Cuneiform translator: Israeli AI Model to decipher ancient Akkadian texts

Researchers from Tel Aviv University and Ariel University have developed an AI model that can automatically translate ancient Akkadian text written in cuneiform into English, achieving a score comparable to an average machine translator. This could revolutionize the study of ancient history and make it more accessible to a wider audience.

The AI model could be used to train students to better comprehend ancient texts and as a first-stage scanning tool for researchers.

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🌎Geopolitical analyst and author Pepe Escobar told Sputnik’s New Rules podcast that the era of US global hegemony is coming to an end.

💬 "So when we look at what's going on now, this old order is turned upside down completely. China is the most important trade commercial nation on the planet. By PPP, purchasing parity power, it's already the number one economy in the world. Russia, after being devastated during the nineties, now has emerged as the prime military superpower in the world. And even more important, I would say, Russia survived everything that the West threw against it after the start of the special military operation, especially the economic war, the financial war," Escobar said.

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📈Economist Dr. Jack Rasmus warned that the Federal Reserve interest rate hikes will not tame inflation, but would only prompt more regional bank collapses.

💬“The global economy is slowing, which also affects goods producing exports and goods,” Rasmus said. “China is not recovering as fast as they thought that it would. And the war and the sanctions are ongoing. So it's a mess. The economy and the world economy is a mess. And there's not very many bright lights at the end of the tunnel.”

Read the expert analysis on Sputnik’s website

❗️Scott Ritter told Sputnik that Ukraine's Kremlin drone attack was likely a risky gamble to get more military support from NATO.

💬"We'll find out if this is a gross miscalculation, because again we have to come back to what started this: two drones hit the Kremlin, and I can guarantee you if two drones hit the White House, the people who perpetrated that attack would cease to exist. That's probably the future of Zelensky’s government."

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Trading halted in shares of western alliance, latest US Bank in trouble after PacWest

Trading in Western Alliance was suspended at $16.19 a share, versus its previous year’s high of $86.87, by the New York Stock Exchange, which was "waiting for additional information," US media reports said.

As late as Wednesday, Western Alliance said it had not experienced any unusual deposit outflows — which had been the main reason for the spate of US banking failures over the past two months.

The US media reported on Thursday that Western Alliance was mulling "options, including a potential sale."

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New US financial crisis could be worse than 2008 'Credit Crunch'

The government bailouts of mid-sized regional and sector-specific banks have raised concerns about a new economic crisis. Economist Mark Frost warned of an impending economic depression and "stagflation" in the US. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the takeover of First Republic Bank by JPMorgan Chase are seen as signs of a deepening banking crisis.

Frost attributed the root cause of the crisis to greed, as banks, depositors, and shareholders were all seeking higher returns than what was realistically achievable. He warned that inflation and a depression would hit the poor the hardest, and that the US Federal Reserve is in a difficult position trying to combat inflation while bailing out struggling banks.

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“I don’t have a good answer for you”: Biden spokesman John Kirby won’t answer if the White House is concerned that the world is moving away from the US dollar

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🗣️”There will also be a wider question: Was Western intelligence involved? And if Western intelligence was involved in this, then it is open game on Western leaders everywhere, right?”: international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda discusses if Russia will respond to the attempted assassination of the Russian president

🎧Listen to more of Sleboda’s analysis in our podcast Fault Lines

A message for the globalists

“We will not sell the future of our children to you”: Terry Schilling, the president of American Principles Project, speaks at CPAC Hungary

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🔺”We are well aware that decisions on such actions and on such terrorist attacks are made not in Kiev, but in Washington," Peskov said regarding the recent drone attack on the Kremlin
🔺NATO gets closer to China by opening a liaison office in Tokyo
🔺US military buildup in Finland may threaten Northern Sea Route

The Critical Hour will cover these and more stories! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 6pm EST|3pm PST|12am CET via the website or app

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🗣️“This is a new escalation. Now, the Kiev regime has already established that political assassination is a routine part of not only the conflict in the last year, but the conflict internally in Ukraine for the last now nine years”: international relations and security analyst Mark Sleboda speaks about the new level of escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict after the drone attack on the Kremlin

🎧Listen to more of Sleboda’s analysis in our podcast Fault Lines

🌍Pepe Escobar, geopolitical analyst and author, in an interview with Sputnik for our new show New rules, described how Moscow had changed after his last visit and how he has not noticed the effects of sanctions on local life. Even Moscow became more beautiful and clean.

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🇿🇦 💎 🇬🇧 South Africans are calling for Britain to return the world's largest diamond, which is now part of the royal scepter

🗣"The diamond needs to come to South Africa. It needs to be a sign of our pride, our heritage and our culture," stated South African lawyer and activist Mothusi Kamanga, who initiated a petition on the return of the diamond to its home.

▪️The 530-carat Star of Africa diamond was discovered in South Africa back in 1905, when the country was under British rule, and given to the monarchy at the time.

▪️The petition, which has already gathered around 8,000 signatures, comes amid a global discussion about returning various artifacts and pieces of cultural heritage that were plundered in the colonial period.

🗣"I think generally the African people are starting to realize that to decolonize is not just to let people have certain freedoms, but it's also to take back what has been expropriated from us," the activist said

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💬 "And the political leadership don’t understand simple math or physics for that matter. And the American system, in terms of the military industrial complex, it’s basically for profit, is not to actually make weapons capable of fighting wars," geopolitical analyst and author Pepe Escobar said in an interview with Sputnik.

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🦆 In a world where you can be anything, be kind: in Moscow, people blocked the roadway so that a duck with ducklings could cross the road

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#SputnikInfographic

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic, and security bloc founded in 2001, has great potential to become a United Nations for the non-Western world, according to Robinder Sachdev, geopolitical and economic diplomacy analyst and founder president of the Imagindia Institute.

The two-day summit of the SCO foreign ministers kicked off on May 4 in the Indian state of Goa. The SCO foreign ministers are due to focus on the expansion of the organization.

Currently, the organization consists of eight permanent members, namely, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; and nine dialogue partners – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkiye, Egypt, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.

Our infographic shows the comparison of the total population of the SCO and the collective West.

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🇮🇷🇮🇱 Israeli minister claims Iran has enough enriched uranium for five nukes

💬 "Make no mistake – Iran will not be satisfied by a single nuclear bomb. So far, Iran has gained material enriched to 20% and 60% for five nuclear bombs," Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said, speaking alongside Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos during a visit to Athens.

The Israeli defense minister did not elaborate on how Iran’s uranium stockpiles were sufficient for five bombs, given that uranium must typically be enriched to 90% or more to be considered weapons grade. The US nuclear bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in August 1945 had an average enrichment rate of about 80%.

Tel Aviv successfully lobbied Washington into scrapping the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, since holding joint drills with US forces practicing attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities. Tehran has denied having any ambitions to build a nuclear bomb and blasted the West over its silence on Israel's own widely suspected nuke stockpiles.

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🇨🇺 Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has condemned the Ukrainian attempted assassination of Vladimir Putin

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🇷🇺 🇮🇳 WATCH: India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar welcomes Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers' meeting in Goa.

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