🗣️ On Poland becoming another proxy for the US:

“Now the US positioning Poland as the next proxy in line for Washington to use to wage a proxy war against Russia with. We hear about this massive military buildup that Poland is undertaking. They're doing this at the expense of resources that could be better invested in Poland for the Polish people,” Brian Berletic, ex-US Marine, independent geopolitical researcher, and writer based in Bangkok, told Sputnik.

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

The UK is reviving the production of its Starstreak missiles to ramp up deliveries of the "wonder weapon" to Ukraine. But have Starstreaks proven effective so far?

👉 Find out here

🔺The US plans to station Marines on commercial ships in the Persian Gulf: Is Biden risking war with Iran?
🔺Niger's Gen. Tchiani has signed a decree to form a new transitional government 
🔺The US escalates its trade war with China banning American investments in certain technologies

The Critical Hour will cover these and more stories! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

📻 Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

🗣️ On the slowing down of Europe’s economy:

“What it really represents is that Europe is slowing down its economy, particularly Germany here. And a lot of that has to do with global forces that were set in motion by the US driving Russia out of the Western European economy, providing cheaper energy. And now they're paying more: they - Germany and Europe - pay more for US goods, particularly energy. And that's taking its toll. It's slowing the economy down,” Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor of economics and politics at St. Mary's College in California, told Sputnik.

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

🛰 The Luna-25 interplanetary station will soon be launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, folks.

Don't miss the broadcast of the launch on our Telegram channel, or on the Sputnik website!

🇩🇪German support for Kiev in the ongoing proxy conflict with Russia could easily escalate into a wider European war, and needs to stop immediately, Bundestag lawmaker Steffen Kotre has said.

“Arms deliveries are a mistake. This is not our conflict. We should stay away from all this, and of course begin to promote peace initiatives,” Kotre, a member of the Alternative fur Deutschland party, told independent German media in an interview.

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The spacecraft is preparing to start, the launch will be soon!

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❗️LIVE NOW: Russia's Luna-25 Station Launches From Vostochny Cosmodrome

Join the live stream here or follow this link to Sputnik’s website

Prepare for takeoff, we're minutes away from blasting off!

The takeoff of the spacecraft has begun!

We have liftoff!

📹 Takeoff footage of the Luna-25 spacecraft

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🛰 Russia's Luna-25 automatic landing module to make soft landing at moon's south pole on August 21, the head of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos, Yury Borisov, said

🇵🇰 The Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has called for an independent investigation into the role played by the US in last year's vote of no-confidence that led to Khan's removal.

The call comes a day after independent US media published a leaked cable confirming Khan's repeated accusations that the US engineered his ouster from power in 2022 to be true.

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🇷🇺 The next three Luna stations will be launched in 2027, 2028 and 2030, Roscosmos chief Yury Borisov has revealed

🚀 Luna 25 is on its way to the moon!

The automatic station was put on a flight path to the moon and separated from the upper stage.

The launch of the automatic station into a circumlunar circular orbit is scheduled for August 16, with a touchdown on the lunar surface expected on August 21.

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📉 The rate of US inflation increased in July for the first time in more than a year, despite the Federal Reserve’s steady march into the highest interest rates in decades. However, some economists are pointing to other data in the new economic report that they say is more promising.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Thursday, the aggregate cost of consumer goods rose by 3.2% in July 2023 as compared to July 2022. With June’s 3% increase a month prior, it was the first time in 13 months that inflation tacked upward.

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⚛️ Fact Box on Rooppur, Bangladesh's 1st Nuclear Power Plant

🇷🇺 🇧🇩 Russia is helping Bangladesh to build its first-ever nuclear power plant, paving way for Dhaka's entry to the nuclear club of countries that exploit energy of the peaceful atom.

Rooppur nuclear power plant is being built 160 km from the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, in accordance with a Russian project design.

🗓 The construction started back in 2021, and the NPP is expected to be put into operation in 2024.

🟧 Learn more about the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Sputnik's infographic!

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🇺🇸 US Congressman Matt Rosendale in a statement questioned the Biden administration’s request for billions of dollars in new assistance for Ukraine amid a lack of accurate accounting for funds already provided to Kiev.

"We still don’t have an accurate accounting of the $113 billion we have already sent to Ukraine. With the disaster that is taking place on our southern border, why are we even considering this?" Rosendale said on Thursday, in response to the funding request.

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