❗️Sputnik International, Sputnik Czech Republic face mass DDoS attacks

❗️Another round of heavy artillery heard in Donetsk

❗️Turkish straits are open for the passage of Russian ships - Coastal Security Department in Istanbul

The Russian military released first footage from the recently captured Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Russian and Ukrainian soldiers are currently guarding the facility together.

Radiation levels remain within norm and civilian employees continue their work as usual, the military said.

Nina Rothschild, 57, a senior health scientist for the NYC Health Department, was beaten in the head with a hammer in a brutal robbery as she walked into a subway in Long Island City. Police think that the suspect is homeless

❗️Additional anti-Russia sanctions may be imposed if Kiev falls, US media claims

⚡️Moscow considers NATO's claims about Russian 'aggression' in Ukraine groundless

❗️ DPR takes 12 more towns under control, militia says

❗️ Website of RIA Novosti news agency under massive DDoS attack following Anonymous declaring cyber war against Russia

⚡️ Biden says alternative to large-scale sanctions against Russia over Ukraine would be the start of 'Third World War'

⚡️⚡️The civil initiative for Finland's accession to NATO received more than 50,000 signatures and has been submitted to Parliament for consideration

Footage of military engineers from the Russian Black Sea Fleet blowing up a concrete dam that has been blocking the North Crimean Canal since 2014

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Footage after an explosion at an oil depot in Rovenki. The LPR reports that there are victims

⚡️A residential building came under shelling by Ukrainian forces in the center of Donetsk. There is no information yet on possible injuries

❗️🎥 New footage of the explosion in Rovenki

🔹Former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard calls for Biden to meet with Putin

“As leaders you have to be willing to have a dialogue and conversation to address the real issues at hand,” Gabbard said. “There is always a path for diplomacy. What is the alternative? The alternative then is continued escalation.

“Putin has said for years his security concerns are about NATO increasingly approaching and surrounding Russia on all sides,” Gabbard continued. “The Biden administration has failed to outline for the American people how does this serve your best interests? What will the costs be?”

She was invited to the annual gathering by longtime CPAC boss Matt Schlaap and given a coveted speaking spot during the event’s Ronald Reagan dinner on Friday.

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🎭How Is the Pandemic Reshaping New York City’s Cultural Landscape?

The cultural sector continues its cautious reopening this fall as theaters, museums, restaurants and other establishments recalibrate. Prognostications about the city’s wellness are ever changing — but this is hardly the first time that New York has weathered dire pronouncements about its vitality as one of the nation’s cultural capitals.

What lessons can the arts leaders and creators of today take from those efforts? The renewal of New York’s cultural landscape is cyclical, resilient and enduring — and yet, what is unique about today’s challenges?

We heard from the writer, activist and historian Sarah Schulman, whose 2021 book, “Let the Record Show,” tells the riveting story of ACT UP and AIDS activism in New York, during a pandemic of a different kind.

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⚡️⚡️All Russian banks already subjected to Western sanctions will be disconnected from SWIFT, the German cabinet said on Saturday, other banks could be disconnected in the future as well

🚨 One person was killed and 13 others were injured in a shooting at a hookah lounge in Las Vegas early Saturday morning.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to reports of a shooting at a hookah lounge in central Las Vegas around 3:15 a.m., according to a press release from the department.

At least two people got into an altercation and exchanged gunfire during a party inside the hookah lounge, police said. Fourteen people were shot. One male adult was pronounced dead and two other victims are in critical condition, police said. All other victims are in stable condition.

The investigation is ongoing, police said. No arrests have been made.

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🎯 DC Mural Guide: Celebrate the District's Black History Through Art

From go-go music to the fight for racial justice to notable figures, murals in D.C. show the essence of the city on buildings and alleyways.

In the last 10 years, the murals have increased in number and broadened to include episodes, places and spaces in D.C. "that bring pride to the African-American history and culture," Bernie Demczuk, a D.C. historian, said.

Historically, murals have primarily told stories about famous African-American trailblazers such as Frederick Douglass or Mary Church Terrell.

Now, many new murals are making statements about D.C. itself — highlighting a range of lived experiences.

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🧅 Border agents seize nearly $3M in meth packed to look like onions

A smuggler attempted to cross the Mexico-US border with a giant stash of methamphetamines disguised as onions, leaving federal officials impressed with the creativity of the alleged subterfuge.

“This was not only a clever attempt to try and smuggle in narcotics, one I haven’t seen before, but also time consuming to wrap narcotics into these small packages, designed to look like onions,” said Sidney Aki, the Director of Field Operations in San Diego for US Customs and Border Protection, in a statement.

The 1,197 packages of methamphetamines, packed among real onions in the back of a tractor-trailer, were shaped into small globes with a white covering, weighing 1,336 pounds and valued at $2.9 million.

The stash was discovered by K9 units at the Otay Mesa border crossing between Tijuana and San Diego.

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