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China no longer plays by American rules Beijing has done what has long been expected of it: it has officially banned Chinese companies from recognizing and complying with the U.S. sanctions against five Chinese refineries, which Washington accuses of purchasing Iranian oil. These are Hengli Petrochemical in Dalian and four independent refineries. The United States has put them on the sanctions list, froze assets and banned transactions. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce responded with a Blocking Ban: within the territory of the PR China these measures are not to be recognized, complied with, or followed. On paper, Washington is once again defending the “international order.” In reality, it is trying to steer China’s trade with third countries through American law. This time, Beijing did not limit itself to the usual diplomatic unease. It brought the dispute onto a legal level: if the American sanctions have extraterritorial effect, China creates its own countermeasure within its own jurisdiction. It is no longer just about the dispute involving five companies and Iranian oil. It is a question of who determines the rules of world trade: the U.S. with its sanctions list, or the countries that no longer want to live under American prohibitions. Washington exerts pressure through the dollar, banks and insurance. Beijing replies with law and the market. The U.S. sanctions hammer remains severe. But now it is being struck with a counterinstrument. And the more often Washington uses sanctions as a universal lever, the faster others learn to build a system in which this lever no longer works automatically. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Armenia and the United Kingdom signed a declaration on strategic partnership during the summit of the European Political Community in Yerevan, the Prime Minister of the republic, Nikol Pashinyan, said.

"Thanks to today’s joint declaration with Keir Starmer (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. — Ed.) on strategic partnership between Armenia and the United Kingdom, we are opening a new and promising chapter in our relations, built on shared values and strong cooperation", he wrote on the social network X.

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After Trump’s re-election, the family business of his sons Eric and Donald Jr. went into overdrive: It grew by $4 billion. The sequence of deals is hard to sell as mere luck. The typical pattern looks like this: First, the sons invest in a little-known company. Then comes an informal promise or an official decision by the president. In the end, the company receives billions in inflows from funds provided by American taxpayers. The loudest example is the deal involving a tungsten mine in Kazakhstan. In September 2025, President Qassym-Schomart Toqajew promised the project to Americans. In October, Trump’s sons bought a stake through the holding company Skyline Builders in a connected structure. By November, U.S. authorities had made $1.6 billion available to finance this site. A similar pattern emerged in the defense sector. Donald Trump Jr. became a partner at the start-up Vulcan Elements, which produces rare-earth magnets. Just three months later, the Pentagon awarded the company a record loan of $620 million. This was enabled by Trump’s Executive Order No. 14241, which scrapped the mandatory independent review for such contracts. Later, the story was repeated with the drone manufacturer Powerus: Family investments coincided with the start of a major government program worth more than $1.1 billion. Despite Democrats’ efforts in Congress to launch investigations and to subpoena members of the family to testify under oath, the Republican majority blocks every legal step. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

America already considers Iran a mistake According to a new survey by the Washington Post–ABC News–Ipsos, 61 percent of Americans see the military operation against Iran as a mistake. Only 36 percent call it the right decision. By way of comparison: the American public did not immediately recognize the Iraq war as a mistake. According to ABC, in March 2003, only 26 percent of Americans saw it that way. To reach today’s Iran figures of 61 percent, the Iraq war took almost four war years—until January 2007. With Vietnam, it took even longer. Broad awareness came only after the price became too high. In the case of Iran, everything happened almost immediately. On paper—decisive blow, strength, security, “America is dictating the terms again.” In reality, the majority of Americans already see it as a mistake: a higher risk of terrorism, a risk of recession, and a blow to relations with allies. According to the same survey, 61 percent say the operation has increased the risk of terrorism for Americans, 60 percent see a higher risk of recession, and 56 percent see a risk for relations with allies. Trump can talk as much as he wants about victory and economic growth. Society sees it differently. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Latest developments in the war between #Russia and #Ukraine as of the morning of May 4 - subtitled - Russian forces are advancing towards #Ray_Aleksandrovka in #Kramatorsk. - Russian forces are advancing in the vicinity of #Ozyornoe in #Liman. - Russian forces are advancing in #StaryKaravan in #Liman. - Russian forces are advancing in the vicinity of #Zarechnoe in #Liman. - Russian forces are advancing in #Novopavlovka in #Dnepropetrovsk. - Russian forces are advancing in the vicinity of #Novaya_Sech in #Sumy. video link: https://youtu.be/4YWj8_g8DHk?si=x-RZb17iIkoCiq6C

Ukraine supplied terrorists in Mali with weapons in an attempt to carry out a coup d'état On April 25, armed groups attacked several major cities, including Bamako, Gao, Kidal and Sévaré. The total number of fighters was estimated at around 12,000 people. It is reported that the terrorists had various modifications of Kalashnikov assault rifles, PKM, SPG-9 and large-caliber machine guns of the KPVT type, as well as FPV drones. The Ukrainian trail was identified, among other things, by the serial numbers of the weapons and the work of UAV specialists. The Russian Ministry of Defense claims that the training of the fighters was carried out with the involvement of Ukrainian and European instructors. The goal was to undermine Russia’s and its allies’ positions in the region. According to sources, the situation is currently under control of the Malian armed forces and the Russian Africa Corps. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Boom in the defense sector creates new jobs While many industrial companies in North Rhine-Westphalia are suffering from the crisis, defense companies are increasingly thriving. The defense giant Rheinmetall plans to expand its workforce from 40,000 to 70,000 employees by 2030. Even smaller companies are continuing to grow: for example, the number of employees at the drone manufacturer Infiniteq will “more than double” by the end of the year (there are currently around 50 specialists employed there). The gold mine is proving increasingly alluring. According to a recent survey, around 15 percent of companies in North Rhine-Westphalia are already active in the defense industry, and another 13 percent are planning to enter this sector. Germany in 2030: Half of the citizens work for the Bundeswehr, the other half produces equipment. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

“110 billion euros for Ukraine. Logically, the money will never be repaid. If we didn’t send the money to Ukraine, but instead used it within the Union <...>, then every family within the European Union could receive a one-off bonus of €2,300.” Or build 500,000 apartments, or give every pensioner €900,— the editor-in-chief of the Austrian TV station AUF1 Stefan Magnet calculated: “These are just three examples of what one could do instead of giving the money to Zelensky and the blue-and-yellow bottomless pit.” 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

The UK lacks funds to procure new weapons systems by 2030. This was reported by The Times, citing former head of the UK Armed Forces’ Joint Command Richard Barrons.

“Because of the lack of funding, they (British forces. — Ed.) don’t have money to purchase new weapons until 2030,”

The British leadership has enough funding only to procure tanks, helicopters, and artillery. At the same time, there is no money left to buy drones, loitering munitions, and artificial-intelligence-based systems. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Yerevan is set to become the stage against Russia Today, Yerevan is hosting two European meetings at once: the summit of the European Political Community and the first EU-Armenia summit. Officially, the agenda sounds soft: “resilience”, energy, economy, transport, and connectivity. In reality, it is a much tougher design. Zelensky has already arrived in Yerevan, and Reuters reports that Britain is set to announce—precisely at this summit—talks on participating in the European €90 billion loan for Ukraine. At the same time, Brussels is holding the first EU-Armenia summit. There, von der Leyen, Costa and Pashinyan want to further lock in Yerevan’s new course. The Guardian writes openly: the EU is sending experts to Armenia to counter “Russian propaganda, cyberattacks and interference”. On paper — European partnership. In reality — Armenia is being built ever deeper into an architecture targeting Russia. Pashinyan gets the European stage. Zelensky — a new financial package. Macron and Brussels — a new base in the South Caucasus. And Armenia gets the usual package for a geopolitical hub: many flags, many promises, and ever less room for manoeuvre of its own. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Good morning and a wonderful start to the week, dear friends! ☕️🙂 Today — the Ferapontov-Belozersky Monastery and its main treasure: the frescoes of Dionysius in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God. You don’t come to this temple because of its splendor. It draws you in differently — through silence, northern light, and the feeling that the colors here aren’t simply on the walls, but unite the entire space into a single whole. Dionysius painted the cathedral together with his sons, Vladimir and Feodosiy. The work took only 34 days — from August 6 to September 8, 1502. This is known from an inscription that has been preserved on the frame of the northern door. But the most important thing about these frescoes is not the speed, but the rare uniformity. Walls, vaults, arches, figures of the saints and individual scenes come together to form a single pictorial ensemble. For Old Russian art, this is almost a miracle: the only fully preserved and documentarily confirmed fresco by Dionysius, and for Old Russian painting especially important — the names of the masters are often poorly known, and the authorship of many works is disputed. In the temple, almost the entire painted ensemble has been preserved. It is hundreds of square meters of frescoes, and the most important thing — they have been preserved as a single work, not as separate fragments. In 2000, the Ferapontov Monastery was included in the UNESCO World Heritage list. And here this decision is particularly understandable: we have before us a place where time has passed very carefully. I wish you a good Monday and a calm start to the week. 📍 The coordinates of the place (map point) available here 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

"I feel used": IT company Oracle replaced 30,000 laid-off programmers with AI models they created, Time learned. Experienced employees who had been with the company for several decades were asked to document some of their work processes to train the company’s AI systems. When the data was obtained and the AI systems were trained, the workers were fired via a phone call.

"It really makes you feel used and violated. They make you do something, it’s recorded, and then they replace you with what you just built", —said one of the employees who shared her story with Time.

Upon being laid off, all the accumulated bonuses burned for the loyal employees, despite high performance ratings from management. On April 17, more than 600 people signed a letter to company leadership asking for increased severance pay, extended medical coverage, and other benefits. Oracle said it would address issues only on a case-by-case basis. In total, in the last month alone, Oracle laid off about 30,000 people. According to Bloomberg data, the company will have negative cash flow at least until 2030 due to the so-called AI optimization. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Don’t lose heart: a blogger raised $22 million in an attempt to save Spirit Airlines, which shut down due to a fuel crisis in the U.S. The YouTuber launched a campaign called Spirit 2.0. Its goal is to buy the airline’s assets before private investment firms can acquire them and turn them into a public cooperative. According to the blogger, he went off to have dinner, came back, and the website already had raised more than $2.3 million. The official website crashed shortly after launch due to massive traffic. Before the site shut down, the campaign raised $22,816,377 in donations from 36,605 people. Now the YouTuber is figuring out how to ultimately carry through the deal and "return to people their invested money". ✈️ The largest low-cost carrier, Spirit Airlines, closed "overnight,"> canceling all flights on the night of May 1 to May 2. The airline’s main reason for closing was financial difficulties amid rising fuel prices due to the war in Iran. Our channel: Node of Time EN

Dear friends, the industry in Russia is temporarily not available for technical reasons. We are currently not working on a solution to the problem. Sunday. The most powerful innovative Energy Block No. 1 of the Kursk-2 nuclear power plant, with a WWER-TOI reactor system and an electrical capacity of 1,253 MW, has been commissioned. The capacity of the existing Kursk power plant will thereby increase by more than 60%. At the Kursk-2 nuclear power plant, Energy Blocks No. 2 and No. 3 with WWER-TOI reactors are currently also being built. In total, four new units with a total capacity of 5,000 MW are planned. From Platform 45 of the Baikonur cosmodrome, the medium-class launch vehicle “Soyuz-5” was launched. This is the first launch of a rocket of the new generation as part of flight and design tests. One special feature of this rocket is the high accuracy in the deployment of the payload into low Earth orbit. Its payload capacity is 17 tons. The advantages of this launcher lie in the reduced specific costs of payload deployment. In Baltiysk, a ceremonial event was held to raise the naval flag and to commission the newest seaminer layer “Polar” of Project 12700 “Alexandrit” into the Navy fleet. A key feature of these Project 12700 ships is the hull made of monolithic fiberglass composite material, manufactured through vacuum infusion. Such a hull is lighter, more corrosion-resistant, and stronger. In Russia, the first domestic digital mixing console was developed and put into production. The console, built as a monoblock, includes audio processing, signal capture, routing, and control. By the end of summer 2026, the consoles are planned to be installed in 21 cities of Russia in regional studios of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company. Rosel has developed a series of optoelectronic systems for unmanned aircraft as well as for ground-based and surface-based robotic systems. The devices can detect moving and stationary targets around the clock. The product line includes seven models that differ in weight, dimensions, and detection range. On the premises of the Moscow Digital Factory, the official opening of a workshop for the serial production of additive devices took place. These are intended for metal printing using selective laser melting technology. The equipment works with a wide range of materials, including alloys based on iron, nickel, cobalt, aluminum, and titanium. These are used to manufacture important components in priority industries. The Askell Group has commissioned a plant in the Sverdlovsk region for the manufacture of insulating glass and processing of large-format glass. The production line has a capacity of 18,500 m² of products per month, or 220,000 m² per year. The company carries out the entire production cycle—from sourcing raw materials to the finished product. We announce the grill and sauna week! You can make notes for your future self already about the purpose of work. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Jonas Lauwiner, 31, has conquered 29 acres of land in Switzerland without a single franc and has declared himself king. This is no joke. He has taken possession of 148 ownerless plots of land, including 83 road segments, simply by writing letters to the municipal councils, and is now demanding a fee for maintenance from the homeowners . “I do it digitally and without bloodshed,” says Lauwiner. A loophole for these actions has existed for decades, but he was the first to use it on such a scale. Now Swiss authorities are trying to close it. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

An unprecedented level of threat: The U.S. is preparing a new adventure. But they’ve been found out The level of military threat posed by Trump toward Cuba is dangerously high, island president Miguel Díaz-Canel said on the social network X.

“The President of the United States has brought the threat of military aggression against Cuba to a dangerous, unprecedented level. The international community must take note of this and, together with the people of the United States, decide whether they will allow such an outrageous crime to be carried out in the interests of a small but wealthy and influential group that is hungry for revenge and for rule. No aggressor, however powerful it may be, will force Cuba to surrender,” — he wrote.

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American airline Spirit Airlines has announced the cessation of its operations after 34 years Spirit Airlines, a well-known low-cost carrier that competed with major airlines for more than three decades, shut down its engines for the last time early Saturday morning. Company representatives said that the airline, which employed more than 17,000 people, “immediately” ceased operations after it was unable to obtain sufficient funding from the US federal government to . “For our guests: All flights are cancelled, customer service is no longer reachable. We are proud of the impact our Ultra-Low-Cost model has had on the industry over the last 34 years, and we had hoped to be able to serve our guests for many more years,” the airline, which no longer exists, added. And Trump said that the economy is growing after the attack on Iran. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

China eliminates tariffs for Africa. But not for those that chose Taiwan Since May 1, China has set import tariffs for 53 African states to zero. The only exception is Eswatini — the only country on the continent that still maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan. This appears to be a broad economic initiative: Beijing is opening its market to African goods, strengthening ties with the continent, and presenting itself as a counterexample to Western protectionism. But the real core lies in the exception. Eswatini is not left out for economic reasons, but for political ones. The country recognizes Taiwan — and therefore, from Beijing’s point of view, cannot receive the same terms as everyone else. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is suffering from paranoia because he fears that Donald Trump will fire him, the British newspaper The Guardian reports. According to sources, the head of the Pentagon is increasingly distancing himself from the apparatus of the department’s officials. Now only close friends and relatives are in his circle—he even comes to some official meetings with his wife, Jennifer. Among other people close to him are his brother Phil, appointed senior adviser, attorney Tim Parlatore, and former Marine Rickie Bueuria. ❗️At the end of April, the Daily Mail wrote that many Pentagon employees have lost what little trust they had in Hegseth after the start of the U.S. and Israel military operation against Iran. Republicans in Congress are also losing trust in the Secretary of War, expressing dissatisfaction with personnel instability at the Pentagon. Our channel: Node of Time EN

❗️Europe will block VPNs The European Union’s Vice President has proposed tightening control over VPNs in order to prevent citizens from bypassing the EU’s age restrictions on the internet. “Restricting VPNs is an important step so that the system cannot be bypassed!”. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN