🎥 Grammy-winning singer butchers pre-All-Star game American anthem in drunken performance

Four-time Grammy nominee Ingrid Andress sang the national anthem so horribly that the singer was savaged by US netizens.

It was later revealed that the singer had been intoxicated during her performance, a fact she admitted to in a public post on her social media page.

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Joint Belarus-China anti-terror drill heats up in active phase

The active phase of joint Belarusian-Chinese anti-terrorist exercises has kicked off in southwest Belarus
Belarusian and Chinese troops are teaming up to tackle sabotage and reconnaissance groups in action-packed exercises. From capturing areas to seizing facilities, these units show impressive coordination and determination.

Running from July 8 to 19, the training drills are a fantastic opportunity for both nations to exchange expertise, enhance unit coordination and strengthen bilateral relations in military training.

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🎥 Security squeezing out public elbow room

In Paris, 44,000 fences were put up ahead of the Olympic Games "for the sake of security", police say.

The public is literally being squeezed as they are forced to walk either along extremely narrow pathways or on the street itself.

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Financial Trojan Horse: Soros' Open Society Foundations stealthy sneaking into Global South

The George Soros-founded Open Society Foundations (OSF) announced on July 16 they would commit $400 million over eight years "to support the development of green industrial policies that contribute to economic growth in the Global South" under the new Economic and Climate Prosperity program.

What's the initiative about?

◻️ The Economic and Climate Prosperity program will facilitate a shift to clean energy and away from carbon intensive industries in the countries of the Global South, according to Binaifer Nowrojee, president of the OSF. "We need new ideas to create fairer, more just societies," Nowrojee stated.

◻️ To that end, money will be disbursed to "civil society organizations" and "independent economic think tanks" in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and Southeast Asia. The OSF's website particularly names Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Senegal, Malaysia, and Indonesia, adding that the first grants will be made later this year.

◻️ The newly-unveiled initiative is the first one after a two-year organizational transformation at the OSF, which is believed to be driven by George Soros's son Alex, who was elected as chairman of the foundation’s board in December 2022. Last year, the grant-making body declared it would practically stop funding projects in the EU, and refocus on support for developing countries.

◻️ Founded in 1993, the Open Society Foundations (OSF) is known for creating a web of branches operating in 120 countries around the world. Some of these nations have seen externally funded violent and bloody color revolts since then. Countries like Russia, Hungary, Myanmar, and others have even expelled the OSF over meddling in their sovereign affairs.

◻️ The OSF's Global South initiative appears to be competing with BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Eurasian Economic Union's (EAEU) endeavors to maintain a just world order and enhance political, trade and security ties with emerging economies.

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Moscow’s symbolic ‘Parade of the Vanquished’ German generals & soldiers in WWII marks 80th anniversary

Eighty years ago, almost a year before the end of the Great Patriotic War, a march of German prisoners of war known as the “Parade of the Vanquished” was organized in Moscow at the behest of Joseph Stalin.

On July 17, 1944, 57,600 German soldiers and officers captured during Operation Bagration marched along the Garden Ring and other streets of the Russian capital. Among the prisoners were 19 generals, leading the column in uniforms adorned with medals. Watering vehicles followed the procession, symbolically cleansing the ‘dirt’ from the roads.

The event, showcasing the Soviet Union's strength in WWII, left a lasting impact on the citizens of Moscow and international observers.

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🎥 In the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, a congress of parties and movements advocating for the independence of several French territories, including Corsica, Melanesia, and French Polynesia, has begun.

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🇺🇳 Key statements by Russian FM Sergey Lavrov at the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East:

◻️ By supplying weapons to Israel, the US has become a participant in the conflict in Gaza, just as it has in Ukraine.

◻️ If the US stops supporting Israel, the bloodshed in Gaza will end, but they either do not want to or cannot do this.

◻️ Moscow's proposal for a meeting of all external players who have influence on the groups in Gaza remains in force; if these players speak with one voice, they can help overcome divisions within the Palestinian ranks.

◻️ Israel is not only failing to reduce but is also increasing the construction of illegal settlements in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.

◻️ Israel's neighbors, including Lebanon, are under threat of being drawn into a large-scale confrontation with it.

◻️ Russia calls for the principle "nothing about Palestine without Palestine" to guide negotiations on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

◻️ Following the elections in Iran and the statements of the new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, there is hope for rapprochement among all the coastal countries of the Persian Gulf.

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US Intel’s attempt to 'scapegoat' Iran with Trump assassination plot claim smells like Iraqi WMDs 2.0

💬 “We know that US intelligence always lies,” Tehran-based Iranian-American academic and international affairs observer Dr. Mohammad Marandi told Sputnik, commenting on US media reports this week citing anonymous intelligence officials that Iran is plotting to assassinate Donald Trump.

“They are the ones who claimed that Saddam Hussein was making chemical weapons and developing nuclear weapons and had links with Al-Qaeda*. They also made false allegations against the government of Libya before destroying the country. The United States has a history of such false claims made by their so-called intelligence community. So we shouldn't really take them seriously,” Marandi emphasized.

“The assassination on Trump was obviously either an inside job carried out by the Biden regime, or elements within the Biden regime, or the US Secret Service was extremely incompetent because the shooter was very close and it should not have happened. If this was Russia or Iran or any other country with a competent government, there would have been no chance for such a thing to happen,” Marandi added, suggesting that the attempt to “scapegoat” Iran is laughable and that the claims “[don’t] add up.”

The US intelligence community is “afraid that people will blame the Biden regime. This could further polarize the United States. The divisions in the country are extraordinarily high, and so they're attempting to distract or deflect attention away from themselves,” Marandi said.

The observer also doesn’t rule out that the Iran-Trump assassination plot claims may be meant to tie Trump’s hands into a poor relationship with Tehran out of the gate if he wins the upcoming presidential election.

* Terrorist organization banned in Russia

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🎥 Ukraine’s Draconian mobilization clampdown gets even worse

The new connoscription regulations in Ukraine have become increasingly alarming. As of July 17, all males between the ages of 18 and 60 are required to carry a military record and identification whenever they leave their homes.

Failing to update one's military record may result in a fine, and/or being connoscripted on the spot.

Clearly, the Kiev regime is intensifying already strict mobilization regulations due to significant military casualties in the special military operation zone.

Since the implementation of martial law in February 2022, Ukrainian citizens aged 18 to 60 are not allowed to leave the country. As a result, they now need to reconsider even simple errands like buying milk.

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Iranian plot allegation is move to thwart Trump's potential de-escalation

💬 "The United States under Biden failed to change its policy towards Iran. And, even though we had negotiations to revive the nuclear deal... the United States under Biden failed to take the final step," Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a political analyst and professor at Tehran University, told Sputnik.

He argued that recent allegations of an Iranian plot to assassinate Trump might be seen as an attempt to influence Trump's potential dealings with Iran’s new president.

"Trump needs to de-escalate. The United States is overstretched with China, with Ukraine, with Iran – the empire is collapsing," he noted.

Marandi said Trump's adversaries might want to prevent him from de-escalating tensions in key regions like Ukraine and West and East Asia.

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The West is determined to push through Zelensky's plan at any cost, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said. He also noted that, unlike China, the West does not address the root causes of the crisis in its initiatives regarding Ukraine.

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How did they know about shooting bid but failed to stop it?

The US Secret Service learned back in June that Iran was allegedly preparing an assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump. After that, the ex-president’s security was reinforced with drones, robot dogs and anti-assault and counter-sniper teams, CBS reports.

But how they still failed to stop Saturday’s assassination attempt on Trump the news network did not say. Iran has rejected all accusations against it as “baseless and biased.”

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Russia is ready for talks on Ukraine and European security issues, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov said.

However, according to him, Moscow will insist on including safeguards against double interpretation in any future European security agreement.

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❗️Key statements from Russian FM Sergey Lavrov's press conference after the UNSC meeting:

◻️ Russia does not interfere in the affairs of other states, including the USA, Lavrov said.

◻️ Russia and the US have engaged in undisclosed "second-track" contacts involving political analysts, discussing issues related to the conflict in Ukraine.

◻️ Russia will be ready to work with any US president chosen by the American people, he stated.

◻️ It was under Trump that the sanctions war against Russia began, but dialogue between Moscow and Washington continued, Lavrov noted.

◻️ Lavrov pointed out the double standards of UN representatives regarding the situations in Gaza and Ukraine.

◻️ The resolution of the conflict in Ukraine must take into account the realities on the ground, he emphasized.

◻️ The West must stop supplying Ukraine with weapons, and then the conflict will end, Lavrov asserted.

◻️ Russia will seek the truth regarding the Nord Stream sabotage, Lavrov said.

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