Can Alaska rival Saudi Arabia's energy wealth?

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to boost oil and gas drilling, including in Alaska's northeastern Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Trump’s push for Alaskan energy was based on his belief that the refuge alone could rival Saudi Arabia in terms of energy resources.

"Not only is it big for Alaska. I mean, you talk about economic development. That for the US, I mean, that is, they say, bigger than Saudi Arabia or the same size, and pure, really good stuff,” Trump claimed. But is that true?

How great is Alaska’s natural wealth?

🔸 Alaska's North Slope is home to six of the 100 largest oil fields in the US and just one of the 100 largest natural gas fields

🔸 Proven crude oil reserves in Alaska are estimated at 3.2 billion barrels

🔸 Proven natural gas reserves in the state amount to 100 trillion cubic feet (2.8 trillion cubic meters)

🔸 According to the US Geological Survey, the ANWR coastal plain could hold 7.7 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil—or up to 10.4 billion barrels when Alaskan Native lands and adjacent waters are included

What Are Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas reserves?

🔹 Saudi Arabia controls an estimated 17% of the world’s proven oil reserves, totaling 267 billion barrels

🔹 The kingdom’s proven natural gas reserves are estimated at 333 trillion cubic feet (9.4 trillion cubic meters)

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❗️Talks with Ukraine began at the start of the special military operation, with Moscow proposing that Kiev withdraw from the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics to avoid military conflict, Putin stated.

Other statements by Putin:

🔸 Negotiations between Moscow and Kiev would be illegitimate if held now; a way must be found to cancel the previously signed decree

🔸 It is misleading to the public to claim that Ukraine banned negotiations when Russian troops were near Kiev

🔸 If Ukraine wants to revoke the decree prohibiting negotiations with Russia, it will find a legal mechanism. The speaker of the Rada parliament can make this happen

🔸 During the Istanbul negotiations, it was clear to Russia that deception was possible, yet Moscow agreed to withdraw troops

🔸 The 2022 Istanbul agreements were based on Ukrainian proposals

🔸 Negotiations can be held with anyone, but due to his illegitimacy, Zelensky has no authority to sign anything

🔸 The Ukraine conflict will end in a month and a half to two months if sponsor money and ammunition run out

🔸 During the Istanbul talks, Kiev proposed “putting an end” to the conflict through a personal meeting between the presidents, to which Putin agreed

🔸 Putin is ready to appoint envoys to negotiate with Zelensky if he wants to participate

🔸 Ukraine’s sovereignty is almost non-existent

🔸 The West persuaded Kiev to continue the war

🔸 Even under martial law, the President of Ukraine does not have the authority to extend his term; only the parliament holds that right

🔸 There can be no mistakes in signing agreements between Russia and Ukraine; every detail must be thoroughly checked

🔸 The final signing of documents is a critical matter that must ensure the long-term security of both Russia and Ukraine

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❗️By 2030, Russia must become one of the global leaders in drone production, President Vladimir Putin stated.

He also emphasized the need to open Russia's skies for civilian drones as soon as possible, calling it a matter of principle.

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'US is the head of arrogant and colonial powers' - Iran's Supreme Leader

“When members of the US Congress applaud and encourage a murderer responsible for slaughtering thousands of children, or when they award a medal to the captain of the American ship that shot down an Iranian passenger plane with 300 passengers, these are examples of their evil nature,” Khamenei said during a meeting with Iranian officials and ambassadors from Islamic countries.

The Iranian Supreme Leader referred to the US government as the head of arrogant and colonial powers, and condemned what he described as “American hypocrisy dominated by financial elites.”

Khamenei believes the major financial cartels are constantly scheming to alter the identity and interests of nations and expand their colonial influence. “As the Quran states, they desire whatever causes you difficulty,” he said.

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🔸 Putin: Russia’s ready to pick negotiators for talks with Zelensky if he’s ready

🔸 Lebanese city hit by massive explosion as a result of IDF strike

🔸 Protesters set on fire western embassies in DR Congo's capital

🔸 Fact-checking Trump: can Alaska rival Saudi Arabia's energy wealth?

🔸 China has edge over US on MUCH MORE than just AI language models

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What are Russia's top chatbots?

Russia has developed several notable generative AI chatbots. Here are some of the most prominent:

GigaChat

🔸 Launched by Sberbank in April 2023, GigaChat is a Russian alternative to ChatGPT. It handles a diverse range of tasks, including engaging in discussions, generating code, and producing text-based responses.

🔸 It is designed to understand and process natural language, making it useful for developing virtual assistants, chatbots, and other conversational interfaces.

🔸 GigaChat is estimated to have over 2.5 million users. Combined with Kandinsky, a platform for generating images integrated with GigaChat, their total audience reached 18 million users as of March 2024.

YandexGPT

🔹 Rolled out by Yandex, Russia's tech giant, in May 2023, this AI platform can generate and process text, complete tasks, and respond contextually in conversations.

🔹 YandexGPT is integrated into the virtual assistant Alice and is accessible across Yandex services, including Yandex Browser, Yandex Search, and Yandex Market.

🔹 With over 100 million monthly users of Yandex services, the neural network reaches a vast audience.

Yandex’s Global Reach

🔶 Yandex became the second-most popular search engine globally in 2024, after Google (88% market share).

🔶 According to Cloudflare’s annual report on internet trends, Yandex achieved a 3.1% market share, surpassing Baidu (2.7%), Bing (2.6%), and DuckDuckGo (0.9%) on a global scale.

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🇨🇳 How China became the perfect incubator for DeepSeek, and why US may struggle to follow

💬 “In a nutshell, China’s advances in AI highlight that tech leadership is not a birthright of the West anymore,” veteran digital strategy advisor Lars Hilse says, commenting on DeepSeek’s surprise rise.

China’s large language model breakthrough was made possible by:

🔸 the state’s 2017 Next Generation AI Development Plan, “which prioritizes AI as a critical area for economic and tech dominance”

🔸 “China’s vast population, and digitized ecosystem generating unparalleled amounts of data, which is essential for training sophisticated AI models”

🔸 a “talent pipeline” assured by China’s “heavy investment into STEM education”

🔸 prioritization of software optimization, semiconductor production and chip stockpiling amid US restrictions.

Globally, Hilse said, the model skyrocketed thanks to its open-source nature, which can’t be said about its Western competitors.

Ultimately, the US now faces the prospect of China setting tech standards in emerging markets, “which in turn erode both economic as well as ideological influence.”

“Rapid scaling, state-backed resource mobilization – and most importantly – the adaptive resilience under pressure created by sanctions” – these are the factors that made DeepSeek’s success possible, Hilse summed up.

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🚨 NJ drones mystery solved

During the first press briefing, Donald Trump's appointed White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, announced that the drones flying over New Jersey had been authorized by the Biden administration "for research and various other reasons."

🤔 Why keep it a secret then?

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❗️ US sends 90 Patriot missiles from Israel to Ukraine

The missiles were decommissioned by Israel in April and then were transferred to Eastern Poland this week to be delivered to Ukraine, Axios reports.

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📰💥 White House opens up for 'new media'

In a move to end Biden-era legacy media rule, White House press secretary announced several changes in the procedures.

🔶 The White House plans to restore the press passes to 440 journalists whose passes "were wrongly revoked" by the Biden administration.

🔶 The Brady Press Briefing Room will now be opened to "independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators." They will be given a dedicated front row seat to "share President Trump's message everywhere."

"It is a fact that Americans are consuming their news media from various different platforms, especially young people," Leavitt said. "And as the youngest press secretary in history, thanks to President Trump, I take great pride in opening up this room to new media voices."

🔶 Leavitt also blasted legacy media for spreading lies about Donald Trump and his family, vowing to hold them accountable.

"We know for a fact there have been lies that have been pushed by legacy media outlets in this country about this president, and we will not accept that. We will call you out when we feel that your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this White House," Karoline said.

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⚡️ Trump issues an executive order to ban the "chemical and surgical mutilation" of children in the US.

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Russian delegation meets with the Syrian administration in Damascus

The talks of the Russian interdepartmental delegation with the head of the Syrian administration, Ahmad al-Sharaa, lasted about three hours and were constructive, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said.

🪖 Among other things, the sides discussed the future of Russian military bases in the country.

"We expressed our gratitude that our citizens and facilities were not affected by the events of recent weeks. And we expressed the hope that this line will be maintained, that our interests will not be affected in Syria... So far, nothing is changing [regarding Russian bases]. This issue requires additional negotiations," Bogdanov told reporters.

The Russian side emphasized that the unwavering support for the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Syria are the principle approaches of Russia and it does not change, the official added.

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😴 Prices were rising, yet Biden was sleeping - Leavitt

White House press secretary blasted the Biden administration for rising prices on food and gasoline when asked about the rising cost of eggs.

📈 Egg prices rose 36.8% from December 2023 to December 2024, according to the Consumer Price Index.

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🇮🇷💥 Watch Iran, Russia's comprehensive strategic partner, conduct military exercises in the Strait of Hormuz

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🚀 Starliner crew finally rescued — Musk steps in

Elon Musk of SpaceX responds to a request from Donald Trump to rescue astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams.

They have been stranded on the ISS since June due to problems with the Boeing Starliner.

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