🇨🇳 China’s Zeekr unveils EV with CATL’s ultra-fast charging battery, 0-62 mph in 3.9 seconds

Chinese EV maker Zeekr has confirmed that the refreshed Zeekr 009 will officially launch on May 19, expanding the company’s push in the premium electric MPV segment.

Buyers will be able to choose between three configurations, including the seven-seat Ultra, the seven-seat Ultra+ Qijia, and the six-seat Ultra+ Executive variant. The new lineup is expected to bring upgraded performance, advanced battery technology, and additional luxury-focused features aimed at high-end family and business users.

#BRICS

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⚡️ UK, France to Host Multinational Meeting on Mission to Escort Ships Through Hormuz

More than 40 nations will meet Monday to outline their military contributions to a European-led mission to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz once there’s a stable ceasefire.

The countries are expected to offer demining, escorting and air policing capabilities as part of a defensive naval mission led by the UK and France, designed to reassure commercial ships attempting to pass through the waterway.

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🔥 Kraken parent Payward applies for national OCC trust charter following Ripple, Coinbase

Payward, the parent company of Kraken's crypto exchange, has applied for a national trust company charter with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, according to a statement. The application seeks to establish the Payward National Trust Company, or PNTC.

"PNTC expects to serve institutional clients and individual customers seeking regulated, bank-level custody and trust services for digital assets, leveraging Payward's existing infrastructure, risk management, compliance programs, and regulated affiliates to deliver services in a secure and compliant manner," — Payward said in a statement.

Payward's application for an OCC charter follows Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based crypto exchange, receiving a conditional approval for its own national trust company charter about a month ago. Ripple has also received a conditional approval.

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🇸🇾 Syria carried out its first Visa and Mastercard transaction in over 15 years.

The milestone reconnects Syria to the global financial system after years of sanctions-driven isolation.

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🛰 NASA pushes Mars helicopter rotors past the speed of sound for the first time ever

NASA confirmed in a blog post that it had successfully tested two Mars-bound rotor systems, achieving never-before-seen rotational speeds. In the tests, which took place under simulated Mars conditions at the historic 25-Foot Space Simulator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the rotor systems — one two-bladed and one three-bladed — reached rotor tip speeds of up to Mach 0.98 before additional headwinds pushed the blades to Mach 1.08, surpassing the Martian speed of sound for the first time.

The rotors reached up to 3,750 rpm. For comparison, that is roughly 10 times faster than the rotor speeds of many modern helicopters. These extreme speeds are necessary to generate enough lift in Mars’ ultra-thin atmosphere, which is only about 1% as dense as Earth’s.

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🤖 SoftBank Preps Forays Into AI Data Center Batteries and Chips

SoftBank Group Corp.’s mobile unit plans to expand into selling AI computing power and the manufacture of large-scale battery cells to address growing demand for AI-related hardware.

SoftBank Corp. will provide neocloud services and specialized infrastructure geared for AI training in Japan, Chief Executive Officer Junichi Miyakawa said. The company will also partner with South Korea’s Cosmos Lab and DeltaX Co. to mass-produce batteries at its Sakai, Osaka plant from the fiscal year starting next April, he said.

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🔋 Google says hackers used AI to create zero day security flaw for the first time

Cybercriminals recently used an AI model to create a zero-day vulnerability that could be used to exploit networks widely, Google announced. Google Threat Intelligence Group researchers detailed the development in a report released. Zero-day exploits are considered the most serious type of security flaw because they are not detected by security companies and have no known fixes.

The report noted that this was the first time Google had seen evidence of AI being used to develop these vulnerabilities — marking a major change in the cybersecurity landscape, as it suggests newer AI models could be used to create major exploits, not just find them. Google concluded that Anthropic’s Claude Mythos model — was most likely not used to create the zero-day exploit.

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💎 Third-largest gold hoard ever found in Denmark astonishes archaeologists

Six solid gold arm rings, described as a “completely unique find,” have been uncovered in Northern Denmark. This discovery has left archaeologists astonished, as they have never encountered anything like it before, according to Torben Sarauw, an archaeologist and cultural heritage manager at the Museums of North Jutland.

Now known as the Rold Treasure, this collection ranks as the third-largest Viking Age gold discovery ever recorded in Denmark. It features six preserved artifacts from the late Viking Age, dating to the period CE 900-1000. The way these items were buried, intact, suggests that their deposit was not accidental. Though much mystery surrounds them, they have officially become the third most significant Viking Age gold hoard ever discovered in Denmark.

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⚡️🇺🇸 Musk, Cook Set to Join Trump for Xi Summit, White House Says

The White House is inviting Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk, Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook, Boeing Co.’s Kelly Ortberg and executives from other large companies to accompany President Donald Trump on his trip to China this week.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s David Solomon, Blackstone Inc.’s Stephen Schwarzman, BlackRock Inc.’s Larry Fink, Citigroup Inc.’s Jane Fraser and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Dina Powell McCormick are also on the list of those expected to join Trump’s delegation for his summit with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, a White House official said Monday.

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🤑 Ripple Prime Secures $200 Million Debt Facility from Neuberger Specialty Finance to Expand Capacity

Ripple today announced the successful closing of a $200 million debt facility from funds managed by Neuberger Specialty Finance, the dedicated asset-based investment team within Neuberger, a global investment management firm. The facility will support the continued growth of Ripple’s multi-asset prime brokerage platform, Ripple Prime, amid rising client demand for institutional-grade prime services and margin financing solutions.

"This facility enables us to grow alongside our clients by delivering increased margin capacity, greater responsiveness, and improved capital efficiency. Neuberger Specialty Finance has deep expertise in asset-based finance and a strong understanding of our business model, and its support reflects the differentiated prime services platform we have built and the many growth opportunities available to us.” — said Noel Kimmel, President of Ripple Prime.

The facility enables Ripple Prime to draw up to $200 million, providing flexibility as client needs evolve. Proceeds will be used to extend financing to clients engaging in traditional and digital markets, increasing Ripple Prime’s lending capacity and enhancing its ability to serve new and existing institutional relationships.

#Stellar

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🇺🇸 Trump Floats Temporary US Gas Tax Halt as Pump Prices Soar

President Donald Trump voiced support for a gasoline tax holiday to counter rising prices at the pump. Trump told reporters at the White House that he’ll seek to suspend the federal 18.4 cents a gallon tax on gasoline “until it’s appropriate,” though it’s unclear how much of the tax cut would reach consumers at the pump.

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🏛 Meta Sued by California County Over ‘Scam’ Advertisements

Meta Platforms Inc. was sued by Santa Clara County, California, over allegations that the company “knowingly facilitates and profits from billions of scam advertisements” on its social networks, including Facebook and Instagram.

The complaint accuses the social networking giant of defrauding seniors and families with scam ads, which the company allegedly tracks. Meta makes approximately $7 billion in revenue each year from these kinds of ads, according to a statement from Tony LoPresti, the Santa Clara County counsel, who is bringing the lawsuit.

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🤖 Discord launches Nitro Rewards, giving subscribers access to the base tier of Xbox Game Pass for no extra cost

At launch, Nitro Rewards will provide access to the base tier of Xbox Game Pass, which lets you play more than 50 PC and Xbox games, including Fallout 4, Stardew Valley, and Day Z. The tier also includes 10 hours of cloud gaming, which lets you stream games from a PC or Xbox to other devices.

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🤖 Chinese breakthrough turns polluted wastewater into ammonia for fertilizer production

A Chinese team has developed a method of converting nitrate in wastewater into ammonia. Presently, agricultural and industrial wastewater runoff often contains large amounts of nitrate. This comes from things like used fertilizer, animal waste, chemical plant waste, and sewage treatment.

The core of the discovery is a new dual-atom catalyst (DAC). This differs from traditional catalysts that tend to use either single atom mateirals or nanoparticles. The team also used AI to help find the best atom pairs for the job. So, instead of running thousands of trial-and-error physical experiments, the AI helped them narrow down the best potentials to test, saving many hours of wasted time.

And this really paid off. According to the team, the catalyst is nearly three times more efficient than other similar catalysts. If true, that means it could produce much higher ammonia yields, conversion rates, and less waste.

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🇯🇵 Japan: World-first fully automated medicine lab with humanoids, robots and no humans

A Japanese university has launched a robotics laboratory where machines now conduct medical experiments previously performed by human researchers. The facility developed by the Institute of Science Tokyo operates with 10 robots, including the humanoid Maholo LabDroid, and no on-site human staff.

The university plans to expand the number of robots over time while combining automation systems with AI, with the long-term goal of automating nearly the entire medical research process.

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🇨🇳 China Green Tech Firms Target New Consumers

One of the country’s largest solar manufacturers Jinko Solar Co. inked two deals at the end of April with partners in Nigeria — in a region where diesel prices have soared 40% since the start of the crisis — while auto manufacturers are hunting avenues to extend sales into locations including Europe, and energy storage firms are lifting overseas shipments.

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