🇨🇳 China Expanding Nuclear Arsenal ‘Faster Than Any Other Country’

Beijing could have as many intercontinental ballistic missiles as the US or Russia by the end of the decade, according to an annual report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

China now has at least 500 nuclear warheads, up from 410 a year ago, the Swedish-based think tank focused on conflict and arms control revealed.

For the first time, China has likely begun deploying a small number of them – estimated to be around 24 – on high operational alert, ready for launch at a moment’s notice, the Monday report added.

By January 2024, the US and Russia had amassed 3,708 and 4,380 nuclear warheads respectively, accounting for the majority of the global total of just over 12,000 weapons.

@RiseGS

🔥 EU leaders fail to agree on Ursula von der Leyen’s second term

Von der Leyen has yet to secure another stint as European Commission president despite assurances from Macron and Scholz in recent days that they were nearing a deal. (Politico)

EU leaders will now reconvene in Brussels on June 27-28, hoping to find agreement on the bloc’s leaders before a vote by the European Parliament slated for mid-July.

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⚠️ ICYMI: Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman calls for Netanyahu to be held responsible for Israel’s crimes against Palestinians

He also demanded an end to the illegal occupation and the recognition of the “State of Palestine” with the 1967 border and Jerusalem as its capital.

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⚠️ Prof Jeffrey Sachs: "What we're seeing is exactly Ukraine becoming the Afghanistan of Europe"

“There’s an incredible destruction of Ukrainian society underway right now.

The few people in charge on the Ukrainian side and the very few people that are in charge on the American side – because they’re running this whole war – are really fighting to the last Ukrainian.”

@RiseGS

➡️ IDF Had Intel of Hamas Preparations for 250 Hostages, Three Weeks Before Oct 7

Israeli intelligence was aware Hamas had plans for mass kidnapping, a report written in September last year has revealed. (Kann)

A series of training drills were conducted by elite Hamas units - practicing raids on Israeli military outposts and kibbutzim, as well as the abduction of soldiers and civilians. They also practiced how to hold hostages, and to keep them in the Gaza Strip, the document from Sept 19 stated.

Despite all the intel, the most extreme scenario for which the IDF Gaza Division was prepared before Oct 7 was that of the infiltration of dozens of terrorists in only three locations.

Did Israel’s leaders choose to ignore the warnings?

@RiseGS

🥱Did Biden Fall Asleep While Andrea Bocelli Sang ‘Nessun Dorma’ – Translation: ‘None Shall Sleep’ - at the G7?

There’s a reason people call him ‘Sleepy Joe!’

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🛞End of the Road: US EV Startup Fisker Files for Bankruptcy

The troubled start-up, which made a loss of more than $450mn in the final quarter of 2023 alone, had been in talks with several potential investors – including, it was widely rumoured, Nissan.

These talks collapsed, however, prompting trading in Fisker’s shares on the New York Stock Exchange to be suspended.

"After evaluating all options for our business, we determined that proceeding with a sale of our assets under Chapter 11 is the most viable path forward for the company,” Fisker said in a statement Tuesday.

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🌧Heavy Floods, Landslides Kill at Least 9 in Southern China

In the southern Guangdong province, bordering Hong Kong, landslides triggered by severe flooding killed at least five people in the city of Meizhou. Fifteen others were missing, according to local media reports.

Four people were also killed, and two others were missing in Wuping county in the coastal province of Fujian. At least 378 houses collapsed in the county, and 880 hectares of crops were damaged, amounting to economic losses of at least $57mn, authorities said.

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😳 Kiev Official Accuses Washington of “Deliberately Delaying” Training of Ukrainian Pilots on F-16s

“By the end of the year, Ukraine will have fewer trained pilots than fighters,” Verkhovna Rada deputy Alexandra Ustinova has claimed.

Her outburst comes after a Pentagon official stated that Ukrainian pilots had difficulties with the English language and the flight program, which is why “the progress of training on F-16 aircraft is rather meagre.”

Ustinova called such statements “ridiculous.”

@RiseGS

⚠️BREAKING: Singer Justin Timberlake arrested and accused of being intoxicated while driving on Long Island – AP

Cry me a river. 😂

@RiseGS

💸UK Millionaires Fleeing Britain in Their Thousands

As many as 9,500 people with at least $1mn in liquid, investable assets, will leave the country, more than double the number that left in 2023, according to provisional estimates contained in a report Tuesday by migration advisers Henley & Partners.

“These figures reflect a steady accumulation of factors detracting from the UK’s appeal to high-net-worth individuals,” Hannah White, CEO of the Institute for Government, wrote in the report. “The hangover from Brexit continues to be felt, with the City of London no longer seen as the financial center of the world.”

Of the 15 places with most resident millionaires, the UK is suffering more than most - only China will lose more HNWIs (15,200) in 2024 - and it’s one of just three locations, alongside Japan and Hong Kong, to have seen a net loss in the decade since 2013, according to the report.

@RiseGS