⚡️All citizens returned to the Russian Federation will be presented with state awards, Putin reveals.

Vladimir Putin congratulated the freed Russians on their return to their homeland and thanked them for their loyalty to Russia.

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US Navy sends 12 warships to Middle East amid tensions in the region, according to The Jerusalem Post.

The ships were dispatched to the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea due to the escalation of the situation in the region following the assassinations of Hamas Politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh and Lebanese Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, media has reported.

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Firefighters worked to contain a wildfire near the Italian state broadcaster, as video footage captured thick plumes of smoke rising into the sky.

The blaze was eventually brought under control.

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US Senator from Ohio J.D. Vance slams 9/11 plea deal

"We need a president who kills terrorists, not negotiates with them"

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Walid Bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawasawi have all agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in exchange for a life sentence.

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Boxer with male chromosomes vs. Russian woman: Is the result a foregone conclusion?

The International Olympic Committee really stirred the pot by allowing boxers with male chromosomes to compete in the female boxing division at the Paris Olympics, who failed a prior gender eligibility test. The latest match saw an Italian fighter bow out after being unable to withstand her opponent's powerful punches. But imagine if the IOC had let Russian athletes compete—would the result have been as 'obvious', or would we be seeing a whole new level of competition?

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif and Lin Yu‑ting from Taipei were both stripped of their medals from last year’s World Championships in New Delhi, after DNA tests showed they have XY chromosomes. Biologically, the presence of the Y chromosome means the individual is a male.

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WhatsApp - a tool for Israel to track Hamas?

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed after Israeli intelligence installed spyware on his cell phone through a WhatsApp message to track his whereabouts that was used to launch a missile strike, Lebanese journalist Elia Manier has claimed.

Numerous reports have repeatedly suggested that the use of WhatsApp messenger to detect Hamas operatives has been a common practice for the Israeli military.

▪️The Palestinian digital rights group Sada Social earlier demanded a probe into the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) alleged use of WhatsApp user data to target Hamas “suspects” in the Gaza Strip with the help of the Israeli AI-aided system, Lavender. Both Meta* (the owners of the popular messaging service) and the IDF deny the allegations.

▪️“The Lavender system, supported by AI, identifies Palestinians by tracking their communications via WhatsApp or the groups they join,” Sada Social pointed out.

▪️The +972 website’s investigative journalist Yuval Abraham, in turn, previously argued that Lavender puts ordinary Palestinians “on a kill list and generate targets for assassination."

▪️“Lavender has played a central role in the unprecedented bombing of Palestinians, especially during the early stages of the [Hamas-Israel] war," which started October 7, 2023, according to Abraham.

▪️Notably, "It was known in advance that 10% of the human targets slated for assassination were not members of the Hamas military wing at all," he added.

▪️On the whole, Lavender “marked some 37,000 Palestinians as suspected ‘Hamas militants,’ most of them of junior [rank]” for killing, per Abraham.

▪️Bahraini rights activist Esra’a Al Shafei has meanwhile stressed that Meta* must “fully investigate” how WhatsApp’s metadata may be used “to track, harm, or kill its users throughout Palestine.”

▪️Former military intelligence and CIA operations officer Philip Giraldi earlier told Sputnik that Israel had invested a lot of money in various electronic tracking techniques like Lavender that enable it to locate and attack targets.

*Meta is banned in the Russian Federation for extremist activities.

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🎥 Biden and Harris welcome Americans released from Russian custody in prisoner swap

Americans recently released from Russian custody as part of a major prisoner exchange deal arrived in US greeted by their families, US President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris.

A plane carrying former US Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Russian-American journalist Alsu Kurmasheva landed in Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, late Thursday night.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris greeted the Americans as they stepped off the aircraft.

Whelan stepped out of the aircraft first and saluted Biden followed by a big hug.

Gershkovich stepped out of the aircraft to a loud cheer from the press area. He also proceeded to embrace the US president.
Kurmasheva was the last to exit the aircraft and had a emotional reunion with her two daughters.

The United States, Russia, Germany, and other Western countries struck a deal for a 24-person prisoner swap, which is one of the largest prisoner exchange agreements since the end of the Cold War.

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🎥 US President Joe Biden told reporters that assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this week has not helped improve the chances to broker a Gaza ceasefire deal.

"It has not helped," Biden said Thursday night when asked if the assassination ruined ceasefire talks.

Biden mentioned that he had a "very direct" talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier and stressed to him that they should take advantage of the opportunity for a ceasefire now.

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🇮🇷 Former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has been appointed Vice President for strategic affairs by decree of newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, Iranian news agency Tasnim reported.

The 64-year-old politician served as foreign minister from 2013-2021.

Pezeshkian won the second round of the snap presidential election in Iran in early July, gaining 16,384,403 votes. His rival, former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili got 13,538,179 votes. Overall, 30,573,931 ballots were counted. Voter turnout was 49.8%.

The election was called after President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in Iran's mountainous north in May.

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◾️Putin gives a personal welcome to the Russians who were released as part of a historic prisoner swap

◾️Americans released from Russian custody also received a high-profile welcome at home

◾️ Iranian ex-Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif gets a post on newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian’s team

◾️‘Has not helped’: Biden comments on the implications of Hamas chief Haniyeh’s death for Gaza ceasefire talks

◾️How many warships has the US Navy dispatched to the Middle East amid rising tensions in the region?

◾️Is WhatsApp a tool for the IDF to track Hamas members?

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🎥 WATCH: Russian troops prepare for electronic launches under nuclear non-strategic drills

Soldiers from the southern and central military districts have been training to equip missiles with special training ammunition and occupied positional areas for electronic launches during the third stage of non-strategic nuclear forces drills, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

"During the ongoing third stage of the non-strategic nuclear forces drills the personnel of the missile formations of the southern and central military districts trained equipping launch vehicles with special training ammunition and occupied designated positional areas for electronic launches," the statement said.

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Scott Ritter: Some swapped prisoners were likely ‘on CIA payroll’

All implications are that some of the people involved in the recent prisoner swap between Moscow and several Western countries were CIA espionage assets, Scott Ritter has told Sputnik.

The exchange that occurred on August 1 appears to have been “a deal hashed out between the Russian secret services and the American CIA,” noted the former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and ex-UN weapons inspector.

Commenting on what is being called the biggest such swap since the Cold War, Ritter pointed out that among the 16 prisoners released by Russia was Evan Gershkovich, “caught red-handed receiving Russian secrets.” The Walls Street Journal reporter was subsequently charged with espionage, found guilty at trial, and meted out a lengthy sentence.

US Marine veteran Paul Whelan was likewise charged with espionage, while self-described Russian political figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, as it turns out, had a US green card.

“This implies there was a special relationship between him [Kara-Murza] and the US government that maybe the US government doesn't want to talk about in public,” Ritter said. Kara-Murza “appears to have been on the CIA payroll as well,” he noted.

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