🇨🇳 The yuan bounces back from a 16-year low after the People's Bank of China steps in

The currency fell to a rate of 7.26 to the US dollar last week, but peaked at around 7.35 on Friday before settling at just over 7.32 on Monday. Unnamed currency traders in China said lenders were selling dollars.

Singapore-based foreign exchange strategist Christopher Wong said intervention by the People's Bank of China "underscores policymakers' resolve to keep the yuan depreciation pressure in check." But "it remains early to tell if this is really a turnaround due to the effects of economic support measures," Wong said.

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🇷🇺🛫 Two Tu-22M3 long-range bombers performed a scheduled flight over international waters in the Baltic Sea lasting five hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said

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💬 "If there was a war, Russia would certainly activate ships and other aircraft and what have you in international waters and perhaps off the coast of the United States to deal with that. They're just assuming that what they've got over there right now is going to be sufficient for this exercise" Michael Maloof, a former Pentagon senior security policy analyst, commented on NATO preparing its biggest live joint command exercise since the Cold War.

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🇷🇺 How big is Russia's grain market?

Russia's agricultural dominance, fueled by cutting-edge techniques and expansive fertile lands, positions it as a powerhouse in global grain trade. Boasting record harvests and strategic exports, it has become the cornerstone of the world's food supply.

👉 Sputnik unravels how Russia's grain export industry has transformed the nation's economic landscape and explains this industry's key trends

🇷🇺 Russian tankmaker wants to restart production of legendary ‘flying tank’

Russian machine-building company Uralvagonzavod is mulling reinitiating the manufacturing of the T-80, turbine engine-equipped main battle tank which singlehandedly gave birth to the third generation of tank construction.

First introduced into service with the Soviet Army in 1976, the T-80 was the first third-generation MBT in the world, and the first tank model using a powerful multi-fuel gas turbine engine as its main source of propulsion, providing the 42.5-46 ton machine with pep which can prove critical in tank-on-tank encounters.

👉 Follow the link to learn more

🇺🇸 New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has invoked an emergency health order to suspend for 30 days the right to open and concealed carry of firearms across Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, an American broadcaster reported on Monday.

Grisham's decision to enact the suspension comes in response to a recent surge in deadly shootings, including the incidents involving a 13-year-old girl in July, a five-year-old girl in August and an 11-year-old boy this month - all occurring in the Albuquerque area, the news agency stated.

The emergency order will take effect on September 8, the agency added.

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❗️ Biden administration close to approving delivery of long-range missiles with cluster bombs to Kiev, media report

❗️ US State Department approves possible $4 billion sale of integrated air defense and combat command system to Poland - Pentagon

NATO's Steadfast Defender drills near Russia signal bloc's shift to 'war footing'

All thirty-one NATO countries plus Sweden are reportedly gearing up to conduct the bloc's biggest military drills since the Cold War in early 2024. Sputnik reached out to Michael Maloof, a former security policy analyst with the Office of the Secretary of Defense, to get a sense of the risks posed by the exercises.

Read his full analysis

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❗️ A Ukrainian drone has attacked the town of Rylsk in Kursk Region for the second time this evening, the roof of the administrative building has been damaged, there were no casualties, Governor Roman Starovoit has said.

Earlier, a Ukrainian drone dropped explosives in Rylsk, damaging facades and breaking several windows in two buildings. There were no casualties.

🔺North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will visit Russia in the coming days at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin
🔺It’s never enough: Blinken announces $1 billion more for Ukraine, including depleted uranium
🔺US seeks to divide Indo-Pacific, using new alliances as 'proxies against China'

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

📹 A group of activists climbed into House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's office to demand an extension of an AIDS and HIV assistance program that may not be renewed next year.

The protesters who staged a sit-in picket on the floor of the speaker's office were led out of the room in handcuffs by police and face charges of disorderly conduct.

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❗️ According to local authorities, vehicle traffic on the Crimean Bridge is temporarily blocked

🇺🇸 Trump in a new court filing is arguing for disqualifying the judge presiding over his January 6 federal case. The former US president claims Judge Tanya Chukan should recuse herself as her past comments “unavoidably taint” court proceedings.

"Judge Chutkan has, in connection with other cases, suggested that President Trump should be prosecuted and imprisoned. Such statements, made before this case began and without due process, are inherently disqualifying," the filing reads.

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American researcher Mark Dickey, who fell seriously ill 1,000 meters below the entrance of a Turkish cave, has been successfully rescued after more than a week. The Speleological Federation of Turkiye reported that teams from Europe came to his aid.

Dickey, an experienced caver, became ill on September 2 while on an expedition to map the cave, which is the third deepest in Turkiye. As he was too weak to climb out on his own, rescuers used a stretcher and made stops at temporary camps along the way.

Dickey was safely brought out of the cave at 12:37 a.m. local time on Tuesday.

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❗️ The movement of vehicles on the Crimean bridge has been restored, local authorities report