☀️ Sun launches giant plasma blast

On the night of August 12, a massive solar prominence erupted, Russian Academy of Sciences experts say.

This one shot off to the side — not toward Earth — but scientists note: while rare, direct hits from such prominences could trigger the most powerful geomagnetic storms our planet can experience.

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💥💸 US DEBT HITS $37 TRILLION

US financial doomsday clock ticks faster as Treasury data reveals terrifying acceleration: $1T added every 5 months.

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🗣 Europe is ready to disrupt Putin-Trump talks — expert

Ukraine's planned false flag operation is backed by Europe, which is not interested in the success of the Alaska summit, Badra Kaaloul of the African Center for Security and Strategy Studies told Sputnik.

"Europe wants to achieve a ceasefire on its own terms, especially given that NATO is waging war and determining Ukraine's fate as a springboard for operations against Russia," she added.

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🔊 US-China relations will define the 21st century — Rubio

The Secretary of State warns that China is both a competitor and an adversary to the US, calling their relationship "the biggest challenge" of the 21st century.

"I think we've entered a period with them where I think both sides realize that we would benefit from a period of strategic stability," Marco Rubio said in an interview with Sid Rosenberg.

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🗣 Ukraine and EU plot terror attacks to sink Alaska talks — Serbian MP

Ukraine's European masters are very afraid of the potential US-Russian agreement, Serbian MP Aleksandar Pavić warns Sputnik.

"The neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine's only chance is to stage false flag attacks and blame Russia," Pavić says.

The image is AI-generated

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❗️ Trump-Putin summit eyes Alaska military base — reports

Historic meeting set for Anchorage's Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, selected for maximum security, CNN reported, citing 2 White House officials.

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🗣 Zelensky's last gambit — expert

Venezuelan political scientist William Serafino says Zelensky finds itself in the extremely difficult geopolitical situation ahead of the Alaska summit.

"The situation is becoming depressing for Zelensky. All he can do is try to divert attention in order to raise the political cost of any agreement Putin and Trump may reach at their meeting," he told Sputnik.

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🚨 E3 SENDS ULTIMATUM TO IRAN

The UK, France, and Germany threatened Iran with snapback sanctions (i.e., the return of pre-2015 UN sanctions) if Tehran rejects nuclear deal by the end of August 2025.

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🗣 UKRAINE PLANS BUCHA 2.0 TO SABOTAGE PUTIN-TRUMP SUMMIT — Expert

Valdir Bezerra (USP BRICS Research Group) warns:

"The Russian and Ukrainian sides were close to an agreement in March 2022, and that event in Bucha then disrupted the negotiation process. We are now seeing a new attempt at provocation," he told Sputnik.

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🔥 RUSSIA’S NUCLEAR BATTLE CRUISER SET FOR SEA TRIALS

Admiral Nakhimov, Russia's upgraded nuclear-powered battle cruiser, will begin sea trials as soon as August–September, a defense industry source confirms to Sputnik.

📍 All systems are undergoing final checks, and the commissioning team is preparing. The cruiser has been fitted with state-of-the-art weapons during its refit.

Russian officials emphasize that the repairs completed in July will provide a major boost to naval capabilities due to the ship's return to service.

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🚨 💸 $50M monthly: How Zelensky's inner circle secretly moved millions to UAE

📊 Sputnik has uncovered from Ukrainian court records that Andriy Gmyrin, a figure in an investigation into money transfers from Ukraine to the UAE, participated in the misappropriation of $48 million.

Key details:

🔹 Turkish newspaper Aydinlik previously exposed UAE-based companies involved in a corruption scheme linked to Volodymyr Zelensky's inner circle

🔹 According to the report, Zelensky's closest associates transfer $50 million monthly to the accounts of two UAE firms connected to Gmyrin, the alleged manager of the illicit funds

🔹 Gmyrin is named in a case involving former Ukrainian State Property Fund head Dmytro Sennichenko as a co-organizer of a criminal group tied to laundering over $277 million

🔹 Sennichenko alone illegally obtained $1.3 million from fraudulent operations

🔹 Ukrainian authorities estimate the total illegal profits of the Sennichenko-Gmyrin group at two billion hryvnias ($48 million) during their control of the Odessa Portside Plant

In late 2023, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) opened a criminal case against Sennichenko for laundering $277.3 million.

☢️ Sennichenko was previously charged with embezzlement in a State Property Fund fraud case.

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🤫 ⛔️ ‘Exporting death’: Colombian mercenaries tarnish nation’s reputation – lawmaker

🗣 Colombian mercenaries fighting in foreign wars are dragging the country’s name through the mud, ruling coalition Congressman Alejandro Toro warns.

“It’s a reputational hit not just to the country, but to the army,” he stressed.

💬 “Colombia cannot be seen by the world as a country that exports death – turning our former soldiers into war machines and shipping them off to fight in other nations’ conflicts,” said Toro, who is spearheading a bill to ban mercenary activity.

Earlier this month, President Gustavo Petro urged parliament to fast-track a bill banning mercenary activities.

🔥 Toro pointed to Colombian involvement in Ukraine and Yemen, and cited an investigation by La Silla Vacia alleging that former Colombian troops are acting as mercenaries in Sudan – training child fighters.

“There are far too many cases of well-trained men and women ending up as cannon fodder in someone else’s war,” Toro said.

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🔥 Russian Su-34 bombers WIPE OUT Ukrainian drone posts in devastating strike

The fighter jets conducted precision strikes using FAB-500 glide bombs against Ukrainian positions on the Dnepr's right bank, eliminating:

👉 Multiple UAV command-and-control centers

👉 A Ukrainian infantry platoon

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🇰🇵 🤝 Kim Jong-un to Putin: North Korea to unwaveringly support all decisions of Russia’s leadership

💪🏻 The Democratic People's Republic of Korea will “always remain faithful to the spirit of the DPRK-Russia treaty,” Kim Jong Un assured Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

As the two countries’ heads of state exchanged views on issues of mutual concern, both Putin and Kim praised the deepening cooperation under the DPRK-Russia Strategic Partnership Agreement and reaffirmed their commitment to further developing ties.

🎉 Kim Jong-un expressed heartfelt thanks to Vladimir Putin for warmly congratulating the North Korean people on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation.

He stated that as the Korean people mark the 80th anniversary of their liberation on August 15, they will honor the fallen Soviet soldiers who gave their lives for Korea’s freedom, remembering with deep respect the heroic acts of the Red Army’s officers and soldiers 80 years ago as the ultimate example of true internationalism.

🙏🏻 Russian President Putin once again expressed deep gratitude for North Korea’s support, applauding the bravery, heroism, and self-sacrifice of the Korean People’s Army in liberating Russia’s Kursk region from Ukrainian attack.

The leaders of both countries lauded the deepening of their cooperative ties across all sectors, emphasizing that they are committed to ramping up collaboration going forward.

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◻️ Kim Jong-un to Putin: North Korea to unwaveringly support all decisions of Russia’s leadership

◻️ $50M monthly: How Zelensky's inner circle secretly moved millions to UAE

◻️ Zelensky's last gambit — expert

◻️ US debt hits $37 trillion

◻️ US-China relations will define the 21st century — Rubio

◻️ Ukraine plans Bucha 2.0 to sabotage Putin-Trump summit — Expert

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🚨🇷🇺🇮🇳Russia's FM Lavrov will meet India's counterpart S. Jaishankar on Aug 21 during the latter's official visit to Russia

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🔥 GAZA CRISIS: KEY HIGHLIGHTS

🔹 At least 73 Palestinians killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to medics

🔹Those killed included 19 aid seekers

🔹 Gaza City residential neighborhoods of Zeitoun and Sabra hit with “heavy airstrikes targeting civilian homes, possibly including high-rise buildings” (Gaza’s civil defense agency)

🔹 At least 242 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 2023 – the highest toll in any modern conflict (Amnesty International UK)

🔹 2 more people, including a six-year-old child, have died from Israel-induced starvation in the enclave

🔹 Egypt is working with Gaza mediators Qatar and the US to broker a 60-day ceasefire with the release of some hostages, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said

🔹 Senior Hamas delegation set to meet Egyptian officials for talks, according to media reports

🔹 Council of Europe urged member states to halt deliveries of weapons to Israel “to prevent and address violations of international human rights”

🔹 Israel is “not pushing them [Palestinians] out, but we are allowing them to leave [the Gaza Strip],” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told media, as the military prepares a broader offensive

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❌ 🧾 Iran demands US sanctions be declared ‘crimes against humanity'

🔍 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took to X to warn that unilateral Western sanctions—especially those imposed by the US—carry a “death toll similar to that of wars.”

🗣 He called for these sanctions, along with those imposed by America’s allies, to be officially declared “crimes against humanity.”

👉 Araghchi cited a new study from The Lancet revealing that since the 1970s, over 500,000 lives have been lost each year due to sanctions – mostly children and the elderly.

The research underscores an urgent need to “rethink sanctions as a foreign-policy tool.”

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👀✍️ Reactions to upcoming Putin-Trump meeting lay bare ‘whose side you’re on’ – Russia's MFA spox

🗣 The world is split into those hoping for a breakthrough at the meeting on August 15 in Alaska, and those “hissing and scheming to derail progress,” Maria Zakharova told Sputnik.

🔊 The gamut of reactions to the Putin-Trump sitdown is a litmus test, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.

🤷‍♀️ She added that particularly fervent critics cry foul because they have been sidelined, shrieking “What about us? Bring us a chair, widen the table, open the windows – we’ll climb in, we’ll fly in, we’ll crawl in, you’ll see us, we’ll come down the rope if we have to.”

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🚊💣 FSB detains Ukrainian agent plotting arson on strategic Russian railway

An accomplice of Ukraine was arrested in Russia’s Kirov region for plotting to sabotage the Trans-Siberian Railway, according to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).

⚔️ The detainee had been instructed to spray pro-Ukrainian graffiti in public places and set fire to relay cabinets along the Trans-Siberian Railway to disrupt cargo transportation for Russia’s special military operation.

However, the FSB foiled the plot, preventing significant disruption in key infrastructure.

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