🇺🇸🇪🇺EU halts probe into X amid trade talks with US

The European Commission has suspended an investigation into X over suspected violations of European digital transparency rules amid trade talks with the United States, the Financial Times reported.

The EU expected to finish the probe before summer recess. However, the decision is likely to be made after the situation in the trade negotiations between the EU and the US is clarified, the daily cited three officials familiar with the matter as saying.

"It’s all tied up," an anonymous official said.

What is it all about?

🔶 On July 12, Trump announced that he would impose 30% tariffs on imported European goods starting August 1, while the previous sectoral tariffs would remain in force. Ursula von der Leyen said over the weekend that the EU would continue negotiations with Washington, but warned that it was ready to introduce countermeasures.

🔶 On January 12, the cybercrime unit of the Paris Prosecutor's Office received two reports — one from a member of parliament and the other from a high-ranking employee of one of the French government agencies. The reports said that X algorithms were being used for foreign interference.

🔶 In July 2024, the EC accused X of non-compliance with the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), particularly with regards to advertising transparency and data access for researchers. It threatened to fine the platform 6% of its global annual turnover unless the concerns were addressed.

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🇷🇺🇨🇳Russia ramps up LPG supply to China as both sides boost cooperation

Russia’s exports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to China could reach 750,000 tons in 2025 compared to last year’s 450,000 tons, according to a presentation of the Argus news outlet seen by Russian media.

The growth is driven by Europe’s refusal to purchase Russian raw materials and a decline in US imports due to tariff restrictions, experts say.

Russia’s growing LPG supplies to China come as the two countries expand bilateral economic collaboration.

👉In 2024, Russia supplied China with 108.47 million tons of crude oil, 30 billion cubic meters of pipeline gas, and 8.3 million tons of liquefied natural gas, data from China’s General Administration of Customs shows.

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📊 RUSSIA REMAINS THE WORLD’S 4th ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE

Despite global pressures, Russia’s economy keeps proving its resilience, maintaining its 4th place worldwide by GDP (PPP) — and even doubling its lead over Japan in just one year.

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🛢🇮🇳🇷🇺 India should be applauded for buying Russian oil: Petroleum Minister Puri

💬“Russia is one of the main suppliers. 9M barrels a day is roughly 10% of global daily production & consumption. Suppose you take that 10% off the table — there are two possibilities. Let’s say I pick any country: some people won’t get heating in winter. Others won’t get air conditioning in summer. You know what that would do to prices? Prices that were here would skyrocket. We did an analysis — if more and more buyers turned to other OPEC sources, prices would have jumped to at least $130–140 per barrel.“

“So if we were buying from any source that we could, I think we should be applauded,“ he concluded.

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🚨Russia hands over 1,000 bodies of Ukrainian military to Ukraine under Istanbul deal

Russia has transferred another 1,000 bodies of Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers to Ukraine as part of the Istanbul agreements, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said.

We received the bodies of 19 of our fallen soldiers. May they rest in their native land.

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🚨 CAUGHT ON CAMERA: Ukrainian agent caught plotting sabotage at a power facility in Russia’s Voronezh region

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🚨🚨 Kremlin updates on contacts with Ukraine:

Russia is in talks with the Ukrainian side through presidential aide Medinsky and his counterpart, says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

More:

▪️Prisoner exchange process under Istanbul agreements still ongoing, further coordination needed

▪️New talks on Ukraine will be scheduled once this process is completed

▪️ Russian side waiting for Ukraine to propose date for next round of talks

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◻️ 500+ chemical attacks: Russia details Ukraine's use of toxic and poisonous agents

◻️ Russia hands over 1,000 bodies of Ukrainian military to Ukraine under Istanbul deal

◻️ Russia ramps up LPG supply to China as both sides boost cooperation

◻️ Colombian president announces his intention to end relations with NATO

◻️ Sputnik’s infographic: Russia remains the world’s 4th economic powerhouse

◻️ Liberalism vs Protectionism: How US is DESTROYING its own ideals

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🚨🇩🇪 New World Bank data shows Germany falls to 6th place in the global PPP rankings, 🇷🇺Russia is ahead - media

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📞🇮🇳🇺🇸 India’s petroleum minister says Jaishankar “MISHEARD” him before trolling the US on Russian oil

💬 “You know, when my colleague, Mr. Jaishankar, when this whole [oil] process had started [and] he was going to the United States, he asked me over the phone casually, "What happens if I'm asked about Russian purchases?" And I said, "Friend, you tell them that they buy more in one afternoon," this is early days, "They buy more in one afternoon than I buy in a quarter.“

“I think the telephone line must not have been absolutely clear, so he ended up saying, "I believe you buy more in one afternoon than I buy in a month.“

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🚨🇺🇸🇵🇰 Trump to visit Pakistan in September: local TV

If confirmed, the visit would be the first by a US president since nearly two decades ago, when President George W. Bush visited Pakistan in 2006.

Would it possibly be followed by a stop in 🇮🇳India? 🤔

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🚨RUSSIA'S MoD REPORT: MAJOR ADVANCES & HEAVY UKRAINIAN LOSSES

⚡️ POPOV YAR (DPR) LIBERATED
⚡️ KAMENSKOYE (ZAPOROZHYE) LIBERATED
⚡️ DEGTYARNOYE (KHARKOV) LIBERATED

🪖Enemy losses exceed 1,185 troops in the special operation zone

🔸 Russian air defense downed:

▪️ 2 Neptune cruise missiles
▪️ 308 enemy drones

🔸 Precision strikes destroyed:

▪️ UAV storage & control sites
▪️ Air defense hideouts
▪️ Military airfield facilities
▪️ 133 AFU deployment points

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🚨Lvov mayor responsible for Soviet monument desecration will face harsh ‘judgment of history’ – Russian MP

“This Russophobic vandal belongs behind bars! Article 243.4 of Russia’s Criminal Code explicitly classifies the desecration of military memorials at historic battle sites (such as Lvov, which saw brutal fighting in 1944) as a felony punishable by up to five years. But for Sadovyi [Lvov Mayor], aggravating factors must apply: sacrilege and dehumanization," Leonid Slutsky, Russian lawmaker and head of the Duma Committee on International Affairs, said.

While Russia “would never refuse to reclaim and honor the remains of these Great Patriotic War heroes," the mere idea to use them as trade coin in negotiations “violates every principle of human morality," the politician explained.

Earlier, Lvov Mayor Andriy Sadovyi has proposed exchanging the exhumed remains of Soviet soldiers buried at the "Hill of Glory" memorial complex for Ukrainian military prisoners.

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