Above photo: Russia-Ukraine war: The Russian delegation said both sides have identified certain points from which they can predict general positions. AP. On his first foreign visit to Belarus on Tuesday since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin explained during a joint press conference with his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko that the time frame of the military offensive in Ukraine was determined by the intensity of hostilities and Russia would act according to its plan. “I often get these questions, can’t we hurry it up?’ We can. But it depends on the intensity of hostilities and, any way […]
Initiative
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Above photo: Anadalou Agency. In order to scuttle the Russian peace initiative to Ukraine announced at the Istanbul talks on March 29, halting Russian military campaign north of the capital and focusing on liberating Russian-majority Donbas in east Ukraine, practically spelling an end to Russia’s month-long offensive in the embattled country, NATO powers have announced transferring heavy weapons, including tanks and S-300 air defense system, to Ukraine to further escalate the conflict. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, April 7, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley revealed that US and NATO countries have collectively provided roughly 60,000 anti-tank […]
Above Photo: @mgarcia6206 / Twitter. Boston, Massachusetts – Last weekend in South Boston, around 50 people mobilized to counter a possible appearance by the neo-Nazi group the Nationalist Social Club-131 (a nod to both the ‘National Socialism’ of the Nazi Party and ‘Anti-Communist Action’), after public outcry grew following the group’s appearance at the yearly St. Patrick’s Day parade. At the parade, around a dozen neo-Nazis, all wearing masks and flying a flag with a white nationalist symbol, held a banner reading, “Keep Boston Irish,” and handed out flyers promoting the group and attacking non-whites. This incursion is only the latest […]
Above Photo: Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, an advocate of postal banking, says a House appropriations bill would test whether post offices could provide some ‘basic service.’ Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call file photo. House Provision Would Fund Tests Of Various Financial Services At Urban And Rural Post Offices. As lawmakers work on finishing fiscal 2022 appropriations, they’ll have to decide whether to keep a House spending provision that would allow some post offices to offer more financial services. Coming in the wake of a largely ignored U.S. Postal Service test of a check-cashing service, a new initiative could test whether […]
More than 100 civil society organizations launch a drive for 1 million European citizens’ signatures to stop European trade with illegal settlements in occupied territories. Sign the European Citizens Initiative now. Brussels – Marking the World Day of Social Justice on February 20 a coalition of more than 100 civil society organizations, has launched a European Citizens Initiative (ECI) to stop trade with illegal settlements in occupied territories. An ECI is an official instrument for democratic participation of citizens in EU policy making. If an ECI garners one million signatures from EU citizens over 12 months the European Commission must consider and debate […]
Paris, France – The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) announced today its support to the media marathon called by the channel Europe for Cuba to denounce and condemn the blockade imposed by the United States on the island for more than 60 years. The WFTU, the militant voice of more than 105 million workers worldwide, supports and participates in this initiative scheduled for April 2 and 3, said the organization’s Secretariat, in a communiqué shared with Prensa Latina by the European solidarity platform activated in October 2020. In the document, the Federation recalled its traditional rejection of the economic, commercial […]
…from SouthFront.org Armenian forces have reclaimed the tactical initiative in the battle for the Nagorno-Karabakh region and conducted several counter-attacks taking back positions earlier captured by Azerbaijan on the Jabrayil front on the evening of October 7. Later, on the morning of October 8, the Armenian Defense Ministry announced that Azerbaijani forces had launched a military offensive in the area, which had been repelled. “Early in the morning, at 08:30, the enemy attempted an attack in the southern direction, but after losing 3 units of military equipment and about 20 soldiers, the enemy escaped from the battlefield near Jabrayil,” the representative […]
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Adib urged on Monday all the parties responsible for resolving the long-standing national crisis to foster the formation of a new government, in line with France’s initiative to help the crisis-stricken country seek financial assistance on the condition of a functional cabinet. “Pain of the Lebanese people, passing throughout all the country, requires cooperation between all the sides to facilitate the establishment of an action-oriented government, which the parties have previously pledged to support and which is composed of specialists who are believed to have the power to stop the collapse, start working to […]
Portland lawmakers unanimously passed a sweeping ban on facial recognition technology, becoming the first city to bar both public and private entities from the controversial software and defeating Amazon’s bid to kill the measure. The Portland City Council adopted the ban in the form of two separate ordinances on Wednesday. The first will block all city agencies, including the police, from using the tech, while the other prohibits private organizations from deploying facial recognition devices in public places. Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler has hailed the move, saying it sets Portland apart from other cities. “What makes Portland’s legislation stand out from […]
The central bank’s most senior economist now runs the department responsible for the digital currency task force and working group with other central banks. Source link
Modi’s ‘New’ India: Notch Or Knot On China’s Belt (And Road Initiative) By Danny Sjursen, Antiwar.com. July 16, 2020 Modi’s ‘New’ India: Notch Or Knot On China’s Belt (And Road Initiative)2020-07-162020-07-16https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/india-china_20191031_570_850-e1594945376998.jpg200px200px Above photo: Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) between Indian Army and Peoples Liberation army conducted by the Peoples Liberation army at the Chinese Side in Bum La, Arunachal Pradesh. File it in the rapidly-brimming “biggest-stories-of-2020-you-haven’t-heard-about” folder. Amidst the madness merger of pandemic and protests – both of which Trump’s minions have blamed on China – there’s been scant attention paid to a brewing conflict between two of the world’s nine nuclear-armed powers (accounting for […]
China’s ambitious national blockchain infrastructure project has enlisted two partners to help with two of the biggest challenges with this technology. SmartContract, the company behind the Chainlink oracle network, will help the state-backed Blockchain-Based Service Network (BSN) with sourcing of reliable information about the real world. Meanwhile, Iris Foundation Ltd., an “inter-chain” services firm that integrates businesses with the Cosmos network, will assist BSN with interoperability, or allowing different systems to work in conjunction with each other. BSN previously disclosed the two firms’ involvement but it detailed their exact roles Tuesday. Each firm will lend its respective expertise to the buildout […]
A member of the ID2020 Alliance, which aims to bring digital identities to billions of people who don’t have them, has resigned over the organization’s direction on digital immunity passes and COVID-19. In her resignation email last Friday, Elizabeth Renieris cited ID2020’s opacity, “techno-solutionism,” and corporate influence along with the risks of applying blockchain to immunity passes. Renieris (an occasional CoinDesk contributor) was one of six members of ID2020’s technical advisory committee. She is a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University and an expert in cross-border data protection and privacy issues. She was previously […]
One of life’s greatest pleasures is sitting at a bar and enjoying a well-made drink while chatting with the bartender. But with the recent outbreak of Covid-19 and the resulting stay-at-home orders, bars have had to close across the country laying off hundreds of thousands of employees. Diageo North America and Bulleit Bourbon are trying to help bartenders with their #TipsFromHome initiative. They will donate $1 to the United States Bartenders’ Guild (USBG) Emergency Assistance Program, up to $1 million, for each image of a drink people post to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook featuring the hashtags #TipsFromHome and #DiageoDonation and tagging […]
Pennsylvania Initiative To Convert Lawns Into Meadows, Forests By Ad Crable, Bay Journal. May 13, 2020 Pennsylvania Initiative To Convert Lawns Into Meadows, Forests2020-05-132020-05-13https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/05/lawn-e1589382762848.jpg200px200px Above photo: This backyard in Lancaster County, PA, is slowly being turned into woods. Ryan Davis. Well-shorn lawns are still the norm on the grounds of parks, schools, churches, hospitals, business parks and neighborhoods. While better than exposed bare earth, such swaths of green are still environmental minefields. Rain flushes dog poop, pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals from those grassy surfaces into local streams. The springtime spreading of fertilizer to keep grass thick and green is a troublesome source […]