📹 Must-see: Russian Caspian flotilla in action during large-scale navy drills

Over 20 warships and support vessels are participating in large-scale Russian Navy drills. Mine countermeasure vessels cleared the path from the homeport, while small missile and artillery ships patrolled assigned areas, engaging targets in artillery duels.

The flotilla also repelled air attacks, conducted damage control, and practiced evasive maneuvers.

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🇷🇺🤝🇮🇩Vladimir Putin met with Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto and noted that the two countries have long-standing friendly relations.

"Indonesia considers Russia as a great friend and would like to continue developing relations," President-elect Prabowo Subianto said at a meeting with Putin.

According to the Russian president, trade relations are developing successfully, and trade turnover has doubled in recent years.

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A red "revenge flag" has been raised over the Jamkaran Mosque in Qom, Iran after the assassination of Hamas politburo chief, Ismail Haniyeh.

Previously, it was raised after the explosions at the cemetery in Kerman in January, when dozens of people were killed, and before that - after the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.

Red flags in the Shiite tradition symbolize unjustly shed blood - and a call to avenge the murdered man.

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❗️Iran has an inalienable right to respond appropriately to the assassination of Hamas' Politburo chief in Tehran, according to republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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❗️US government complicit in Israel's assassination of Ismail Haniyeh — Iranian Foreign Ministry

Hamas politburo chief's assassination in Iran's Tehran aims to increase instability in the Middle East, and violates international law and the UN Charter, the Iranian Foreign Ministry says.

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❗️Russia's Zapad Battlegroup continued to take more advantageous positions with Ukrainian forces losing up to 470 militants.

🇷🇺🪖 More statements from the Russian Defense Ministry’s daily briefing on the progress of the special military operation in Ukraine:

▪️ In the Russian Tsentr Battlegroup's combat zone, Ukrainian losses amounted to up to 350 militants;

▪️ Ukrainian forces lost a Leopard tank and up to 710 militants in the Donetsk People's Republic due to actions by the Yug Battlegroup;

▪️ The Battlegroup Sever struck five enemy brigades in the Kharkov region and repelled two counterattacks with Ukrainian losses reaching up to 350 militants;

▪️ The Vostok Battlegroup improved its position along the front line, with Ukrainian losses amounting to up to 150 militants;

▪️ Russian air defenses shot down two HIMARS projectiles, a Neptune missile, and 42 drones.

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❗️Iran will respond to the assassination of the head of the Hamas politburo, with special operations designed to cause "deep remorse in the criminal", the Iranian mission to the United Nations said.

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The death of Hamas' leader: What will it bring to Israel and the Middle East?

The assassination of Hamas Politburo head Dr. Ismail Haniyeh will have grave repercussions for the entire Middle Eastern region, pundits warn.

What do international security and Mideast experts say?

🗣 Foad Izadi, associate professor at University of Tehran: "The Israelis will pay a price for engaging in these types of activities… They're killing dozens of women and children on a daily basis for the last nine months… They have killed previous Hamas leaders. The reason Ismail Haniyeh became a Hamas leader was because of that fact."

🗣 Larry Johnson, retired CIA intelligence analyst: "This action clearly had the support and foreknowledge of the United States and the United Kingdom… This attack [on Haniyeh] was so blatant that I don't think there will be any restraint on the part of Iran or Hezbollah. I think that this may in fact have been crossing a red line. It is extremely worrisome because this has the hallmarks of being able to spin out of control."

🗣 Professor Meir Litvak, a leading Israeli expert on Hamas: "There is, of course, a danger of a major escalation. From the Iranian point of view, this was an abridgment of their sovereignty... We've already seen that the Supreme Leader vowed that Iran would retaliate."

🗣 Yuri Lyamin, military expert, senior researcher at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST): "The situation in the Middle East is characterized by a high degree of tension between warring parties; therefore such a bold and provocative action as the murder of Haniyeh will lead to further destabilization of the situation. And the main danger here is that at some point the situation may get out of control for all parties involved."

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📹 While Washington has claimed that it has nothing to do with the murder of Hamas leader Haniyeh, here is just a gentle reminder of how American hawks used to talk about Hamas...

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Cryptocurrency mining: Where is it permitted or outlawed?

Russia's parliament voted on new legislation meant to regulate cryptocurrency mining in the country on July 30.

The mining process on a large scale is going to be limited to companies that receive licenses from the government, with authorities also being allowed to halt mining operations if they start creating problems for the local power grid.

Legal status of cryptocurrencies aside, the biggest problem with the mining process is that the equipment used consumes a lot of electricity, often putting a serious strain on power infrastructure.

In 2022, the State of New York introduced a partial ban on cryptocurrency mining that targeted projects aimed at converting old fossil fuel power plants into mining “farms”; the ban, however, does not affect mining operations that draw electricity from the existing power grid.

Otherwise, crypto mining is not outlawed in the rest of the United States. Crypto mining is also considered legal in the UK, Japan and many other countries in the so-called Global North.

Though crypto mining is considered legal in Europe, in 2022 Sweden pushed for a ban on mining due to concerns over power consumption. That said, the mining process can be a subject to certain regulations which differ from region to region. In New Zealand, for instance, crypto mining is legal but any profits from this process are subject to income tax. The US state of Arkansas imposes restrictions on noise levels and energy consumption of the crypto mining process.

Cryptocurrency mining has been deemed illegal in China since 2021, despite the fact that the country ranked as the world’s undisputed leader in this type of activity prior to the ban (since then the noscript passed to the US).

Countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Libya, Bolivia and Nepal have also banned cryptocurrencies outright. Some countries - such as Brazil and Singapore – recognize cryptocurrencies but at the same time do not consider them legal tender.

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❗️The US suspends aid to Georgia and considers its government's actions incompatible with membership in the EU and NATO, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

The US has criticized Georgia for adopting legislation against foreign agents that was originally used in the US.

According to former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter, the new Georgian "foreign agents" law is about upholding the nation's sovereignty and bringing a young generation of Georgians that has lost touch with who they really are back to their senses.

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Puberty blockers offer a boon for corrupt Big Farma

The UK High Court upheld the UK government's ban on puberty blockers on July 29, citing "very substantial risks and very narrow benefits" for child and adolescent treatment.

"Britain has rightfully banned puberty blockers for children for the immense and permanent harm they do," Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted, adding the US should follow Britain's suit. Last week, the billionaire said he was "tricked" into giving consent for his son Xavier go on puberty blockers. Now Xavier identifies as "Vivian Jenna Wilson".

What's behind the transgender push?

▪️AbbVie, a producer of hormone blocker Lupron made $726 million on the drug in 2018 and $752 million in 2020. Lupron, a brand name for leuprolide acetate, was developed decades ago to treat prostate cancer and is also used for chemical castration of sex offenders.

▪️Big Pharma's transgender push is a way to expand the sales of expensive hormone drugs, according to the Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC), a US-based conservative watchdog. AMAC found that producers encouraged doctors to use Lupron for child autism treatment in 2009. One three-month supply of Lupron for a transgender youth amounts to $11,000.

▪️In May 2023, the Free Beacon found that Pfizer bankrolled the Healthcare Equality Index, a leftist activist group, to promote puberty blockers and sex-change treatment in US hospitals.

▪️According to some estimates, each transgender child provides around $1 million in revenues to the pharmaceutical industry by consuming special drugs on a regular basis.

▪️Gender dysphoria diagnoses appear to be on the rise across the US over the past decade with around 1.6 million people aged 13 and older identifying as transgender in the country, as per the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law in 2022 findings. This includes 300,000 youth aged 13-17.

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Riding the wave: Russian athletes boost wake surfing amid ban controversy

Efforts by Western powers and sports authorities to exclude Russian athletes from competitions could be described as “attempts to cancel Russians and Belarusians,” says John Shields, president of the Competitive Wake Surf Association (CWSA), USA.

“There were pet competitions, cats, dogs, that type of stuff that Russians were banned from participating in. There were music, art and cultural events that Russians were excluded from. And of course, we all know the economic, diplomatic and political things that have happened over the years,” he recalls, pointing out that what transpired after February 2022.

“One of the things that we evaluated was what we were going to do, based on what we saw happening with other sport bodies, to think about this more broadly,” Shields adds.

“So if we substituted the word Russian for blue eyes, okay, everybody with blue eyes gets banned. Or hair color or race or, you know, whatever immutable characteristic of a person you want to talk about. No one would find that acceptable.” He praised the contribution by Russians to the development of wake surfing, noting that “over the past or at least 15 years the Russian competitors have been involved in wake surf competitions all over the world, and most especially those sanctioned by the CWSA.”

“Rules, standards, that type of stuff, the contributions of the Russian members and the Russian community in general has been very strong and very influential in the development of the sport,” Shields says.

Commenting on the Golden Stage of the World Series of the International Wakesurfing Association CWSA that was held in Moscow earlier this month, Shields described the competition as a “world class event.”

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❗️The first delivery of F-16 fighter jets from NATO allies has reached Ukraine, as reported by Bloomberg.

The number of jets is small, and it's uncertain if the Ukrainian pilots, who have been training with their Western trainers over the past months will be able to operate the jets immediately or if they will require more time, according to Bloomberg.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the F-16s being delivered to Ukraine "will not change the battlefield situation" and that Russia will destroy them, just as they do with other equipment. Military historian Nikolai Bodrikhin concurred, calling the F-16 an "old" plane with characteristics and limitations well known to the Russian military.

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😄 Olympic open water swimming champion Sharon van Rouwendaal has posted a meme about the water quality in Paris' Seine River

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Who is who in Hamas' political and military structure?

In the wake of the assassination of Hamas Politburo head Dr. Ismail Haniyeh, the Palestinian movement signaled it won't water down its negotiation demands. According to the Western press, Hamas has a history of replacing fallen leaders smoothly through the group’s Shura council, its main consultative body.

Who are the major leaders of Hamas?

▪️Khaled Mashal is the head of Hamas' Political Bureau abroad. He was the head of Hamas' Politburo between 1996 and 2017.

▪️Khalil al-Hayya is deputy head of Hamas’s regional Politburo in Gaza since 2017. Prior to that, he served as head of Hamas's parliamentary bloc in the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006.

▪️Nizar Awadallah is a senior member of Hamas’s Politburo since 2009.

▪️Yahya Sinwar is a member of the Politburo since 2017. He is the leader of Hamas in the Gaza strip and the founder of the Hamas security service known as Majd.

▪️Zaher Jabareen is Hamas‘ deputy leader in the West Bank, who was elected to the group’s Politburo in 2021. He is also a member of Hamas’ military branch, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (IQB).

▪️Husam Badran is a Qatar-based senior member of Hamas’s Politburo and head of Hamas' national relations.

▪️Mohammed Deif is the leader of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades since 2002.

▪️Mohammed Sinwar is the commander of Hamas’ Southern Brigade and a younger brother of Yahya Sinwar.

▪️Khaled Mashal, Khalil al-Hayya and Nizar Awadallah are named by some Western and Arabic media pundits as possible replacements of Haniyeh.

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Body of Hezbollah Commander Fuad Shukr found under rubble in Beirut following Israel's airstrike, a local source to Sputnik.

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📹 Rico Krieger's first reaction to his pardon

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pardoned a German citizen sentenced to death for terrorism yesterday.

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Zelensky admitted that he and the entire world want Russia to participate in the second summit on Ukraine.

"The majority of the world today says that Russia must be represented at the second summit, otherwise we will not achieve meaningful results," Zelensky said.

"Since the whole world wants them to be at the table, we cannot be against it," he told AFP.

In early July, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told Sputnik, commenting on the topic of a new summit on Ukraine, that Moscow does not accept ultimatums and does not intend to participate in such events. Also at the moment the ban in Ukraine on negotiations with Russia remains a problem and can significantly complicate the peace process.

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❗️Moscow is open to all initiatives to resolve the situation in Ukraine through diplomatic means, but there is no reciprocity from Kiev, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

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