The Chinese Embassy in London opposed the visit of former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss to Taiwan and called it a "political show"

The embassy said that "the greatest threat to peace across the Taiwan Strait now is 'Taiwan independence' activities and foreign forces’ connivance at and support for them."

"By playing the 'Taiwan card' and engaging in political shows, Truss and the like are colluding with the 'Taiwan independence' secessionist forces to provoke confrontation and escalate tensions across the Taiwan Strait. What they did has fully revealed their sinister intentions," the embassy added.

Earlier, the Taiwanese media reported Truss arrived at Taoyuan International Airport and was welcomed by Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. She is expected to give a speech early Wednesday in Taipei dubbed "Taiwan: On the Frontline of Freedom and Democracy."

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The US military trains mercenaries and terrorists for CIA-run destabilisation and coup operations around the world

Former US Army psychological warfare officer Scott Bennett told Sputnik that there was nothing new about Washington's use of surrogate forces to destabilise those nations in its sights.

"The CIA intentionally cultivates and targets the most barbaric ferocious, sociopathic, bloodthirsty, rapists, murderers, torturers, monsters, criminals, drug addicts, and child killers to be mercenaries in the various US irregular warfare operations and government revolutions," Bennett charged, because "Only the worst people in society are sufficient to exercise the pain, suffering, trauma, and evil upon the rest of society to create the chaos the US needs to overthrow governments" and pillage those countries' resources.

That was most apparent in Ukraine, he said, where "never before has so much brainwashing occurred to the point where the Ukrainian people are completely lobotomized and hypnotized by the racial, religious, and ethnic bigotry and prejudice against Russians."

He lamented that US institutions which claimed to champion democracy had been "the Frankenstein doctors that have created this monstrosity."

Earlier, a major US daily newspaper reported on newly-released Department of Defense (DoD) documents that revealed the Pentagon was not screening militants recruited for its proxy force training programs for previous human rights abuses.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

China could beat the United States to a manned landing at the South Pole of the Moon

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson admitted that Beijing could claim possession of the territory at the South Pole of the Moon, where crucial water resources are believed to be available while keeping US astronauts out.

The history of China’s attitude towards claiming disputed territories in the South China Sea, especially the Spratly Islands, proved that they had established a pattern of claiming full territorial control when they could establish primacy of occupation, Nelson alleged.

The NASA administrator said US leaders must realize the country is in a space race with China and how serious the race of getting on the Moon is.

Currently the US Artemis program plans to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon in 2025.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russia's exports of oil and oil products in April reached their highest point since February 2022

Exports increased by 50,000 barrels per day month-on-month to 8.3 million, according to a report published by the International Energy Agency.

The International Energy Agency has once again upgraded its forecast for oil and condensate production in Russia for 2023 and now it expects a decrease in oil production by 350,000 barrels per day instead of the previously expected 530,000 barrels per day to 10.7 million barrels per day.

The agency cited the resilience of Russian oil supply amid economic turmoil. The report mentioned that crude exports are "re-routed to new markets as deep price discounts attract traders as well as refiners willing to risk handling the barrels.

The report also mentioned the fact that OPEC+ countries that have obligations under the agreement on limiting oil production decreased output by 400,000 barrels per day in April, increasing their effective spare capacity to 4.1 million barrels per day.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

A group of countries led by Poland secretly calls on Zelensky to end the conflict, even at the cost of his resignation

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh made such a statement, pointing out the fact that Ukrainian president’s refusal to achieve peace has decreased the support of neighbouring countries.

Kiev is critically dependent on the supply of Western weapons and the deterioration of relations with European countries over calls for peace could seriously affect the state of affairs at the front.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The Russian Embassy in Washington trolled the US State Department on Twitter, posting a GTA 5 meme referencing the destruction of a Patriot system

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced in a statement that a Patriot system had been hit by the Kinzhal hypersonic ballistic missile in Kiev.

The Patriots were delivered to the Zelensky administration within the framework of Western countries’ ongoing military aid to Kiev. The US and its allies ramped up their assistance shortly after Russian began its special military operation in Ukraine.

Washington is still assessing to what degree the American-made Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) system was damaged following a Russian missile barrage.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Twitter owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has once again reiterated that he wants a "normal" person to be the US president

The billionaire was asked by a CNBC host if he regretted voting for the incumbent president. The tech mogul responded, saying that he wishes "we could just have a normal human being as president."

"That’s what I want,” Musk added.

"You know, there’s an old saying: we’re better off being wronged by people picked at random from the phone book than the faculty of Harvard." 

The host also asked the billionaire if he was happy with President Biden. Musk responded, "Some of these executive abilities are underrated. Since the president is effectively the executive officer of the country, it actually matters if they are a good executive officer. It’s not simply a matter of do they share your beliefs. But are they good at getting things done? There are a lot of decisions that need to be made every day. Many of them are unrelated to moral beliefs."

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The Paris Court of Appeals has sentenced ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy to a year in prison and two years' probation in an influence peddling case

The 68-year-old, who served one term from 2007 to 2012, has been embroiled in legal troubles ever since leaving office. In March 2021 he was sentenced to three years in prison – two of them suspended and one at home with an electronic bracelet – for corruption and influence peddling through a secret telephone line that was discovered through wiretapping.

Sarkozy is accused of corruption, illegal campaign financing and concealing the embezzlement of public funds, but has always rejected all the charges.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Quad summit cancelled over stalled debt ceiling negotiations in US 🇺🇸

The upcoming Quad summit involving the leaders of India, Australia, the US, and Japan has been cancelled due to the unresolved situation surrounding the US debt ceiling, according to Australian PM Anthony Albanese.

🗓 The event was scheduled to take place in Sydney on May 23-24. On Tuesday, Joe Biden cancelled his planned trips to 🇦🇺 Australia and 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea amidst the US debt crisis.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

❗️ Russian President Vladimir Putin, together with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, takes part in the ceremony of signing an agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway via video link on Wednesday

🇷🇺 Rasht-Astara railway is the remaining railway section of the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC), connecting the railway infrastructure of Russia and Iran.

🇮🇷 The launch of the INSTC will be used to transport food for consumers in Iran and Africa, President Putin noted.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

A sermon written by a neural network was delivered at the Regensburg Cathedral in Germany

Prelate Bernhard Piendl said he used the help of artificial intelligence to "relatively clearly" explain "difficult phrases" from the Gospel of John.

"I was sitting in front of the computer, impatiently waiting to see what would come of it, and I can tell you: it was absolutely stunning. In a few seconds, I had a completely finished sermon."

When the priest revealed that the text was written by artificial intelligence, the believers were amazed.

However, Piendl is not going to abuse neural networks - according to him, artificial intelligence cannot replace personal relationships with God and faith.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Beijing bashes ‘washed-up' British politicians as Truss touts 'China' as threat in Taiwan

Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has called on her successor Rishi Sunak to designate China as a threat to British national security.

Speaking in Taiwan, Truss urged the UK to enact policies that recognize China's status as a threat, including closing down Confucius Institutes and reevaluating economic dialogue with China. She also emphasized the need for a coordinated approach to support Taiwan's defense against a potential Chinese invasion.

In response, Chinese officials dismissed Truss as a "washed-up" British politician seeking attention and accused her of colluding with Taiwan independence forces to provoke confrontation.

Truss' visit to Taiwan, the first by a prominent UK politician in decades, comes at a time of strained relations between Beijing and London, with the UK's comprehensive security review identifying China as a threat to Taiwan.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

This is eight-year-old Abdullah from 🇦🇫 Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province.

Abdullah has both his legs paralyzed, but driven by his desire to study, this incredible little man crawls to school, traveling as far as 1.5 kilometers regularly. The boy dreams of becoming a doctor or an engineer.

Learn more about him in the video.

Subscribe to @sputniknewsindia

Catch our Fault Lines show, where we provide updates and analysis on all the most vital stories! Here's our line-up for today:

🔺To kick things off, we’ll be discussing the US wars on terror which cost 4.5 million lives around the globe
🔺Next, we’ll cover the debt ceiling negotiations and the record consumer debt in the US
🔺Finally, we’ll speak about retaliation against Hunter Biden whistleblowers

More trending stories coming your way! Tune in to Radio Sputnik at 7am EST|4am PST|1pm CET via the website or app!

📻Also in the United States at 105.5FM, 104.7FM, 102.9FM, 1390AM, 1140AM

❗️ Russia has not yet seen a peace plan for Ukraine from African partners, but as before, it is ready to consider any of their proposals dictated by the desire to promote stabilization - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov