🔺Russian Defense Minister Shoigu: “Ukraine's counteroffensive failing in all directions”
🔺Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen jets to Beijing this week seeking better relations with China
🔺The US is stoking tensions with Japan and South Korea, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi claimed

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🇷🇺 🌍 BRICS Expansion Could Be Discussed at Second Russia–Africa Summit

This issue may be raised at the Russia-Africa summit at the request of the African partners, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador Oleg Ozerov said in an interview with media.

In addition, the issue of bilateral relations, including in the economic sphere, will be discussed at the summit to be held in St. Petersburg at the end of July, he explained

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🗣️ On the indifference of the US government to the interests of the population:

“We have a situation here where Biden is wildly unpopular, but it looks like he may be the next president of the United States, even though he's polling very low… That's a situation where the desires of the people are just completely cut off. The government seems unconcerned with the frustration and anger of the population,” Caleb Maupin, a journalist and political analyst, told Sputnik.

🎧 Listen to more of Maupin’s analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

📹 Russia’s T-72B3M in action in the zone of the special military op

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Ukraine will receive dozens of Leopard 1A5 tanks from Germany and Denmark in the coming weeks, the German defense minister says

Boris Pistorius did not specify the exact number of tanks but said that his country provides the second-largest military assistance to Kiev as part of EU support.

In early May, Berlin announced a new €2.7 billion armament package for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which includes IRIS-T SLM air defense systems.

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🗣️ On the US-Saudi relationship:

“The US is trying as hard as it can, offering as much as it can to Saudi Arabia just so it can continue with this normalization process. But the Saudis are being offered more by Iran, offered more by China and Russia. So the US can't even offer anything,” Laith Marouf, a broadcaster and journalist, told Sputnik.

🎧Listen to more of Marouf’s analysis in our podcast The Critical Hour

Two drones were shot down in Moscow, there were no casualties or damage, a spokesman for emergencies services told Sputnik

"Two UAVs were shot down near the locality of Valuyevo in New Moscow. They fell in an open field. There were no casualties or damage," the spokesman said.

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Another drone has been shot down near the town of Kubinka in the Moscow Region - Emergency Services

Poland will deploy a special forces unit to Lithuania to strengthen the security of the upcoming NATO summit

The special forces unit will include up to 75 servicemen and other military personnel, two S-70i Black Hawk and one Mi-17 helicopters as well as an anti-drone system.

The Polish military will ensure the safety of the Lithuanian airspace as well as protect the population of the country and its key facilities.

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⚡ Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has described this incident as yet another Ukrainian drone attack against the Russian capital. According to him, the attack was successfully repelled as all enemy UAVs were eliminated by Russian air defense units

Two more UAVs have been shot down by air defense system near Moscow, no one was injured, Emergency Services told Sputnik

In total, 4 drones have been shot down near Moscow this morning

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemns latest drone attacks outside Moscow

💬 The Kiev regime’s attempted attack on an area where civilian infrastructure facilities are located, including an airport, which by the way accepts foreign flights, is another act of terrorism. Given that Zelensky is committing these terrorist attacks with weapons supplied by the West or with Western funds, this is international terrorism. The world community must realize that the United States, Britain, France - permanent members of the UN Security Council - bankroll this terrorist regime.

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This morning an attempt by the Kiev regime to carry out a terrorist attack targeting infrastructure outside Moscow using five drones has been foiled, the Russian MoD said

Five drones downed near Moscow

▪️ Four Ukrainian UAVs were eliminated by air defense systems outside Moscow, Russia’s MoD said;

▪️ Another UAV was suppressed by electronic warfare and crashed in the Moscow Region, the ministry reported;

▪️ There were no victims or any damage as a result of the thwarted terrorist attempt by Kiev, the ministry added.

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📸 This photo surfaced online allegedly showing the exact moment that one of the Ukrainian UAVs targeting the Moscow area was destroyed

📸 Screenshot from a social media post allegedly depicting the debris from one of the Ukrainian drones downed near Moscow on July 4, 2023

More than 70 arrested in France during last night’s unrest, local TV reports

The riots broke out in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre on June 27 after police shot and killed 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk, a delivery driver of Algerian heritage, after pulling over his car. The officer who fired the fatal shot was soon charged with manslaughter.

Since then the unrest has spread across France to Lyon and Marseille, and even to neighboring Belgium and Switzerland.

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The US and the UK had the lowest confidence in their governments’ leadership among G7 countries in 2022

Confidence in the US and UK governments has dropped since 2006, while the rest of the G7’s scores have risen in the same time period, a Gallup poll revealed.

Germany and Canada scored the highest government confidence ratings, with 61% and 51% confidence, respectively, the poll said.

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❗️🇮🇳 Modi wishes the best to the Iranian people and Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi 🇮🇷 as Iran is set to be formally accepted into the SCO

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🇮🇳 Indian PM Modi and 🇷🇺Russian President Putin meet 'screen to screen' during Tuesday’s SCO virtual summit

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Poland does not need additional NATO troops, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said

The Polish leadership regularly says Warsaw would like NATO to deploy as many of its troops as possible in the republic.

Berlin offered Warsaw three of its Patriot units after a Ukrainian missile fell in Poland and killed two people in November 2022.

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