6 d. ago Ireland intends to pass trade ban with Israeli settlements amid US pressure

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris said Ireland was not alone in wanting to ban trade with the occupied Palestinian territories.

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3 w. ago Crypto donations could entirely corrupt British politics. Labour must act quickly | Liam Byrne

We need to know who is funding our parties, but this new frontier is custom-built for hostile actors. The elections bill is a good start – but only thatLiam Byrne is the Labour MP for Birmingham Hodge HillOur party finance rules are riddled with loopholes. Shell companies. Unincorporated associations. Anonymous donations routed through digital campaigns between elections. All legal. All ripe for abuse. And now, a new gateway has opened: cryptocurrency.When someone buys a cryptocurrency their identity is anonymous, but the transaction itself is recorded on the blockchain and is publicly visible. So far we know that this anonymity has allowed cryptocurrencies to be used to fund everything from sanctions evasion to election interference. A recent report from the Centre for Information Resilience revealed that A7A5, a new “digital rouble”, has already been linked to sanctions evasions by Russians. The report also found that Ilan Shor, a fugitive oligarch who has been accused of being in...

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4 w. ago Teenage vaping in Australia has ‘turned a corner’ after ban, study says

Australia health minister credits vape ban for reduced rates of consumption among children

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last month UK should consider political donations cryptocurrency ban, says minister

Pat McFadden reacts over concerns foreign powers could use untraceable money to affect British democracyElection officials should consider banning political donations made in cryptocurrency, a minister has said, amid concerns that foreign powers are using untraceable money to influence British politics.Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister and close ally of the prime minister, Keir Starmer, told MPs on Monday he thought there was a case for preventing crypto donations given how hard it is to trace their source. Continue reading...

Politics

last month UK should consider banning cryptocurrency political donations, minister says

Pat McFadden reacts over concerns foreign powers could use untraceable money to affect British democracyElection officials should consider banning political donations made in cryptocurrency, a minister has said, amid concerns that foreign powers are using untraceable money to influence British politics.Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister and close ally of the prime minister, Keir Starmer, told MPs on Monday he thought there was a case for preventing crypto donations given how hard it was to trace their source. Continue reading...

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last month Slovakia blocks EU move to impose new sanctions package on Russia – Europe live

EU foreign policy chief says ‘ball is in Slovakia’s court’ after leader Robert Fico blocked ‘imbecile’ proposal to ban Russian gas imports from 2028 French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot told reporters that he hoped the new language from the US and more sanctions from the EU will force Russian president Vladimir Putin “to face the facts: he has gone too far and he is now at an impasse.”He said he was hoping for more alignment between the US and the EU on sanctions, as he met with American senators last week in Rome to discuss their proposed bipartisan bill on Russia.“So we have some progress. We have some positive developments. It’s true that we have trucks that are able to enter, but we don’t know exactly how many. And what is clear is that the agreement is not fully implemented. Continue reading...

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