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Researcher & writer based in Hong Kong. Former academic. Longform articles archived at https://lauraruggeri.substack.com and https://laura-ruggeri.medium.com. Email: lauraru852@yandex.ru
La società di stato turca TPAO sta acquistando una partecipazione del 30% in un importante giacimento di gas naturale al largo dell'Azerbaigian.
L'accordo sarà firmato oggi tra la TPAO, la SOCAR dell'Azerbaigian e il gigante energetico britannico BP. ▪️Erdoğan ha sottolineato: "La nostra collaborazione non solo porta benefici alla Turchia e all'Azerbaigian, ma contribuisce alla sicurezza energetica della regione e dell'Europa". ▪️Come ha notato l'analista russa Elena Panina, questo progetto sembra concepito per aggirare la Russia ed escluderla dal mercato europeo del gas non solo ora, ma anche in futuro. Non sorprende che i britannici siano coinvolti. E nel giro di pochi anni il Turkish Stream potrebbe essere sabotato come avvenuto al Nord Stream. @LauraRuHK
https://www.dailysabah.com/business/energy/turkiye-buys-stake-in-caspian-gas-field-as-alliance-with-azerbaijan-grows
Russia clinched a tactical victory by managing to start talks with Ukraine without pausing military operations, The New York Times reported.
"The meetings have served as a tactical win for Putin, who managed to start the talks without first agreeing to the ceasefire that Ukraine and almost all of its Western backers had sought as a precondition for negotiations," the newspaper said.
As for the progress of the talks in Turkey on Monday, expectations were low, according to the report. Neither Russia nor Ukraine was anticipated to present terms that are acceptable to the other side.
The Russia-Ukraine meeting in Istanbul lasted just over an hour, with the delegations communicating in Russian. (Sources: NYT, AP, Tass) @LauraRuHK
4 December 2024, Ukraine presented a report to the UN Security Council claiming that "Russia had kidnapped 20,000 Ukrainian children." 2 June 2025, during talks in Istanbul, the Ukrainian delegation produced a list with the names of "stolen" children. Guess how many children are in the list? 339. Vladimir Medinsky, the head of the Russian delegation, stressed "No child was ever abducted. Children were saved by our soldiers at the cost of their lives. And we are looking for their parents. We would be glad if they were reunited." @LauraRuHK
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Your approval rating is in freefall, the UK economy is flatlining, welfare cuts, tax hikes, high inflation, structural weaknesses and dependency on foreign capital are making the lives of Britons more miserable than ever. What do you do? Talk about war and increase military spending, of course.▪️No one knows where Starmer will find the money, but today he has promised to — Build at least six new munitions factories in the UK.
—Create a hybrid Royal Navy, blending drones with warships, submarines and aircraft
—Deliver up to 12 attack submarines to AUKUS (a partnership with the US and Australia)
—Provide better housing and equipment for members of the armed forces
—Invest £15bn in the "sovereign warhead programme" - meaning nuclear weapons. @LauraRuHK
In 2025 if you want to lose a presidential election, wax lyrical about the EU, voice support for woke causes (pushing the LGBT agenda is the new kiss of death), advocate for Ukraine's EU and NATO membership, suck up to Ursula. @LauraRuHK
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Today, the Kiev regime carried out a terrorist attack using FPV drones against airfields in the Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions.
▫️ At military airfields in the Ivanovo, Ryazan and Amur regions, all terrorist attacks were repelled.
▫️ In the Murmansk and Irkutsk regions, as a result of the launch of FPV drones from the territory located in the immediate vicinity of airfields, several planes caught fire.
▫️ The fires have been extinguished. There are no casualties among military personnel or civilians.
▫️ Some of the participants in the terrorist attacks have been detained.
(Source: Russian Ministry of Defence) @LauraRuHK
Another terrorist attack occured last night. An explosion caused a railway bridge to collapse on the 48th km of the Trosna-Kalinovka highway in Russia's Kursk region while a freight locomotive was passing over it, the region’s acting governor Alexander Khinshtein reported. The train driver was seriously injured. @LauraRuHK
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Julian Röpcke, Senior Editor @BILD and fanatical supporter of the Kiev regime, in the last few months has lost his chutzpah. Now he is forced to report that "Ukraine lost 18 towns and villages in three regions within one week – a loss of about 200 km² of territory. Russia's army is advancing at a rate not seen since 2022.
But in Berlin, London, Paris, Warsaw – and Kyiv – no one seems to want to hear about it. In any case, none of the governments is drawing the necessary conclusions." @LauraRuHK
Russia is getting ready for the next round of talks in Istanbul. Judging by the map, and the tone used by Ukrainian accounts, the situation on the ground is evolving quite rapidly. ▪️The conditions for Ukraine are deteriorating every day, and if it refuses a peaceful settlement, it will be left without Odessa, Sumy, Kharkov, and a number of other territories, Andrey Kartapolov, head of the Russian State Duma Committee on Defense, told TASS. @LauraRuHK
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Handler of subversion agents posing as 'human rights activists' confirms that they were recruited and indoctrinated in US universities. @LauraRuHK
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Reuters: The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taipei
US officials said they expect approvals for weapons sales to Taipei over the next four years to surpass those in Trump's first term.
They also said the US is pressing members of Taiwan's opposition parties not to oppose the government's efforts to increase defense spending to 3% of the island's economic output.
The first Trump administration approved sales of approximately $18.3 billion worth of weapons to Taiwan, compared with around $8.4 billion during Joe Biden's term, according to Reuters calculations.
The island's parliament, controlled by opposition parties the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People's Party (TPP), passed budget cuts earlier this year that could hit military spending. That triggered concerns in Washington. US government and congressional visitors have been pressing the opposition parties in Taiwan not to block military spending, especially the coming special defense budget, which is expected to be proposed to parliament later this year. ▪️New weapons packages are expected to focus on missiles, munitions and drones, which suggests a focus on asymmetric defense. The US promises weapons. The question is, can it deliver them given US defense industrial limits and sales process issues that have already created a huge backlog of undelivered weapons? https://tsm.schar.gmu.edu/taiwan-arms-backlog-february-2025-update-early-trump-admin-arms-sales-and-rumors-of-a-big-request-from-taiwan/ ▪️While selling weapons to Taiwan is a way of extorting 'protection' money, the announcement of increased weapons sales could be part of a broader negotiation strategy by Trump. By signaling a stronger commitment to Taiwan's defense, he might be increasing pressure on China in trade negotiations, which aligns with Trump's known tactics. The timing, close to trade talks, and Trump's history of using public statements and policy announcements as leverage in international negotiations supports this hypothesis. @LauraRuHK
What do German authorities do to mark the 1250 year anniversary of Westphalia? Stage a blasphemous performance in the Paderborn cathedral, of course. The spokesperson for the Regional Association of Westphalia-Lippe, which was responsible for the ceremony, told BILD: 'There was applause; I heard no complaints.' Interesting detail, the German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the Archbishop of Paderborn Udo Markus Bentz were in the audience. The organisers point the finger directly at Archbishop Bentz, accusing him of failing in his duty to safeguard both the cathedral and the Church's moral authority.
▪️Can you imagine this kind of show in a mosque, a synagogue or a Buddhist temple? As to the Russian orthodox church, the last time a group of deranged activists staged a sacrilegious performance inside Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour its members were arrested. ▪️Personally, I don't have a problem with scantily clad actors dancing with headless chickens in nappies as long as the performance is site-specific. The ideal venue would have been the Bundeskanzleramt in Berlin. 😏
/channel/disclosetv/15834
Dario Amodei — CEO of Anthropic, one of the world's most powerful creators of artificial intelligence — has a warning
AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs — and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years, Amodei told Axios in an interview from his San Francisco office.
Amodei said AI companies and government need to stop "sugar-coating" what's coming: the possible mass elimination of jobs across technology, finance, law, consulting and other white-collar professions. Few are paying attention. Lawmakers don't get it or don't believe it. CEOs are afraid to talk about it. Many workers won't realize the risks posed by the possible job apocalypse — until after it hits. We, as the producers of this technology, have a duty and an obligation to be honest about what is coming, Amodei added.
The irony is that Amodei detailed these grave fears after spending the day onstage touting the astonishing capabilities of his own technology to code and power other human-replacing AI products. With last week's release of Claude 4, Anthropic's latest chatbot, the company revealed that testing showed the model was capable of "extreme blackmail behavior" when given access to emails suggesting the model would soon be taken offline and replaced with a new AI system.
(Source: Axios) @LauraRuHK
Vladimir Solovyov: "I am sure that the Taurus missiles are already on the territory of Ukraine. Obviously, in order to please his Western masters, Zelensky will strike at the Crimean Bridge. This was repeatedly demanded by the Germans. We remember how information was leaked about a telephone conversation between high-ranking German military personnel discussing a strike on the bridge. This is what the British have wanted for a long time. The military-political significance should not be underestimated. The bridge is a fundamentally important infrastructure that has solved the issue of supplying Crimea. The strike may be carried out on a significant date, most likely on June 12. Of course, the date of June 22 is more familiar to Germans, but even for the Nazi bastard Merz it would be too much. Although I won't be surprised at anything anymore.
It seems to me that it is necessary to inform the German side through all available contacts that in this case a counter strike will be immediately launched both at the decision-making centers in Kiev and at a number of facilities in Germany. They shouldn't have any illusion that we won't respond. Do you want a Third World War? Carefully read what is written in our nuclear doctrine. The attack on the Crimean Bridge would be the beginning of the Third World War. /channel/SolovievLive/323575
Più di un anno fa il parlamento tedesco votava contro la consegna di missili da crociera Taurus all'Ucraina, allineandosi alle preoccupazioni dell'allora Cancelliere Olaf Scholz che giustamente temeva un'escalation del conflitto che avrebbe coinvolto la Germania. Dei 687 legislatori che parteciparono alla votazione, 494 si espressero contro la consegna, 188 a favore e 5 si astenneroi. Il risultato di quella consultazione è molto più rappresentativo dell'opinione pubblica del Paese di quanto non lo sia il grido di battaglia dei lobbisti della guerra. Quando il Cancelliere Merz era all'opposizione, strepitava per la consegna dei missili Taurus, la cui gittata puo' raggiungere i 500 chilometri,incoraggiato dal portavoce della politica estera della CDU Roderich Kiesewetter, dal Presidente della Commissione Difesa del Bundestag Thomas Röwekamp e dalla cheerleader di Rheinmetall, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann. La domanda da porsi è se nel suo nuovo ruolo di Cancelliere, Friedrich Merz rappresenta gli interessi di BlackRock o quelli della Germania. @LauraRuHK
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Türkiye's state energy company TPAO is buying a 30% stake in a major natural gas field off Azerbaijan.
The agreement will be signed today between TPAO, Azerbaijan’s SOCAR and British energy giant BP. ▪️Erdoğan
pointed out "Our collaboration not only benefits Türkiye and Azerbaijan but also continues to make significant contributions to the energy security of the region and Europe." As Elena Panina noted, this project seems designed to bypass Russia and exclude it from gas production and transit to the European market. Unsurprisingly, the Brits are deeply involved. And in a few years the Turkish Stream could be blown up the way the Nord Stream was. @LauraRuHK
4 dicembre 2024, Kiev presenta un rapporto al Consiglio di Sicurezza dell'ONU in cui sostiene che “la Russia ha rapito 20.000 bambini ucraini”.
2 giugno 2025, durante il secondo round di colloqui a Istanbul, la delegazione ucraina presenta una lista con i nomi dei bambini “rapiti”. Indovinate quanti bambini ci sono nell'elenco? 339.
Vladimir Medinsky, capo della delegazione russa, ha sottolineato: "Non un solo bambino è stato rapito. I bambini sono stati salvati da una zona di guerra dai nostri soldati che per metterli al sicuro rischiavano la loro stessa vita. Stiamo cercando i loro genitori e saremmo felici se venissero riuniti". @LauraRuHK
The Russian memorandum on a future settlement, handed over to the Ukrainian delegation at the negotiations in Istanbul, implies Ukraine's neutrality and a ban on any military activity by third countries on its territory. Russia's proposals envisage elections in Ukraine, followed by the signing of a peace treaty. The first section of the document contains the "basic parameters of the final settlement." The second section of the document, devoted to the terms of the ceasefire, contains two scenarios the events might follow. And the third section establishes the sequence of steps and the deadlines for their implementation. https://tass.com/politics/1967467
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Can BRICS Really Kill the Dollar? Think Again
👉🏻 https://youtu.be/YWi2mtbmF8M
Discover the REAL story behind BRICS vs. the Dollar! Backed by expert research and hard numbers, this deep dive reveals how BRICS is reshaping global finance without replacing the dollar outright. Watch now to understand the strategic implications that the media isn’t telling you!
#BRICS #Dedollarization #GlobalEconomy
In the nineteenth century, hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness and believed to affect women. In the twentieth century it was replaced by other diagnoses and no longer features in the manual of mental disorders. Hysteria is still used as a general term for any dramatic displays of outrage or emotion. Although the sole administrator of this channel is a woman, if you are looking for bipolar drama, impulsive reactions and emotional excess — the essence of which can be summarized in "nuke them", "blow them all up" — you are following the wrong channel. Apart from a few notable exceptions, the majority of self-styled analysts and military bloggers (aka media whores) yesterday behaved hysterically. Actually they do it every single time military events don't meet their expectations. One day they shout hurrah, the next they unwittingly amplify enemy propaganda. We are all capable of powerful feelings, thank you, but maintaining one’s balance and discernment in spite of them is the quality that separates a hooligan from a soldier, in case they fancy themselves as info-warriors. Even with the violence of emotion, judgment and principle must still function. This underscores the need to remain steadfast, resisting impulsive reactions or despair when faced with setbacks or overwhelming odds. PS. Thank goodness they don't hold any military position. @LauraRuHK
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According to Ukrainian media, the SBU, Ukraine's secret service, is conducting a large-scale operation to attack military aircraft in the rear of Russia. 🔺in Siberia drones launched from a truck targeted a military facility in the Irkutsk region. @LauraRuHK
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Terror attack in Bryansk region, Russia. Yesterday at 10:50 p.m. a passenger train traveling from Klimov to Moscow derailed as a result of an explosion that caused a bridge to collapse in the Vygonichsky District. Seven people were killed and 33 were injured. Two of the injured, including a child, are in serious condition. Sabotage seems timed to coincide with the negotiations that will be held tomorrow in Istanbul but is also part of the terror campaign that the Kiev regime has long been carrying out in Russia.
@LauraRuHK
Beijing and Moscow should work together to maintain stability in the Asia-Pacific region, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Sun Weidong said.
“China and Russia should continue to strengthen communication and coordination with regard to the affairs of the Asia-Pacific region, and work together to protect regional peace, maintain stability and ensure development and prosperity,” he pointed out at a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko in Beijing.
US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth:
"Asian allies and partners should look to countries in Europe as a new-found example. Nato members are pledging to spend 5 per cent of their GDP on defence, even Germany. How can it make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies and partners in Asia spend far less in the face of a far more formidable threat from Communist China, not to mention North Korea? Ultimately, a strong, resolute, and capable network of allies and partners is our key strategic advantage. China envies what we have together.” (Source: The Straits Times)
SCO joins the AI tech race - China announced a plan to establish an artificial intelligence (AI) application cooperation center together with member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and pledged to ramp up cooperation in providing open-source services among them in order to deepen technology integration. China proposed a four-point plan to enhance policy coordination, expand technological collaboration, promote application empowerment, and strengthen AI governance, and participating countries all agreed to accelerate the development of high-quality datasets, as well as to conduct joint research on frontier AI technologies.
SCO, as the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographical coverage and population, possesses abundant data resources and diverse application scenarios. In 2024, trade between China and SCO members (Belarus, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan) observers (Afghanistan, Mongolia), and 14 dialogue partners reached $890 billion, setting a historic high, according to China's Ministry of Commerce. (Source: Global Times) @LauraRuHK
Dario Amodei - amministratore delegato di Anthropic, nota società di intelligenza artificiale - ha lanciato un allarme.
L'IA potrebbe spazzare via la metà dei posti di lavoro dei colletti bianchi e far schizzare la disoccupazione al 10-20% nei prossimi uno-cinque anni, ha dichiarato Amodei ad Axios in un'intervista dal suo ufficio di San Francisco.
Amodei ha detto che le aziende di IA e il governo devono smettere di “indorare la pillola” su ciò che sta per accadere: la possibile eliminazione di massa di posti di lavoro nei settori della tecnologia, della finanza e della consulenza, oltre che nel settore legale e in altre professioni. Pochi prestano attenzione. I legislatori non capiscono o non ci credono. Gli amministratori delegati hanno paura di parlarne. Molti lavoratori si renderanno conto dalla possibile apocalisse solo dopo che sarà avvenuta. Noi, in quanto produttori di questa tecnologia, abbiamo il dovere e l'obbligo di essere onesti su ciò che sta per accadere, ha aggiunto Amodei.
L'ironia della sorte è che Amodei ha descritto nel dettaglio questi gravi timori dopo aver trascorso la giornata sul palco a presentare le sorprendenti capacità della propria tecnologia di scrivere programmi per applicazioni di IA in grado di sostituire l'uomo. Con il lancio la scorsa settimana di Claude 4, l'ultimo chatbot di Anthropic, l'azienda ha rivelato che durante i test il modello ha dimostrato di essere capace di “comportamenti ricattatori estremi” quando gli è stato dato accesso alle e-mail che contenevano l'informazione che il modello sarebbe stato presto sostituito con un nuovo sistema di IA.
(Fonte: Axios) @LauraRuHK
Vladimir Solovyov: "At a meeting with Zelensky, Merz said that Germany would do everything possible to prevent Nord Stream 2 from being put in operation. In addition, the German Chancellor announced that Germany plans to organize the production of long-range missiles in Ukraine.
"On behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany, I declare: We will do everything possible to ensure that Nord Stream 2 is not put back into operation. Today we also discussed Germany's military support for Ukraine. I will refrain from disclosing details, but I can say the following: We will continue to provide military support and strengthen it so that Ukraine can defend itself from this Russian aggression both now and in the future. And in this context, I would like to emphasize something new. We finance a significant part of Ukraine's Starlink system. And today our defense ministers will sign a declaration of intent on the purchase of long—range weapons systems of Ukrainian manufacture - the so-called Long Range Fires. At the same time, there will be no range restrictions. This will allow Ukraine to fully defend itself, and carry out attacks on military targets outside its own territory. This is the beginning of a new form of military-industrial cooperation between our countries, which has great potential." /channel/SolovievLive/323579
The US is buying time as it tries to reorganize its military industrial complex.
"In 1950, the US manufacturing labor force made up 33.7 percent of the domestic economy—a figure that has dwindled to less than 8.4 percent today. US defense manufacturing capabilities have struggled to keep pace with Ukraine’s expenditure of 8,000 155mm howitzer shells per day. The same kind of challenge holds true for electronics. In the 1990s, 37 percent of the world’s computer chips were produced domestically. Today, that number has declined to 12 percent. Offshoring these capabilities for a cost advantage is emblematic of a critical production shortfall in several domestic sectors that will take years to resolve.
At the end of the Cold War, the US industrial base consolidated from 51 to five “prime” defense companies, reflecting the new “peace dividend.” The contraction reduced the engagement of smaller firms with the Defense Department by as much as 40 percent. This reduction impacted both the American ability to manufacture and its ability to innovate. Without a robust private sector innovation engine, the DOD must rely on five prime contractors, a network of 43 federally funded research and development centers (FFRDC), and 14 university-affiliated research centers (UARCs).
While there have been successes, especially through the Defense Innovation Unit, a renewed push for broader private sector capabilities is urgently required. The private sector possesses far more resources to bring to bear to propel defense innovation. General Motors’ internal research and development budget alone is greater than that of the five defense primes combined.
Contested Supply Chains and Loss of Sanctuary
Effective manufacturing is further complicated by contested and vulnerable supply chains. China processes up to 90 percent of the necessary rare earth elements, exporting 60 percent for global consumption. Overreliance on Chinese-controlled sources already impacts US military technology. F-35 delivery was stalled in 2022 after Chinese mineral components were discovered in the jet’s turbomachine pumps. Export controls announced by China for critical minerals—antimony, tungsten, and scandium—create further problems. The United States even faces challenges in accessing critical minerals in Africa due to Chinese and Russian initiatives in those countries."
Over a year ago, in March 2024, Germany's Bundestag voted against the delivery of Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine, aligning with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's concerns about escalating war involvement. Of the 687 lawmakers who took part in the vote, 494 voted against the delivery with 188 in favor and five abstentions. That vote is far more representative of public opinion in the country than the war lobbyists' rallying cry. When Chancellor Merz was an opposition politician, he demanded the delivery of Taurus, routinely egged on by CDU foreign policy spokesman Roderich Kiesewetter, Chair of the Bundestag's Defence Committee Thomas Röwekamp and Miss Rheinmetall Strack-Zimmermann. In his new role as Chancellor does Friedrich Merz represent the interests of BlackRock or those of Germany? @LauraRuHK
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