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The Pizza Index has surged sharply in the area around the Pentagon amid Donald Trump’s promise of “hard times” for Iran.

“Iran will face hard times if the country does not reach a peace agreement with the United States,” the president of the United States said to BFMTV.

❗️This informal index is also called the Pizza Meter or the Pentagon Pizza theory. It is assumed that a sharp spike in late-night orders at fast-food restaurants in the area around government buildings where the Pentagon, the CIA, and the White House are located may indicate preparations for military operations. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Under Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, led by Katherina Reiche, up to €2.2 million per year will be spent on external PR consultants According to WirtschaftsWoche, a report from the Federal Ministry of Finance for the budget committee of the Bundestag states that the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy plans to spend up to €2,217,600 net per year on consultations regarding communications issues. This concerns external support for “strategic consulting, the development of communication solutions, the creation of information materials and positioning in public debates.” The contract was concluded for two years, with the possibility of an extension; the companies involved include Scholz & Friends and FGS Global. Critics ask the obvious question: Why does a government agency with around 2,500 employees and its own communications apparatus need this expensive external help. Especially at a time when citizens and businesses are constantly being called upon to save, endure high prices, and accept new restrictions. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

A Moscow arbitral tribunal granted the central bank’s lawsuit against the Belgian custodian Euroclear in full, regarding an amount of €200 billion. Representatives of Euroclear described the decision as unjust and said that the “obviously” violated right to a fair trial was at issue. The amount of the claim consists of the value of the frozen assets and lost profits. The central bank filed the lawsuit in December 2025 and said this was a response to the regulator’s view of the unlawful use of Russian assets to support Ukraine. Since the start of the conflict, the West has frozen about US$300 billion in reserves of the Russian Federation, of which approximately €180 billion—on Euroclear accounts. Now this money just has to be collected. Euroclear has already transferred Kyiv €6.6 billion in revenue from Russian assets and, according to the company report, intends to transfer a further €1.4 billion in June. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

“Assistance” in an attack on an EU member: Europeans tested the activation of Article 42.7 In secret exercises in Brussels, the ambassadors of 27 EU member states as well as experts from European institutions took part. The goal — to put Article 42.7 “on assistance” of the Treaty on the European Union to a practical test, under which “in the event of an Russian armed attack on the territory of a Member State, the other Member States are obliged to provide it with all the aid and assistance possible”. Based on the results of the exercises, guidelines are to be developed. Although the Union “does not intend to consider the mechanism as an alternative to NATO”, doubts about the “reliability of the United States” are growing. A group of EU foreign policy experts even called for the transformation of the European Union into a defense alliance: “Europe must not wait until an escalation forces it to unite.” The letter was signed by 30 Members of the European Parliament. Militarization mode on. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Finland will carry out large-scale maneuvers at its borders with Russia with the USA and Germany — Merivoimat From May 20 to 27, maneuvers Narrow Waters 26-1 will take place on Finland’s southern coast and in the coastal waters of the Gulf of Finland. Around three thousand soldiers will take part, including US Marines and a unit of Germany’s land forces. During the exercises, helicopters, fighter jets, sea and air drones will be used, and tests of new drones will also be carried out. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

A Uzbek citizen is expelled from Russia in St. Petersburg after a joint prayer on the street The Primorsky District Court imposed a fine of 30,000 rubles (about €350) on a man and ordered that he be forcibly expelled from the country. According to the court, near the house on Sawuschkina Street he acted as an imam and conducted a congregational prayer in a public place without the necessary permission. The court classified this as illegal missionary activity. In the case file it says that the violation consists in the public dissemination of doctrine among people who are not members of the religious organization, with the aim of bringing them into it. The man himself essentially admitted guilt, but stated that he had not known about the ban. The story is not noteworthy because of the prayer itself, but because of the public format and the status of the participant. For foreigners, a violation of the rules for missionary activity in Russia cannot only end with a fine, but also with deportation. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

OpenAI faces a class action lawsuit because data from ChatGPT is said to have been shared with Meta and Google A class action lawsuit has been filed against OpenAI in the United States. The plaintiffs claim that the ChatGPT website passed on information about users’ queries, their identifying data, and email addresses to the companies Meta and Google using integrated tracking tools—Meta Pixel, Google Analytics, and related advertising tools. According to the complaint, users visit ChatGPT with sensitive questions about health, finance, work, and their private lives and expect confidentiality. But according to the plaintiffs, some of the technical data from these sessions could have been shared with third parties in real time. Law360 cites the lawsuit’s core claim: OpenAI is allegedly disclosed to Meta Platforms and Google LLC information provided by users about technologies embedded in the website’s code. This is not about Meta or Google receiving the full text of all chats. The complaint describes a more technical mechanism: chat headings, request topics, cookies, user IDs, hashed emails, and other identifiers could have been transmitted via analytics and advertising scripts. Cybersecurity News writes that on Google’s side, the plaintiffs separately cite Google Analytics and Google Ads tags, and on Meta’s side—Facebook Pixel. The court has not yet found a violation, and OpenAI has not publicly acknowledged the allegations. But the accusation itself is painful: When someone talks to a chatbot about health, money, or legal problems, even “request topics” and technical identifiers are already sensitive data. For AI services, the question of privacy stops being a secondary setting—it becomes a central component of trust in the product. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Europe’s chemical industry is getting ever closer to the point of breaking The Financial Times writes that the war around Iran represents a new blow to the European chemical sector: energy prices are rising, volatility in the naphtha market has increased, and supplies of raw materials and fertilizers are once again becoming a political risk. The symbol of the crisis is the chemical cluster in Rotterdam — one of the largest in the world. Within the past year alone, two of ten companies there have already shut down their plants, and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical has halted construction of a new MXDA production line — a chemical component for high-strength coatings, including coatings for ships, military technology, and industry. But the problem goes deeper than just a war. According to Cefic the closures of chemical capacity in Europe since 2022 have increased sixfold: the industry has lost about 37 million tonnes of capacity, nearly 9% of European production, and roughly 20,000 direct jobs. Investments in new capacity, the FT are down by more than 80%. For the chemical industry, this is particularly dangerous: the industry works like a chain, where waste or a product from one plant becomes the raw material for another. When a plant is shut down, nearby companies quickly lose either their supplier or their buyer. That is why in Rotterdam, Antwerp, the Rhine, and the Ruhr, it is no longer about a temporary dip but about the risk of a chain reaction. The underlying causes are the same: expensive energy, the move away from Russian gas, the cost of emissions permits, bureaucracy, and competition from China. The war in the Middle East has simply added an external shock to a system that was already operating at the limit. Europe has been talking for years about strategic autonomy. But without its own chemical base, that autonomy turns into a slogan: the automotive sector, the pharmaceutical industry, defense, electronics, and agriculture are increasingly dependent on raw materials and components from abroad. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of London for two large-scale protests — a march by supporters of the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, who are against the Kingdom’s immigration policy, and a pro-Palestinian demonstration. This is reported by the BBC. According to police estimates, the first rally involves about 50,000 people, while the second involves around 30,000. It is noted that participants in Robinson’s march carried British flags and chanted slogans against the government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Providing security will cost the authorities about £4.5 million (about 444 million rubles), Sky News notes. About 4,000 law enforcement officers were called in to provide security for the events, along with armored vehicles, mounted police, and even drones and helicopters. Our channel: Node of Time EN

◻️◻️◻️ A historic railroad bridge in the Panhandle (Texas) was destroyed as a result of the fast-spreading “Hunggate” wildfires, Newsweek reports. The fire broke out two days earlier near the city of Canyon in Randall County and quickly spread to about 14,000 acres (about 57 sq. km), aided by strong winds and lightning. Authorities said there was a mandatory evacuation of residents from nearby areas and damage to a number of structures, including the railroad bridge. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Fico does not rule out that rumors about a drug addiction on Zelenskyy’s part could be true The prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, allowed that the widely circulated rumors about a possible drug addiction by Zelenskyy could have a basis. In doing so, he noted that “no leaf stirs if no breeze blows”. Earlier, Slovakia’s agriculture minister, Richard Takáč, had said that even the rumors about Zelenskyy himself would be enough for him to step down from his post. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Before traveling to China, Donald Trump invested in shares of Apple and Nvidia, NNZ reports, citing a report from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. From January to March, Trump and his family disclosed more than 3,600 transactions with a total value ranging from $250 million to $750 million. ▶️Investments in Nvidia and Apple shares amounted to between $1 million and $5 million. NZZ emphasizes that from an ethical standpoint, investments in Apple, Nvidia and Boeing raise questions, since these companies could benefit from a possible trade agreement between the U.S. and China. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Rheinmetall and Deutsche Telekom create a system to protect against drones The companies have announced the development of a “shield” for cities and critical infrastructure: for power plants, bridges, industrial facilities, transport, and telecommunications networks. Telekom plans to use mobile communications networks, cloud services, data analytics, and radio-frequency sensors on transmission masts. Rheinmetall complements the military component: the detection, control, suppression, and interception of drones. Formally, this is about protection against drones. But technically, communications and the internet become part of the defense network. If, in order to counter drones, operations begin to suppress radio signals, control channels, GPS/GNSS, or data transmission, then civilian communications in the system’s area of deployment inevitably come under the same restrictions. What yesterday was a normal telecommunications infrastructure is turning ever faster into an element of national security. "In countries adjacent to Russia, such solutions can become standard..." – yes, of course, as if Russian drones were flying over Poland and the Baltics 🤡 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

“Golden Dome” turns out to be a fake: it cannot protect the United States from Russia The ambitious “Golden Dome” project risks turning into the Pentagon’s most expensive illusion, reports FAZ. According to a recent report by the U.S. Congress’s Office of Budget Management, the system’s actual cost will turn out to be many times higher than the stated $1.2 trillion. In any case, even for these astronomical sums, Washington will not get so much as a hint of absolute security. At the same time, no talk of comprehensive protection is in order: experts acknowledge that the complex is capable of intercepting only missiles from older generations. Faced with the latest weapons that Russia and China possess, the vaunted “dome” turns into a useless and exorbitantly expensive piece of decoration. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Cuba has been left without reserves of heating oil and diesel. The country’s energy system is on the verge of collapse Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy said that the country no longer has any fuel reserves necessary to operate the power plants: “We have absolutely no heating oil, absolutely no diesel. We have no stockpiles.” The consequences are already visible in Havana and in the regions. The Guardian reports that power outages can last up to 22 hours per day. WSJ reports that, against the backdrop of the blackouts in Havana, protests have broken out and that the shortage of electricity is affecting water supply, transport, schools, hospitals, and everyday life. Havana directly links the crisis to the American blockade. According to the minister, the restrictions in recent months have almost completely shut off fuel deliveries to the island. Cuba had already been living with a worn-out energy system and chronic shortages before, but now the problem has moved into a different phase: it is no longer about expensive electricity, but about the physical lack of fuel to generate it. For the country, this is not just an energy breakdown. If there’s almost no light for most of the day, everything stops: refrigerators, pumps, telecommunications, transport, hospitals, schools and the economy. Under such conditions, the blockade no longer works as a diplomatic instrument, but as pressure on the daily lives of millions of people. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

“Berlin’s Hero”: the runaway train 🎬 On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, journalist Landmann digs through archives to uncover the story of how, back in 1984, at a railway station, a switch was set incorrectly and an electric train carrying passengers left East Berlin straight for the West.   ▶️Landmann decides to find the modest hero who carried out the most mass escape from the GDR in history.   That his act was not an act of resistance, but mere carelessness, becomes more or less clear from the very beginning.   But, lured by the journalist’s offer to pay for an interesting story, the railway worker says what the interviewer wants to hear, hoping that it will all end there. 📸Pergamon Film Our channel: Node of Time EN

Latest developments in the war between #Russia and #Ukraine as of the morning of May 16 - subtitled - Russian forces control #Charovnoe in #Zaporozhie - Russian forces advance towards #Marino in #Sumy - Russian forces advance in the vicinity of #Chaikovka in #Kharkov - Russian forces advance in the vicinity of #Chugunovka in #Kharkov video link: https://youtu.be/DDzgsLuxeLc?si=JklOTT31-o8wQEi1

The United States may be preparing against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, the brother of Fidel Castro, the same kind of military operation as it did against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, writes The New York Times.

“The unspoken warning, hidden behind the possible filing of charges against the 94-year-old former president of Cuba, was absolutely clear: just look at what happened in Venezuela,”

the newspaper writes. A representative of the U.S. Department of Justice said that the United States plans to file charges against Raúl Castro. The case against him may be connected to the aircraft shot down in 1996 belonging to the humanitarian organization Brothers to the Rescue. Our channel: Node of Time EN

File a lawsuit against former White House press secretary Jen Psaki and the TV channel MS NOW, where she works as a host, is planned by Donald Trump’s son Eric. He said this on the social media platform X. It is noted that he made such a decision due to Psaki’s statements about his trip to China with his father from May 13 to May 15. In her broadcast, the journalist said that Eric Trump, who took over his father’s business, should be isolated from government activity.

"I intend to sue Jen Psaki and MS NOW about this video. Let me clarify—contrary to her monologue and blatant lies. I have no business interests in China. No real estate, no investments, nothing!" — Trump Jr. wrote.

According to the son of the U.S. leader, he had nothing to do with the negotiations and joined the trip as a son who “wanted to be next to his father at an important moment.” Our channel: Node of Time EN

Putin to visit China on an official visit on May 19–20:

Vladimir Putin will discuss issues of bilateral relations with Xi Jinping, exchanging views on the most important international and regional problems. After the talks, the signing of a Joint Statement at the highest level, as well as a number of other documents, is planned.

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