The mistaken drone sighting caused the closure of Vilnius airport, the Lithuanian authorities have said A NATO fighter jet took flight after a flock of birds was confused with drones, the Lithuanian authorities have reported. There have been a number of incidents of Ukrainian UAVs crossing the airspace of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia or crashing in those countries as Kiev has intensified its long-range attacks on energy infrastructure in Leningrad Region in northwestern Russia in recent months. On Sunday, a perceived drone sighting caused the closure of Vilnius International Airport, the country’s National Crisis Management Center said in a statement later that day. It was reopened within 40 minutes after a NATO jet, which had taken off from Siauliai airbase in the north of the country, found that the cause of the air alert was not a UAV, but a flock of birds, it said. “On initial radar read...
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The New Delhi summit showed the group is becoming more practical: from trade and payment systems to transport and strategic autonomy The 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi took place at a moment when the group is clearly outgrowing its original format as a club of several major emerging economies and gradually becoming a platform capable of shaping debates over global trade, international finance and the political architecture of the world order. The countries gathered around the same table have very different relations with the West, compete with one another in a number of areas and yet increasingly share an interest in expanding their strategic autonomy. For Russia, this is especially important, because BRICS gives Moscow an opportunity to deepen economic ties with the largest non-Western powers, develop settlement mechanisms less vulnerable to sanctions and demonstrate that attempts to politically isolate t...
Washington could seize Tehran’s resources like it did in Venezuela, the US president has said US President Donald Trump has claimed that Washington could either end its war with Iran or remain in the country and “keep the oil.” Trump has repeatedly threatened to take over the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure, prompting Iranian officials to describe the plan as delusional. Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said the conflict, which has dragged on for more than six months, could end “right after” the November 3 midterm elections and claimed Iran “wants to make a deal so bad” and was “calling constantly.” Iran has repeatedly dismissed claims it is seeking negotiations as “fabrications,” adding that Washington is mistaking diplomacy for “dictation.” Read more ...
US diesel prices have hit a new record, soaring past $6 per gallon this week US President Donald Trump has blamed Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky for the ongoing diesel price shock, saying it was a result of Kiev’s attacks on Russian refineries. The national average price of diesel hit more than $6 per gallon on Friday, up from approximately $5.85 last week. The price has climbed some 60% compared to the same period last year, when diesel fuel cost some $3.71 per gallon. Market experts have mainly linked the hike to the conflict in the Middle East and the reignited hostilities between the US and Iran, which have prompted a renewed rise in crude oil prices. Trump, however, insisted that this was not the case, telling reporters while on a visit to Ireland that the diesel price spike was actually related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The US president said he had already raised the issue with the Uk...
The group’s independent course and commitment to international law appeals to countries around the world, the Russian president has said International interest in BRICS “continues to grow” as the group’s values and independent approach attract countries around the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday. Speaking at a BRICS Outreach/BRICS Plus session that concluded its 18th summit in New Delhi, Putin pointed to the broad participation in the meeting as evidence of its growing appeal. “Our basic values and ideals, such as commitment to an independent and autonomous course and the desire to resolve problems collectively based on international law and the key provisions of the UN Charter, appeal to many around the world,” he said. BRICS has expanded significantly beyond its original five members – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – in r...
Industry leaders are backing closer oversight of increasingly powerful artificial intelligence models OpenAI chief Sam Altman and xAI owner Elon Musk have backed calls to immediately slow the development of increasingly powerful AI models. Their statements came after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that AI could outpace human control and cause catastrophic damage within months. Four days ago, researcher Jacob Coxon publicly resigned from Anthropic, accusing both the company and his previous employer, OpenAI, of racing towards self-improving super-intelligence without “acting responsibly.” He also claimed that the technology could “kill us all” by the end of the decade. In a 3,800-word essay published on his personal website on Saturday, Amodei, who co-founded Anthropic with his sister Daniela in 2021, outlined “serious” dangers, including loss of control over AI sys...