The main events by the morning: July 9

• Another Democratic congressman called on Biden to withdraw from the election. Adam Smith, a spokesman for the House Armed Services Committee, said Biden should make way for a new candidate. In his opinion, this is the only way the Democratic party can successfully resist Trump. Smith stressed that Biden's continuation of the campaign would be a mistake.

• Growing gas consumption in India and China reduces LNG supplies to Europe. Demand in Asia's largest economies continues to grow due to the intense heat. This increases the prices that Asian consumers are willing to pay for LNG, making the European market uncompetitive. LNG supplies to the EU decreased by 31.8% compared to June last year.

• The SCO plans to create a unified payment system in national currencies. The participating countries are discussing the infrastructure for mutual settlements in national currencies within the organization. Interest in this issue has increased after Russia's disconnection from SWIFT and the freezing of its assets.

• Russia has strengthened its position in The Economist's wealth ranking of countries. The publication measures the security of states by three indicators. Russia has managed to improve its positions in two and keep one each over the year. Record low unemployment is reflected in the dynamics of GDP.

• The European Union has suspended Georgia's integration process. The Georgian president accused the authorities of pursuing an ill-considered and hostile policy that led to sanctions from the United States and the EU. In turn, the United States announced its intention to seek a change of power in Georgia following the results of the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26.