy, but only if they report to law enforcement first. Victims who are minors would have until 14 weeks to terminate a pregnancy and must report it to either law enforcement or a physician. Abortions also would be allowed in cases of medical emergencies.

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📲Do Kwon, the creator of the cryptocurrencies Luna and TerraUSD, has become one of the most hated men in South Korea after a Seoul court issued an arrest warrant for him this week over his alleged role in the collapse of the global cryptocurrency market earlier this year.

The sudden collapse of the cryptocurrencies in May triggered losses in the billions of dollars among investors, both large and small. It led South Korean authorities to issue an arrest warrant Wednesday for Kwon. As the co-founder and CEO of the Terraform Labs cryptocurrency ecosystem, Kwon stands accused of stock exchange violations and fraud.

The digital sector is still reverberating from the devastating financial losses and the company’s spectacular demise that have turned the 30-year-old crypto entrepreneur into arguably the most hated man in South Korea.

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🇿🇦🇺🇸🇷🇺 A draft bill in the US Congress that would impose new anti-Russia sanctions related to Moscow's activity in Africa risks punishing the entire continent, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said in Congress during a visit to Washington.

"If the Countering Malign Russia Activities [in Africa] bill were to become a US law, the law could have the unintended consequence of punishing the African continent for efforts to advance development and growth," Ramaphosa said on Friday.

South Africa's president further noted that it is disappointing that US lawmakers crafted the anti-Russia legislation at a time when President Joe Biden is seeking to engage African countries on the basis of respect for their independence and sovereignty.

The United States and Russia are strategic partners for South Africa, a sovereign country that pursues an independent foreign policy, Ramaphosa said.

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🏛US President Joe Biden has met with the families of basketball star Brittney Griner and former marine Paul Whelan amid ongoing efforts in Washington to secure two American citizens’ release from detention in Russia.

Biden sat down in the Oval Office on Friday with Cherelle Griner, the wife of Griner, and Elizabeth Whelan, the ex-marine’s sister. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said earlier this week that Biden hoped the face-to-face talks would show the families “that they remain front of mind” for the United States administration.

“While I would love to say that the purpose of this meeting is to inform the families that the Russians have accepted our offer and we are bringing their loved home, that is not what we’re seeing in these negotiations at this time,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.

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🔹A former teacher at a Christian high school in Florida was arrested for inappropriate behavior with a student for a second time this summer — this time stemming from accusations she twerked on a male student at prom.

Julie Hoover, who used to teach at Point of Grace Christian School in Perry, was cuffed last week on charges of an authority figure soliciting or engaging in lewd conduct with a student and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to police records obtained by WCTV.

The initial sexting incident was brought to the attention of police on June 2 when the student’s mother discovered the sexually charged messages between her son and Hoover from a period stretching between March and April. Hoover is no longer a teacher at Point of Grace Christian School, a school official said.

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💠After winking at QAnon for years, Donald Trump is overtly embracing the baseless conspiracy theory, even as the number of frightening real-world events linked to it grows.

On Tuesday, using his Truth Social platform, the Republican former president reposted an image of himself wearing a Q lapel pin overlaid with the words “The Storm is Coming.” In QAnon lore, the “storm” refers to Trump’s final victory, when supposedly he will regain power and his opponents will be tried and executed on live television.

As Trump contemplates another run for the presidency and has become increasingly assertive in the Republican primary process during the midterm elections, his actions show that far from distancing himself from the political fringe, he is welcoming it. He’s published dozens of recent Q-related posts, in contrast to 2020, when he claimed that while he didn’t know much about QAnon, he couldn’t disprove its conspiracy theory.

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⚡️Sri Lanka planning to restore flights with Russia by mid-October, Transport Minister says

Follow our LIVE UPDATES on the Ukrainian crisis

In the wake of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sending migrants by plane to the Massachusetts resort island of Martha's Vineyard, the local tourism board has declared a “humanitarian crisis", with residents locking their doors at night and offering solutions to the present dire state of affairs.

A local told the New York Post that one of the residents suggested the $12Mln estate of former president Barack Obama should have been used as a processing center for migrants

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📹 Russian servicemen seized an M-113 armored personnel carrier made by the US after Ukrainian forces abandoned it while fleeing the area

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⚡️UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is planning to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov next week to discuss the issues regarding the "grain deal", the export of Russian food and fertilizers to world markets

📹 The Russian gunner-operator of a tank spotted a gathering of Ukrainian troops during the battle for the settlement and consequently 100 Ukrainian servicemen were obliterated

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📹 Mortar, tank, and personnel positions of the Ukrainian forces were destroyed after a Russian quadrocopter dropped grenades on them

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The “absolute loser”, according to Donald Trump, is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell as he "is giving the Democrats everything they want".

On his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump blasts McConnell for meekly going along with the Democrats over their continuing resolution which allows the government to remain open and funded in accordance with previous budget conditions.

Trump also seemed to accuse McConnell of supporting Senator Joe Manchin's proposal to speed up the approval process for energy and infrastructure projects. The permit reform he promoted should be included in a permanent resolution to keep the government funded

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⚡️⚡️Kiev resumed shelling of the Zaporozhye NPP area, Russian Ministry of Defense says

Russia’s MoD briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪Kiev made an unsuccessful attempt at an offensive in the Kherson region, more than 120 Ukrainian military personnel were destroyed by Russian forces;

▪4 depots of Ukrainian missile and artillery weapons were destroyed in the Kharkov region;

▪25 HIMARS and Olkha multiple launch rocket system missiles were intercepted in the Kherson region;

▪More than 230 Ukrainian servicemen, 10 tanks, and 23 armored fighting vehicles were destroyed in the DPR;

▪More than 50 neo-Nazis were killed in high-precision strikes on points of temporary deployment of the Kraken unit in the Kharkov region

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💈"I’ll bring my hair gel. You bring your hairspray" - California Governor Gavin Newsom challenges Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to a debate. The reason for such a call was a Friday press conference in Daytona Beach, Florida, when DeSantis said that Newsom's "hair gel is interfering with his brain function."

Earlier, the Governor of California sent a letter to the Department of Justice, calling for DeSantis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott to be prosecuted

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✨ Good News Digest: Reviewing the positive news of the past week

▪️How large is the area of oceanic forests of Australia’s Great Southern Reef and the Great African Marine Forest off the coast of southern Africa? Find out what scientists have discovered;

▪️A monkey in the Indian state of Jharkhand has started attending daily classes alongside students;

▪️What new technologies are scientists using in their search for extraterrestrial intelligence?

▪️Researchers at Saratov State University have developed a hydrogel based on whey protein that can be used for soft tissue reconstruction;

▪️"This Is the House That ZNera Space Built": Read about the new concept proposed by an experimental architectural firm of a "self-sustained city within a city" in Dubai, built at a height of 550 meters

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This video is currently trending in Uzbekistan. Russian President Vladimir Putin stopped to thank the organizers of the SCO summit in Samarkand.