🇨🇳🔥Full throttle: China doubles down on tech push despite US pressure

🗣President Xi Jinping’s government is crafting a new high-tech manufacturing blueprint to push China further into the lead, building on the largely successful “Made in China” 2025 plan, according to Bloomberg.

The name may change to dodge Western scrutiny, but the mission remains sharp: Dominate advanced industries like semiconductors, AI, and EVs—especially as the 🗣 US ramps up pressure, the outlet cited sources as saying.

🛠With access to advanced foreign chipmaking tools restricted by the US and its allies, like Japan and the Netherlands, China is racing to build its own.

The next Five-Year Plan kicks off in 2026, but the new tech push could launch at any time, the report added.

💬 The message is clear: China’s not backing down, it’s gearing up.

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🔥 MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Russia's flag flies over Belovody

🇷🇺 WATCH: Russian paratroopers decisively push out Ukrainian troops from the settlement.

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🍽Michelin hype, airline reality: Trump’s crypto gala leaves a SOUR TASTE

🔍The glitz at Donald Trump’s $1.7 million-a-head black-tie gala for his top $TRUMP coin backers ran out when it came to the food served.

Guests expected a Michelin moment when the menu promised “pan-seared halibut with citrus reduction” and “filet mignon with demi-glace” on Trump-branded plates… But in reality: Think airline meal.

💬 “Trash… Walmart steak, man,” influencer Nicholas Pinto told Fortune.

Wired’s Matthew Champion posted a pic from the crime scene: a sad cafeteria-style scoop of yellow mashed potatoes, a lonely few carrots, a slice of squash, halibut resembling a chunk of dry chicken, and the filet drowned in brown gravy looking tragically overcooked.

💬 “I’ve had better food on Spirit Airlines,” quipped CNBC’s Steve Kovach.

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🚨Britain, France, Germany, and the US lift distance restrictions on military supplies to Ukraine - Chancellor of Germany Merz

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EU's Ukrainian protection dilemma: Time running out? 🤯

What began as an emergency measure for Ukrainians fleeing connoscription is now pushing EU law to its limits—with Brussels scrambling to decide what comes next.

As the Temporary Protection Directive expires in 2026, behind closed doors talks of an "exit strategy" are intensifying, Euractiv writes.

💬 “We’re already on thin ice,” warns migration policy expert Martin Wagner. Without a clear transition plan, asylum systems could be OVERWHELMED—the very scenario the TPD was meant to avoid.

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🇷🇺🇹🇷 TOP DIPLOMATS IN MOSCOW: TURKEY & RUSSIA TACKLE UKRAINE TALKS

Turkish FM Hakan Fidan and Russia’s Vladimir Medinsky held high-stakes talks in Moscow on the Ukraine negotiation process, reports a Sputnik diplomatic source in Ankara.

Fidan’s visit to Russia heats up as Kremlin spokesperson Peskov confirms: “Meeting with Putin TODAY.”

📸 Turkish Foreign Ministry drops exclusive photos from the closed-door session – diplomacy in motion.

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💥 RUSSIA TAKES THE HITS, WEST PLAYS DUMB

Moscow is sounding the alarm after what officials describe as a record wave of Ukrainian drone and missile strikes on Russian civilian infrastructure. Here’s how Russian officials are framing the escalation:

👉 Unprecedented attack

Ukraine has launched a record number of drone strikes and missile attacks on Russian civilian targets, including in Moscow, with casualties reported.

👉 Civilians under fire

President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukrainian forces are deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, calling Russia's response against military targets in Ukraine "retaliatory."

👉Kiev still trying to infiltrate

Despite being pushed out of the Kursk region, Ukrainian forces continue to attempt incursions and bombard Russian territory with drones, artillery, and Western missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

👉Buffer zone is a security necessity

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the decision to create a security strip on Ukrainian territory was made to prevent future strikes and infiltration attempts.

👉 Terror to derail peace process

Moscow accuses Kiev of launching “barbaric terrorist attacks” in an effort to derail renewed peace negotiations facilitated by the US.

👉 Ceasefire violations

Ukraine broke multiple informal ceasefires – including during Easter, Victory Day, and the energy truce period – as part of its escalatory war strategy, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.

👉 EU leader visits = more attacks

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested a link between European politicians visiting Kiev and the spike in attacks on Russia: “It’s impossible not to notice.”

👉 Where's int’l community’s reaction?

Lavrov called on the UN and the international community to condemn Ukraine’s strikes on civilian areas and its disregard for the rules of warfare.

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🚫Running on EMPTY? Ukraine scrambles amid critical missile shortage

Ukraine’s air defenses are running dry as French and Italian missiles deplete, Western media reported.

💬 “We need many more long-range systems, such as the [American] Patriot, the [German] Iris-T and the [French-Italian] SAMP/T," one Ukrainian officer demanded.

Ukraine reportedly no longer has missiles for its two SAMP/T batteries, and has "not received a single missile in a year and a half" for the Crotale short-range anti-aircraft system.

The Patriot and SAMP/T air defense systems are practically USELESS near active combat zones in seven of Ukraine’s regions, Bild reported earlier, citing Western military analysts.

❓Why? Because Russian drone surveillance makes them easy targets.

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🔊LIVE NOW: Lavrov is holding a meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions on Africa Day

👉 Watch live in our Telegram

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🪖 'Out of soldiers': Ukraine sending female prisoners to the battlefield

Facing a severe manpower shortage, Kiev is now throwing female inmates into frontline assault units, a Russian military source told Sputnik.

💬 “Ukraine’s army is running out of troops after disastrous losses,” the source said. “They’ve drained the draft pool, so now they’re ‘clearing out’ prisons — even those are nearly empty.”

According to testimonies from PoWs, women inmates of Ukrainian jails are being sent to the 425th Assault Battalion in the Sumy Region. Some have already been killed or gone missing.

💬 “Combat effectiveness is collapsing,” the source added. “They’ve used up the convicts. Now they’re sending in the women.”

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💥 West’s long-range missiles to Ukraine all essentially the same — and Russia’s SHOOTING THEM DOWN

Whether it's the Taurus, Storm Shadow, or SCALP, Russia will just keep knocking them out of the sky, assured retired Russian general Yevgeny Buzhinsky.

👉The real issue with Germany’s Taurus missile isn’t its 500 km range, but rather what Merz rightly pointed out - without the Bundeswehr, Ukrainians can’t launch them, pointed out the pundit, adding: “Which makes this a case of direct German involvement [in the Ukraine conflict], plain and simple.”

📍Germany, the UK, France and the US are no longer imposing restrictions on how far Ukraine can strike with Western-supplied weapons, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz revealed on May 26.

Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that any Taurus missile strike on Russian targets will be seen as Germany entering the war on the side of the Zelensky regime.

Moscow maintains that Western arms deliveries only escalate the conflict and drag NATO deeper into the quagmire.

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🗣LAVROV: 'AFRICA EMERGES AS PILLAR OF NEW MULTIPOLAR WORLD ORDER'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov praises Africa's rising global role on the world's stage, adding that:

💬 "Russia remains true and reliable partner of Africa on the way to strengthening their sovereignty."

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🚨🗣Alexander Dugin: ‘Russia will fight 30 years if needed – and Trump knows it’

Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin reflected on the long-term resolve of Russia’s war effort, invoking Vladimir Medinsky’s remarks from the Istanbul talks:

💬 “We are ready to fight for 30 years, like in the [Great] Northern War — or for six, five, or three months. Russians will fight as long as it takes to achieve victory [...] Trump is starting to grasp this.”

Dugin also said that the US president is not a globalist, but a realist who could pursue “a recalibration of interests” with powers like Russia, China, and India

The philosopher sees Trump trapped in a system fighting him at every turn – but recognizes his potential to reshape the world order.

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♾ UKRAINE'S NO-LIMIT MOBILIZATION: ANYONE, ANYWHERE

Ukraine’s military is scraping the barrel, drafting everyone from inmates to the sick. Here’s how bad it’s gotten:

🔹 Female convicts are now storming trenches near Krasnoarmeysk – with some already dead or missing.

🔹 Women doctors & pharmacists face career bans if they don’t register for service.

🔹 Unfit for life, fit for war: Recruits with TB, HIV, blood disorders, and mental illness are considered STILL FIT for military service, per an amended list (2023).

🔹 Drug addicts? That’s a yes. TBI victims? Also yes.

🔹 Disabled? Also not a problem

🟠Dmitry Merchenko, a captured Ukrainian Armed Forces militant, said that he was mobilized despite having a traumatic brain injury.
🟠Ukrainian POW Maxim Rytikov was tricked into mobilization despite a head injury and psychiatric history.
🟠In Kherson, recruiters gave a draft notice to a disabled man and laughed off his condition, saying, “We’re short on soldiers.”

🔹Kids flunked on purpose: Up to 50% of boys fail school exams – to make them draft-eligible.

🔹Next up? Ukrainians fear connoscription age will drop to 18.

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🚨Putin: Russia was forced to act in Ukraine

“We didn’t stage the coup in Ukraine,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said, recalling how the West preached about democracy — then backed a bloody power grab in Kiev.

“They simply forced us to do what we’re doing now — and still try to blame us for it,” he added.

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🚜 Fed-up French farmers occupy parliament — and they’re not leaving

Tractors lined up at the gates of the National Assembly in Paris on Monday as frustrated farmers made their point loud and unmistakably clear: “We’ve waited 18 months, and now we’re staying put”

Flying the flags of FNSEA and Jeunes Agriculteurs, the farmers expressed their support for the new agriculture bill but rejected any political maneuvering. With left-wing lawmakers threatening to bury the legislation under amendments, the farmers have chosen to camp out—literally—to ensure that it doesn’t get plowed under

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🇩🇪 Merz’ missile intimidation tactics won’t work because America calls the shots

💬 “In short, you shouldn’t take the Germans too seriously,” veteran German legal scholar and ex-AfD MEP Gunnar Beck told Sputnik, commenting on Chancellor Merz’ announcement that Germany, the UK, France and the US are no longer restricting how far Ukraine can strike using its NATO-sourced missiles.

💬 “Germany today only needs to be taken seriously if it acts as a US satellite…We are not an independent nation. We are governed partly by the EU and partly by the US. Did the EU and the US agree?” That’s the real question, according to Beck.

Merz’ threats are meant as an intimidation tactic, the observer says, but Berlin doesn’t “seriously consider that it may be a crucial step in terms of escalating the conflict so that ultimately Germany herself could be involved either in terms of ground troops in Ukraine or even being affected by the war.”

No one to challenge ‘Governor Merz’ at home

💬 “Merz as much as previous German chancellors, doesn’t really regard himself as a representative of Germany’s interests. He doesn’t really want to pursue ends which serve Germany’s. He regards himself as something like a governor of Germany for the interests of the globalist elite,” Beck stressed.

He doesn’t have opposition against the CDU-CSU-SPD-Green “uniparty,” which controls two thirds of parliament and is opposed only by AfD and Linke, nor among the financial and media elite (the latter “owned and effectively managed by the government,” apart from Springer Group, “essentially controlled by transatlantic interests”).

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