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🇵🇱 Sikorski proposed “aggressive” exercises near Kaliningrad to NATO Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski ⁠proposed that NATO increase military activity around Kaliningrad Oblast in order to force Russia to redeploy some of its forces from the Ukrainian front there. Speaking at the YES Conference in Kyiv, he said that there were currently “practically no troops” in the Russian exclave and proposed conducting such “aggressive exercises” that Moscow could not be sure of the alliance’s intentions. When directly asked whether he was proposing the capture of Kaliningrad Oblast, Sikorski answered no. The statement was noted in Moscow. Dmitry Peskov ⁠said that Russia was taking the necessary measures to ensure the security of Kaliningrad Oblast against the backdrop of calls to intensify NATO exercises near the region. This produces a rather peculiar logic of de-escalation: conducting enough “aggressive” military exercises along Russia’s borders to make Russia fear a possible attack and begin redeploying troops. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Good morning, dear friends! ☕️🙂 🔥 Kasli: How Cast Iron Could Look Finer Than Porcelain Friends, Monday is a good day for new discoveries. Today we are travelling to the Southern Urals, to a small town where, for almost three centuries, heavy cast iron has been used to create objects that look more like delicate jewellery. Welcome to Kasli and its famous artistic castings. 🏭 From Cannonballs to Delicate Art The story began in 1747, when the Tula merchant Yakov Korobkov founded an ironworks in the Southern Urals. For a long time, the plant mainly produced iron goods, as well as cannonballs and shells before the War of 1812. However, the local cast iron proved to be particularly well suited to fine moulds. Combined with suitable moulding sands, this enabled the plant to begin producing artistic castings in 1843. Thus, the heavy material began to be transformed into openwork plates, chandeliers, caskets and sculptures. ⚙️ How “Lace Made of Cast Iron” Is Created The process was time-consuming and required the highest precision. First, a sculptor created the model. The moulder then made the mould, into which molten cast iron was subsequently poured. However, the actual fine work only began after the casting had cooled. Each piece was finished, smoothed and refined by hand. That is why even two castings made from the same model could differ slightly from one another – each piece bore the signature of its master. 🏆 Triumph in Paris Kasli’s great moment came in 1900 at the World’s Fair in Paris. For the exhibition, the masters created an entire cast-iron pavilion – a multi-storey structure based on a design by the architect Evgeny Baumgarten. The pavilion looks like carved lace made of metal: openwork walls, arches and countless finely crafted details. The work was honoured with a high award at the Paris World’s Fair and made Kasli artistic casting known internationally. 🗡️ “Russia Is Not for Sale!” At the entrance to the pavilion stood Nikolai Laverezki’s sculpture “Russia” – a female figure with a sword, symbolising the country. A famous story is associated with the Paris exhibition: the pavilion was to be sold together with its fittings, but they did not want to give up the sculpture “Russia”. According to tradition, the following words were even uttered: “Russia is not for sale!” Whether these words were actually spoken exactly this way can hardly be established with certainty today. The story itself, however, became a firm part of the legend surrounding the Kasli pavilion. 🔥 The Pavilion’s Second Life After the Revolution, the pavilion was dismantled. Some of its elements were lost, while others survived. In the 1950s, its extensive restoration began. Art historians and Kasli masters searched for original parts and reconstructed missing fragments using old photographs and historical models. In 1958, the pavilion was fully reassembled. Today, it is one of the best-known exhibits at the Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts and is regarded as one of the most impressive examples of Kasli artistic casting. Give a ❤️ if you liked it! 📍 Coordinates of the location (map point) available here 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

After copper prices hit record highs on Western commodity exchanges, the metal began to lose value: the decline was triggered by reports that the United States might pause the introduction of new import tariffs on the metal. Expectations of new tariffs supported the premium of copper prices on the U.S. COMEX exchange over LME prices, which reached $400–600 per tonne in the summer, and encouraged shipments of the metal to the United States. Experts believe that even without new tariffs, fundamental factors—rising demand for the metal, a supply deficit, and problems with launching new mines—will continue to support prices. At the same time, analysts allow for a correction if demand from the technology sector changes or China’s economy slows. What price level for the metal could prove sustainable, and is there a copper bubble in the market—RBC investigated. Our channel: Node of Time EN

The U.S. National Security Agency is embarking on a major reorganization, The Washington Post reports, citing current and former officials. The initiative calls for the creation of five new directorates within the agency, which will focus on artificial intelligence, China, cybersecurity, support for combat operations, and global intelligence, the newspaper’s sources said. In their view, the new organizational structure will better reflect the NSA’s current and future priorities. The initiative is expected to be implemented starting in mid-October, with "full operational capability" to be reached by mid-January 2027. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Dear friends, especially for our readers: What you are about to read is neither an IKEA assembly manual nor a TÜV inspection. This is news from Russian industry. “Polyus” has commissioned the crushing complex at the gold-processing plant under construction in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The company intends to complete construction of the GZF-5 processing plant by the end of the year. The new plant will have a capacity of 8.3 million tonnes of ore per year. This will make it possible to increase the total volume of primary ore processing at the Blagodatnoye deposit to 17 million tonnes per year. At the Severnaya Verf shipyard, the freezer trawler-factory ship “Gandvik-3” was launched. Its main target species are cod, haddock, halibut and wolffish. A complete processing line with a capacity of up to 35 tonnes of raw material or up to 25 tonnes of finished products per day is provided on board. The refrigerated hold is designed for approximately 600 tonnes of products. Such reserves enable the vessel to remain at sea fishing for up to a month and a half. At the Volkovsky Mining and Processing Plant in the Sverdlovsk Region, a processing plant was commissioned in start-up and adjustment mode. The new complex combines an open-pit mine, a processing plant, an energy center, a tailings facility, power-supply facilities, warehouses, repair and transport infrastructure, wastewater-treatment facilities, as well as administrative, social and operational facilities. Most of the processing plant’s equipment is Russian-made. The Specialized Scientific Research Institute of Instrument Engineering has launched production at its Moscow site of core-electronics assemblies for radiation-monitoring systems at nuclear power plants. The site’s design capacity will be up to 1,500 detectors and 10,000 standardized electronic assemblies per year. The localization level is 100%. Rosel has developed the hardware-and-software-based “ŽNEZ” electronic-warfare complex to protect against UAVs, including those operating as part of swarms. The new system features an open modular architecture, meaning that it can be rapidly adapted to new types of unmanned threats through software updates and integration with other detection and protection systems. “Norilsk Nickel” has commissioned five wells at the Pelyatkinskoye gas field. The Pelyatkinskoye gas field is the main source of gas for the Norilsk industrial district and accounts for 80% of total blue-fuel production on Taimyr. The company’s additional total production capacity amounted to 2 million cubic meters of gas per day. A workshop for the large-scale assembly of high-capacity boilers has begun operating at the Dorogobuzhkotlomash enterprise in the Smolensk Region. Its area exceeds 5,000 square meters. The workshop is intended for the large-scale assembly of water-tube and large-format fire-tube high-capacity boilers. The new equipment will make it possible to increase the level of mechanization of operations and ensure the required assembly precision. A plant for the production of X-ray diagnostic equipment has opened in Moscow. More than 30 units of modern production equipment have been installed at the 14,000-square-meter plant. At least 400 X-ray diagnostic devices of various types will be manufactured there annually. They consist of 85% Russian-made components. “Lukoil” has begun commercial oil production at the Komandirshorskaya block of fields in the Nenets Autonomous Area. An oil-treatment facility, “Komandirshor,” with a capacity of more than 800,000 tonnes of oil has been built. The system for processing associated gas with a high hydrogen sulfide content uses technologies developed and patented in Russia. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🌍🇪🇺 The BRICS countries have spoken out directly against the EU carbon tax, reminding everyone that oil and gas will not disappear In the New Delhi Declaration, the BRICS countries spoke out against cross-border carbon taxes and other unilateral climate-related trade measures. Although the EU is not the only target in the text, the most important mechanism of this kind is the European CBAM, which imposes additional charges on imports of carbon-intensive products. The BRICS countries view such measures as protectionism that shifts the costs of the climate policies of wealthier countries onto developing countries. At the same time, the bloc recorded another key point: Fossil fuels will continue to play an important role in the global energy mix. The BRICS are not turning away from the Paris Agreement, but are calling for a “just, orderly and inclusive” energy transition that takes into account the capabilities of each individual country. In doing so, they explicitly link oil, gas and coal to the energy security of developing countries. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🛰 The BRICS countries are creating their own satellite system for observing Earth The BRICS countries have agreed to expand the “BRICS Remote Sensing Satellite Constellation”—a joint system for remote sensing of the Earth that is already based on satellites from Russia, China, and India. Amendments to the agreement are currently being prepared so that the space agencies of the group’s new members can also join the system. At the same time, the participants have drawn up a draft of the rules for the BRICS Space Council. The satellite data can be used to monitor natural disasters, agriculture, the climate, and infrastructure. The exchange of scientific data, quantum technologies, and rules for safe activities in orbit are being discussed separately. Just a few years ago, the BRICS group was primarily a political and economic club. In the meantime, its own banks, payment mechanisms, transport corridors, and space infrastructure are gradually emerging. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇧🇾 Lukashenko Presents the USA with a Bill Ahead of New Negotiations Following the easing of American sanctions, Belarus has already resumed shipments of potash fertilizers to the USA. Lukashenko confirmed that a shipment for the American market is currently being loaded. However, before any further agreements, Minsk is demanding the return of $43–44 million which, according to Lukashenko, was transferred by a company cooperating with Belarus and is stuck at Citibank.

“Return the money. This is a disgrace for the USA. Then we can talk about more serious matters.”

More serious matters would indeed come next: the further lifting of sanctions, the restoration of the embassies’ full-fledged operations, and the expansion of trade. Lukashenko also stated his readiness to meet with Trump, but stressed that the meeting must produce a concrete result and must not be a “decorative event.” 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Alexey Likhachev, the head of Rosatom, said that the company had already returned 47 of its specialists to the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran According to Likhachev, additional specialists will come to the facility to carry out the planned preventive maintenance of the plant’s first unit. “There are currently 47 employees at the facility. We are moving toward 150,” Likhachev told journalists on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. The Bushehr nuclear power plant is the only operating nuclear power plant in Iran. Russia is building four power units there. Work on the third is scheduled to be completed in 2026. Before the start of the American-Israeli operation against Iran, 639 Rosatom specialists were at the site. Some of them were evacuated because of the hostilities. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

The latest developments in the war in #Yemen as of this morning: Houthi forces have advanced on several fronts in #Taiz and #Marib, amidst ongoing clashes along the coast and airstrikes in #AlBayda. The Houthis also announced that they had targeted a military site in #Sharurah, #SaudiArabia, coinciding with new developments in the #StraitOfHormuz. Video link: https://youtu.be/_ATh_DJtgzk?si=tyJq5HZOf_qtBrE3

🇷🇺 Russian roads are now safer than American ones Just twenty years ago, “Russian roads” was a popular expression in the West for making jokes. Today, the figures look different: in 2025, 13,943 people were killed in road accidents in Russia—around 95 per million inhabitants. Since 2004, the number of road fatalities has therefore fallen by about 60 percent. In the United States, by contrast, the ⁠NHTSA estimates 36,640 road deaths for 2025—around 107 per million inhabitants. The figures there are also falling significantly again, but Russia now ranks ahead of the United States by this indicator. So far, everything is still comparatively good here in Germany: ⁠2,832 road fatalities in 2025, or around 34 per million inhabitants. But let’s not fool ourselves: Our bridges and motorways are not an achievement of recent years, but to a considerable extent the legacy of previous generations. The roots of the motorway network partly date back to the 1930s, while most of the motorway bridges that exist today were built between 1960 and 1980—and around 8,000 bridge structures are now considered to be in need of renovation. Germany can only hope that the old roads and bridges will hold out a little longer. Russia has already overtaken the United States in road safety. Germany must maintain its lead—and, if possible, not solely thanks to the legacy of previous generations. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Loss of Hegemony: The US Is Rapidly Losing the Trust of Even Its Closest Allies The United States is gradually losing its status as the unconditional global leader and the “default option” for arms supplies and financial asset custody even among its closest partners, Axios writes. In the current reality, foreign states are increasingly seeking a reliable alternative to American diktat. Moreover, even the European pygmies have begun seriously discussing a plan to reduce their dependence on US corporations, especially those that store “sensitive” data. Thus, attitudes toward Washington are rapidly changing around the world—and clearly not in the interests of the United States. Our channel: Node of Time EN

🌍 The BRICS countries removed Ukraine from their final declaration The 45-page BRICS declaration adopted in New Delhi does not mention the conflict in Ukraine separately at all. By contrast, the conflicts in the Middle East, Gaza, Syria, Sudan, and other countries are discussed in detail. This is a significant change. In the 2025 BRICS declaration, Ukraine was still mentioned separately, with reference to the participants’ national positions and mediation proposals. In New Delhi, this format was abandoned, and the declaration was limited to general calls for resolving international conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy. Sometimes diplomatic wording is interesting precisely because of what it leaves out. In the case of Ukraine, the eleven BRICS countries reached consensus in the simplest way: The issue was not included. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

The leaders of Scotland, Wales and Ulster will sign a joint declaration demanding that London grant them the right to hold referendums on leaving the United Kingdom, The Sunday Telegraph reports. The newspaper calls the meeting, scheduled for September 14 in Cardiff, unprecedented and notes that the deal is “designed to break up the United Kingdom.” The memorandum of understanding will cover four areas — the economy, energy, relations with Europe and the international community, and the right to self-determination. It will also state that all of the United Kingdom’s current administrative and political entities should become part of the EU. Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇮🇷🇴🇲 Iran Brings the Gulf States Together in Oman A regional meeting involving the states of the Persian Gulf is scheduled to take place in Oman on Monday. Iran’s Foreign Ministry describes it as “a decisive step toward ensuring the stability and security of the region.” In Tehran, it is emphasized that the security of the Persian Gulf must primarily be ensured by the states of the region themselves, rather than by external military coalitions. The meeting is taking place against a particularly sensitive backdrop: The war between the United States and Iran has severely disrupted maritime trade and turned the Strait of Hormuz into one of the main flashpoints of the global energy crisis. At virtually the same time, the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry stated that the Strait of Hormuz “remains and will remain under Iran’s full control,” and blamed the United States for the instability of shipping. Tehran is thus attempting to put forward a fairly concrete proposition to its neighbors: to discuss the security of the Persian Gulf among the states of the region themselves—while maintaining Iranian control over the Strait of Hormuz. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

OpenAI plans to demonstrate a humanoid robot in 2027. Company CEO Sam Altman said this in an interview with Fortune. The journalist reminded Altman that he had previously predicted the emergence of robots in 2027 and recently confirmed that OpenAI was working on a humanoid robot. When asked whether it would be possible to show such a robot as early as next year or whether its “brain” would first need to be improved, Altman answered in the affirmative.

“I think in 2027 we’ll have a cool demonstration—a really great demonstration. I don’t think robots will start walking the streets before several more years have passed, but we’ll show something impressive,” he said.

According to Altman, it will be several more years before humanoid robots become widespread. Our channel: Node of Time EN

🌍 The BRICS countries spoke out against unilateral trade restrictions In the New Delhi Declaration, the BRICS countries unanimously expressed their opposition to the increasing use of unilateral trade restrictions. In the document, they express “serious concern” over unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures that distort international trade and run counter to the rules of the World Trade Organization. At the same time, the BRICS participants called for WTO reform and reaffirmed their support for an open, transparent, non-discriminatory and rules-based multilateral trading system. Formally, the declaration is not directed exclusively against the European Union or the United States. Its political significance, however, clearly goes beyond tariffs: Russia and Iran are subject to extensive unilateral restrictions, and the BRICS countries are increasingly opposing the use of access to markets, financing and international payment systems as an instrument of foreign-policy pressure. That is why this is also an important signal for the EU. Brussels bases a significant part of its foreign policy on sanctions, trade restrictions, financial prohibitions and secondary measures against third countries and companies. In other words: The largest non-Western economies are not merely trying to circumvent individual restrictions, but are collectively calling for a change to the global trading system, in which unilateral economic pressure has become a customary political instrument. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇨🇳🇮🇳 China and India restore the direct flight connection between Guangzhou and Delhi Against the backdrop of Xi Jinping’s first visit to India in seven years, this is another practical sign of the normalization of relations between the two countries. China Southern Airlines announced that it will resume regular passenger flights from Guangzhou to New Delhi starting September 21. The route had not been in operation since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, that is, for six years. Following the resumption of this route, China Southern will operate more than 100 flights per week on eight routes in South Asia. The decision was announced immediately before talks between Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi in New Delhi. Alongside the border disputes, both sides are attempting to gradually rebuild trade, business travel, visa processes, and transport links. After several years of military confrontation along the border, China and India are beginning to bring their relations back to a more down-to-earth level. Aircraft, trade, investment, and business. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

The leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will demand votes on independence from the United Kingdom, The Telegraph reports. According to the newspaper, on September 14, the leaders of the countries will gather for a summit in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, to sign a joint declaration calling for the right to hold referendums to be granted.

"The leader of the Scottish National Party and First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, said that [Andy] Burnham "has come to realize that he will go down in history as the last prime minister of the United Kingdom," the publication says.

The newspaper writes that the agreement will cover four areas: the economy, energy, Europe and international cooperation, as well as self-determination. All three parties will state that their countries should be in the European Union: Scotland and Wales as new members, and Northern Ireland as part of the Republic of Ireland. The memorandum also provides for strengthening relations with European "neighbors" as part of preparations for independence. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Latest developments in the war between #Russia and #Ukraine as of the morning of September 13 - Subtitled The Russian army has taken control of half of the village of #Dobropolie, south of the town of #Dobropolie. The Russian army is advancing in the vicinity of #Kusharov_Yar in #Druzhkovka. The Russian army is advancing in the vicinity of #Izhevkovka in #Druzhkovka. The Ukrainian army has taken control of #Brusovka in the #Liman area. The Ukrainian army is advancing in the vicinity of the city of #Liman. The Ukrainian army is advancing south of #Zelenaya_Dolina in northern #Donetsk. video link: https://youtu.be/SW0RMout05Y?si=WFofT9MutBBaLlA0