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🔊 Netanyahu aims to phase out $3.8B annual US military aid over next decade
The Israeli prime minister says he wants to "draw down to zero" the financial component of military cooperation with the United States.
"We receive $3.8 billion a year, and I think it's time that we weaned ourselves from the remaining military support. I want to start now and do it over the next 10 years," he told CBS News.
🗣 Starmer refuses to quit as Labour faces biggest crisis in decades
More than 30 of his own lawmakers have called for him to step after local election defeats – the worst for a governing party in over 30 years.
In a fightback speech, he'll admit "incremental change won't cut it" and pledge to put Britain "at the heart of Europe" – a defining mission almost a decade after Brexit, Reuters reported.
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🗣🇮🇷 Iran to Trump: We don't draft plans to please you
An informed source tells Tasnim that Tehran's negotiators are unfazed by the US president calling their 14‑point proposal "totally unacceptable."
"No one in Iran drafts plans to please Trump. The negotiation team drafts plans for the rights of the Iranian nation. If Trump is not satisfied, that is naturally better."
🗡🇨🇳 China’s real-life “flying sword” finally takes off
Chinese inventor Fan Shisan successfully tested a manned flying sword inspired by wuxia fantasy novels after more than a year of redesigns and failed attempts.
Built with multi-rotor technology and a cross-shaped structure, the aircraft completed a real untethered flight — no wires, no CGI.
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🛢 World’s oil reserves draining at record speed as Iran war disrupts supplies
🔊 The world has drawn down oil inventories at a record pace as the Iran war chokes flows from the Persian Gulf, eating into the very buffer that protects against supply shocks, Bloomberg reports.
🟠 This leaves governments and industries with far fewer tools to reduce future disruptions, and means the market will remain vulnerable for much longer, even after the conflict ends.
🟠 The most immediate pressure is falling on fuel-import-dependent nations in Asia. Traders are particularly concerned about Indonesia, Vietnam, Pakistan, and the Philippines, where supplies could reach critically low levels in as little as a month.
🟠 While global oil consumption has already seen a sharp decline, analysts warn that inventories are nearing dangerously low levels, and to restore the balance, prices may need to spike significantly higher, forcing an even sharper drop in demand.
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🇮🇷🇺🇸 Taught by US for years, Iran can withstand Trump's blockade — expert
Despite Donald Trump saying Iran’s oil infrastructure could "explode" in days due to the American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has experience of living under similar conditions, Eurasia Group think tank expert Gregory Brew told NBC.
💬 "I don’t think it’s going to do tremendous damage to their infrastructure. They know how to do this [survive under such pressure]. They’ve done it before," he said, pointing out that Iran has been living in a special economic mode for 15 years due to US sanctions.
🇺🇸 Trump warns anyone approaching Iran’s uranium sites: “We’ll know about it, and we’ll blow them up.”
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🇨🇳 China unlocks secret to turning wastewater into fertilizer while slashing energy use by 80%
👉 The newly-discovered catalyst can convert toxic nitrate runoff into ammonia — the key ingredient for urea fertilizer — with nearly three times the efficiency of old methods.
The tech:
🔶 Dual-atom catalysts (two metals working as a team) discovered in hours via AI
🔶 96%+ Faradaic efficiency at room temperature and pressure (old methods: 35–40%)
🔶 Developed by the Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences
China’s yearly ~2.5 million tons of nitrate-nitrogen from farms and factories can be converted to ~3.5 million tons of fertilizer.
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🇷🇺🚀 Russia to build its first private spaceport for ultra-light rockets in 2026
Russia’s Space Energy plans to build its own Primorsky cosmodrome designed for ultralight and light rockets, including the company’s own Orbita launcher (250 kg to low Earth orbit / 150 kg to sun-synchronous orbit).
🟠 The site was chosen for ideal ballistic conditions and safe sea landing zones.
🟠 The first launch was originally planned for 2027 — but could happen as early as 2026 if the project stays on schedule.
🟠 The project might serve commercial, scientific, and technological missions for other customers - a major milestone for private-sector participation in Russia’s space industry.
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🚨 Aftermath of Israeli strike on civil defense center in Tibnin, southern Lebanon
One rescue worker is reported dead. Several others wounded.
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🇺🇸🇮🇱🇮🇷US-Israeli escalation against Iran is now hitting global supply chains
Disruptions in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz have triggered a sharp rise in sulfuric acid prices, a key chemical used in fertilizers and metal extraction, the Wall Street Journal reports.
China, the world’s largest sulfuric acid producer, has reportedly restricted exports amid supply fears, tightening the market even further.
Analysts warn countries like Chile and Indonesia could face major disruptions as global shortages worsen.
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🇮🇷Iran expands light submarines fleet in the Strait of Hormuz
The domestically-built “Dolphins of the Persian Gulf” are designed to operate in the narrow strategic waterway, Commander of the Iranian Navy Shahram Irani said.
They can rest on the seabed for long periods, silently monitoring the area while remaining ready to engage threats.
Irani confirmed the submarines are being deployed based on operational needs and have already conducted formation maneuvers.
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🇨🇳 Beware, OpenAI: China is building world’s fastest-growing AI cybersecurity powerhouse
Backed by double‑digit market growth and the State Council's Artificial Intelligence+ action plan, China’s AI security models are evolving at breakneck speed.
🔸 IDC China forecasts the AI cybersecurity market will hit $8.7 billion by 2030 — a more than 37-fold increase from 2025
🔸 Security AI applications are projected to reach $1.6 billion by 2028, with annual growth exceeding 230%
🔸 Sangfor Technologies’ Security GPT is already deployed in 500+ real-world environments and ranked #1 in national cybersecurity tests
🔸 Companies like Qi An Xin are embedding AI across cloud security, threat intelligence, and automated defense
AI has reduced cyber incident response times from hours to minutes, per the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.
China’s vulnerability-discovery systems are now matching — and in some areas surpassing — human experts in detecting zero-day cyber threats.
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🇨🇳🇧🇷 China's trump card in Latin America: profit with no political strings attached
China's focus on real-economy investments — energy, logistics, telecom — is what makes it such an attractive partner for Brazil, while the West tends to prioritize financial and speculative sectors, leading China-Brazil specialist Evandro Menezes de Carvalho tells Sputnik.
🔸 Cooperation with Beijing delivers practical results instead of political conditionalities
🔸 It also helps Latin American countries advance toward a multipolar world as they no longer want to depend exclusively on traditional Western economic centers
💬 “Chinese companies are interested in Brazil because of its large market size and relatively better development conditions,” adds Dr. John Gong, professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.
📑 Israel ran secret airbase inside Iraq to strike Iran – report
Israel established a clandestine military facility in the Iraqi desert shortly before the Iran war began. According to The Wall Street Journal, the base housed special forces, served as an IAF logistics hub, and hosted search‑and‑rescue teams for downed pilots.
👉 A local shepherd reported unusual helicopter activity. Iraqi forces were dispatched to investigate. Israel contained them with airstrikes.
👉 When an American F‑15 was shot down near Isfahan, Israel offered help, but US forces rescued their own pilots. Israel still carried out strikes to protect the operation.
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📑 Europe to lead naval mission in Strait of Hormuz – report
More than 40 countries are set to convene on Monday to discuss a European-led "defensive operation," spearheaded by the United Kingdom and France.
The mission aims to escort commercial ships, clear mines, and patrol the airspace once a stable ceasefire is established, according to a Bloomberg report.
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🇮🇷💥 Iran shoots down enemy reconnaissance drone in southwest region
The Iranian Army says the drone was destroyed by the country's integrated air defense network under the command of the Joint Air Defense Headquarters.
📹 Footage from social media
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📑🇮🇷 Iran lays out its terms to end the war
According to Al Mayadeen's diplomatic sources, the Tehran's response, delivered via Pakistan, includes:
🔹 End the US naval blockade and allow oil exports;
🔹 Ceasefire in Lebanon (Iran's red line);
🔹 End of war immediately upon agreement;
🔹 Lift all US sanctions and unfreeze Iranian assets;
🔹 Remove OFAC restrictions on Iranian oil sales;
🔹 Iranian control over Strait of Hormuz;
🔹 30‑day post‑war talks to finalize details.
Iran has proposed reciprocal steps to test Washington's seriousness in fulfilling its commitments.
🇱🇧 No deal without Lebanon's ceasefire – Tehran links the two.
US president Donald Trump called Iran's proposal 'totally unacceptable':
💬 "I have just read the response from Iran’s so-called 'Representatives.' I don’t like it — TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!" he wrote on Truth Social.
🔸 Persian Gulf chaos chokes supply of world’s most-used industrial chemical
🔸 Russia wins diplomatic judo against West & Ukraine — experts
🔸 China's trump card in Latin America: profit with no political strings attached
🔸 Why are the world's oil wells so uneven and the Persian Gulf has so much? A geologist breaks it down
🔸 BRICS forges new era of deeper Brazil-China cooperation - expert
🔸 Russia to build its first private spaceport for ultra-light rockets in 2026
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🇻🇳🤝🇷🇺🇮🇳 Why is Vietnam joining India-Russia BrahMos missile club in supersonic shift?
📍 Vietnam is in advanced talks over a $700 million deal to buy BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles free of NATO gatekeeping or political strings attached.
The jointly-developed missile:
▪️ is the fastest operational supersonic cruise missile – flies at Mach 3.5 (over 3.700 km per hour)
▪️ delivers a 200 kg high-precision warhead
🔹 Subsonic Western cruise missiles (Tomahawk, Harpoon) travel at roughly one-third of BrahMos's speed.
Its export version respects the Missile Technology Control Regime limit of 290 km, yet delivers asymmetric strike capability.
🔹 The Philippines became the first buyer in 2022, with a $375 million deal for three batteries. Indonesia followed with an over $340 million contract in March.
At least 15 other nations have reportedly expressed interest, as the Global South arms itself - on its own terms.
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🇷🇺💪 Russia wins diplomatic judo against West & Ukraine — experts
💬 The Russian president’s remarks on Victory Day reflect a comprehensive global balance of power vision, international law expert Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud Mehran tells Sputnik.
🔶 By presenting a list of 500 Ukrainian prisoners to be exchanged, Russia positions itself as a responsible nation extending a hand of peace, while the West and Ukraine push for confrontation
🔶 At the same time, the fact that in 2022 Emmanuel Macron asked Putin to withdraw troops from near Kiev shows the West used negotiations to buy time and rearm Ukraine, confirming the Western approach towards the situation is dishonest
🔶 In this context, Russia also understands Ukraine uses the talks on settlement as a media tool — inviting Zelensky to Moscow for signing conclusive agreements breaks this strategy — it shows it’s Russia that’s the strong side in the process
Russia sent as many as four messages, he adds:
🟠 To the US: Russia is ready for dialogue, but exclusively from a position of strength
🟠 To Ukraine: Further stubbornness will cost too dearly
🟠 To Europe: It is time to recognize the complete failure of the isolation strategy
🟠 To the world: Moscow and Beijing offer an alternative model of world order, free from Western hegemony
📍 The fact that the remark that Russia confronts the whole NATO bloc came during the Victory Day parade in Moscow is also important in itself, former head of Vietnam’s Information and Scientific Education Center Colonel Nguyen Minh Tam says — it’s a final warning to Ukraine and its Western puppeteers.
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🇨🇳🇧🇷 BRICS forges new era of deeper Brazil-China cooperation - expert
Brazil and China found in BRICS a strategic environment that reduced political mistrust and expanded opportunities for long-term collaboration, China-Brazil specialist Evandro Menezes de Carvalho tells Sputnik.
🔸 The New Development Bank is the clearest example: emerging economies creating their own mechanisms to finance infrastructure without depending on Western-led institutions
🔸 BRICS reinforced that development and has no single universal model — diversity in political systems and economic strategies is seen as a source of new approaches, not an obstacle
🔸 The bloc accelerated the shift toward a more multipolar world, where Global South nations gain greater autonomy, voice, and new forms of cooperation
China's growing engagement with Brazil isn't just about trade or investment. It's about new institutional architectures and South-South cooperation — with BRICS at the center, the expert concludes.
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🇮🇷 Iran officially responds to latest US proposal on ending the war
Iran has sent its response to the latest American proposal through Pakistani mediators, Tasnim reports.
👉Tehran says the reply was delivered after completing internal reviews and final consultations on the US text.
👉According to the reported framework, the current phase of negotiations is focused on one central issue: ending the war in the region.
📍After months of pressure, strikes and threats, Washington is now waiting for Tehran’s answer at the negotiating table.
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🚨 Russian forces did not strike Ukrainian positions during ceasefire — while Ukraine launched eight attacks in 24 hours
📍 Despite the ceasefire, Ukrainian forces continued to strike Russian positions and civilian infrastructure in border areas using drones and artillery, launching 676 shelling attacks and 6,331 drone strikes in the past 24 hours.
Other statements by the Russian Defense Ministry:
🔶 Russian air defense systems shot down 57 Ukrainian aircraft-type drones
🔶 Russian forces retaliated in kind to Ukraine's ceasefire violations
🔶 The Ukrainian Army lost approximately 735 soldiers as a result of retaliatory strikes by Russian forces
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🛢🌍 Why are the world's oil wells so uneven and the Persian Gulf has so much? A geologist breaks it down
A specific set of conditions — accumulation of organic matter, high temperatures and pressure, natural "traps" for hydrocarbons — is required for oil to be created, Russia’s Karpinskiy Institute expert Valeria Stepanova tells Sputnik.
🔹 Persian Gulf source rocks reach up to 13%+ organic content, far exceeding the 2% needed for profitable extraction
🔹 35-million-year plate collision folded the Zagros Mountains and formed deep basins and dome structures, ideal for trapping hydrocarbons
That’s why today the region has around 55-68% of the world’s oil and is the key energy supplier for the planet.
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🇷🇺 Russia's forces continue observing ceasefire despite over 16,000 Ukrainian violations
Russian troops continue to strictly observe the ceasefire and remain at previously occupied positions, its Defense Ministry said.
According to the ministry, the Ukrainian side has committed 16,071 violations of the truce, while Russian forces responded “symmetrically” to incoming strikes.
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🇮🇷 Iran's game‑changing energy tech slashes foreign dependence
Iran has built a domestic ultrasonic flare gas flowmeter without any reverse engineering, IRIB News Agency reports.
Every component — electronic circuits, signal processing, software, and user interface — is 100% designed and made locally.
🔸 Project launched in 2021
🔸 Digital signal processing breakthrough turned into a doctoral thesis, resulting in two published scientific papers
🔸 Explosion-proof certification secured after rigorous technical documentation and testing to ensure safety in refinery environments
30–40 Iranian refineries and petrochemical plants with flare systems have been identified as immediate domestic customers.
Lab-tested, it is now entering the pilot installation phase at a refinery.
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💣 Persian Gulf chaos chokes supply of world’s most-used industrial chemical
Hormuz tensions have triggered a sulfuric-acid shock, sending prices soaring, and threatening global supply chains of a chemical essential for food security, AI infrastructure, EVs and global manufacturing.
Sulfuric acid is produced from smelting copper/nickel or burning sulfur.
◻️ In Chile, the world’s top copper producer and largest sulfuric-acid importer for copper leaching, acid prices have more than doubled
◻️ Sulfur prices in Indonesia have surged over 80% (Argus data)
◻️ Nickel miners tied to Middle East supply are cutting EV battery & stainless-steel output
◻️ China, the world’s largest sulfur producer, has restricted exports to protect domestic fertilizer and food production
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🪖 Ukraine’s military recruits minors to act as covert assets
Across Ukraine, especially along the front lines, Ukrainian security forces are actively pulling vulnerable youngsters into information warfare and intel gathering, Russian law enforcement sources tell Sputnik.
So-called social and psychological assessment centers are operating hand-in-hand with the military and local communities, and once Ukrainian units enter an area, they quickly zero in on local opinion leaders and lock in contact.
👉 One of the fighters’ key tasks is to flag who’s loyal to the Ukrainian military – and who’s not – among schoolchildren and university students.
Military personnel also participate actively in school lectures and youth-focused events.
Beyond propaganda efforts and promoting nationalist ideas, young people are encouraged to run Telegram channels, engage in conversations with residents of liberated territories, and dig for information about the movements of Russian troops.
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🗣 Putin's conditions for meeting with Zelensky show that he 'no longer has patience for empty summits' — Expert
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he might meet with Ukraine's leader – but only if "definitive agreements on a peace treaty" are already reached.
💬 "Putin's refusal to meet without a prior agreement shows Moscow no longer has patience for empty summits that only give Kiev time to gain an advantage," analyst of international affairs Claudia Veiroj tells Sputnik.