The Chinese digital currency is undergoing internal tests, according to the deputy head of the Chinese Central Bank, Fan Yifei. However, a crypto yuan’s exact release date remains unknown. According to Fan, thorough testing in limited scenarios are needed to ensure the new product’s stability. Cryptocurrencies have become one of the fastest growing assets this year. According to the Xinhua News Agency, the Bloomberg Galaxy cryptocurrency index has risen by 65%. For comparison, gold, the second-most profitable asset, has risen by a quarter. At the same time, Beijing has not yet legalised traditional decentralised cryptocurrencies; developing the digital yuan instead. Tests […]
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As European Union ministers met in Brussels on Monday ahead of a summit of heads of government later this week, the UK Parliament pressed on with draft legislation to override the Northern Ireland Protocol of the EU Withdrawal Agreement. On Tuesday, European Union leaders warned the UK that changes to the Brexit agreement could scupper trade talks. EU Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said that Brussels would not accept any changes to the agreement, a position backed by French and German Europe ministers. “The EU believes in calm, constructive cooperation through the channels created through the Withdrawal Agreement,” Sefcovic said before a meeting […]
It appeared that with the emergence of Coronavirus, Brexit had drifted from the nation’s attention. However, now it has reemerged with a vengeance following the introduction of Boris Johnson’s controversial Internal Market Bill. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson appears certain to move forward with legislation that has been the subject of considerable acrimony in recent weeks between Britain and the European Union. Despite arguing himself that “the rules-based international order which we uphold in Great Britain is an overwhelming benefit for the world as a whole,” his own government has admitted that the so-called Internal Market Bill will breach international law. […]
Four US lawmaker sent a letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the repercussions of the Internal Market Bill on the future of US-UK trade relations post-Brexit. The much-debated bill, stipulating certain amendments to the Withdrawal Agreement, passed the House of Commons on Tuesday. Dr Mark Shanahan, associate professor and head of the Politics and International Relations Department at the University of Reading, believes that the risk of undermining the Good Friday Agreement that now exists after the adoption of the Internal Market Bill could botch the UK chances to clinch a trade deal with the United States. Sputnik: Four […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo-itemprop.png Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/europe/202009151080467158-eu-cant-deal-with-uk-if-london-passes-internal-market-bill/ Earlier today, the UK House of Commons passed the controversial Internal Market Bill during the second reading in a 340-263 vote. The proposed legislation would override part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement with the EU. Source link
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo-itemprop.png Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Irina Acheeva. Sputnik International https://sputniknews.com/uk/202009141080454597-former-uk-finance-minister-sajid-javid-unable-to-support-internal-market-bill/ Last week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced the Internal Market Bill in the British Parliament, which has jeopardised the Brexit negotiating process, as it proposes rolling back some of the commitments on state aid and customs checks on goods entering Northern Ireland. Former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid has said in a statement that he is unable to support the Internal Market Bill introduced by the British prime minister. “Breaking international law is a step that should never be taken lightly. Having carefully studied the UK Internal Market Bill […]
The British government’s Brexit-motivated plan for the internal market will rob Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland of their powers to decide on how they should live, officials fear. London “plans to sacrifice the future of the union by stealing powers from devolved administrations,” said Jeremy Miles, Wales’ counsel general and minister for European transition. He was referring to the Internal Market bill, which the Boris Johnson cabinet is set to make public on Wednesday. The legislation sparked a scandal earlier this week over provisions, which would de facto renege on key parts of the EU Withdrawal Agreement, which had been included […]
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg admonished some of his own employees this week over remarks on the company’s internal messaging platform about racism and violence against Black men. In a post on the social-media giant’s internal communications channel Workplace last week, a Facebook staffer shared a post titled “In Support of Law Enforcement and Black Lives.” The post called into question the notion of racially disparate outcomes in the criminal-justice system, argued that racism is not a serious motivation in police shootings, railed against “critical race theory,” and claimed narratives about police violence often “conveniently leave out” other factors, including whether the […]
A briefcase of a census taker is seen as she knocks on the door of a residence in August in Winter Park, Fla. John Raoux/AP hide caption toggle caption John Raoux/AP A briefcase of a census taker is seen as she knocks on the door of a residence in August in Winter Park, Fla. John Raoux/AP A Census Bureau analysis has concluded that its curtailed schedule for the 2020 census increases the risk of “serious errors” in the results for the national head count, according to an internal bureau document obtained by the House Oversight and Reform Committee. The document — […]
Russia is closely following events in Belarus, gripped by post-election protests, but while doing so it’s shown much more prudence than the West, President Vladimir Putin said, firing back at the claims of Moscow’s meddling. “We believe this is, first and foremost, an internal matter of the Belarusian society and the people of Belarus,” Putin told the ‘Rossiya 1’ channel in an interview aired on Saturday, speaking about mass protests in Belarus that have rumbled on weeks after a landslide victory of incumbent Alexander Lukashenko in the August 9 presidential elections prompted accusations of electoral fraud from the opposition. Also on […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo-itemprop.png Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/us/202008271080289075-tiktok-ceo-kevin-mayer-quits-company-internal-email-says/ Kevin Mayer has quit his top post at TikTok, months after becoming chief executive of the Chinese video-sharing app accused by the Trump administration of threatening national security, according to a letter to employees seen by the Financial Times. Mayer informed employees at TikTok and its parent company ByteDance of his decision to leave on Thursday, people briefed about the matter said. The former Disney executive’s decision came shortly after President Donald Trump threatened a ban on TikTok in the US unless ByteDance sold its US assets to an American company by 15 September, “as […]
UAE Assistant Minister of Cultural and Public Diplomacy Omar Saif Ghobash has said that the Emirates prioritised their own interests and sovereign rights when they concluded the deal with Israel. He also pointed out that the UAE-Israel agreement was made during an era of digitalisation and globalisation, which makes this context different from the circumstances when Israel made peace with Jordan and Egypt. Sputnik: The minister of state for foreign affairs, Mr Anwar Gargash, has said that the peace treaty between the UAE and Israel represents a strategic turning point for the Arabs. What is the strategy in the long run […]
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko asked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to convey to German Chancellor Angela Merkel a request not to interfere in Belarus’ internal affairs, his spokesperson has told Russian TV. At this point, the Belarusian president does not see the need for a conversation with his German counterpart directly, his spokeswoman Natalya Eismont told the Russia-1 channel on Wednesday. It’s not clear what the outcome of such a conversation between the two would be, she said, but “most likely, negative, because today the main thing we want is for the West not to support those who are destabilizing the […]
Some US officials pushed allegations that the novel coronavirus escaped – or was even deliberately released – from a virology lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan. The lack of evidence did not prevent the US from accusing China of downplaying the disease and concealing COVID-19-related data, with Trump even dubbing the virus “Chinese” or “Kung Flu”. The US Department of State released an internal cable dating back to 2018 that describes concerns raised by some officials from the US embassy in China on the lack of “adequately trained personnel” in a then-established Wuhan virology lab. Two years after the memo […]
Leaked screenshots of Twitter’s internal systems indicate that the company keeps “blacklists” for users it deems undesirable, according to multiple reports. The leaks followed the largest hack in the platform’s history. The images, said to be screencaps of an internal control panel on the site’s back end, appear to show that Twitter marks user accounts with tags such as “Trends Blacklist,”“Search Blacklist” and “Compromised.” The visuals were first reported by Motherboard on Wednesday evening, soon followed up by CNet, who also said it had obtained copies of the images. Though Twitter has reportedly scrambled to cleanse the site of posts featuring […]
Twitter has said that alleged bitcoin scammers targeted some of its employees to get access to “internal systems and tools,” which they then apparently used to hack into a high-profile accounts, such as Joe Biden’s. Noting that it is still investigating the circumstances behind the hack, Twitter said that it has taken “significant steps to limit access to internal systems and tools” which were compromised by the attackers.The company has gone to great lengths to stop the attack, imposing a mass lockdown not only on the affected accounts, but on the majority of blue checks as a precaution as well. The […]
On Wednesday, the UK Foreign Office summoned Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming to express “deep concerns” over the new national security law for Hong Kong passed by China’s top legislative body and signed by President Xi Jinping on Tuesday. China’s Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming has slammed Britain’s “accusations” against a newly-adopted national security law for Hong Kong and during a Wednesday meeting with UK Foreign Office permanent undersecretary, Sir Simon McDonald, expressed Beijing’s “grave concern and strong opposition” to the UK interfering in its internal affairs, the embassy said in a press release on Thursday. “On July 1st, Ambassador […]
…from SouthFront Late on June 30, fighting resumed near the villages of Kansafrah, Al-Ruwayha and Bayanin in southern Idlib between the Syrian Army and Turkish-backed militants. Intense artillery shelling also targeted positions of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham across the Jabal Al-Zawiyah area. Pro-militant sources claimed that the Syrian Army and the National Defense Forces tried to advance there, but were forced to retreat after several hours of clashes. In their own turn, pro-government sources say that the fighting in southern Idlib came as a result of a provocation by militants. Nonetheless, by the morning of July 1 the situation on the frontline […]
On Tuesday, the European Council lambasted a decision by the Supreme Court of Venezuela to reshuffle the composition of the country’s National Electoral Council (CNE) by expelling opposition parties from the body. President Nicolas Maduro has warned the European Union (EU) against interfering in Venezuela’s domestic affairs. The warning came during a Tuesday meeting with the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), of which he is a supporter, as Maduro dwelled on the forthcoming elections to Venezuela’s National Assembly. “[…] I have made a statement to the EU: worry about the coronavirus, racism in the EU, and the economic crisis. Don’t […]
Many counties in Georgia may not have enough hospital beds to treat a new wave of COVID-19 patients. Photo from a barbershop in Atlanta, Georgia, Monday, April 27, 2020. Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images Many counties in Georgia may not have enough hospital beds to treat a new wave of COVID-19 patients. Photo from a barbershop in Atlanta, Georgia, Monday, April 27, 2020. Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images Georgia — one of the first states to reopen its economy — may not have enough hospital beds to treat a new wave of […]
After Micree Ketuan Zhan, the exiled co-founder of Bitmain, moved to reinstate his position after another partial legal victory over his former employer, tensions reportedly escalated into a physical brawl. According to a source close to Zhan, who was ousted by his rival co-founder Wu Jihan last October, the former executive was recently granted the right to recover his status as the legal representative of Beijing Bitmain Technology by the Beijing Haidian District Justice Bureau. On Friday morning local time, as Zhan attended the bureau to collect his new registration license as part of the recovery process, he was surrounded by […]