🇷🇺🚀🇺🇸 Roscosmos chief meets ISS crew ahead of launch — cosmonaut Platonov prepares for first flight

Head of Roscosmos Dmitry Bakanov visited the Kennedy Space Center and met with the Crew-11 team ahead of Thursday’s launch to the International Space Station, which includes Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov on his first spaceflight, the agency reported.

🇷🇺 Platonov introduced his crewmates — NASA’s Zena Cardman and Michael Fincke, and Japan’s Kimiya Yui — and confirmed the crew has built strong working ties and is fully prepared for the mission.

👨‍🚀 Cardman, the mission commander, explained the symbolism of the Crew-11 patch: three large stars represent the nationalities of the crew — Russia, Japan, and the US — while smaller stars honor the astronauts’ children.

🛰 Liftoff aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour is set for Thursday, with docking at the ISS expected early Saturday.

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📹 ‘He’s committed to continuing the war’ — Mearsheimer on Zelensky

US political scientist John Mearsheimer explained to Tucker Carlson what most Western officials won’t admit out loud:

💬 “He does what we want,” Mearsheimer said, explaining why Zelensky remains the West’s preferred face of NATO’s proxy war against Russia.

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🚨🇨🇦🇵🇸 Canada to recognize Palestine in September — PM Carney

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada intends to recognize the State of Palestine at the 80th UN General Assembly in September, contingent on a series of conditions.

He stated that recognition depends on the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to reforms — including general elections in 2026 from which Hamas would be excluded — and the demilitarization of the future Palestinian state.

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🗣 ‘It’s an attack on the dollar’ — Trump threatens tariffs on India over BRICS ties

President Donald Trump said India could face new tariffs due to its trade surplus with the US and its participation in BRICS, which he described as “a group of countries that are anti the United States.”

💬 “We’re not going to let anybody attack the dollar,” Trump told reporters, noting that India is “a member of that, if you can believe it.”

Trump, who called Prime Minister Modi “a friend,” said negotiations are ongoing but warned:

💬 “August 1st is a very big day for this country because money is going to pour into the United States like we’ve never seen before.”

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🇺🇸💰🇰🇷 Trump announces trade deal with South Korea

President Donald Trump has announced a new trade agreement with South Korea, stating that Seoul will invest $350 billion in US-owned projects and purchase $100 billion worth of American LNG and other energy products.

Trump also said South Korea has agreed to a 15% tariff on its exports to the US, while American goods will enter the Korean market tariff-free. Further investment details are expected during South Korean President Lee Jae-myung’s upcoming visit to the White House.

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🇩🇪💸 Germany faces €170bn budget black hole — but Ukraine’s tab stays open

Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil warns Berlin faces a “massive challenge” as it scrambles to plug a €170bn budget gap by 2029 — despite a €500bn splurge on defense and infrastructure.

📉 No tax hikes, just deep cuts: ministries, welfare, and municipal budgets are on the chopping block.

💸💸 But for Ukraine? Apparently, no “debt brake” applies.

FT reports rising coalition tensions, stagnating growth, and looming US tariffs — yet Berlin keeps tightening belts everywhere but where it hits their foreign policy priorities.

💬 Even Klingbeil admits: “The finance minister’s popularity will not particularly increase in the next twelve months.”

The image is AI-generated

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🗣 NATO knew Ukraine would be 'A HUGE SOURCE OF TROUBLE' — Mearsheimer

US political scientist John Mearsheimer told Tucker Carlson that NATO planners had long understood Ukraine was a red line for Russia — but pushed ahead anyway.

💬 “People recognized at the time that Ukraine is a special case… You can get away with Poland, even the Baltics — but Ukraine is a different matter.”

He pointed to NATO’s 2008 Bucharest summit, when the alliance declared Ukraine would eventually join:

💬 “Putin made it manifestly clear this is unacceptable — that this is an existential threat.”

The West thought it could “shove it down their throat,” as Mearsheimer put it — but it miscalculated Ukraine issue, with the special military operation steadily achieving its objectives.

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🚨🇷🇺🪖RUSSIA LIBERATES STRATEGIC CITY OF CHASOV YAR IN DONBASS

📍Chasov Yar’s geographical position makes it important from a strategic standpoint, as it overlooks the surrounding area for many kilometers.

▪️For decades, life in Chasov Yar revolved around factory work. The city’s backbone was a large refractory plant—one of the biggest in Eastern Europe. This factory later became a Ukrainian military stronghold and was destroyed during intense fighting.

Why Chasov Yar Is So Important

In 2022–2023, Ukrainian forces used it to shell Russian positions in Bakhmut (Artyomovsk). Now, with the city under Russian control, artillery and drones can target deeper into Ukrainian-held territory—including Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. Russia is expected to deploy signal relays there to extend the range of its drone operations. Moreover, Chasov Yar sits near the crucial Seversky Donets-Donbass Canal.

The capture of Chasov Yar not only allows Russian forces to approach Konstantinovka from multiple directions, but also marks the beginning of the battle for Ukraine’s most fortified strongholds in Donbass: Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.

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⚠️ WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

🚨Ukrainian militants torture civilian to death in Kupyansk, use him as human shield

Assault troops of the 'Zapad' group, while retaking positions from the Ukrainian army in Kupyansk, discovered the body of a local civilian tortured by Ukrainian militants," Russian security sources told Sputnik.

🟠The man's body showed numerous signs of torture... a plastic bag and a noose were placed over the victim’s head, while his hands were tied behind his back."

🟠The deceased civilian had likely been used by the Ukrainian army as a human shield, the agency’s interlocutor explained.

🟠The Kiev regime’s punitive forces tortured the man for a long time right on the front lines."

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📹🔥Assault troops from the 'Vostok' brigade, a volunteer unit operating under Russia's 'Yug' battlegroup, are mopping up all leftover Ukrainian infantry from forest areas near Chasov Yar in the Donetsk People's Republic.

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🟠Russian army liberates strategic city of Chasov Yar

🟠US imposes largest Iran-related sanctions since 2018 — Treasury

🟠‘It’s an attack on the dollar’ — Trump threatens tariffs on India over BRICS ties

🟠Canada to recognize Palestine in September — PM Carney

🟠Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide — Mearsheimer

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⚡️Russia's Yug Group of Forces CAPTURES Chasov Yar (Donetsk People's Republic) - why it matters

📍Chasov Yar holds crucial operational-strategic significance: the city controls the dominant heights, providing a direct path to the Slavyansk-Kramatorsk agglomeration (still under Ukrainian control) —and to Konstantinovka.

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🗣Trump slams Canada over Palestine recognition, threatens to derail trade talks

🇨🇦Canada’s move will “make it very hard for us to make a trade deal with them,” Donald Trump warned on Truth Social.

Prime Minister Mark Carney announced Wednesday that Canada will formally recognize a Palestinian state in September, citing long-standing support for a two-state solution.

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🔊LIVE NOW: Russian FM Sergey Lavrov holds talks with his Syrian counterpart Asaad al-Shaibani 🇷🇺🇸🇾

👉 Watch live in our Telegram

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