donnievdo

I want to express my deepest gratitude and appreciation to my 1,000 amazing followers on Binance Square. Your likes, comments and support mean a lot to me. I am very grateful to all of you. Whether we've been friends for years or just met, I appreciate your presence in my online community 🙏

👉 🌱 👈

Round 9

Total templates – 4
Winning templates – 2

Round 8

Total templates – 8
Winning templates – 4

Btw. In this round, the top 8,184 painters from each template will determine the winners.

Does absolute evil have a face?
Can you befriend someone who lunges at you with a dagger?
Has Gavkus always been an eccentric magician?

These questions cannot be answered in two words. We’ll try to answer them in seven episodes. Camera, action!
The screenwriters are already resting. The composers have written the main themes. But the editing room is lit up 24/7.
We don’t need inspiration — for you have gifted us a story.

Wait, is this the cat?

We are on Telegram to tell stories, build communities, and unite. To freely choose new paths.

Each dog is unique, but all dogs belong to the pack. Despite the fact that we are all lost dogs, we are all part of a dog community

Carry on, pack. The dog season is here to stay

Some lost dogs are more lost than the others. If you forgot to claim your winnings in $NOT, here’s a reminder on how to do it:

1⃣ Go to the game and select the "Profile" button in the bottom right corner.

2⃣ After that, you will see your $NOT balance. And click "Claim" button. Yes, it is that easy!

If you swapped $NOT for BONES but did not use them, they have been returned to your app balance.

⭐️ Your connected wallet should have a little TON for paying the network fee.

⚠️ If you interrupted your $NOT withdrawal for any reason (e.g., insufficient TON balance to cover the fee), your balance will be updated within an hour. After that, you can try again.

And get ready for the next chapter in the dogs' story—we're not just sitting idly by.

Welcome to the Lost Dogs pack, fren! Now you won't be alone ❤️

🤩 Here, we're creating a new story for the Pack; together, we'll decide the fate of the dogs, and mine $WOOF for it.
The journey will last only 6 weeks, so you're just in time. Come back daily to earn extra $WOOF!

💎 Almost forgot... invite friends, create squads, and develop strategies. After all, the winner will receive not only $WOOF but also $NOT!

Hold tight, it seems like a pearl-moon is rising! 🌕

The pack has been howling at what seemed to be the moon, only to discover it was a giant pearl. The magician from Lost Dogs saw it in his crystal ball! This drop is no ordinary find—the dogs have left behind a cryptic clue that could shape their destiny, a key that might unravel the secrets of the pack.

This isn’t just about claiming a unique relic; it’s your chance to explore the mysteries buried deep within the ashes of dog world. Will you be the one to decipher the signs and unlock the truth?

But beware, the clock is ticking. You have only until 13:00 CET on September 3rd to take part. Time slips through their paws, and adventure waits for no one. Join the pack and discover a world where a new future is being built, one bark at a time, with Lost Dogs: The Hint!

🧑‍🎨 It’s quiet in our kennels. We sit by the fire, gazing at the starry sky. It's hard for us to comprehend what has happened: you have created a vast world that unfolded before our eyes.

✨ In 42 days, 11 million players created an entirely new reality. A collective dream became... real. We feel the rain of the jungle and the radioactive dust from the explosion of the source on our paws, and before our eyes – Gavkus' fireworks bloom.

How we long to rebuild, experience, and absorb every detail of this story, friends! In a daring endeavor, we compiled your journey and made an animated film depicting the fate of Dogtown.

🎬 Let's watch it together, hugging and anticipating the next chapter in the story of the Lost Dogs.

42 days, 11 million users guessing, playing and having fun. This was not just a random game, but a story, created by the community. Beautiful.

This is a story that once again showed how important the social aspect is in web3.

Millions of people from all over the world united, planned their steps to determine the fate of the Lost Dogs.

What happened now is a prologue to things that will happen in the coming months.

Now, it’s time to savor a few bones and celebrate this dog-filled adventure 🌚

❤️

Apparently,

a radioactive waste leak from the bomb-source has affected our servers as well... The problem has been localized, protective measures have been taken, and we’re already fixing everything. So far, no dog engineers have been harmed.

Ukrainian man wanted over Nord Stream pipelines explosions

German authorities have issued an international arrest warrant for a Ukrainian man suspected of carrying out the explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipeline two years ago.

The explosions left gas billowing from Nord Stream 1 and 2 – two major conduits that transported Russian gas to Europe – and prompted a huge operation to find who was responsible.

A spokeswoman for Poland’s Public Prosecutors Office, Anna Adamiak, confirmed Poland had received a warrant from Germany seeking the arrest of a Ukrainian man, named as Volodymyr Z. Reuters, citing Polish prosecutors, said he was able to leave Polish territory as German authorities had not included him on a database of wanted people.

The origin of the explosions has been a subject of intense speculation and further stoked political tensions in Europe seven months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Neither of the pipelines were actively transporting gas to Europe at the time of the leaks, though they still held gas under pressure.

Investigators found evidence of explosives at the sites in November 2022, leading Swedish prosecutors to conclude that the blasts were caused by an act of sabotage.

According to the new German media reports, investigators in Germany believe that the sailing boat set sail from Rostock, Germany in September 2022, stopping in Denmark, Sweden and Poland, with a six-person crew including five men and one woman.

During that voyage, the crew is reportedly suspected of diving into the Baltic Sea and attaching explosives to the massive Nord Stream pipelines, which subsequently detonated and damaged both lines, according to the outlets.

The New York Times meanwhile reported in 2023 that intelligence reviewed by US officials suggested a group loyal to Ukraine, but acting independently of the government in Kyiv, were involved in the operation.

***CNN

Walz once praised Muslim leader who shared antisemitic propaganda

Walz’s appearance alongside the Muslim cleric, one of several in recent years, came after Zaman had shared a link in 2015 to a neo-NZ propaganda film that portrayed Adolf Hitler in a positive light. Zaman had also shared a Hamas press release in 2016 mourning the death of a Bangladeshi Muslim politician, who was executed after being found guilty of war crimes.

In the wake of the October 7 attacks by Hamas inside Israel, Zaman has shared anti-Israel posts on social media. On October 7, he expressed solidarity with Palestinians “against Israeli attacks” while sharing a statement from the Muslim American Society of Minnesota condemning “Israel’s recent unprovoked attacks.” Earlier that day, Zaman shared a post arguing, “Palestine has the right to defend itself.”

Asked about his opinion of the Harris-Walz campaign’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, Zaman said he was “unclear on what their stance is” but added that he hopes to see “an immediate end to the enormous human suffering and devastation this war is causing.”

As governor, Walz and members of his staff have hosted and appeared alongside Zaman on multiple occasions, including a meeting as recently as last year about a spike in security concerns at local mosques. Zaman joined Walz and other Minnesota elected officials at a news conference calling for the end of the federal government shutdown in January 2019. He delivered an invocation along with other faith leaders ahead of Walz’s annual State of the State address later that year.

Walz and Zaman both spoke at a news conference featuring Minnesota elected officials and community faith leaders calling for protesters to act peacefully following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020.

**CNN

Japan’s Retail Investors Boost Bullish Yen Wagers to Near Record

Japanese retail investors are betting on a further rally in the yen even as it retraces some of the gains made in the past two weeks.

Net yen long positions held by individual traders against 14 foreign currencies via futures stood at ¥431 billion ($2.9 billion) as of Monday, up 22% since the Bank of Japan’s rate hike late last month, according to Tokyo Financial Exchange Inc. data compiled by Bloomberg. That puts them close to the record ¥501 billion reached in April.

These bullish positions signal a strong conviction among retail traders that the rally in Japan’s currency has more legs, given these bets stand to incur losses resulting from the still-wide yield differentials between Japan and other economies. Yen bulls have also been energized by prospects for Federal Reserve policy easing and heightened market volatility that scared off carry traders.

Japan’s currency traded little changed at 146.88 against the dollar as of 7:15 a.m. in Tokyo. It’s fallen about 4% since touching a seven-month high of 141.70 last week.

The bulk of yen long positions were against the dollar, followed by the pound and the Swiss franc. Japanese retail accounts still held yen shorts against high-yielding currencies such as the Mexican peso and Turkish lira, although these have been greatly pared back in the past two weeks.

Yen positions held on Tokyo Financial Exchange are part of a larger pool of money that retail investors plow into currency markets. Foreign-exchange trading by individuals accounted for almost a quarter of entire currency transactions in Tokyo last year, according to a report from the Financial Futures Association of Japan.

** Bloomberg L.P.

Russian Banks Scramble for Yuan as Liquidity Shortfall Doubles

China became Russia’s main trade partner after the Kremlin was severed from Western markets by penalties unleashed in response to the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Amid Moscow and Beijing’s “no-limits friendship,” around $240 billion of imports and exports are now priced almost entirely in yuan.

But there’s growing evidence Chinese banks are afraid of being penalized for indirectly funding Russia’s war machine under the latest, expanded US sanctions announced in June. Payment issues were at the top of the agenda when Russia President Vladimir Putin met with Chinese President X.J.

As yuan liquidity in Russia dries up, firms are turning more and more to using yuan swaps with the Bank of Russia — operations that were previously viewed as an expensive last resort. The average daily volume of yuan borrowed via the swaps jumped to 20 billion yuan ($2.8 billion) in August compared with 10 billion yuan in June, Bloomberg calculations using the latest central bank data show.

The US widened the parameters for determining whether to impose secondary sanctions by broadening the definition of Russia’s military-industrial base. Last month, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US is preparing new sanctions on Chinese entities that support Russia’s war in Ukraine, hinting that banks may be in the cross-hairs.

That warning has made many Chinese lenders wary of transferring yuan, and in some cases froze transactions for months, according to Vladimir Chernov, an analyst at the Freedom Finance Global brokerage.

As rates for borrowing yuan overnight spiked beyond 20%, the Bank of Russia tripled the maximum volume permitted for yuan swaps to 30 billion yuan. While that cooled the cost of funding in the Chinese currency, rates are significantly higher than before the June sanctions.

**Bloomberg L.P.

China celebrates historic Olympic gold medal tie with US after neck and neck battle

China is celebrating its best-ever performance at an overseas Olympics after winning the same number of golds as the United States at the Paris 2024 Games.

Both countries finished with 40 golds, marking the first ever tie for total golds at the Summer Games – but the US claimed top spot overall with 126 medals to China’s 91.

The race was dramatically close as the two sporting superpowers went head-to-head in yet another aspect of their geopolitical rivalry in a Games that was at times overshadowed by a doping controversy.

China has become one of the world’s most competitive sporting nations in recent decades, seeing its Olympic performance as a symbol of national strength. In 2008, it topped the gold medal table at the Beijing Games, surpassing the US for the first time.

In Paris, the Chinese team appeared on course to top the medal table as it built up a sizable early lead over Team USA, thanks to its domination in shooting and diving. But as track and field events got underway, the US quickly caught up – then eventually overtook its rival.

China is only the third country after the US and the former Soviet Union to top the gold medal count at a Summer Olympics away from home soil – and Chinese state media hailed the “record-breaking” haul from Paris.

Gold medalist Simone Biles of Team United States celebrates on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Vault Final on day eight of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Bercy Arena on August 03, 2024 in Paris, France.

Chinese social media also celebrated the team’s performance with a burst of national pride, with many users criticizing what they said was as an unfair attempt by US officials to smear China with persistent doping allegations against its swim team.

On microblogging site Weibo, the hashtag “China tied for first place on the gold medal leaderboard” became the top trending topic, racking up more than 500 million views.

**CNN

China July new bank loans dip to 260 billion yuan,

Chinese banks extended 260 billion yuan ($36.26 billion) in new yuan loans in July, down from the previous month and undershooting analysts' forecasts, highlighting weak demand as a prolonged property downturn and job insecurity drag on business and consumer confidence.

Analysts polled by Reuters had expected new yuan loans would come in at 450 billion yuan last month, down sharply from 2.13 trillion yuan the previous month but more than the 345.9 billion yuan a year earlier.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) does not provide monthly breakdowns but Reuters calculated the July figures based on the bank's Jan-July data released on Tuesday, compared with the Jan-June figure.

The PBOC said new yuan loans totalled 13.53 trillion yuan for the first seven months of the year.

Growth in broad M2 money supply accelerated last month to 6.3% from a year earlier, above estimates of 6.1% forecast in the Reuters poll and 6.2% in June.

Growth in outstanding yuan loans slowed to 8.7% compared with 8.8% in June. Analysts had expected a 8.8% growth.

($1 = 7.1705 Chinese yuan renminbi)

**streetinsider