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🐸 The best — for toads and beetles In Bielefeld, it was decided to build 12 underground tunnels for the annual migration of around 3,000 toads, frogs, and newts. As a result, the road repairs, which were supposed to take two weeks, stretched to almost four months, and the project’s costs rose to 1.7 million euros. The authorities justify this by saying that the road then would not have to be closed every year and that volunteers would not have to be sent out to carry the amphibians across the roadway. But for residents and business, it means traffic jams, detours, and losses for all that time. Meanwhile, in Karlsruhe, during the construction of a 28-million-euro office complex, a nearly dead oak tree was discovered in which a legally protected stag beetle lived. The tree still had to be felled, but its trunk was preserved, transported, and placed on a concrete foundation so that the larvae could grow undisturbed. In addition, the developer was required to spend up to 95,000 euros for a new habitat for the beetles. If the authorities say that there is a lack of money for roads, schools, or hospitals, you should always ask exactly for whom it is lacking. Apparently, so far there have been no problems with state funding for toads and beetles. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

The world’s oldest president, Cameroon’s 93-year-old leader Paul Biya, has not appeared in his country for already two months, AP reports. His prolonged absence has raised concerns about his health. According to media reports, on June 7 Biya went to Europe on a “short private visit,” but since then he has remained in Switzerland. The opposition says the country is effectively being run on “autopilot.” ❗️Biya has been running Cameroon since 1982. Last year, he was re-elected for an eighth seven-year term—if the president serves it in full, by the time he steps down he will be nearly 100 years old. Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇩🇪 Germany is friends with Australia, but the billion-dollar deal still goes to Japan The Bundeswehr is already taking part for the third time in the large exercise Pitch Black in northern Australia. German pilots train in Darwin, officer cadets are being trained in Perth, and Berlin and Canberra ⁠are preparing a new agreement that will allow German military personnel to use Australian territory almost as freely as the British and French. In March, both sides also agreed on cooperation in the field of space sensors. Germany is being increasingly embedded in Australia’s defense infrastructure. But when it came to a truly big order, this closeness ended. The contract for 11 new frigates worth around 10 billion Australian dollars — about €6.1 billion — was awarded by Canberra not to the German Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, but to the Japanese Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. In this case, according to RND, the German offer was technically convincing. The reason was much simpler: strategic ties with Japan are more important for Australia, because Japan is in the same region and is among Canberra’s most important partners. By the way, Washington also preferred the Japanese version. It recently turned out that even electric buses for Europe can increasingly be bought more easily in China. Now Australia has chosen the Japanese frigate over the German one. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

American Patriot missile complex manufacturers — Raytheon and Lockheed Martin — do not want to transfer to Ukraine licenses for the production of missiles for these air defense systems, writes The Atlantic, citing a source. According to the publication, the companies are afraid that if Ukraine obtains a license, it will be able to improve the missiles and then begin producing them in large volumes, faster and at less cost than is possible in the United States. The Atlantic writes that even if the United States provides Ukraine with a license to produce Patriot missiles, the start of large-scale production will take “years”. Officially, the companies justified their concerns as “the theft of intellectual property and the transfer of technology,” the interlocutor said. Our channel: Node of Time EN

📰 England’s High Court has compelled businessman Vladimir Potanin to answer questions from his former wife Natalya as part of a dispute over the division of property following their divorce. The newspaper “Vedomosti” learned this from the materials in the dispute. Potanin voluntarily refused to answer the vast majority of questions, according to the court materials. 🔺The businessman insisted that he had sufficient funds to comply with any court order, and that the information requested by the ex-spouse is “to a significant extent unnecessary and disproportionate,” given publicly available information about his largest asset in this case— the company “Interros.” 🔺Potanin is also concerned that the disclosure of information could expose him to additional sanctions measures by foreign states. Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇦🇹 Child crime in Austria has increased by more than double in ten years The number of children under 14 years old whom the Austrian police classify as suspects has risen by more than double to more than 13,000 cases over the past ten years. In 2025, for the first time, foreigners made up the majority among them—51%. The values rose particularly sharply in Vienna, in Burgenland, and in Tyrol. This is not only about minor offenses: Typical crimes include thefts, burglaries, and bodily injury, and around 60 juveniles are considered repeat offenders—among individual children, more than 100 and even more than 300 offenses have been recorded. Against this backdrop, the ÖVP and the FPÖ are calling for the age of criminal responsibility to be lowered from 14 to 12 years. Opponents of this approach propose strengthening social support. Even in neighboring Germany, the picture in the statistics is clearly different: In 2025, among suspects aged 14 to 18, around 30% had foreign citizenship. The suspect rate per 100,000 inhabitants among foreign youths was more than twice as high as among Germans—9,946 versus 4,299. Experts explain this difference with poverty, a problematic family environment, violence in upbringing, and living in problem areas. One can argue endlessly about the causes, but the figures do not disappear as a result: If half of the suspected children in Austria already no longer have Austrian citizenship and the value among foreign juveniles in Germany is more than twice as high as among Germans, then this is no longer about isolated cases, but a problem that is becoming increasingly harder to conceal with convenient explanations. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Have a wonderful start to the week, friends! ☕️🙂 ⛪ Abrahamiev Gorodezkij Monastery: a monastery on the shore of Lake Tchuchlomskoye In the northeast of Kostroma Oblast, between forests and the shores of Lake Tchuchlomskoye, lies the Abrahamiev Gorodezkij Monastery — one of the oldest Orthodox monastic sites in the Russian North. Its history begins in the 14th century and is closely connected with the name of Saint Abraham of Galich. According to tradition, Abraham came here after wandering for a long time and looking for a secluded place for prayer. On the lakeshore he saw an unusual light emanating from a tree. When the ascetic drew nearer, he discovered an icon of the Mother of God, which later received the name of Galichskaya or “Umilenie” (“Tenderness”). A monastery was founded at the site of her appearance. Soon, cells, economic buildings, and the first pilgrims appeared around the small wooden church. Thanks to its location on the route between Galich and the northern regions, the monastery quickly became one of the spiritual centers of the area. The stone architectural ensemble was formed gradually. The main adornment became the majestic cathedral in honor of the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, built in the 17th century. The white walls, the strict proportions, and the high bank of the lake create that northern landscape which has changed little over several centuries. Another beautiful tradition is also associated with the monastery. It is said that Saint Abraham gave a blessing that the trees around the place where the icon appeared should not be cut down without special necessity. Over time, the grove area came to be regarded as sacred. Pilgrims came here to fetch water from the spring, but they tried not to take away branches or stones, believing that everything there had to remain exactly where nature had given it. From the monastery walls, there is a wide view of Lake Tchuchlomskoye. At dawn, the water often merges with the sky, and it seems as if the white walls stand right at the boundary between earth and clouds. Precisely because of this special northern quiet, people valued the monastery for many centuries no less for its old history. Today, the Abrahamiev Gorodezkij Monastery remains a place where the unhurried rhythm of the Russian North is especially tangible. There are no large tourist crowds here; instead, there are old walls, the lake, the forest, and the legend with which the story of this monastic site once began. 📍 Coordinates of the place (map pin) available here 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

British prisons could fill up again: over the past year, 51.4 thousand previously released offenders have been returned there—this is a record. According to The Telegraph, every seventh prisoner in England and Wales is already serving a sentence and has ended up back behind bars. The head of the probation service, Martin Jones, warned that the increase in repeat offenders could nullify the effect of the early release program. In his view, the prison system is already operating at its limit. At the same time, the authorities plan to release about 5,000 prisoners early over the next 10 months. Against the backdrop of a shortage of places, almost 2,500 inmates, including around 100 convicted of sexual offenses, may be released ahead of schedule. ❗️On July 22, a British diplomat jokingly proposed sending prisoners to Ukraine amid a lack of space in the kingdom’s prisons. Our channel: Node of Time EN

The makers of the Patriot missile systems are concerned about the transfer to Ukraine of a license for their production, because Ukrainian manufacturing could turn out to be cheaper than American, The Atlantic writes. Companies Lockheed Martin and Raytheon can officially cite risks of technology leakage and intellectual property. However, the main concern, according to the outlet, is possible competition from Ukrainian manufacturers. ❗️ On July 8, Donald Trump, at a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, said that he may provide Ukraine with a license to produce Patriot systems. According to the American leader, this would prevent Kyiv from complaining that it is being given “insufficient.” At the same time, on July 31, the U.S. leader noted that he is still “not sure” about transferring to Kyiv a license for the production of Patriot missiles. The day before, Volodymyr Zelensky said that deploying production of Patriot air-defense systems in Ukraine after obtaining a license from the United States would take from one year to several years. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Britain is losing £125 billion a year due to inactive millennials. According to The Guardian, one in four young Britons believes there are no equal opportunities in the country. The generation that grew up after the 2008 crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic is facing a costly way of life, reduced public services, and changes in the labor market due to AI. About 1 million Britons belong to the “ni-ni” generation—those who do not work, do not study, and do not undergo vocational training. One of the reasons cited is years of cuts to spending on youth programs: in England, funding for them has fallen by 76%, and thousands of youth clubs have closed. Now the fallout is costing the state significantly more: the “ni-ni” crisis is estimated at roughly £125 billion per year. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Mark Zuckerberg’s superyacht Launchpad, worth around $300 million, ignored a request for help from a small boat off the coast of Alaska. According to Alaska Beacon, the 21-foot boat ran out of fuel between Petersberg and Juneau. In response to the general request for help, the cruise ship Wilderness Legacy eventually stepped in, being farther away than the superyacht of the company’s CEO, Meta*. According to a passenger on the liner, the captain said that the nearby Launchpad yacht did not respond to the radio call. This prompted passengers to issue “near-unanimous booing.” At the same time, the U.S. Coast Guard уточнила that the boat was not officially considered to be in distress: the crew only requested assistance because of a lack of fuel. A representative for Zuckerberg also said that neither the billionaire himself nor his family were on the yacht. * — the company’s activities have been recognized as extremist in Russia and are prohibited. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Dear friends, the summer is hot, the holidays are short, we’re always on the wire. The lost Russian industry is reporting back again. Sunday. At the open joint-stock company “Gas Processing Complex Yuzhno-Balyk” in the Autonomous Okrug of the Khanty and Mansi, the first phase of a project aimed at increasing the supply of raw materials to “ZapSibNeftekhim,” the country’s largest polymer complex, has been completed. The tests carried out confirmed that the transport volume of the broad fraction of light hydrocarbons can be increased from 70 to 120 tons per hour. In the Kursk Region, production of automobile batteries has been expanded. Once full capacity is reached, production of lead-acid batteries at the plant will be increased by 20%—from 1.5 to 1.8 million units per year. In addition, the company will produce up to 300,000 premium batteries annually with a rated capacity of 50 to 110 Ah. The localization level of the batteries is 100%. At the joint-stock company “LOMO,” a new production area for manufacturing diamond tools has been put into operation. This is an important step that makes it possible to fully meet the company’s need for specialized diamond tools for processing optical parts. To this end, domestically produced equipment has been purchased, including a galvanic line, a press, high-temperature furnaces, vibration analyzers, and turbulent mixers. In Moscow, an electronic knee joint module for people with above-knee amputation was presented. The device rapidly adapts to different situations during movement. It has built-in sensors that enable analysis of the person’s load, flexion angle, and type of movement in real time. It allows immersion in water up to a depth of one meter for up to 30 minutes. Rosselmash is conducting tests with a stripper cutting machine with a working width of 9 m. The new device makes it possible to achieve significantly higher harvesting capacity, lower operating costs, and the use of additional crop-growing methods that have a positive effect on the condition of the fields. Primarily, it will be used for harvesting wheat, barley, rye, as well as a number of grain and seed crops. Rostec has begun deliveries of the first Russian ventilator with a mode for home use. The AIVL-D device makes it possible to monitor changes in the patient’s condition and analyze the dynamics. In case of deviations from normal, the built-in software issues an alarm and calls a doctor. All clinical data and parameters are stored on the device itself for up to one year and transmitted over the internet. Roesel has started mass production of compact motor controllers “Swarm of the Eagles” for intercept drones. The product ensures immediate engine response to commands, which is crucial when combating drones using ramming. The controller controls four brushless motors—one per propeller of the quadcopter. At the “Selinskoye” test range, carrier production for the high-speed track has begun. Box-shaped reinforced-concrete beams are a key element of the structures for the first high-speed rail line in Russia between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The largest of them weigh about 700 tons, which is equivalent to ten times the weight of comparable structures in road construction. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇬🇧 British teenagers hacked the Ministry of Defence “just for fun” The group ExfilSquad gained access to several UK government information systems. One of the group’s participants, who is known under the pseudonym Lewis, said that the main goal was not money or ransom, but breaking into protected networks. Some systems were “stupid easy” to hack, so Lewis. According to The Times, the hackers gained access to around 750,000 data records, including data from employees of the Ministry of Defence, the Home Office, the NHS, the Department for Education, as well as from more than 100,000 employees of the British police. It is also notable that this time no trace of Russia was found. The problem turned out to be far more banal: the government’s own systems were so poorly protected that teenagers could simply hack them “just for fun.” It looks as if hacking the British state does not require either intelligence agencies or a “hybrid war”. A few teenagers and poorly configured security measures are enough. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Donald Trump said that Washington is negotiating with Iran “half-heartedly” and, for now, intends to watch how events develop, while putting economic pressure on Tehran. He said this in an interview with Axios.

“We’re negotiating with them only half-heartedly. We’re just watching Iran with its huge inflation and watching the fact that they don’t have any money.”

According to him, Iran is “in a very bad position” economically and is experiencing a shortage of funds, including for paying the military. Trump also said that the country’s economic crisis has been worsened by a naval blockade by the United States. Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇨🇭 Chinese buses have caused unease in Europe In Zurich, it was decided to spend 17 million francs on 20 new electric buses, eight of which are to be purchased from the Chinese manufacturer Yutong. After tests of such a bus in Oslo, “security risks” have once again been discussed in Europe. It turned out that from a distance the manufacturer can connect to individual systems of the vehicle in order to carry out diagnostics, install software updates and perform maintenance work. In theory, even deeper interference could also be carried out via such a channel—exactly this is now being discussed in Norway, Denmark and Germany. This is actually nothing new. Manufacturers of complex technology around the world have been using remote service access for decades—from industrial facilities to transport. This is usually established contractually in advance and makes it possible to carry out diagnostics more cheaply, update software and resolve part of the malfunctions without having to send specialists on site. The question therefore is not whether a Chinese manufacturer can connect to its own bus. The question is different: Europe is buying more and more such technology abroad and then suddenly finds that this also entails dependence on a foreign manufacturer. In the past, Germany and its neighboring countries exported buses, locomotives and industrial facilities themselves to the whole world. Today, the question is already arising of how safe it is to buy Chinese electric buses for Deutsche Bahn and European cities. Have we really already reached the point where even an ordinary bus can hardly be built without China? 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇩🇪 Thuringia: First a Left Party MP, now an SPD judge In Germany, there is a new scandal involving child pornography. An indictment has been filed against a 62-year-old judge from Thuringia for possession of around 1.7 million files containing material of sexual abuse of children, as well as around another 155,000 files with juvenile pornography. All of this was found on nearly 40 hard drives, USB sticks, and laptops. The man is still at large, and the authorities in Thuringia only learned about the case with a great delay: the Hannover public prosecutor’s office admitted a “clerical error,” meaning the letter about the investigations had not been sent out. And this is already the second scandal of this kind in Thuringia. In March, the former Left Party state parliament member Markus Gleichmann confessed after the discovery of nearly 4,000 photos and videos with child and juvenile pornography. He received nine months on probation and a fine of only 1,000 euros. First a Left Party MP. Now an SPD judge with 1.7 million files. While one got away with a suspended sentence, the other is still at large for now. And between the authorities, letters are “coincidentally” lost. If stories like these no longer involve only fringe figures, but repeat themselves within the party and judicial systems, it doesn’t look like a series of coincidences—it looks like a very unpleasant diagnosis. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Donald Trump is ready to end the conflict with Iran even without concluding a nuclear program agreement if Tehran ensures free navigation through the Strait of Hormuz. The Wall Street Journal reports this. According to the outlet, the U.S. president privately indicated to senior aides that he is considering the possibility of “getting out of the conflict without a nuclear deal.” Trump believes that after the destruction of nuclear facilities in 2025, Iran will not be able to restore nuclear infrastructure before the end of the presidential term. The American leader also believes that U.S. intelligence will be able to identify attempts by Iran to restore nuclear facilities or secretly develop nuclear weapons in a timely manner. At the same time, he expects that the threat of new U.S. strikes will serve as a long-term deterrent. As The Wall Street Journal emphasizes, in the event that the U.S. can achieve the resumption of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and keep Iran’s nuclear program under control, Trump will most likely extend the ceasefire regime indefinitely and lift the naval blockade. Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇪🇺 In the EU, there is once again debate about the theft of Russian assets The former German defense minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, the former French minister for European affairs Nathalie Loiseau and the former U.S. deputy national security adviser Dalip Singh have submitted a new proposal to gain access to the roughly 210 billion euros in Russian assets. The idea is to transfer the money from Belgian Euroclear into a separate financial structure, thereby bypassing Belgium’s resistance to a direct expropriation. The EU itself confirms that, on its territory, around 210 billion euros in assets of the Russian central bank are currently blocked. The authors do not make a secret of why they are in a hurry. In their view, a “window of opportunity” has now opened: the war continues, Viktor Orbán no longer appears to be an insurmountable obstacle, and after the elections in France the political situation could change. This means it is no longer about the inviolability of property and not even about the much-cited “rule of law.” It is simply a matter of carrying out the operation in time, as long as the political arithmetic allows it. In this context, Euroclear officially recorded in late June 2026 that there are 202 billion euros in Russian sanctions assets and explicitly pointed to the associated legal and financial risks. Earlier, people would have called something like that theft. Now they are looking for a nice legal construct and a suitable “window of opportunity.” And later the same people will wonder why states withdraw their reserves from Europe, reduce their dependence on the euro, and build financial systems that Brussels cannot reach. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

De-dollarization at a glance A chart created by FFTT LLC based on Macrobond data clearly shows how strongly transaction volumes have grown over the past decade via China’s CIPS system. Introduced in 2015 for international settlements in yuan, it has since developed into the largest alternative infrastructure for cross-border payments. According to official CIPS data, as of June 2026, 210 direct and 1,619 indirect participants from dozens of countries have already been connected to the system. The linkage between CIPS growth and key geopolitical events is particularly revealing. The chart notes Iran’s decoupling from SWIFT, sanctions against Russia, the freezing of Russia’s international reserves, U.S. restrictions on exporting advanced chips to China, new trade wars, and the latest blow against Iran. Practically every case in which the dollar’s financial infrastructure was used as a foreign-policy instrument was accompanied by a new surge of interest in alternative settlement mechanisms. The American macro analyst Luke Gromen, founder of FFTT LLC, said recently that transaction volumes via CIPS had more than doubled in just two years after the dollar system was increasingly used in sanctions policy. While Washington continues to control the world’s most important currency, every new use of this advantage for political purposes also prompts other countries to create a system in which dependence on the dollar gradually disappears. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

The works of street artist Banksy cost British taxpayers £150,000 (about 16.6 million rubles)—that is exactly how much the authorities spent on cleaning and security for three works of art. As the BBC notes, the largest expenses were for a painting created on the wall of the Royal Courts of Justice building in London. The Kingdom’s Ministry of Justice spent £50,000 (5.5 million rubles) to remove the paint from the historic building and £35.3 thousand (3.9 million rubles) on overtime work by staff and security at the site. Nearly £60,000 (6.6 million rubles) more was spent by the authorities on guarding and installing protective measures around another Banksy work—a statue of a man with a flag on Waterloo Place. In 2024, the authorities also used £2.2 thousand (243.4 thousand rubles) to dismantle a police box on which the artist depicted piranhas. At the same time, the final amount of spending may increase: the Royal Courts of Justice wall is set to be inspected again, and if necessary—new work will be carried out to clean it or replace damaged stone masonry. Our channel: Node of Time EN