North Korea is sending engineering troops to the occupied territory of Ukraine

"Putin seeks to maintain his ground with the help of some countries and intends to be a leader in years ahead of us. The North Korean president will send military construction and engineering forces to participate in "reconstruction works" in the occupied Donetsk region as early as July 2024. The goal is to rebuild infrastructure in Donetsk. Such work could bring North Korea significant revenue, potentially up to $115 million annually." FW

A week of deadly clashes in Kenya

"Kenya descended into chaos on Tuesday when riot police fired live rounds into crowds of protesters who had stormed the National Assembly to demonstrate against controversial tax increases demanded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

At least 22 people were killed by gunfire, according to a statement on Wednesday from the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHRC). It condemned the “excessive use of force by the police” during the protests, which erupted when lawmakers voted 195-106 to pass the government’s 2024 Finance Bill." RT

China Mocks U.S. Presidential Debate

"Chinese commentators mocked the first presidential debate between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, pointing out the president's repeated verbal stumbles.

Biden was widely seen as the loser of the debate. With his voice sounding hoarse and sometimes appearing to go off track in his remarks, his performance was criticized by both Republicans and Democrats in America at a time that he had been fighting questions over his age." Newsweek

59 combat clashes on front lines since start of day

"Since the beginning of the day, 59 combat engagements have occurred on the front lines in Ukraine. The invaders carried out 16 air strikes using 33 guided aerial bombs, fired more than 565 times at Ukrainian positions and settlements." Ukrin

Futures Jump After Biden's Disastrous Debate, Core PCE Looms

"Futures are higher led by small caps with tech stocks also mostly higher, as markets start pricing in a Trump presidency following what even Bloomberg admitted was a "disastrous" debate performance by Biden which is making Democrats panic. As of 7:45am ET, S&P and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.4%, suggesting this week’s rally on Wall Street is set to continue,

with both indexes on course for a third quarter of gains amid expectations that signs of more bad economic growth will give the Fed more room to ease policy this year. That said, not even a looming core PCE which will likely show continued easing in prices (May PCE est 0.0% MoM, down from 0.3%, 2.6% YoY, down from 2.7%) is having an impact on bond yields which are notably higher this morning. The elephant in the room, of course, was last night catastrophic debate by Joe Biden who ended his presidential campaign in less than 2 hours because as Bloomberg notes, "Biden failed to ameliorate concern about his age in the presidential debate, offering remarks in a hoarse voice and often misspeaking and meandering. A thousand-yard stare on the split screen didn’t help. Donald Trump won the debate, according to 67% of watchers polled by a CNN flash poll. Democrats expressed alarm about Biden’s candidacy, but the president told reporters he intends to stay on the ticket." ZH

Russian army shells Kharkiv region

 "Ukrainian defence forces repelled all Russian attacks in the Kupyansk sector. According to him, there were 10 firefights in the Kupyansk sector. The Russians attacked in the areas of

Stepova Novoselivka, northeast of Petropavlivka, Pishchane, Stelmakhivka and Andriivka. All attacks were repelled. The defense forces are taking measures to strengthen their borders and prevent the enemy from advancing. According to Syniehubov, in the Kharkiv sector, three assault actions by the Russian army in the areas of Vovchansk, Lyptsi and Sotnytskyi Kozachok were unsuccessful. Yesterday afternoon, as a result of a shelling of Kharkiv, 5 private houses, a garage cooperative, an apartment building and a building of an educational institution were damaged." Ukrin

HUR cyberattack paralyzes Crimean Bridge traffic

"Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence (HUR) is attacking Russia’s communications infrastructure in occupied Crimea. The source said that following yesterday’s damage to the infrastructure of local internet service providers, HUR cyber specialists are now targeting servers of Russian propaganda media, communication operators, and the registration and traffic control systems at the illegally constructed Crimean Bridge." UV