🇺🇸💰Ukraine has received a new grant from the United States worth $1.25 billion to reimburse state budget expenses, including wages for state employees and social benefits, the Ukrainian Finance Ministry said on Monday.

The grant was provided as part of the fifth additional financing under the World Bank's Public Expenditures for Administrative Capacity Endurance in Ukraine (PEACE in Ukraine) project, which seeks to partially cover state budget expenditures, including for social and humanitarian purposes.

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🇬🇧🌍 The United Kingdom must step up its cooperation with African countries, including in security, UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said on Monday, as Moscow wrapped up its country-to-continent summit, which was considered as a success both in Russia and Africa.

The minister stated that he would seriously consider any request from the region's leaders to "work on capacity building and training with the British armed forces." He added that the UK's military could "export" its professionalism and respect for international law to the continent.

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📊 A majority of likely voters in the United States believe US President Joe Biden engaged in an illegal coverup of his involvement in the business dealings of his son, Hunter Biden, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday.

A majority of respondents, 60%, believe Biden was very or somewhat likely engaged in an illegal coverup and 34% of respondents said it is not very or not at all likely that Biden hid his involvement in his son’s business deals, the poll report said.

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Since February 2022, thousands of foreign mercenaries joined Ukrainian troops in the conflict. However, while the media has focused on US and NATO support, little attention has been given to foreign militants who die on the battlefield.

Around 20,000 foreign militants signed up, with over 3,000 being US citizens. The actual number of casualties among these militants is downplayed by Ukrainian and Western authorities.

So what are the real numbers?

Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis said on Monday that the unbalanced relations between the United States and China, complete with Beijing enjoying a preferential trade status, should end.

The Florida governor also noted that the United States has developed a dangerous dependence on Chinese supply chains.

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🇺🇸 US media revealed that a US government contractor secretly and illegally used NSO Group's spyware as part of a written agreement with the FBI, which now claims it was lied to in order to secure the since-canceled contract.

The spyware, called Landmark, has the ability to transmit a phone's GPS location, and was deployed in Mexico.

The FBI has maintained they were misled by the contractor, who did not disclose it was an NSO product.

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A Russian diplomat explained that one of the reasons the regime increasingly relies on targeting civilians such as in Crimea is because Crimea is now thriving and Kiev loses sleep over such developments.

The Kiev regime uses the methods practiced by the Daesh* or the Chechen terrorists by targeting civilians, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyanskiy said on Monday.

*Daesh (also known as ISIS/ISIL/IS) is a terrorist organisation outlawed in Russia and many other states

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The Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed on Friday that infection by the amoeba Naegleria fowleri was the cause of death for a resident of the Peach State whose name, age, and gender were withheld.

They are the third person to die in the US this year from a rare infection caused by a protozoan known colloquially as a “brain-eating amoeba.”

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British military intelligence has cited the long-range LMUR missiles used by Russia’s Ka-52M attack helicopters as a major factor challenging the counteroffensive operations of Ukraine’s NATO-equipped armies.

What exactly is the LMUR? What are its capabilities? Who makes them? And what did UK intelligence get wrong about them?

Sputnik explains

Rosatom CEO Talks Rooppur Nuclear Plant with Bangladeshi PM

During the dialogue, Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom shined a spotlight on the cooperation with Bangladeshi counterparts, nearing a pivotal stage, namely, importing nuclear fuel to the plant's site. This milestone will turn the under-construction plant into a nuclear facility, granting Bangladesh membership among those countries utilizing peaceful nuclear technology.

Rosatom highlighted Russia's efforts in international trade and economic relations, focusing on cooperation with friendly nations.

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Russia to send some 100 mobile rapid response medical laboratories to African countries

Moscow-based Polymed Prof presented at the Second Russia-Africa Summit a solution for dispensary and mobile medical care, which it is expected to share with a number of African countries in the next few months.

"At the summit, it was agreed to sign letters of intent with a number of African countries. Accordingly, the company plans to deliver about 100 mobile dispensaries to Africa in the next few months," the press service of the Moscow Innovation Cluster said.

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Israel and the United States have launched joint naval drills code-named Intrinsic Defender to practice locating and monitoring objects at sea as well as ship boarding procedures, the Israel Defense Forces said on Monday.

The drills are taking place in the port city of Haifa in Israel's north, the US 5th Fleet reported.

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❗️ Several drones attempting to fly into Moscow were shot down by air defense, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, adding that one drone flew into a skyscraper and damaged the facade

Former friend and business associate of Hunter Biden, Devon Archer, confirmed to lawmakers that then-US vice President Joe Biden was involved in his son’s foreign business deals via phone calls and dinners, the House Oversight Committee said on Monday.

Then-Vice President Joe Biden joined Hunter Biden’s dinners with foreign business associates in person or by speakerphone more than 20 times, the statement said.

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❗️ An attempt by the Kiev regime to launch a terrorist drone attack on facilities in Moscow and the Moscow region has been foiled, the Russian Defense Ministry has said.

Two Ukrainian drones were destroyed by air defense systems in the Moscow region. One drone was suppressed by electronic warfare and, after having lost control, crashed in the territory of the Moscow-City business center, the ministry added.

The US Army has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) an almost $34 million contract extension to provide technical support for Abrams Main Battle Tanks including those provided to Ukraine, the Department of Defense announced in a release.

Work on the technical support program will be performed in Sterling Heights in the US state of Michigan over the next 17 months with an estimated completion date of December 31, 2024, the release said.

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Any military intervention against Niger would mean a declaration of war on Burkina Faso and Mali, the Burkina Faso and Mali transitional governments said in a joint statement.

The release further indicated that such a move could also mark the pair of interim governments to pull back from the Economic Community of West African States.

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🇺🇸 The US Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC) has warned about the potential leprosy endemic in southeastern US states after registering a new case in central Florida.

Travel to Florida should be considered when conducting leprosy contact tracing in any state, it added.

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🇫🇮 Finnish astronomers have found a brand-new Northern Lights spectacle called the aurora borealis. Finland's Ursa Astronomical Association stated that star watchers identified a distinctive red crescent shape in the sky accompanying the luminous Northern Lights.

At first, admirers assumed it was the usual-renowned phenomenon - the stable auroral red (SAR) arc - they’ve known for over 50 years. However, further aurora research indicated that this red-colored curve and the greenish-white patterns illustrated by stargazers were generated by a solar wind, that is, a stream of solar particles.

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🇬🇧 The British government has given the green light to new oil and gas projects in the North Sea amid the energy crisis fuelled by sanctions on Russia.

A Downing Street statement pledged that more than 100 new drilling licences would be granted by the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) to "boost British energy independence" and "reduce reliance on hostile states."

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The new "X" sign installed on the roof of the former Twitter headquarters in San Francisco, California, was removed early Monday, just three days after it was initially installed.

The sudden redesign was pulled down after the company reportedly received some two dozen complaints from the area residents who said the bright new signage was flashing at night.

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