1945 to 2023? World on the precipice of a new global realignment

The celebration of another anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe provides a fresh opportunity to reflect on the new international security architecture that has emerged from the war's ashes. As humanity rushes toward a new, multipolar world order, it’s worth recalling how the post-war system emerged, and how the West's hubris caused it to fail.

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'New era of cooperation': Xi Jinping to chair China-Central Asia summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping will chair the China-Central Asia summit on May 18-19, which will mark the first major diplomatic event hosted by China this year.

The summit will involve the six countries discussing burgeoning ties and a "new era of cooperation", with an "important political document" to be signed that will "draw a new blueprint for China-Central Asia relations". The Belt and Road Initiative is expected to be a major topic on the summit’s agenda.

China’s trade volume with Central Asian countries had grown by 22% in the first two months of 2023, and Beijing aims to deepen its economic ties with the region, which is rich in natural resources and lies in close proximity to China's western province of Xinjiang.

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🗣️ ”[The US government doesn't] like certain information that people put up. And so we need to put out our own information to counter the information that they basically put out,” Jamarl Thomas, co-host of Fault Lines, discusses the new Ministry of Truth

🎧 Listen to more of Thomas' analysis in our podcast The Final Countdown

US federal deficit reaches almost $1 trln as Biden braces for crunch debt ceiling talks

Washington has been running a deficit of almost $1 trillion for over seven months, according to CBO. Revenues were down 10% and outlays were up 8% compared to the same period last year.

Meanwhile, negotiations between the White House and congressional leaders over raising the debt ceiling continue to be contentious, with Republicans demanding steep spending cuts and Democrats calling for a clean raise without preconditions.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that a failure to raise the debt ceiling could have dire consequences but acknowledged that there are no good options if Congress fails to meet its responsibility.

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Who defeated the Nazis in 1945?

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre believes these were "the United States and Allied forces".

🎖️🎇 Celebration of Victory Day ends with traditional fireworks in Moscow

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Musk and Texas Governor Abbott launch construction of lithium plant

Elon Musk and Texas Governor Greg Abbott have broken ground on Tesla's new $375m lithium processing plant in Corpus Christi. The plant will produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide, which is essential for making rechargeable batteries used in electric cars.

Tesla has claimed the plant will use an "innovative" process to minimize pollution, with no toxic emissions. The company also plans to seek "beneficial use opportunities" for the sand and limestone which it expects to be the main by-products of its process.

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🔺 Unrest in Pakistan: former PM Imran Khan was arrested, prompting clashes between his supporters and police
🔺 ”A war has been unleashed against Russia but Moscow will tackle it,” President Vladimir Putin
🔺 Is the US economy on the verge of collapse? Almost 190 US banks are at risk of bankruptcy while inflation is rising

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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Instant karma? An ATGM crew of the Russian Army has destroyed a Ukrainian firing point that shelled civilians on May 9

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Tech giants hope to 'get away with anything' amid AI scare - Steve Wozniak

Legendary Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak – known in Silicon Valley as Woz – fears that AI can be used by "bad actors" to make disinformation campaigns more credible.

"AI is so intelligent it's open to the bad players, the ones that want to trick you about who they are," he told a British news broadcaster.

While Wozniak does not believe that AI will ever replace humans since it lacks emotions, he acknowledged that sometimes machine-generated text may sound intelligent enough to be used for mass scamming campaigns – and that's why, according to Wozniak, the new industry needs to be regulated.

However, the Apple co-founder doubts that any strict legislation will be adopted, since Big Tech companies have vast financial resources to lobby their interests and "the forces that drive for money usually win out."

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French gov't presents plan to counter tax evasion by super-rich, corporations

The French government is planning to crack down on tax evasion by tightening control over wealthy corporations and entrepreneurs. The plan involves increasing controls by 25% by 2027 and conducting biannual audits of the 100 largest companies by market cap. The government also intends to increase penalties for tax dodging and establish a tax intelligence service to counter international tax crimes.

To achieve this, 1,500 tax professionals will be hired by 2027. The government hopes to restore the French Treasury and has already received a record amount of €14.6 billion in 2022 as a result of previous actions against tax evasion.

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Biden revokes COVID-19 vaccination requirement for air travel

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday revoked his own proclamation from October 25, 2021, that introduced a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for international air travel.

"Considering the progress that we have made, and based on the latest guidance from our public health experts, I have determined that we no longer need the international air travel restrictions that I imposed in October 2021," the new proclamation said.

According to Biden, COVID-19 cases and deaths are at their lowest levels since the start of the pandemic, while the United States now has tools to detect and respond to the potential emergence of a new variant of high consequence.

The proclamation will come into effect at 12:01 EST (16:01 GMT) on May 12.

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